In this installment of In the Public Interest, Lookout politics and policy correspondent Christopher Neely examines what changes might be ahead in how the City of Santa Cruz handles Food Not Bombs’ gatherings and the long-debated issue of oversized vehicles parking on city streets.
Government
Posted inPolitics & Policy
County supervisors appoint Schiffrin to temporary planning commission post, pass child transport ordinance
Santa Cruz County supervisors voted to appoint Andy Schiffrin temporarily to the county planning commission after previously blocking Justin Cummings’ planning commission nominee. Supervisors also unanimously approved an ordinance to prohibit the use of force in the transport of children. The ordinance comes in the wake of public outcry against the violent removal of two Santa Cruz children from their family home for court-ordered reunification with their mother.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Santa Cruz’s downtown library mixed-use project gets final green light from city council
The long-debated downtown library mixed-use project got its day in front of the Santa Cruz City Council and will move forward following overwhelming support from the dais.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
In the Public Interest: Supervisors’ showdown over planning commission headed for Round 2
In the first installment of In the Public Interest, a new weekly newsletter from Lookout politics and policy correspondent Christopher Neely, get an inside look at Manu Koenig’s self-nomination for the powerful California Coastal Commission, a seemingly unprecedented rejection by Koenig, Bruce McPherson and Zach Friend of fellow supervisor Justin Cummings’ nomination of Andy Schiffrin to the county planning commission and much more.
Posted inK-12 Education
Watsonville allows Ceiba College Prep to stay in current site after hundreds pack 6-hour city council meeting
Ceiba College Preparatory Academy will be allowed to stay in its Locust Street location after the Watsonville City Council narrowly approved a staff recommendation to rezone the area from industrial to institutional, granting Ceiba a special-use permit with some conditions.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Coastal Commission nominations: Santa Cruz County adds supervisors Cummings and Koenig to final list
Following the revelation that Santa Cruz County’s original nominations to the California Coastal Commission were made behind closed doors without public involvement, a full do-over was in order, resulting in an almost entirely new list of nominees. Capitola City Councilmember Yvette Brooks is also on the slate headed to California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, who has a month to decide among nominees from Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Mateo counties.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
This reservoir on the Sacramento River has been planned for decades. What’s taking so long?
The Sites Reservoir — a $4.4 billion project to add dams and store more water that’ll be sent south — is still years away from completion. The final environmental report is expected this year, before construction of two large dams and other structures can begin.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Santa Cruz County officials pledge changes, advance only one Coastal Commission nomination in illegal meeting redo
By convening private meetings to make appointments and nominations to influential state and regional boards, a committee of Santa Cruz County mayors, accompanied by city and county government executives, was found to have been violating state law for more than 20 years. In its first public meeting in at least decades, the City Selection Committee accepted blame and apologized to the public.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
‘It’s a mess’: Attempt at illegal Coastal Commission nominations shows decades of state law violations by Santa Cruz County
In what has been called an “significant betrayal of the public trust,” Santa Cruz County has been convening private meetings of mayors, accompanied by city and county executives, to vote on appointments to regional public agencies. The group’s Jan. 27 nomination of three officials to serve on the highly influential California Coastal Commission has been invalidated and will now be done in public Tuesday.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
California homelessness: Where are the state’s billions going? Here’s the new, best answer
For the first time, a new state report offers a bird-eye view of how much the state has spent to halt homelessness — nearly $10 billion over three years. Of the half-million Californians who made use of those services, more than 40% ended up housed. Which also means the majority did not, or the state lost track of their whereabouts.