The city of Santa Cruz has been known for its “weak mayor” system for years. Now that a major overhaul of local governance is in order come November with district-by-district representation, some suggest there has never been more of a need for strong leadership from the mayor’s seat. While a vote to create a more nuanced role for a four-year mayor in June still won’t result in what cities call a “strong mayor” system, local political veterans hope it will elicit the type of strong leader needed for the difficult road ahead.
Election 2022
Posted inPolitics & Policy
‘New voices, new perspectives’: What will a board of supervisors shake-up in the June election bring?
With now two open seats, diversity and change overall are in the air. How much change, led by whom and to what kinds of new spending and policy priorities, will be key questions to follow as both races heat up. It was just last week the second open seat appeared, as South County District 4 Supervisor Greg Caput surprised many by saying he wouldn’t run for reelection after 12 years in the job.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
Ballot measures on hotel, single-use cup taxes headed to June ballot
The What: On Tuesday, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to place two measures — a hotel tax increase and a single-use cup and bag tax — on the June 7 ballot. The So What: The two measures would bring in an additional $2.4 million annually to be used in unincorporated county […]
Posted inCoast Life
Santa Cruz City Council urges rejection of plans to stop freight service in county
Regional Transportation Commission officials have floated an idea to foreclose freight on the Santa Cruz and Felton lines to potentially make commuter rail more financially viable. Roaring Camp, however, says the RTC has promised to keep the lines open for freight, and not doing so could hurt its business. Though it would have no formal impact, the Santa Cruz City Council sided with Roaring Camp Tuesday.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
How Santa Cruz’s rail-trail debate created a standoff with Roaring Camp
A Feb. 3 meeting of the Santa Cruz Regional Transportation Commission is likely to be heated. Why? Commissioners are slated to discuss foreclosing the Felton line for freight trains — which the line hasn’t been used for in years — as a way of moving a rail-trail plan forward. But the owners of the line, Roaring Camp Railroads, are against this idea and are rallying supporters to stop it.
Posted inLatest News
What’s railbanking, and why are Santa Cruz transit experts discussing it?
The Santa Cruz Regional Transportation Commission’s meeting Feb. 3 will include an informational agenda item dealing with “railbanking” and “adverse abandonment” of the Felton Line. What do these terms mean and how will they affect the future of transit and trails in the county?
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Race for District 3 Supervisor heats up as Cummings joins Kalantari-Johnson in announcing candidacy
After Ryan Coonerty announced he will step back from the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors in 2022, the race is on for the Third District seat he’s held since 2014. Two current Santa Cruz city councilmembers, Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson and Justin Cummings, have announced their intent to run for the position; here’s what each plans to bring to the role.