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.
March 5 primary 2024
Coverage of the March 5, 2024, primary election.
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.
Posted inHousing & Development
Santa Cruz plans high-rise living as a fix for sky-high housing costs — and meets opposition
The high-rise push has spawned a backlash, exposing sharp divisions over growth and underscoring the complexities, even in a city known for its progressive politics, of trying to keep desirable communities affordable for the teachers, waiters, firefighters and store clerks who provide the bulk of services.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors backs sales tax ballot measure, parking ban near Henry Cowell
The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to place the question of a sales tax rate increase on the March 5 primary ballot. The proposal would increase the county’s sales tax by a half-cent to 9.5%, funds local leaders say they need to address weather-related infrastructure issues and to pay salaries that reflect the escalating cost of living. Supervisors also proposed a parking ban on Highway 9 near Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
County says sales tax increase crucial to funding services
Voters in March could decide on whether to increase Santa Cruz County’s sales tax rate by a half-cent to 9.5% if the board of supervisors approves including the question on the March 5 primary ballot. The increase could bring in $10 million annually to a county struggling financially.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Let’s not fall for falsehoods: This is what the Housing for People initiative does and doesn’t do
The Housing for People initiative on downtown building will appear on the March ballot in the city of Santa Cruz. Between now and then, voters will need to decide where they stand. Here, retired city planner and Housing for People member Frank Barron pushes back on a Nov. 30 Lookout opinion piece critical of the initiative. The criticism, Barron says, is “full of inaccuracies.”
Posted inHealth & Wellness
Board approves putting Watsonville Community Hospital bond measure on ballot
Pajaro Valley Health Care District governing board members unanimously voted to place a $116 million bond measure on the March 5 ballot. A recent survey showed the district could likely receive enough votes to approve the measure.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Here’s what they don’t tell you about the Housing for People ballot initiative
“Not a single leading affordable housing group in our area has indicated support for this initiative,” write longtime Santa Cruz housing advocates Diana Alfaro, Don Lane and Elizabeth Madrigal. “To put it bluntly, the Housing for People name is just a political deception – especially egregious at a time when we need genuine affordable housing efforts.