In a letter to the editor, a Santa Cruz resident writes that nonprofit Housing Matters eliminating day services at its Coral Street campus will be a blow to the area’s unhoused community members.
Opinion from Community Voices
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
California’s coastal ‘Blue Wall’ must rise again to stop new offshore drilling
Updating and expanding laws blocking offshore oil drilling and seabed mining is the most powerful tool communities have to protect California’s coast in the face of the federal government’s new drilling plans. Katie Thompson and Dan Haifley urge the public to get involved.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Santa Cruz’s Measure C passed. The fight for accountability and the 2026 and 2028 elections is on
Measure C passed with just 54% support, leaving nearly half of Santa Cruz residents not wanting it. Some of those naysayers are concerned about loopholes, transparency and who will actually benefit from the new taxes, writes Keven Cook, an electrical engineer and veteran of political campaigns.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
I live at Dominican Oaks – I’m alarmed by the Workbench high-rise proposed next to us
Live Oak resident Virginia Lieb is alarmed about a proposed six-story builder’s remedy project planned for 3500 Paul Sweet Rd. She says the development would overwhelm the narrow dead-end street that serves as the only evacuation route for the Dominican Oaks senior community and others.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Don’t rush the trails: Conservation must come before recreation
Retired geologist David Rubin takes issue with Mickey Rush’s Lookout op-ed urging Santa Cruz County to immediately open damaged trails for recreation. Land managers have a responsibility to protect ecosystems, not just provide access, and their intentional, science-driven approach deserves support.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: The Pajaro Valley school board is dysfunctional
In a letter to the editor, an Aptos resident describes what she saw at a recent meeting of the Pajaro Valley Unified School District board of trustees and voices concerns.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Closing Housing Matters’ day services won’t hurt just the unhoused — it will push the working poor closer to crisis
The planned closure of Housing Matters’ day services – including public showers, bathrooms and mail access — is being framed as affecting only people experiencing homelessness, but it will also hit Santa Cruz’s working poor who rely on these essentials, writes housing scholar Erin Gaede.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: Fact check on source of Flock data breach
In a letter to the editor, Santa Cruz resident Ami Chen Mills writes that she was the first to report on a Flock Safety data breach by the Capitola Police Department.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Santa Cruz County’s open approach to battery storage puts safety and community first
Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here. Over the past year, Santa Cruz County has been doing something few communities have attempted: building one of the most rigorous, safety-focused battery energy storage ordinances in California and possibly the nation. As renewable energy grows rapidly, we […]
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Bruce McPherson: I support a battery energy storage ordinance that addresses climate change and ensures local safety
Former supervisor Bruce McPherson urges the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors to move forward with a new battery energy storage system ordinance on Tuesday. He argues it is essential for climate action and local safety. He says the rules directly respond to the Moss Landing fire by banning volatile battery chemistries, requiring fire-safe containers and mandating strict inspections. McPherson argues that battery storage is critical to cutting fossil fuels, preventing power outages and keeping local control over projects like the one proposed on Minto Road outside Watsonville.