Santa Cruz County is updating its monarch butterfly habitat plan at Moran Lake, using new science to guide safe tree trimming that preserves critical overwintering habitat, writes Jeff Gaffney, director of the Santa Cruz County Parks Department.
Opinion from Community Voices
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: Potholes and manholes can total your car and the county won’t help you
In a letter to the editor, an Aptos resident criticizes Santa Cruz County’s response after her car struck a protruding manhole cover, leaving it a total loss.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
How Santa Cruz’s homeless efforts are making things worse for the city … and for the homeless
Santa Cruz’s well-meaning homeless policies are backfiring, drawing more unhoused than the city can support, writes Craig James, who grew up here and returned as a retiree. He calls for a coordinated state and national strategy, warning of disproportionate consequences without shared responsibility.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: My research shows ZEPRT will require raising taxes over 13%
In a letter to the editor, an Aptos resident shares his analysis of the tax impact of the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission’s plan to build passenger rail.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Riding a bike should not be so dangerous in Santa Cruz County – plastic balusters are endangering cyclists
Longtime Santa Cruz County resident Rick Boyce critiques the county’s approach to traffic safety, especially the use of plastic balusters meant to protect cyclists. While acknowledging well-intentioned infrastructure like the Whale Bridge and buffered bike lanes, Boyce argues that poorly executed solutions — such as damaged and hazardous lane dividers — might be doing more harm than good.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: I got priced out of Santa Cruz in 1996
In a letter to the editor, a former Live Oak resident laments the skyrocketing cost of housing in Santa Cruz.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Measure D voters did not greenlight a $4.3 billion train – let’s use data, not dreams on rail choice
Matt Farrell’s recent Lookout op-ed is misleading and fiscally unrealistic, argues Will Mayall. He believes Farrell bases his argument on hope, not facts. He also criticizes Farrell’s continued insistence on the 2022 defeat of Measure D, insisting that voters did not OK a train system — only to keep existing code unchanged.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: Measure D did not account for rail cost
In a letter to the editor, an Aptos resident criticizes the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: 2022 Measure D vote is irrelevant now
In a letter to the editor, a Live Oak resident criticizes the writer of a previous op-ed for making his case for rail and trail based on a vote more than three years ago.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Greenway requires voter amnesia in campaign to kill future rail service
The idea to tear out the rail line and replace it with a trail-only approach was defeated by Santa Cruz County voters in June 2022. Matt Farrell, board chair of Friends of the Rail & Trail, argues for following the direction provided by voters, and unpacks what that means for today’s debate about the future of the publicly owned rail corridor.