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Special election note:
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Special election note:
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Tim Fitzmaurice |
Don Lane |
Katherine Beiers |
Chris Krohn |
Renée Golder  |
| Occupation | University, Prison Teacher | Charitable Foundation Manager | Retired Librarian | Santa Cruz City Councilmember Internship Director, Dept. of Environmental Studies |
Elementary School Teacher, Santa Cruz City Schools |
| Build Library w/Garage The city is proposing building a new downtown library in conjunction with a public parking garage. Should the city build a library in conjunction with the parking lot? |
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| Endorsements Organizations that endorse the candidate * = unverified |
Details | Details | Santa Cruz for Bernie | Click here to see list | Democratic Women’s Club Santa Cruz Firefighters Local 1716 Santa Cruz Police Officers' Association Kevin Vogel: Former Chief of Police, Santa Cruz Hilary Bryant: Former Mayor David Terrazas: Former Mayor Carol Fuller: DWC president Lynn Robinson: Former Mayor Neal Coonerty : Former Mayor Richelle Noroyan: Former City Council Member Pam Comstock: Former City Council Member Deborah Tracy-Proulx: SCCS School Board Trustee Sheila Coonerty: SCCS School Board Trustee Jim Reed: Former Mayor Scotts Valley & Sam Liccardo's Chief of Staff Santa Cruz Parks and Rec - Commissioners Maggie Merrell Kristina Kincaid Glavis Hollie Locatelli *partial list see website Details |
| Reduce UCSC traffic impact ideas. What can the city do to help reduce traffic impacts from UCSC students, staff and faculty. |
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| Tim Fitzmaurice | Don Lane | Katherine Beiers | Chris Krohn | Renée Golder | |
| Widen Hwy 1 Would you support RTC widening Hwy 1 for 4 miles with auxiliary lanes? |
No, never my priority. | I would like to see how far we can get with "bus on shoulder" first. I would like to drop other highway widening but would only want to do that if we had the concurrence of the leaders and residents of South County. South County commuting workers need to be somewhat satisfied that we are offering them something reasonable-- I don't want this to be just a North County decision. | The RTC has initiated a process to study this possibility. I think we should go through the process, but recognize that highway widening can often “induce” demand, so that congestion is not really eliminated. | No. My experience is that widening does not work. | I have concerns that constraining Highway 1 will put more cars on surface streets directly endangering bicycles and pedestrians. I would need to study the situation more before having a firm opinion on this matter. But this is also a county issue and we would have to consider south county moving forward as well. |
| Build Library w/Garage or Renovate? The city is debating building a new downtown library+parking garage+housing vs. renovating the current library. What do you think? |
I want to keep the library on its current site with crucial functional and aesthetic improvements, but not with car storage. | If we can ensure that the new building has dozens of affordable rental units and that we can dedicate the old library site to even more affordable apartments (probably well over 100), I would prefer the new site. I also believe we'll get a much better library-- and this is the only chance we'll have to get that for quite a while. If the amount of parking in the new building proves to be more than necessary, we can convert flat parking lots to housing sites, too. And I believe there is a good site to relocate the farmers' market... that can have more amenities for the public and the market than our current site -- and is well located downtown. | I favor retaining the Library in its current location, as part of a Civic Center District, including City Hall and the Civic Auditorium, but I also think it is important to see what the Council committee studying the alternatives comes up with. | I would support looking at renovating the library where it is and NOT building a 6-story parking garage, which really represents last century technology. I would also favor looking at making the Farmer's Market permanent where it is and using the space as a Town Commons with regular activities scheduled through Parks and Rec. Dept. The city--the people--own this lot, there are at least 11 heritage trees there, and it has been a community gathering place every Wed. for several years, let's make it permanent. I am opening to hearing all points of view as this will likely come before the city council soon and I want to keep an open mind. | The future of our downtown library is an enormously important topic. As a teacher at Bayview Elementary I know our families benefit from not only the curriculum support in our partnership with the Downtown Library but also as a place for kids to study and as a place for families. I am excited about a new library for our community and I look forward to more public input on this. I am glad to know that there is additional information coming for our community about this important project. |
| Enlarge the police force via budget increase? Would you approve a budget increase for the police department to enlarge the police force? |
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| Keep tracks on rail corridor? Does candidate want to keep tracks on rail corridor to preserve rail option (vs. removing tracks to use for trail only). |
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| How to keep rail trail on track The initial city rail trail project has shrunk to 1.3 miles, and even so, was bid roughly 50% over available budget. How can we move this project forward with the funds available? |
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| Tim Fitzmaurice | Don Lane | Katherine Beiers | Chris Krohn | Renée Golder | |
| Addressing Homelessness How should the city address homelessness issues? |
By creating programs that sustain people and build their commitment to the community. Yes we have to give people shelter, but simple tents will not do. The supporting programs can help them to trust the good faith of the community. Santa Cruz is compassionate, but requires sensible programs for making a difference in the lives of the unhoused. Homelessness includes 8.3% of children of school age in this county. It includes a majority of people who have lived here for decades. To be truly homeless is to be without a genuine identity in the social structure, to be socially invisible, it means to belong nowhere and to have nowhere to return to. People will only be changed or comforted if they are seen as fully human and valuable and the impact on our community will only improve if we treat people as fully human. | More very-low income housing. More "permanent supportive housing" for the most vulnerable and unhealthy people. Quick interventions to prevent people from becoming homeless when they are about to lose housing. More emergency shelter that includes very active supportive services and transition to longer term housing. More active street outreach by social workers and less reliance on police to simply move people around. | The City needs to work closely with both County government and the state to mobilize resources to provide shelter for those who cannot find it now – and to provide treatment for those who have mental health and substance abuse challenges. The basic problem, of course, which is a national and not a local problem, is the vast income inequality prevailing in the United States, and that needs to be addressed at the national level. | What I've learned in almost 8 years on the city council is that this community cares deeply about one another and wants to help solve the homeless crisis. As I stated above, the housing puzzle along with rent control, transitional shelter housing, working with non-profits to build housing, tiny homes, and well-managed transitional encampments are all a part of the solution to homelessness. We also need to fully fund mental health, medical and dental wrap-around services in order to stabilize people as they transition out of homelessness. | The city of Santa Cruz is the county seat and have many services, but that does not mean we can solve all issues on our own. We need to collaborate with the county and other local cities to ensure we get some of the state funding to address homelessness. We need to also address root causes of homelessness including Housing affordability, Mental Health, and drug addiction. We need to think 20-30 years out and address the social emotional needs of our youth by encouraging pro-social activities, discouraging drug use, and providing Mental Health Services in our schools. I would also love to hear the recommendations of the CACH committee who are working really hard to come up with viable short and long term solutions. |
| Measure M: Rent Control Measure M is on the November ballot and proposes to enact rent control within the city of Santa Cruz. If passed, rent and eviction restrictions would apply to certain rental properties. The specific properties included depends on whether the state ballot measure to repeal Costa Hawkins is passed. |
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| Affordable Housing Ideas How should the city address the issue of affordable housing. |
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| Addressing public safety How should our community address public safety issues? |
We need to rely on community oriented policing. We need a city council that listens to community and neighborhood concerns respectfully. People need to trust their government and their police. If they do not, we become literally demoralized. We need to build the trust of the vulnerable people the community. This vulnerability includes everyone, the poor and the wealthy, the housed and unhoused, renter and home owner, the old and young. Most are precarious in this economy. Many are economically challenged. All feel unsafe or victimized at times. How do we do this trust building? By listening first of all to what others see as their needs and believing them, believing in their good intentions, if not their solutions. Safety is about community. If the community is broken, then our safety feels constantly precarious. You cannot take away all vulnerability, but the government and police should be trustworthy and then the community can begin to trust each other as well. | Reducing homelessness and managing our public spaces thoughtfully would be a great starting point. If we have more shelter and designated safe places to sleep, our police and other safety officials could focus more on serious crime and less on managing people sleeping all over town. We also need a greater variety of strategies and treatment options for people with substance addictions. We aren't getting enough people into programs that either treat or manage addiction. | Community-based solutions (not including the deployment of military hardware) is our best strategy. |
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I served on the City's Public Safety Citizen Task Force in 2013, completing a comprehensive approach to improving safety in Santa Cruz. , I have attended the SCPD Citizens Police Academy. Having lived in Live Oak, Seabright, downtown and on the westside, (and I grew up in Bonny Doon) I understand the uniqueness of each neighborhood in town. I have a comprehensive perspective of our city's safety needs and will support best-practices to address safety in our neighborhoods and schools, support our police and fire departments with the resources they need and champion responsive government policy. Everyone deserves to feel secure regardless of socioeconomic status or neighborhood. |
| Inclusionary Housing In January the council voted 4-3 to increase the % of required inclusionary housing. Do you support this? What about in lieu payments? |
I support this affordability requirement as a community benefit. Now the city needs to work with banks and lenders and their often dysfunctional demands for approving loans on properties that include low and very low income tenants. We need, for example, to help them to accept the Section 8 vouchers, so that developers can get loans that include these city affordability requirements. | In general yes. However, I think it was missing incentives and options to make it genuinely financially feasible for builders to meet the 20 percent requirement. If it prevents the affordable units from being built, it isn't really helping. I would have waited till the incentives and options were in place before adopting the requirement. | I STRONGLY support the increase in the inclusionary percentage to 20%. | Yes. It is another piece of the housing puzzle along with rent control, transitional shelter housing, working with non-profits to build housing, tiny homes, and well-managed transitional encampments. Of course, for our houseless community we need mental health, medical and dental wrap-around services to stabilize people as they transition out of homelessness. | The City of Santa Cruz led a community-wide process in 2017, as championed by then-Mayor Cynthia Chase, to identify a number of recommendations to address the housing shortage and cost of housing. I support continuing to identify ways to add more affordable housing and market-rate housing units to our community while continuing to encourage the creation of accessory dwelling units. In the past year, we have also seen a greater effort by the Governor’s Office and Legislature to create new state guidelines that are designed to help local communities come closer to reaching their housing goals. As a member of the CIty Council, I will support efforts by our Planning Department to comply with the new state guidelines while also ensuring the community has a voice in design and other aspects of housing. I hope the 20% will still work for developers who will need to get funding from banks. I like the idea of having affordable units mixed in with market rate units in the same development because it prevents social segregation. |
| Prioritize enforcement of littering/property crime laws? This issue is associated with public safety and homelessness issues, and prioritization of enforcement reflects a candidate's perspective. |
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| Tim Fitzmaurice | Don Lane | Katherine Beiers | Chris Krohn | Renée Golder | |
| Measure H: SC County Housing Bond Authorizes county to issue up to $140,000,000 in general obligation bonds to fund housing for populations such as households <=120 percent of area median income, veterans, seniors, persons with disabilities, persons with mental health disorders, and persons with substance abuse disorders. |
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| Rent Control Position Should Santa Cruz have a rent control ordinance? If so, how should it compare to what Measure M proposed? |
About 40% of people rent in the city, by some counts, maybe more. We need to calm rents and give tenants clear information on their rights. State law will be central to what happens legislatively in the near future. The defeat of the ballot measure and massive money raising against the measure have made new local laws unlikely for the near future. The community has to come to some understanding and agreement about how the city should proceed. We need to have a community conversation on the devastating housing insecurity for elders and young people, and our thinking should include a better understanding of the diverse people who rent property. Not all are large property managers. We need laws that people feel positive about. | I think the new state law protecting renters is reasonable... perhaps a bit less restrictive on rent increases than I would have preferred but okay. I think we should let the state law operate for a little while before considering anything different on the local level. | I think we need to see how the state’s new rent control law works and whether the rent control initiative that qualified for the November statewide ballot passes before contemplating a local rent control ordinance. The City can, though – and should – be proactive on behalf of renters, when landlords don’t follow the law, or when they try to evict tenants unfairly. | Yes. rent control is an important piece in the whole affordable housing scenario. The market cannot be relied upon to create affordable and workforce housing for people living now in Santa Cruz. Funding tenant legal services, support for tenant unions, and a city commission on housing are other ways to protect renters. | Voters defeated Measure M. I think we need to see how the rent control the state just passed pans locally out before making any changes. I'd rather see informing and incentivising landlord to take section 8 vouchers, creation of workforce housing, student housing and working with developers to ensure new housing is available for our current population and our kids as they grow up and may want to still live here. |
| Which other candidates do you support? | (no answer) | (no answer) | (no answer) | (no answer) | (no answer) |
| The Recall Do you support the recall of councilmembers Glover and Krohn? |
I respect people who have been hurt by city council contentiousness, but the recall is not about that. It is not about the council members. The massive funders are not spending so much money because anyone was hurt on the city council. I am against the recall. It is part of a quarter million dollar plus strategy to change this city from a true city to an efficient locale for investment and a get away for Silicon Valley. To become what the recall funders and investors want, the city as an authentic community has to get out of the way. We have to lose our priority for local goals and government. We have to lose what seems to them our obstructive politics and community-minded soul. As "weird" as people think this place is, it is also fragile. It is possible to lose it. People from as near as Cupertino and as far as Arizona are trying to change us. We have to say no to that. No on this recall. | I do not endorse the recall and did not sign the petitions. My personal concern is that a recall might not be the right solution to address the real problems the city council is experiencing. However, I do think the councilmembers have done things that have deeply troubled many in the community - including me. I understand why so many are upset and want change. I don't agree with the notion this is simply about sour grapes for those who didn't like the outcome of the election and that real estate interests are the only ones behind the recall. There are real behavior and "performance of duties" issues that people across the board are concerned about. | I do not support the recalls. Recalls are divisive, and the normal election process is the way local voters should make decisions about future leadership on the Council. | No, I do not support the recall. There are political disagreements on the council, which a healthy functioning council should have from time to time. Regular elections exist to solve political disputes, not recalls. Gary Patton is a Legal Studies Lecturer at UCSC and former 20-year county supervisor and I believe he states it quite well why this recall is "about political power, and nothing else." Patton writes: "In my opinion, voters should vote "NO," and reject the recalls. Despite the claims of recall proponents, I do not actually see this recall as a response to the personal failings of the two members of the Council now facing a recall election. Personal failings there may be, of course, but this recall is not about malfeasance in office. No claims of dishonesty or illegal behavior have ever been advanced as a reason for the recalls. The recalls are not about a city version of “high crimes and misdemeanors.” The charges of misconduct made against the two Council Members now facing recall were found to be without significant substance, after an outside (and very costly) investigation. The way I see it, this recall is about political power, and nothing else. After the last city election, in November 2018, there was an unexpected result. A so‑called “progressive” cohort of Council Members could sometimes muster four votes on the seven-member Council. This was a big change. The City Council hasn’t been progressive for years. The two City Council Members now facing recall have voted, with two others, to reverse pro-development policies that the previous Council endorsed and advanced. That, in my opinion, is the real reason for the recall, and that is why such enormous amounts of money have been contributed by development and business interests to fund the recall effort." Details |
As a mother, a woman and a teacher I always stand up against bullies. I met Susie O'Hara, Assistant To The City Manager in 2013 when I was appointed to the Santa Cruz Public Safety Task Force by then Mayor Bryant. I know her as a compassionate, dedicated, hard working woman of tremendous integrity. At this point- I stand by her and the other women 100%.Details |
| Hwy 1's Future Should highway 1 expansion prioritize more car or transit capacity? Is a dedicated transit lane feasible? |
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| Bike/pedestrian safety? Our cities ranks poorly on biking/pedestrian safety? What should we do? |
Put safety for alternatives before road expansion work, until we get safety right. Bike and pedestrian safety has to be put front and center. It is about lives as well as access. | Keep creating green bike lanes and bike/walking paths separated from cars. Improve sidewalks. Public education on this has been good lately and should continue. | The City can and should continue to invest in physical improvements to provide greater pedestrian and bicycle safety. I also think our schools should educate young people about how to “ride safe” when they use their bikes. Increasing traffic congestion caused by disproportionate University growth and overdevelopment, make these pedestrian and bicycle safety problems worse, and the City Council can do something about that – and should! Moving forward on the trail along the rail line will also improve safety for bike riders. | San Jose has invested greatly in bollards and slowing traffic down in its downtown. I favor protecting cyclists in this way. We can also look at building bike lanes away from heavily congested areas. The greatest barrier to cycling is perhaps not having a clear barrier between vehicle traffic and the bicycle lane. San Francisco just closed Market Street to cars. Can Santa Cruz take such a bold step? | As a mother of two teenagers who’s main source of transportation is a bike this statistic scares me! As a teacher, I’ve always had the “bike smart” and “bike rodeo” presentations in my class and encourage kids to bike safely. I do support making streets as safe as possible and would be open to community and staff input on how to best proceed. |
| Tim Fitzmaurice | Don Lane | Katherine Beiers | Chris Krohn | Renée Golder | |
| Climate Change What does the City need to do to address climate change? |
Addressing the climate crisis begins in our backyard. We must begin with ecology, how we live everyday, the ecology of our everyday life. That is the root of hope and optimism. Then we can work with the larger challenge, one that is consequential for a seaside town. We do this with responsible and sustainable power use, a local area power company, not PG&E. Until we can take charge, until that autonomy is possible, we can force our power company to be better. We work on the impact of automobiles and not plan to expand that investment in a dying technology, especially when sharing cars is the future like sharing bikes is the new normal. We model sustainable living in our own consumption. There's plenty we need to do. | Build consideration of carbon reduction into every significant city decision. More infrastructure for electric vehicles-- private and transit. More workforce housing adjacent to employment to reduce long car commutes. Continue to install solar on public facilities. There are so many opportunities... | The City should be taking action, wherever it can, to reduce our community’s carbon footprint. I am proud that Santa Cruz has joined the lawsuit against the oil companies, demanding that they pay for the climate mitigations that our local community will need to implement. I also support a strong City Climate Action Plan. |
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Climate change is a global issue but there are ways we can help locally. I know how critical our parks, coastline, and open spaces are for locals, and visitors alike. Clean beaches, forests, and the San Lorenzo are essential to Santa Cruz's health today and for future generations of people and animals. We are environmental stewards here to protect and preserve this special place we all call home. We need to work together to continue to address climate change in being thoughtful about policy moving forward. |
| West Cliff 50 Year Plan How should the city balance issues like private property vs public access, armoring vs strategic retreat, space for cars vs bikes/peds? |
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| Transit on rail corridor? Should the rail corridor include transit (e.g. train, bus, etc.) |
Yes, it should support rail, transit, bike, pedestrian, and other modes. | I very much support having transit on the rail line... I envision an electric trolley. Busses are an okay alternative but I prefer something along the lines of an electric trolley. | Santa Cruz County voters strongly supported the rail trail option when they voted for Measure D, in 2016. I support that decision. | I favor building the trail ASAP and keeping the rail option. I also favor creative ways of saving riparian areas, heritage trees, and innovative fixes where needed to avoid degrading the natural environment. I do not want to destroy the environment to save it. Buying the rail line is one of the most far-sighted decisions, supported by a large majority of the community, that Santa Cruz county has embarked upon perhaps only since the purchase of Lighthouse Field, the Pogonip, Wilder Ranch, and the Del Mar Theater. We can build a rail-trail and preserve the environment. | Measure D was passed by county voters in November 2016, creating a first-ever local funding source for transportation projects. I support the work of the Regional Transportation Commission and partner agencies to move forward planning and projects associated with Measure D and the matching resources it provides to other funding sources. I know we could use additional investment in METRO in years to come, and there is still work going on to determine the future use of our rail corridor. As a Councilmember, I would look forward to working on possible solutions to reducing traffic congestion and supporting active transportation goals. |
| Budget Shortfalls How would you address the City's budget shortfalls? |
Balancing our budget is a job for the whole community; we need to decide as a community on what should be cut or what needs to be addressed. Our budget is built on our people's economic health. Supporting local business and wage earners is the first order of business. I am amazed that many people locally do not see that out of town developers, who are funding the recall, will not use local contractors to build here. Out of town wealth will not be content with funky local businesses that do not replicate what they get in Los Gatos outlets and franchise restaurants in Palo Alto. If we lose local jobs to online selling and lose local jobs to people coming from elsewhere, then we lose the economic battle. I worry most of all that we will think that our economic salvation comes from those who would colonize us. A city should not be shaped by some disconnected economy. The city should shape its economy. | Look for places to reduce lower priority services. Place hotel tax (TOT) on ballot to see if voters are willing to increase revenue. | Local governments have been shortchanged by the state. We should be working with other local governments at the state level, to try to change that. Given the current situation, we need to very prudent about spending. There are also some tax opportunities that would increase revenues, like a possible tax on sugary drinks, a reasonable increase in the Transient Occupancy Tax, and a possible “vacancy tax,” to raise revenue, and to help discourage the conversion of our local housing stock into second homes for the extremely wealthy. It is also true, of course, that residential developments don’t pay for themselves, so our land use decisions need to take that into account. | I would ask voters to raise the current hotel tax by 3%--1% for homeless services and 2% for the affordable housing fund; institute a higher real estate transfer tax; place a tax on Uber and Lyft rides as other cities are doing; and initiate a "vacancy tax" on homes unoccupied for more than 3 months a year. | We should find ways to increase Revenue for the city of Santa Cruz fostering local businesses, encouraging tourism, Collecting TOT directly through Airbnb / VRBO rather than relying on hosts to remit. |
| Other Comments | I was on welfare for a while, got food stamps, and fed my family from a food bank. I was a father at barely 21 years old. I worked minimum wage jobs until I was thirty, many in Santa Cruz. I installed sprinklers for ten years on farms, freeways and in front yards. I had every service job at the Dream Inn and was in the hotel workers union. I sold cars for a couple of months for Nissan (mentored by Lee Courtwright) and worked for two years as an orderly in assisted living homes. I was injured, filed for worker's comp and was fired. I worked as an editor for McGraw-Hill.I wrote an opera that was performed to sold out audiences. I retired from the university early to care for my first wife, who had dementia and cancer, until she died eight years later. I entered politics because of the earthquake. I was traumatized by that. I needed to get involved in making things better. | I think I have a particularly strong record of collaborating with people across political divides to get to workable compromise solutions -- and a record of working collegially with community members and colleagues and city staff. I think this background can serve the community and the city well during this difficult time. | Questions of personal character count. I am not afraid to let people know where I stand on controversial issues (like whether or not I support the recall). I think voters should elect candidates who are honest and straightforward, and who don’t try to “have it both ways.” In addition, as someone who runs marathons, I have never “given up,” and never will. | Details | As a lifelong Santa Cruz resident, I am running for City Council to serve our community. Together we can offer fresh ideas, civility and accountability to address our City's most challenging issues. Leadership starts with listening. My approach will include spending time with families, neighbors, young people, seniors, business owners, and all stakeholders in our community to understand the impacts of our city policies. As an elementary school teacher, I work hard every day to help students demonstrate our shared values of kindness, respect and diversity, and I will do the same representing you on the City Council. |
| Tim Fitzmaurice | Don Lane | Katherine Beiers | Chris Krohn | Renée Golder |
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