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.
rail trail opinion
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.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: Let’s get more info on rail trail before we commit
In a letter to the editor, a Santa Cruz resident outlines where he believes many county voters stand on developing light rail.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Supervisors’ deadlock on rail trail shows Measure D fight is not over: I urge action to get needed state funding
Lookout politics columnist Mike Rotkin, who sits on the Regional Transportation Commission board, says the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors’ split on advancing two segments of the rail trail in Mid-County is a lose-lose for the county. He sees it as a stunning disregard of the June 2022 Measure D vote and urges the community to let the two supervisors (Manu Koenig and Bruce McPherson) who voted against advancing the segments hear their frustration.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: The rail trail is popular – let’s not listen to the complainers
In a letter to the editor, a Lookout reader urges the building of a bike and pedestrian trail alongside the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: Stop building the interim trail in Capitola – we voted for the ultimate trail
Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here. In his Sentinel commentary, “A response on Ultimate Trail encroachments,” Jim Weller writes, “The ultimate rail-and-trail option is definitely preferred among elected officials and policymakers.” He leaves out in his own municipality of Capitola, they are not building the […]