Access Democracy
Access Democracy is Lookout Local’s initiative to increase the amount of investigative and accountability watchdog journalism in Santa Cruz County and beyond.
In this initiative, we partner with the First Amendment Coalition, the Bay Area-based, award-winning, nonprofit public interest organization dedicated to advancing free speech, more open and accountable government, and public participation in civic affairs. The Lookout Santa Cruz newsroom and First Amendment Coalition meet regularly on ways to unearth public records and do deep reporting for the Santa Cruz community.
Among those stories:
Education
• BY NICK IBARRA | ‘This is a pattern’: At least five people now raising misconduct allegations against SLV High teacher: Two former San Lorenzo Valley High School students are telling Lookout about their experiences with Eric Kahl, one of two veteran teachers placed on paid leave by SLVUSD. The allegations are part of a larger investigation into inappropriate behavior by district staff that is underway by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office.
RELATED:
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• BY NICK IBARRA | Were shaky finances behind PVUSD superintendent’s firing? Hastily deleted post reveals tension: Documents obtained by Lookout and interviews with district and county education officials reveal how a gloomy — but improving — financial forecast for the Pajaro Valley Unified School District came to a head the week Superintendent Michelle Rodriguez was abruptly fired.
RELATED:
• Two PVUSD trustees cited ‘death threats’ amid Michelle Rodriguez saga. Days later, none reported
• Pajaro Valley Unified refuses to pay $16k in legal fees authorized by former board president
Health Care
• BY MALLORY PICKETT AND PATRICK RILEY | Watsonville Community Hospital under new management, but veil of secrecy surrounds who’s really in charge: The company that bought Watsonville Community Hospital in 2019 abruptly stopped managing it last month. The new manager has a troubled history and is under congressional scrutiny. A third party owns the hospital’s building and land. So who’s really calling the shots?
RELATED:
• Watsonville Community Hospital suffered financial losses, ‘could have been in trouble’
Local Government
• BY ISABELLA CUETO | Six-figure mistake: Flaw in Capitola Library plans cost taxpayers at least $580,000: The architecture firm hired by Capitola to design its new library made a critical mistake by setting the building too close to high-voltage wires next to the property line, officials say. Now, records detail how that error occurred and what it is costing.
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• BY ISABELLA CUETO | Watsonville committee on police transparency, accountability takes meetings behind closed doors: A police reform committee created by the Watsonville City Council has voted to have all of its meetings closed to the public. The decision was far from unanimous, with one member saying it could create the appearance of discussions being ‘nefarious and sneaky.’
Environmental Justice
• BY PATRICK RILEY | Decades in making, Pajaro River levee project might finally right an environmental injustice, officials say: For more than half a century, the communities of Watsonville and Pajaro have lived in the shadow of a levee system that can’t protect them from devastating floods. Now, a proposed $400 million federal project to improve the system is finally taking crucial steps that could lead to righting that longstanding inequity, officials say.
Homelessness
• BY ISABELLA CUETO AND PATRICK RILEY | With ‘no relief in sight,’ Santa Cruz leaders seek Newsom’s help on homelessness amid Highway 1 snafu: As a major CalTrans construction project that would displace 100 unhoused people looms, city and county leaders are writing Gov. Gavin Newsom, urging him to free up state money — or even use of the National Guard — in the clearing of the large encampment near Highways 1 and 9.
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ABOUT LOOKOUT’S FIRST FIRST AMENDMENT COALITION CONDUIT: Supporting Lookout’s work from the First Amendment Coalition is attorney Monica Price.
Monica Price joined the First Amendment Coalition in 2021. She is excited to contributed to FAC’s efforts to promote government transparency and First Amendment freedoms. Monica has a B.A. in Cognitive Science and Political Science from UC Berkeley and earned her J.D. from the UC Hastings College of the Law.
During law school, she served as a judicial extern for Justice Goodwin Liu of the California Supreme Court and was president of the UC Hastings American Constitution Society. She also interned with the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Complex and Affirmative Litigation Division at the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office. Monica’s research interests include police accountability, civil liberties and internet access. She is a member of the California Bar.