Good morning, all. It is Tuesday, Feb. 6, and the Santa Cruz County forecast calls for rain showers with some sunnier interludes and temperatures in the mid-50s.
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Do fences, 6, 7 feet or higher, make agreeable neighbors in the city of Santa Cruz, if a property owner wants to raise one? Stretching that old maxim, two key debaters in the Measure M initiative on the March 5 ballot engaged that question and all that arisen so far in that argument. More than 150 attended Lookout’s second-of-2024 election forum Monday evening, with several dozen more popping in and out on Lookout’s Facebook Live feed.
The evening focused both on M and on the race between incumbent Manu Koenig and challenger Lani Faulkner for District 1 Santa Cruz county supervisor. Moderated by Lookout Community Voices Editor Jody K. Biehl and Christopher Neely, Lookout’s policy and politics correspondent, the on-stage discussions provided a new level of candidate face-to-face election activity and allowed the public to enter their own questions into the campaign. Hotel Paradox, our event partner, hosted the forum.
Check out Max Chun’s reporting below, and get ready for the third and final Lookout election forum of this primary season. Coming Thursday, it features all four Santa Cruz City Council races.
The forums are part of our major effort to inform the election debate in 2024. Lookout has made all election coverage free and open in that quest. Such access is made possible by our Marketing Partners and member support. If you are not a member, take advantage of this special offer.
The county supervisor races are also in focus in Lookout’s Community Voices opinion section, where you can hear from all the candidates for the District 2 spot – Kristen Brown, Tony Crane, Kim De Serpa, Bruce Jaffe and David Schwartz – in their own words.
And ahead of her Tuesday newsletter, Lily Belli has a preview of a new restaurant coming to downtown Santa Cruz, with Rustico Italian Street Food bringing Rome-style pizza as its calling card.
To the headlines …
Clashing on the issues: District 1 county supervisor candidates, Measure M debaters take the stage
In Lookout’s second candidate forum of the 2024 election season, candidates vying to represent District 1 on the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors and both Measure M advocates and opponents took to the stage to discuss and debate everything from transit and budgets to housing and inclusionary rates. The primary election is set for March 5. Max Chun recaps Monday night’s action.
Rustico Italian Street Food plans to bring Roman pizza to downtown Santa Cruz
Former Mentone pizza chef and accredited pizzaiolo Francesco Ramunno is opening his own restaurant in downtown Santa Cruz. At Rustico, Ramunno plans to offer Roman-style pizza and Italian street food like arancini and focaccia. More here from Lily Belli.
DAILY DIGEST
A busy start to this Tuesday, and there’s more on the way from Lookout, including the aforementioned Lily Belli on Food. You can get that and all of Lookout’s other newsletters delivered to you wherever you are, along with breaking news alerts via text and email, by signing up right here. To keep current on Santa Cruz County news and views, you can also turn to Lookout on social media — follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Threads.
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