Lookout columnist Claudia Sternbach has been spending time bobbing in a Florida pool, thinking about Ye — the artist formerly known as Kanye West — and getting angry. Her aging, widowed mother-in-law, now in her 90s, lives in a mostly Jewish senior community and Sternbach sometimes flies down to visit her. Sternbach is frustrated and appalled by the recent rise of antisemitic rhetoric and worries for our country and for people, including her mother-in-law and her friends, who have faced discrimination their whole lives.
Community Voices
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: I’m happy to be voting no on O — we need housing now, not a dream of it
Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here. To the editor:
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: Why don’t we go back to the managed camp plan for those without homes?
Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here. To the editor:
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
I support Measure O’s long game: Keeping downtown city-owned lots for affordable housing
Josh Brahinsky is a friend and UC Santa Cruz colleague of Lookout columnist and former Santa Cruz mayor Mike Rotkin. He supports Measure O, while Rotkin opposes it. In this Community Voices op-ed, Brahinsky explains his decision and focuses on our community’s dire need for affordable housing.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Our mostly white and wealthy community should stop patting its own back for its ‘diversity’ and ‘liberalism’
Ami Chen Mills and Lynda Marín disagree with Lookout’s endorsements and insist we need more emphasis on diversity. They say the Santa Cruz community needs to do more to elevate progressive voices and openly discuss “issues of class, wealth, poverty and the forces of gentrification that create a homogenous, increasingly wealthy and, therefore, mostly white society.”
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Pajaro Valley Health Care District needs solid, continued leadership of Pimentel and Nájera
The fledgling Pajaro Valley Health Care District — cobbled together to protect the bankrupt Watsonville Community Hospital from closing — still has a momentous task ahead to reach stability for our community and its staff. A group of 10 well-respected public service professionals argue for the election of two current health care board representatives. Marcus Pimentel and Jasmine Nájera, both appointed by the board of supervisors to the jobs last year, are pivotal to the district’s future success, they write.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Vote yes on Measure N: The tax probably won’t apply to you, but the benefits will
Housing is a fundamental human right, writes UC Santa Cruz student and union organizer Joe Thompson. Measure N takes a bite out of the whale that is the affordable housing crisis.
Posted inEndorsements
A Lookout View: Vote Dawn Addis for Assembly District 30
Lookout Endorsement: Dawn Addis has a tough task ahead of her, representing one of the most diverse geographic Assembly districts in California. While Santa Cruz County represents just 20% of it, we believe that Addis is clearly our best shot at strong representation. She has committed to continuing to spend time in Santa Cruz County and to having an open-door policy, while her opponent is far out of step with local issues and views.
Posted inEndorsements
A Lookout View: Vote Renée Golder for Santa Cruz City Council
Lookout Endorsement: How well is Santa Cruz’s new system of districted council seats working? As we assess the first set of candidates, it’s problematic. We need experienced representatives with knowledge of how things work. In District 6, we endorse Renée Golder. Unfortunately, in District 4, we’re unable to recommend any of the candidates.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Downtown businesspeople oppose Measure O with unanimous vote of Downtown Association board
After a unanimous vote against Measure O by the governing board of the Downtown Association of Santa Cruz, business owner Zach Davis explains his and others’ opposition to the ballot proposition before voters in the city of Santa Cruz centered around the mixed-use library project.
