Quick Take
As Santa Cruz County faces difficult budget decisions, including using $43 million in reserves to cover deficits, residents have an opportunity to shape what matters most, write three members of advocacy group Care Not Cages. Tamar Ragir, Kathy Lass and Leslie Potenzo argue that protecting healthcare and community support programs is essential to building a safer county. They question why health and human services departments had a decrease of more than 50 positions in the proposed budget while the sheriff’s office and probation face no staff cuts. On Election Day, they remind us to pay attention to county decisions and attend upcoming county budget meetings.
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We’re paying attention to the Santa Cruz County budget and we think you should, too, because budgets are where our values turn into concrete reality for our community.
Our core values are care, equity and dignity, which are the foundation for healthy and thriving communities. We think basic human services – a safe place to sleep, healthy food to eat and effective, accessible healthcare – are the things that make us happy and safe. The safest neighborhoods are not the ones with the most police; they’re the ones with the most community- centered resources.
That is why we are part of Care not Cages, a local advocacy group designed to shift our perspective on incarceration and end the criminalization of mental illness and addiction. We believe we need fewer jail cells and more county services.
The upcoming annual budget has been presented and discussed by the board of supervisors several times this year, in anticipation of approving a budget in June. We’ve attended these hearings, and the presentations by the county executive staff have been clear and transparent. The supervisors have given thoughtful consideration, and we particularly appreciated the call to protect basic services. We encourage you to read the op-ed by county CEO Nicole Coburn, which clearly describes the efforts to balance the budget as well as preserve safety net services and county jobs, and makes it clear that the “rainy day” funding being drawn on this year will not be available in future years.
Given that this is a tough fiscal era, we understand the need to change some department allocations, but urge that the reductions be equitably distributed across departments. The cuts should not be on the backs of the most vulnerable. An honest assessment of priorities must be at the forefront in order to safeguard the well-being of people in need and honor this county’s equity statement and practice. Considering our core values, and our county’s low crime rates but high rates of economic hardship, we have a greater need for investing our limited funds in basic services like food aid and healthcare than toward crime response.
However, right now, our tax dollars are heavily allocated toward policing and incarceration. For example, in the proposed budget there is no decrease in staffing allocation to the law enforcement departments including the sheriff and probation, while the health and human services departments had a decrease of more than 50 open positions.
That imbalance is not in alignment with our community needs. Let’s keep an eye on that.
Just a few examples of areas where we want to preserve or increase funding include: programs that provide basic needs such as food assistance and housing instability resources, county and community-based organizations that support our immigrant neighbors, important community programs like the mobile crisis response team and the public defender’s holistic defense model and community-based services for justice-involved youth.
We encourage you to attend the upcoming budget hearings and review the county budget website. To join us in advocating for the well-being of our whole community, please sign on to our advocacy letter by June 15.
Again, let’s show our electeds that we want funding for care, not cages.
Tamar Ragir is a math teacher and a drummer in a local band.
Kathy Lass is a retired software engineer living in Santa Cruz County after growing up over the hill.
Leslie Potenzo is a small business owner and community member committed to equity, justice, and nonviolence.
Care Not Cages works together to build understanding of the carceral crisis in our county, and effective movement-based action for systemic changes, informed by research/data and grounded in trusting relationships. A collaboration between MILPA and SURJ Santa Cruz County, we share a vision of our county as a place that centers racial and economic justice and love, where everyone’s basic needs are met, and where harm is met with care and healing.
