Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.
On Wednesday, Sept. 18, the voters of District 5 have the opportunity to hear from the two candidates for the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors at the candidate forum hosted by Lookout Santa Cruz. I am confident that if they attend, they will reach the same conclusion I have, which is that Monica Martinez is clearly the stronger candidate.
Here is what I think they’ll see. Monica is ready for the job. While this is Monica’s first time running for elected office, she has spent the past decade running the county’s largest health and human services nonprofit. That experience means she has a deep understanding of how the county functions, how to manage and disburse government funds and how to make tough decisions about competing priorities.
They’ll see that Monica brings a true desire to understand what the people in our district want from our leaders. She will talk about her positions on the issues that face us, but she’ll also talk about how she plans to create channels of communication so that the residents of District 5 can provide input to inform her leadership.
Finally, they’ll see that Monica is already deeply engaged in our community. She lives in Felton, she’s raising her kids here; she plays softball and coaches soccer. And she also finds opportunities to help make us stronger and more resilient. For example, she helped coordinate Boulder Creek Vax and Boost and was involved in the disaster response during the winter storms of 2023.
I hope the voters of District 5 will come out to see what she has to say. I think they will see what I see. She is the supervisor we need.
Liza-Jane Capatos
Felton