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.
Politics
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Q&A: State Sen. John Laird on Pajaro levee, affordable housing crisis and California’s budget deficit
State Sen. John Laird announced last week that he plans to seek reelection in 2024. A second four-year term in the California Senate would put Laird at the end of his term limits, marking the finale of his time as an elected state legislator. Laird, who turns 73 this month, agreed to hop on the phone for a Q&A a day after announcing his plans to seek one more term in Sacramento.
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 inPolitics & Policy
Through the grapevine: Potential Santa Cruz County supervisor vacancies stir political intrigue for 2024
November 2024 is still a ways out, but a list of names of potential candidates among the three supervisor seats up for election in Santa Cruz County has already begun to emerge.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Fate of Santa Cruz’s library mixed-use project to be tested at new-look planning commission Thursday
The project at the center of ballot proposition Measure O in Santa Cruz’s November election awaits a recommendation from the city’s planning commission and a possible final approval by the city council on March 14.
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.
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Sen. Feinstein makes it official: She will retire at the end of her current term
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 89, California’s longest-serving U.S. senator, announces she will not run for reelection at the end of her term in 2024.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Family business: Meet the Legacy Caucus in the California Legislature
One in 10 state lawmakers is related by blood or marriage to other legislators past and present. How do spouses, siblings and children get into politics, and what does it mean for lawmaking?
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In State of the Union speech, a feisty Biden battles hecklers and calls for bipartisanship
President Joe Biden will try to convince Americans that the state of the union is strong as he eyes a 2024 reelection campaign.
Posted inLatest News
Three reasons Californians won’t want to miss Biden’s State of the Union
While most Americans who tune in will be focused on President Joe Biden’s remarks, Californians may have a few extra things to look for.