The final round of fundraising and expenditure reports for Santa Cruz County candidates were due late Thursday. Lookout dug in to see what stories they told. Here’s what we found.
Downtown Santa Cruz library/affordable housing project
Posted inEndorsements
A Lookout View: Vote no on Measure O
Lookout Endorsement: If we want a vibrant farmers market, more affordable housing, a jewel of a new main branch library — and the ability to chart the future of downtown Santa Cruz step by step, with a free and open public process — we urge a no vote on Measure O. We think it will limit and restrict us too much today and tomorrow.
Posted inFood & Drink
Could the downtown Santa Cruz library and the farmers market swap places?
If Measure O is defeated and the library/mixed-use project goes forward on Lot 4, then the downtown Santa Cruz farmers market’s permanent home could be part of a larger plaza project on the old library block. It’s not a new idea, but one some might have missed amid all the questions of downtown development.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Vote yes on O to renovate our library where it is and stop the city’s misguided project
Measure O allows us to fully renovate our library at our civic core and dedicate eight publicly owned lots in downtown Santa Cruz to affordable housing, members of Our Downtown, Our Future write. It also secures the best permanent home for the farmers market and prevents debt for a new, environmentally regressive parking garage data shows we don’t even need. Most important, they say, it stops the City of Santa Cruz’s misguided plan to build a new library and parking garage downtown.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Measure O deserves a no; it’s deceptive and will destroy our best shot at a dynamic new library and housing downtown
Measure O is deceptive and its proponents have peddled in untruths to gain community support, write Janis O’Driscoll, Edward Estrada and Matt Farrell. They laud the City of Santa Cruz’s new library/housing project and insist Measure O, if passed, would torpedo the community’s chance to get a cutting-edge library and 124 affordable housing units in the heart of downtown. They unpack what they consider Measure O’s untruths here and explain why no is the best vote.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Lookout forum: Tracking what was said for and against Measure N and Measure O
The second of three Lookout election forums brought together those on both sides of two key ballot measures facing voters in the city of Santa Cruz. Max Chun and Christopher Neely break out key moments of Monday’s debate, moderated by Wallace Baine, with video from Kevin Painchaud.
Posted inEvents, Politics & Policy
A lot of disagreement: Measure O galvanizes competing visions of downtown Santa Cruz
Lot 4 could become one of the most significant downtown Santa Cruz construction projects since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, with a new main branch public library, 120 units of affordable housing and a three-level parking garage. But if Measure O proponents win at the polls, the current library will be renovated and plans will begin for a new parklike space. No matter which way the vote falls, it’s nearly certain that downtown Santa Cruz will get a new library and that the farmers market will continue to operate. The big questions are when and where.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Downtown farmers market’s move provides challenge to Measure O’s campaign
The 32-year-old downtown Santa Cruz market is almost ready to move to a new “permanent,” city-owned location a block and a half away from its current digs. Its new home offers a wider vision of the market anchoring a new community center — but seems to fly in the face of one of the arguments of Measure O proponents. How will the move — and its politics — play out?
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Stick to Santa Cruz’s downtown library and affordable housing plans: Don’t fall for ODOF’s two big mistakes
The future of a visionary downtown Santa Cruz project to deliver 124 units of affordable housing, a modern library and a childcare center is threatened by a misguided ballot measure built on falsehoods and half-truths. Three experts push back on arguments made by Our Downtown Our Future leaders, including Rick Longinotti.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Santa Cruz’s parking garage mistake: It would undermine library project, make affordable housing harder
Santa Cruz voters delivered a historic “no” vote on Measure F last month. Rick Longinotti attributes this to mistrust in city government. Longinotti believes city staff buried a consultant’s downtown parking strategic plan to win city council support for a new parking garage to be constructed along with a new downtown library.