A political spark shakes Santa Cruz County out of a long winter
At last, spring hath sprung in Santa Cruz County, and the recent warm weather and vivid pops of poppies dancing along our highways have delivered the annual reminder of why so many of us have chosen the Central Coast, loud and clear.
As that ecological urging to reconnect with place bloomed this weekend, after a long winter, a different type of reconnection appeared to spark in Santa Cruz, Watsonville, and hundreds of cities across the U.S.: the one between the people and their sense of political power beyond the ballot box.
As I weaved through the crowd of thousands gathered outside the county government building for Saturday’s “Hands Off” rally, a nationwide demonstration against the Trump Administration and Elon Musk, the electricity and sense of collective determination fulfilled a certain image of Santa Cruz I had only heard about since moving here as a political reporter in 2022. The community was engaged, enraged, and earnestly believed that their voice mattered and could travel the 2,900 miles from Downtown Santa Cruz to Pennsylvania Avenue.
“When people ask later what you were doing in 2025 when all this was going on, you don’t want to say you were just out playing pickleball,” Deb, who only felt comfortable offering her first name, told me as she crossed River Street. “And I am a pickleball addict.”
I spent much of my time admiring the artistry of attendees’ signage — it’s amazing what happens in the translation of rage energy into creative energy — and asking people why they felt compelled to spend their Saturday at a political demonstration.
Local artist Jim Potterton captured much of what I heard from folks in the crowd.
“This administration has levied an assault on our way of life,” Potterton said, citing threats to government programs like Medicare and Medical, an upending of international trade, and increasing attacks on the nation’s institutions, from the free press and the courts to campuses of higher learning.
In many ways, Saturday marked a coming out for the country’s political left. Whether that energy can manifest into material impact on policy, or at the ballot box during the midterms remains to be seen. For more local coverage, from South County to Santa Cruz, read pieces from my colleagues Wallace Baine and Tania Ortiz.
OF NOTE
Cutting through the confusion of competing housing petitions: If you’re a city of Santa Cruz voter, have you signed a petition claiming to support affordable housing recently? Do you know whether it was the Workforce Housing Affordability Act — presented by the mayor and housing advocates — or the Workforce Housing and Climate Protection — developed by the local realtors association? The competing, similarly named efforts are causing confusion for residents. In a story I published today, I lay out exactly what’s what so that you, readers, can align before you sign.
Flying taxis to soon begin operating in China: This news doesn’t necessarily affect Santa Cruz-based Joby, a leader in the U.S.’s developing flying taxi industry, but it is notable that China is set to begin allowing the commercial operation of the vehicles, the final step in a process that the U.S. has been working toward for years, in which Joby sits at the center.
Israel-Palestine tensions hit the local box office: The Santa Cruz Jewish Film Festival screening of “October 8,” a documentary that focuses on rising antisemitism throughout the country, drew protests at the Del Mar Theatre as demonstrators opposed its portrayal of U.S. pro-Palestine movements. Temple Beth El, the sponsor of the festival, defended the screening as “art,” while objectors criticized it as “propaganda.”
POINTS FOR PARTICIPATION
The SAVE Act and its implications on voter disenfranchisement: On Tuesday, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors will receive a briefing on the congressional SAVE Act, which seeks to require proof of citizenship at the ballot box. Analysts have warned that the law could disenfranchise millions of legal voters. The supervisors’ meeting begins at 9 a.m.
Cigarette bans and e-bike safety in Capitola: The Capitola City Council on Thursday could direct city staff to prepare an ordinance that would ban the sale of filtered tobacco products, much in the spirit of what the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors did last year. The council will also discuss its existing e-bike safety rules and decide whether to write a letter to local state legislators proposing new statewide regulations. Specifically, the city council wants the legislators to consider a ban on class 2 e-bikes for children under 14 years old, establish a written test and permit program for class 2 e-bike riders under the age of 16, and implement a traffic safety curriculum in schools. That meeting kicks off at 6 p.m.
ONE GREAT READ
Trump’s trade war risks forfeiting America’s economic primacy By Patricia Cohen for the New York Times
The power of the dollar is, in part, driven by the reliability of and trust in the dollar. Over the last 70 years, the U.S. dollar has helped steer the global economy, largely thanks to a vision that international “trade and finance would be based on cooperation and consent rather than coercion,” global economics correspondent Patricia Cohen recently wrote for the New York Times.
“Gone are appeals to a large purpose, mutual agreements or shared values,” Cohen writes. “In this new order, the strongest nations determine the rules and enforce them through intimidation and bare-knuckled power.”
Cohen goes on to offer an enlightening account of how, through the dollar’s primacy and its standing as the world’s reserve currency, the U.S. has held the ability to leverage economic power throughout the world. Think about the crippling sanctions placed on Russia following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine— the power of the U.S. dollar made an act like that possible. Now, economists believe a looming global trade war driven by the Trump Administration’s tariffs threaten the dollar and America’s economic standing worldwide.