Quick Take
The Watsonville City Council held the second in a series of community forums Saturday looking for solutions to a significant increase in homelessness. Earlier this year, an annual point-in-time count found more people experiencing homelessness in Watsonville than the city of Santa Cruz, which has significantly more shelter beds and services devoted to the issue.
Watsonville residents, city staff and councilmembers joined forces Saturday morning to brainstorm solutions to address the city’s homelessness issue. This was the second community workshop regarding homelessness; the first happened earlier this year.
“We’re here to really think critically, work together and try to solve this issue in our community,” said City Manager Tamara Vides. “We can’t solve it for all of California, but we can work together to make our community a little bit better for everyone.”
The population of homeless people in Watsonville increased by 60% in 2024 and exceeded the number of homeless people counted in the city of Santa Cruz for the first time in recent memory, according to the county’s most recent point in time count. Santa Cruz County officials have pointed out that there is a lack of resources for the unhoused in South County and outlined plans to provide more services, such as setting aside $500,000 for a homelessness prevention program.
Despite concerns raised by the city council, Watsonville city officials recently approved a zoning application submitted by Monterey and Santa Cruz counties for the 34-bed “tiny village” project, which has been appealed by a neighbor. Under state law aimed at increasing the supply of affordable housing, project can proceed as planned on the Westview Presbyterian Church property, city officials have said, without much flexibility by the council to block it or require special conditions that go beyond zoning regulations.
While Watsonville does not have a formal city committee dedicated to addressing homelessness, officials are turning to community members to guide them with their ideas to address the issue.
During the first community workshop on the issue in March, residents and city officials identified four areas of focus: housing, services and resources, prevention, and management and enforcement, said Vides.
Building an action plan was the main focus of the second workshop. Vides asked attendees to think about actions the city could take to address homelessness and encouraged them to bring their different perspectives to the table.
“And when I say ‘we,’ I’m not speaking about the city, but I’m speaking about the collective ‘we’ that is in this room,” said Vides.
Community members were asked to answer the following questions in breakout groups: What can we do differently? What can we do if we don’t have additional funding available? What can we do if we have additional funding? The three questions were applied to each of the areas identified in the first workshop.
Residents proposed rent-control ordinances, more job-training programs and expanding the number of services available to the unhoused. As a whole, community members agreed that while prevention is effective and cheaper, without additional funding, not much can be done.
Paz Padilla, programs and impact director at the nonprofit Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County, said she felt there was a lot of collaboration among people with different perspectives and identities during the session. She’s hopeful that something positive will come from it, as long as community members, the city, county and state are able to work together.
“I think everybody was open, and it was a safe space for people to come in and just write and start talking,” said Padilla.
Don Lipoma, a volunteer for the Salvation Army in Watsonville, said he thinks the city council is finally getting the idea that in order to get funding for homelessness resources, it needs to have a plan. In each of the breakout sessions, Lipoma’s group found that many of the ideas they proposed could not be done without funding.
And collaboration is key. Homelessness is a multifaceted issue that takes a lot of effort, community support and an overall “all hands on deck” undertaking, said Mayor Vanessa Quiroz-Carter.
For the Record: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that the Watsonville Planning Commission had approved Santa Cruz and Monterey counties’ application for a “tiny village” development for the homeless. City officials have approved the project, which has not yet gone before the planning commission. A neighbor has appealed. The story also incorrectly referred to Paz Padilla as executive director of the nonprofit Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County. She is the organization’s director of programs and impact.
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