In Lookout’s first candidate forum of the 2024 election season, those who would represent South County and the Santa Cruz Mountains discussed road maintenance, climate change response, improved mental health facilities and cutting red tape to speed recovery from 2020’s CZU fire. The primary election is set for March 5.
Election 2024
Posted inPolitics & Policy
What you need to know from the high-stakes U.S. Senate debate
The four leading candidates for Dianne Feinstein’s former U.S. Senate seat faced off for the first time Monday. Democrats Barbara Lee, Katie Porter and Adam Schiff clashed over earmarks and the Gaza war, then ganged up on Republican Steve Garvey over his support for former President Donald Trump. But will the debate change the dynamics of the race before the March 5 primary?
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Lookout’s primary election forums series kicks off Monday with District 2 and 5 County Supervisor candidates
For the March primary cycle, Lookout will be hosting candidate forums for a number of elections. On Monday, we welcome the candidates seeking the District 2 and District 5 Santa Cruz County supervisor seats.
Posted inInside Lookout
Meet the candidates: Lookout’s primary election forums are here
Lookout is hosting three candidate forums, on Jan. 22, Feb. 5 and Feb. 8, focusing on county and city races along with Measure M. The forums are free and each will run from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Hotel Paradox.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Measure M will make housing affordability in Santa Cruz worse
Economist Richard McGahey, who has held federal, state and local leadership roles and is regarded as a national expert on urban and regional economic development, is against March ballot Measure M. The part-time Santa Cruz resident says Measure M will mean less affordable housing for Santa Cruz and less housing justice for the community. Research, he says, proves his point. It shows that voters who show up for votes outside of regular election cycles are “whiter — and wealthier — than their communities as a whole. And they tend to oppose housing development, perhaps in part to protect their existing house values.”
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Propaganda or propaganda? Yet another response to Santa Cruz’s dangerous and senseless ballot Measure M
“If you run around crying ‘fire’ through the neighborhood after the fire department has already put out the fire, you are probably unnecessarily scaring people. One might even call that a ‘scare tactic,’” Don Lane writes in his latest piece decrying the upcoming Santa Cruz ballot initiative Measure M and refuting its chief proponent, Frank Barron, a retired environmental planner.
Posted inHealth & Wellness
Watsonville Community Hospital looks to stabilize finances with plans for $116M bond
Since the Pajaro Valley Health Care District took ownership of Watsonville Community Hospital in September 2022, it has significantly reduced losses. New CEO Stephen Gray says adding new services, upgrading equipment and $116 million from a potential bond will continue pushing the hospital onto a sustainable path.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Don’t fall for propaganda: Measure M gives the public a direct voice in the future form of Santa Cruz
Frank Barron, a retired urban planner and a critical voice in the Measure M ballot initiative, again refutes attacks. Specifically, he pushes back against former Santa Cruz mayor Don Lane’s recent Lookout opinion piece outlining why Measure M is a bad idea. Barron insists that Lane has the facts wrong. Already, this is heating up to be a big election topic.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
License plate readers, primary endorsements, Felton pump track among final local political votes of 2023
Last week, local governments took some big votes they had pushed off to the final meetings of the year, a state agency made an unprecedented decision in a decades-old Santa Cruz County controversy, and the county’s Democratic machine picked the people and measures it wants to see succeed in the March 5 primary.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Who’s telling an accurate story on Santa Cruz’s Measure M?
Measure M, the March ballot initiative on building height in the city of Santa Cruz, is already causing much debate. Don Lane, who is against the initiative, here refutes a recent Lookout piece by Measure M supporter Frank Barron. “The difference between Mr. Barron’s commentary and ours is that ours is based on verifiable facts and his is based on declarations not grounded in facts,” Lane writes. Voters will decide the ballot initiative’s fate on March 5.