In her weekly roundup of news and notes from the Santa Cruz County business community, Jessica M. Pasko checks in on the progress of converting pandemic-era parklets to permanent structures in Santa Cruz, state funding for education and workforce opportunities, numbers to know and more.
Civic Life
Posted inEducation
Cabrillo College governing board censures trustee Steve Trujillo after offensive social media posts
In a 6-1 vote Monday, with Steve Trujillo as the lone dissent, Cabrillo College trustees registered their disapproval of Trujillo’s Facebook posts and found that the posts violated policy; Trujillo reiterated his defense that the account had been hacked. The formal censure also prohibits Trujillo from serving as an officer of the board for three years.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Can we please check our slogans and ‘insist on complete respect toward both Palestinians and Jewish Israelis’?
Local teacher and self-declared lefty Michael Levy is troubled by responses he is seeing across the world and in Santa Cruz in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war. On Halloween, in downtown Santa Cruz, he felt a “gut punch” when he saw one of his lefty friends joining in with a controversial Palestinian slogan. As a Jew, he felt offended and angry and wanted to “smack him.” He decided to unpack his anger with research. Here, he makes a plea for others to do the same.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Sheriff Jim Hart makes decision on District 5 county supervisor race
What Santa Cruz County Sheriff Jim Hart might do was a big unknown in the race to replace the retiring Bruce McPherson in District 5, which stretches from north of the city of Santa Cruz to the Santa Clara County line. Nonprofit CEO Monica Martinez announced Oct. 30 that Hart had endorsed her candidacy, giving her a boost in a three-person field that also includes Christopher Bradford and Theresa Bond.
Posted inWatsonville / Pajaro
Against the odds, Watsonville Community Hospital survived bankruptcy. Will it survive the next few years?
While Watsonville Community Hospital recently celebrated a year since its rescue from bankruptcy, it continues to face enormous challenges. Hailed as a success story in how to save a distressed California hospital from closure, the hospital’s leaders point to the changes they are making to keep the doors open. But the hospital’s financial woes still loom large.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
‘Zoom bombing’ tests the boundaries of free speech and access in local government meetings
Recent city council meetings in Capitola and Watsonville have been disrupted by remote participants using vulgar, often racist or antisemitic language. The issue has thrust local officials onto a wobbly tightrope where they will need to balance First Amendment rights with a desire to shield public meetings from hate speech.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
I am the first male, openly trans person elected to public office in our state; this is my coming-out story
Nov. 13-19 is national Transgender Awareness Week, and in a Community Voices opinion piece, Adam Spickler, a Cabrillo College trustee and one of only four openly transgender people to hold elected office in all of California, shares their coming-out story. Adam wishes when they were growing up in the 1980s and 1990s that they had transgender role models.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Porter and Schiff polling neck and neck in California Senate race, in lead for a runoff
As others struggle for traction in the race for Dianne Feinstein’s seat, it appears to be shaping up as a two-person contest, with Reps. Adam Schiff and Katie Porter likely to face off in the fall.
Posted inUncategorized
Court-appointed receiver pledges stability for troubled Big Basin Water Co. after potential buyer backs out
Big Basin Water Company, a private utility in Boulder Creek, had been plagued by problems for years before a prospective new owner abruptly backed out of a deal to purchase the company late last month. Big Basin’s court-appointed receiver told a packed community meeting Thursday that it is working to provide consistent drinking water, secure funding for essential repairs and find a potential buyer for the troubled utility.
Posted inEducation
Cabrillo College probe recommends against censuring trustee Steve Trujillo over offensive Facebook posts
A Cabrillo College committee investigating complaints of inappropriate and offensive language on trustee Steve Trujillo’s Facebook found that the posts do exist on his page, but could not verify Trujillo’s claim that his account had been hacked. The governing board will decide Monday whether Trujillo violated the school’s code of ethics, but said policies that would allow the board to censure a trustee over social media posts didn’t exist until recently.