Local activist and yoga instructor Mark Stephens argues that the Koenig–Keeley “peace deal” approved last week by the RTC is not a harmless compromise but a 20-year removal of rail service that effectively kills future commuter rail in Santa Cruz County. He notes that voters overwhelmingly rejected that idea in 2022, when 73% voted against Measure D’s trail-only vision. Stephens warns that paving over tracks would make restoring rail economically and politically impossible, despite claims of a temporary fix. He urges officials to honor the public mandate and take any plan that eliminates rail back to the ballot box.
Opinion from Community Voices
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Santa Cruz’s moonshot: Build the trail now and stop chasing a rail mirage
Santa Cruz County faces a rare moment of alignment: a viable path to build the coastal trail without railbanking or surrendering the corridor, writes trail advocate Jack Brown. With a “peace deal” to build over the tracks before the Regional Transportation Commission, Brown says rail remains decades away and financially unrealistic.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
The rail-trail ‘peace deal’ is political theater: It rests on shaky legal ground
Santa Cruz County’s rail-trail “peace deal” promises 20 years of trail use, but it’s built on shaky legal ground, writes retired software engineer Peter Gibson. Federal freight rights — not local politicians — ultimately control the corridor, and those rights can’t be suspended by agreement.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
California’s early intervention for youngsters with special needs is a lifeline — hanging by a thread
Federal cuts to Medicaid will mean fewer slots, longer waits and fewer therapists at Early Start, a program for children and babies with special needs, writes Kelly Keck, who has a child with special needs and is a neonatal nurse practitioner.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: Unhoused people need an answer for showers and mail in Santa Cruz
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.
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.