Rob Rennie believes his experience as a Santa Clara County leader, including as Los Gatos mayor, and his background in engineering and environmentalism make him the best candidate for California’s 28th Assembly District seat. He says he will bring expertise and the mind of a problem-solver to the state’s toughest issues, including COVID-19 recovery, homelessness, affordable housing and climate change.
Opinion from Community Voices
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Gail Pellerin for Assembly District 28: We need an experienced, empathetic Santa Cruz leader — and a dog in Sacto
Gail Pellerin believes she has the experience and empathy our community needs in a leader. Her husband’s 2018 suicide pushed the longtime Santa Cruz County Clerk and local leader to become a mental health crusader. As county clerk, she found creative ways to serve people during the pandemic and worked extra hours to make sure voting and vital services happened. A voting-rights champion with experience in state and local government, she says she has the connections needed to make change happen. She’s also got a secret weapon: her labradoodle, Darwin.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Liz Lawler for Assembly District 28: Vote for a hard worker who cares about details
Liz Lawler cares about details and people and has the work ethic to make big change in Sacramento. That’s why she thinks she is the best candidate to represent California State Assembly District 28. She has served on the Monte Sereno City Council and on the city’s Better Streets Commission. She can also talk for hours about potholes.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Live your biblical values: Support the Park Avenue housing project
The housing development slated for Park Avenue in Soquel offers Santa Cruz County residents a chance to live their values. Supporting the unhoused and needy is a biblical obligation. By embracing the project, Rabbi Paula Marcus argues, we fulfill our religious duties.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Mr. W: What my autistic son has taught me about motherhood
Victoria Tatum has spent more than two decades fighting for services for her autistic son, Eliot. As her son became a teen, his anxiety made him increasingly violent. She thinks Santa Cruz families need better intervention, sooner, for families with special needs.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Opinion: Vote no on Measure D
Measure D will hurt our community by permanently ending the rail + trail plan connecting Santa Cruz and Watsonville. Measure D undermines decades of public planning and hurts commuters, the environment and our future economy. That’s why numerous elected officials and more than 30 local organizations oppose Measure D. It deserves a no vote.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Opinion: Vote yes on Measure D
A trail-only option is the best, most realistic option for our Santa Cruz community. It will preserve our natural landscape, can be built now and doesn’t depend on imagined future funding. Measure D makes sense and is the logical way forward.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
I want to talk about Ramadan, but everyone wants to know why I wear a headscarf
It’s generally easy to be a Muslim in Santa Cruz, except when it’s not, Erica Aisha Charves writes. People often look at me strangely because I wear a headscarf. Ramadan, the holy month of fasting, which ended Sunday, reminds me to be patient and empathetic, and to continue to educate our community about Islam. It’s easier when I have coffee first.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
It’s election season: Let’s respect our public figures and their privacy at home
Donna Meyers spent a year as mayor of Santa Cruz and had angry protestors surround her house and scream profanities at her family. She wants the public to be more respectful of the public-private divide and remember that our behavior reflects our values as a community.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Justin Cummings for 3rd District Supervisor: Santa Cruz needs diverse and experienced leadership
Justin Cummings wants to be the first Black person on the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors. A former Santa Cruz mayor and a member of the Santa Cruz City Council since 2018, he believes he has the experience, dynamism and personality to get the job done. He says he will bring needed diversity and scientific expertise to the role.