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.
Election 2024
Posted inK-12 Education
Live Oak School District, seniors services clash over ‘illegal’ requirement to support teacher housing bond
Negotiations between Live Oak School District and two local seniors organizations renting a district-owned property have hit a roadblock over the district’s requirement that the organizations publicly endorse a bond measure for teacher housing as part of the lease agreement. Community Bridges, which runs Meals on Wheels out of the building, has called the demand illegal and a violation of the California Education Code. The district says the requirement is a response to comments by Community Bridges staff that they would campaign against the bond unless the district agreed to the organization’s lease terms.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
In the Public Interest: In first Assembly session, Pellerin picks fight with Northern California conservatives
Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, a former Santa Cruz County clerk, ended the legislative session with 10 of her bills signed into law. Of those, six focused on voting. One bill, AB 969, takes direct aim at a controversy over a Shasta County plan to hand-count ballots in an upcoming special election.
Posted inK-12 Education
Survey shows majority of PVUSD voters would support bond measure
Pajaro Valley Unified School District board members are considering whether to pursue a bond measure on the November 2024 ballot to fund repairs to schools and classrooms and potentially build staff housing. A survey shows they likely have the support they need.
Posted inHousing & Development
Inside Santa Cruz’s ambitious downtown expansion plans: 12-story towers and a new multipurpose Warriors arena
A new arena for the Santa Cruz Warriors. Lots of new housing in tall buildings. Street reconfiguration. These factors are all in play as Santa Cruz officials prepare to update the public on where things stand with the neighborhood south of Laurel Street downtown — and a ballot measure governing building heights and affordability could yet change the calculus.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Petition to cap Santa Cruz building height has enough signatures to qualify for March ballot, organizers say
Organizers of a petition to give voters the power to approve tall buildings in the city of Santa Cruz say they have gathered enough signatures to place a measure on the March primary ballot. The initiative from the group known as Housing for People would require voter approval for proposed new developments that exceed current zoning limits and would enforce affordable housing requirements in large multi-family projects. The initiative comes in response to a downtown expansion plan that sparked controversy with its proposal for 12-story buildings.
Posted inWatsonville / Pajaro
New CEO Gray says he plans to make Watsonville Community Hospital ‘one of the best in the country’
Watsonville Community Hospital’s new CEO, Stephen Gray, says he aims to transform the facility into one of the nation’s top health care institutions. Gray, who takes over Nov. 1, said Thursday that he plans to address the hospital’s financial struggles and prioritize the happiness of staff and patients. He believes the hospital has the potential to make a significant impact on the health outcomes of the surrounding communities, which rank among the least-healthy populations in the country.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
District 1 county supervisor race raises specter of Measure D’s battle over Coastal Rail Trail
The 2024 elections are more than a year away, but the race for District 1 Santa Cruz County supervisor is already heating up. Incumbent Manu Koenig and challenger Lani Faulkner both accuse the other of being single-issue candidates. That single issue? The long-envisioned coastal passenger rail line connecting Davenport and Watsonville, known as the Coastal Rail Trail project.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Anti-density stances are bad for Santa Cruz — so are ballot initiatives on building heights
Economist Richard McGahey responds to Housing for People activist Susan Monheit’s Sept. 15 Lookout piece. The two have been engaged in a lively public debate about changes to downtown Santa Cruz and the usefulness of a ballot initiative on tall buildings Housing for People is trying to get on the March ballot. McGahey, whose 2023 book on inequitable cities was nominated for a National Book Award, is against the initiative. “Not only do we voters not know enough, but such voting actually is anti-democratic, favoring wealthier people and homeowners,” he says.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Santa Cruz city leaders look to sales tax measure to fund homeless services as state grant set to run out
The Homelessness Response Action Plan has been the City of Santa Cruz’s working policy document on homelessness since March 2022, and has guided its approach to connecting people on the street with services, shelter and permanent housing. However, the plan was largely shaped around a $14 million state grant that will run out next July, leaving funding for one of the region’s more successful homelessness strategies in question just as its momentum is beginning to build.
