Election 2024: The names behind the money
Across four ballot measures and seven open county and city seats, Santa Cruz County campaigns in this primary election season have raised roughly $640,000 through nearly 1,500 total donations.
How money flows into campaign coffers tells many stories. It can show us whom candidates have been courting and where organizations have placed their bets. It tells us about priorities and preferences as well as loyalties. In this final week ahead of the March 5 election, Lookout will be publishing stories on what we’ve learned, through monetary contribution data, about the candidates and who is funding them.
This first look focuses on the who of campaign donations. Who are the major funders of these campaigns? Which companies, organizations and sitting politicians have donated the most, and how have they spent it?
The donations break down across the four measures and 19 candidates running for seven seats. Measure K is the county’s sales tax increase and Measure L is the city of Santa Cruz’s sales tax increase. Measure M is the ballot initiative in the city of Santa Cruz that would restrict the city’s ability to increase building heights and require higher portions of affordable housing. Measure N is the tax proposed in Mid- and South County to raise money for publicly owned Watsonville Community Hospital.
As for candidates, three county supervisor seats are up for grabs in District 1, District 2 and District 5. In the city of Santa Cruz, four city council seats are open in Districts 1, 2, 3 and 5.
The next District 2 county supervisor’s expertise will need to stretch from the coastline to the apple orchards
What might a glowing movie montage of Santa Cruz County show? Would the redwoods or a golden-hour coastline dotted with surfers go first?
Surely the county’s wineries and vineyards would make an appearance, as would stretches of berry fields and apple orchards. The million-dollar ocean views from homes perched near the edges of coastal bluffs could transition into frames depicting the county’s busier urban areas, featuring local shops and quality restaurants. The director would have to squeeze in a shot of a farmers market and, for good measure, perhaps a bird’s-eye view of a college campus.
And, to capture all of this, the camera would never have to go beyond the boundaries of the county’s District 2. Nor would it have to leave the district to capture the region’s most pressing issues. From the crumbling coastline and managing natural disasters to pesticide use, affordable housing and backlogged road repairs, the next supervisor to represent the district will have much to oversee; and five people believe they are up to the challenge.
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Looking Ahead
Santa Cruz looks to strike a deal with Joby: Joby Aviation, the Santa Cruz-based air taxi tech startup, is a valuable asset to a city and region looking to diversify its economy beyond tourism and agriculture. Joby wants to grow its workforce at its Santa Cruz headquarters from 250 to 500 employees in the coming years, and on Tuesday, the Santa Cruz City Council is scheduled to vote on whether the city will help the company do it. Joby wants a $2,000 loan per new hire in order to buy manufacturing equipment. If the city council greenlights the deal, the city would agree to loan Joby up to $500,000 for doubling its local workforce. The loan could become a grant if Joby meets certain hiring requirements.
AT&T comes to town, with an explanation: Telecommunications giant AT&T wants out as the state’s landline service provider. If the California Public Utilities Commission approves the application, many in Santa Cruz County will lose their landline service and a critical asset during natural disasters. AT&T brass will explain its plan and proposal before the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday at 9 a.m.
AT&T has also scheduled a separate, in-person community meeting to talk about its plans. The meeting will be held Wednesday, Feb. 28, at 5:30 p.m. at the Felton Community Hall, 6191 Highway 9. The company has also committed to hosting a similar meeting in South County, but is still figuring out the details, according to county spokesperson Jason Hoppin.
Move your cars: The City of Santa Cruz is proposing a street-sweeping pilot program that would implement parking restrictions on certain sides of city streets during cleaning days. On Monday evening, the city’s Transportation and Public Works Commission will vote on whether to recommend the pilot program for city council approval.
Weekly News Diet
Local: I always enjoy a good doubling-down story, even more so when I can report one. The Rio Del Mar Beach Island Homeowners Association doubled down last week when it stood up a new fence to privatize a coastal pedestrian path along Seacliff State Beach — the same path the California Coastal Commission ruled is a public walkway in December. The HOA’s attorneys tell me they are preparing to sue the state over its decision.
Golden State: Can college students save downtown San Francisco? At a time when cities across the country are searching for answers to their own downtown question, the unveiling of a massive student housing project in the Tenderloin for Bay Area colleges provides a test case in one of the city’s most troubled neighborhoods. Kevin Nguyen with the San Francisco Standard has that story.
National: Last spring marked the end of a pandemic-era rule barring states from kicking people off Medicaid coverage. This has created a crisis for nonprofit community hospitals serving low-income communities, where Medicaid payments are the “lifeblood” of financial stability. This national issue is also an urgent and local one for Watsonville Community Hospital. Noah Weiland has the national story for the New York Times; my colleague Hillary Ojeda has been covering Watsonville Community Hospital for more than a year.
One Great Read
After shutting down, these golf courses went wild, by Cara Buckley for The New York Times
In 2018, the Trust for Public Land purchased the San Geronimo Golf Course in Marin County for $8.9 million. Now, the course is mowed only twice a year, and the pesticides and robust irrigation systems required to manicure the land into 18 holes are a thing of the past.
In 2022, the Oswit Land Trust bought the Mesquite Golf & Country Club in Palm Springs for $9 million. Similarly, the heavy-handed maintenance of the land went out the door. Now, both properties are yawning stretches of natural preserves, open to the public instead of golfers only.
The U.S. has more places to play golf than it has McDonald’s, accounting for more than 40% of the world’s share of courses. The effort of land trusts to purchase golf courses, turn them into natural preserves and then sell them back to the public is picking up momentum, especially as society takes a harder look at our use of increasingly limited resources, such as water.