City council, county supervisor candidates discuss roads and homelessness at Watsonville forum

With the Nov. 5 election just two weeks away, candidates for Watsonville City Council and District 2 Santa Cruz County supervisor shared their views on various issues, including roads, housing and homelessness, at a candidate forum organized Monday night by Santa Cruz Voice and the Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce. 

Watsonville residents heard from Watsonville City Council candidates Eduardo Montesino, Trina Coffman-Gomez and District 2 Santa Cruz County supervisor candidate Kristen Brown. 

Mayor Vanessa Quiroz-Carter, who is running for the District 2 city council seat unopposed, Jimmy Dutra, the incumbent District 6 councilmember who is being challenged by Coffman-Gomez, did not participate in the forum. Brown’s opponent, Kim De Serpa, sent a proxy, Brett McFadden, in her place as the forum coincided with a Pajaro Valley Unified School District board meeting. 

Dutra has stayed in the race for city council despite a Santa Cruz County grand jury’s verdict against him in a civil sex abuse trial last month. After being ordered to pay $1,133,000 to a man who claimed Dutra molested him in 2005 when he was 12 years old, Dutra maintained his innocence and vowed to appeal. Dutra has declined to talk with Lookout about his reelection bid, where he stands on key issues facing the city or why Watsonville residents should vote for him.

Monday night’s forum was split up in two sections, focusing on the Watsonville City Council candidates first before moving to the District 2 county supervisor candidates. 

Montesino, an incumbent running unopposed for District 1, and Coffman-Gomez, running against Dutra in District 6, shared their thoughts on the ongoing homelessness issue in Watsonville and a proposed “tiny village” project that would provide shelter to dozens. 

“We need to start with empathy,” Montesino said. “They’re our neighbors. They’re in the levee, they’re in the sloughs.” 

It’s important to have conversations with the community, he said. Montesino emphasized the need to bring more resources to Watsonville, including mental health programs, that can help the unhoused community. In addition, Montesino mentioned the city’s recent efforts to formally hear from residents about how to confront the issue. 

The closing of the Salvation Army’s navigation center for the unhoused is a prime example of how the city has moved in the wrong direction, said Coffman-Gomez, who like Montesino called for more compassion. With firsthand experience in helping the unhoused, Coffman-Gomez said there should be more effort to invest in a brick-and-mortar shelter, rather than just temporary housing projects like the tiny village.

“We need to do a lot more than what this allows,” said Coffman-Gomez, speaking of how much funding is lined up for the project. “The concern I also have is this is 24 months. It’s over budget, and we have no plan for what we’re doing to sustain it.” 

Montesino said the tiny village project, with the proper resources, will be beneficial to the unhoused community. The project isn’t perfect, but the city needs to act on something that is going to be more effective than what we see today, Coffman-Gomez agreed. 

Coffman-Gomez and Montesino disagreed on a city downtown plan that calls for narrowing Main Street. The road width reduction will allow for the city to become more walkable, said Montesino. Even if the project is going to impact his community – Main Street is part of District 1 – there need to be sacrifices in order to attract different businesses to Watsonville’s downtown, he said. 

Such a project can lead to a huge mess and the possibility of litigation, said Coffman-Gomez. She worries that semi-trucks will cut through Rodriguez Street, for example, if they can no longer use Main Street. 

In the District 2 county supervisor portion of the forum, each campaign shared thoughts on which roads are a priority to fix in the district — which spans from the Capitola coast to Pajaro Dunes. Brown referenced the county’s color-coding system, which shows what condition each road is in. Green means no repairs, yellow means some repairs are needed and red is for roads that pose a safety risk. 

“If we’re only addressing the roads that are in the worst state of disrepair, we’re constantly being reactive and we’re never being proactive,” said Brown. “And in that case, all of our other roads will just be constantly becoming worse and worse and worse.” 

The problems with the roads didn’t occur overnight, said McFadden, speaking on De Serpa’s behalf. If the county were to fix roads based on the color-coding system, it could take 30 to 45 years until certain roads are addressed, he said.

Both also addressed whether they would place more limits on existing vacation rental regulations. McFadden said De Serpa would take a balanced approach when addressing this issue. 

“I think Kim’s approach on this is like her approach on most policy items,” said McFadden. “The first is to engage the community as well as to get input from folks that are looking at that will include a wide swath of individuals throughout the county.” 

Rather than implementing more limits, Brown said she would incentivize property owners who have short-term rentals to rent them out for three to six months instead of day to day. It would still allow for owners to use their properties as vacation rentals, she said. 

“I want to incentivize people to help address the issue of our housing crisis and not punish them for choosing to have a short-term rental when appropriate,” said Brown. 

All candidates briefly discussed their thoughts on the Coastal Rail Trail project. Montesino, Coffman-Gomez and Brown were all in agreement that the project is beneficial for the county and Watsonville residents. In comparison, McFadden said De Serpa questions whether the project is economically feasible. 

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