In a letter to the editor following the entry of Community Bridges’ marketing and communications director, Tony Nuñez, into the race for District 4 county supervisor, the nonprofit’s CEO writes that the organization will honor its longstanding commitment to neutrality among candidates.
Opinion from Community Voices
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Steve Trujillo: Let me explain myself
In a letter to the editor, Cabrillo College trustee Steve Trujillo explains his conduct at recent meetings of the school’s governing board.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
What feminists get wrong about clickbait
Chelsey Hauge-Zavaleta spends a lot of time with clickbait. She thinks about it often, and also uses it in her viral TikTok posts about parenting. A recent meeting of the Santa Cruz Feminist Society made her question the ethics of using clickbait hooks – even if the point is to promote feminist ideas online. Here, she questions whether adopting the attention tactics of social media platforms reinforces the very systems feminists hope to resist. Used thoughtfully, she believes attention-grabbing hooks can invite deeper reflection and conversations that help parents raise critically thinking, empowered children.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: Help us recognize Metro employees
In a letter to the editor, a Santa Cruz Metro board member urges residents to share messages of appreciation for the county transit agency’s employees.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Village Santa Cruz County offers connection and support for older adults – want to join us?
Mary Howe, co-founder of Village Santa Cruz County, responds to a recent Lookout op-ed about making female friends after 50 by highlighting the nonprofit’s work to combat loneliness among older adults. Founded in 2017, the membership-based group connects seniors through small social gatherings, educational programs and volunteer support in navigating life’s crises and remaining independent longer. The organization is part of the national Village to Village Network movement and currently serves more than 70 members locally. A public workshop on planning for medical crises will be held May 18 at the Aptos Branch Library.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Sanctuary and solidarity: When deportations surge on the Central Coast, we must be ready
Amid rising deportations along California’s Central Coast, retired sociologist and Santa Cruz Welcoming Network member Paul Johnston urges communities to organize and to close two urgent gaps: emergency legal aid for those detained by ICE and support for families left behind. He points to the Puentes Fund, which assists families facing detention or deportation, and calls for broader community action — from fundraising gatherings to organized “circles of care” rooted in schools, faith groups and neighborhoods.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Who should be California’s next governor – and why Santa Cruz County should care
California’s 2026 gubernatorial election represents a potential inflection point, writes former Santa Cruz County Chamber of Commerce CEO Casey Beyer. Not necessarily a partisan realignment, but a structural one: a fractured Democratic field, competitive Republicans and a volatile political environment shaped by economic pressure and federal conflict.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
I’m a nurse. I advocate for my patients. That’s why I’m questioning how Watsonville Community Hospital is spending its money.
Watsonville Community Hospital nurse Driss Hassam is calling for greater transparency in how the publicly funded hospital spends its money, citing shortages of basic supplies and delayed patient care. Hassam questions hospital priorities as more than $200 million in bonds, grants and donations have flowed through Watsonville Community Hospital in recent years. He contrasts front-line conditions with administrative spending, consulting contracts and unfulfilled promises tied to voter-approved Measure N. Hassam argues that financial decisions should be publicly scrutinized and focused on expanding clinical services and patient care.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Santa Cruz County failed our most vulnerable during extreme weather
Santa Cruz County failed its unhoused residents during weeks of severe winter storms by not activating its extreme weather shelters, despite having staff, supplies and facilities ready, writes Sara Coon, an overnight site manager for the extreme weather shelter hosted by People First of Santa Cruz County. She believes narrow policies ignored the deadly risk of prolonged exposure to cold, rain and flooding, leaving people without dry clothing or warmth and contributing to preventable deaths. This was not a lack of resources, she writes, but a failure of leadership that demands immediate reform.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Dominican Oaks: When fear of lawsuits trumps public and senior safety, Santa Cruz County loses
A massive builder’s remedy project proposed at 3500 Paul Sweet Rd. in Live Oak would rise 82 feet beside Dominican Oaks retirement community, putting hundreds of elderly residents at risk, writes Virginia Lieb, who lives in the complex. State law allows counties like Santa Cruz County to deny such projects when they pose unmitigable threats to health and safety – and this one, she believes, does. She fears the recent approval of a project at 841 Capitola Rd. suggests local officials are backing down under the threat of lawsuits from developers like Workbench. Approving unsafe housing isn’t housing justice — it’s a failure of leadership that puts vulnerable residents in harm’s way, she writes.