Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here. Santa Crua County is in the process of designing, funding and building a “main trail” spanning the county south to north as part of the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail. From time to time, the route of this […]
rail trail opinion
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: Koenig and McPherson say they support rail, but vote against it
In a letter to the editor, a Santa Cruz reader takes County Supervisors Manu Koenig and Bruce McPherson to task for, as she sees it, saying they support rail transportation in Santa Cruz County and then voting against it.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
RTC needs to answer hard questions about rail trail
The Regional Transportation Commission has not done its job on the rail-trail debate, writes local activist Jack Brown. Here, he offers 12 questions he believes commissioners have failed to answer. Brown supported Measure D, the 2022 Greenway ballot initiative calling for a trail-only option. He says Santa Cruz County has lost too much time and money on a flawed idea.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Board of supervisors has what it needs to move rail-trail project forward
The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors needs to vote Tuesday to move forward with the coastal rail-trail project, writes Matt Farrell, board chair of Santa Cruz County Friends of the Rail and Trail. If not, our community won’t meet the state’s requirements to receive nearly $68 million in state grant funding, he says. Two supervisors, Manu Koenig and Bruce McPherson, voted no on the most recent round.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Manu Koenig: The rail trail is not dead or seriously threatened; we just have to be careful how we manage our scarce resources
District 1 Santa Cruz County Supervisor Manu Koenig responds to those critical of his March 26 board of supervisors vote on the rail trail. He writes that the supervisors just want more time to get information on the best way to move forward and that state grants are not threatened. Elected officials, he insists, must be wary of costs and managing scarce resources.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Election denial is not happening just among Trump supporters: We are seeing it in Santa Cruz County on rail trail
Lookout politics columnist Mike Rotkin is tired of hearing people make excuses for the June 2022 defeat of Measure D. It’s the “issue that won’t die,” he says. But he insists the facts are clear: Santa Cruz County voters do not want to tear up the train tracks in the corridor owned by the Regional Transportation Commission. They want a permanent trail with a future train running next to it.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Manu Koenig is not in touch with voters and is delaying progress on the rail-trail project
Retired software engineer Peter Gibson says District 1 Supervisor Manu Koenig is out of touch with voters and is hampering progress on the rail-trail project. He says Koenig, who supported Greenway’s 2022 Measure D trail-only option and who won reelection on March 5, is not honoring the will of the people, and he questions whether Koenig should remain in office.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: Let’s get the facts right on rail-trail issues
In a letter to the editor, a Soquel resident takes issues with a previous reader letter about Santa Cruz County’s rail-trail debate.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Supervisors McPherson and Koenig are wildly out of step with community on rail trail; they need to listen to voters
Matt Farrell, board chair for Santa Cruz County Friends of the Rail & Trail, takes a pair of county supervisors to task for voting against a staff recommendation to approve next steps for two segments of the Coastal Rail Trail. “In multiple elections and over several years,” he writes, “voters in Santa Cruz County have been crystal clear about their support for both a trail today and rail in the future.”
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: Rotkin needs to get his facts right on rail trail
In a letter to the editor, a Live Oak resident takes issue with a recent opinion piece by Lookout politics columnist Mike Rotkin.
