Columns and Commentaries
Commentary: Supervisor recaps first year in office
My first year as Supervisor of the Fifth District has been busy, productive, and thoroughly enjoyable. It’s been a year of listening and learning, and a time of growing appreciation of the Fifth Di...
Dec 26, 2013 | 3 3 comments | 153 153 recommendations | email to a friend
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Commentary: BC Cell tower protest only the beginning
Several Sundays ago, eight Boulder Creek residents protested in front of Verizon’s store in downtown Santa Cruz. Why did we do this? Haven’t we already won (“Cell tower application all but dead in ...
Dec 19, 2013 | 1 1 comments | 158 158 recommendations | email to a friend
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Commentary: Roads, not Rail Trail, should be priority
Buried on the back page of the December 13 Press-Banner, the headline, “Local road projects get boost” (page 20), immediately caught my attention. The excellent article by Joe Shreve raises some se...
Dec 19, 2013 | 1 1 comments | 153 153 recommendations | email to a friend
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Shout-out: Ben Lomond Fire board lauded for responsible spending
EDITOR, This is a long overdue letter to acknowledge Fire Chief Stacie Brownlee and the Ben Lomond Fire District Board of Directors for coordinating and overseeing the installation of the beautiful...
Nov 14, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 227 227 recommendations | email to a friend
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Commentary: SLV paying price for Santa Cruz’s lax homeless policies
The cool fall air and drizzly damp mornings have finally arrived — chilly mornings that signal the end of the craziest, most stressful summer since the great Lockheed fires of 2009. This summer fel...
Nov 07, 2013 | 13 13 comments | 266 266 recommendations | email to a friend
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Commentary: Mayor asks for Measure U vote
I have had the pleasure these past few weeks to talk to lots of people, some door-to-door, about our temporary ½-cent sales tax, Measure U. The response has been very positive.  Some heartily endor...
Oct 24, 2013 | 5 5 comments | 283 283 recommendations | email to a friend
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Commentary: Board member voices rate increase concerns in interview
by Suellene Petersen
Oct 23, 2013 | 2 2 comments | 299 299 recommendations | email to a friend
On Thursday morning, October 17, I had an opportunity to discuss this massive rate increase with San Lorenzo Valley Water District Director Randall Brown.  As a historian who is interested in the e...
Commentary: Water rate increase more about pet projects than improvements
by Randall C. Brown
Oct 17, 2013 | 9 9 comments | 313 313 recommendations | email to a friend
When elected to the board of the San Lorenzo Valley Water District last November, I was pleased to have the opportunity to work with people I respect. The long-serving majority played a highly posi...
Commentary: Scotts Valley situation dire without sales tax
by Danny Reber
Oct 03, 2013 | 7 7 comments | 347 347 recommendations | email to a friend
I am writing this letter on behalf of the Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce and its Board of Directors.  You may have already heard of Measure U.  This is a proposed temporary sales tax to fund our...
Commentary: In support of SLV Water District rate increase
by Nancy Macy
Sep 26, 2013 | 12 12 comments | 365 365 recommendations | email to a friend
The rate increase proposed for SLV Water District customers is not only justified; it is necessary. Concern for low-income residents is shared not only by those opposed to the increase, but also by...
Commentary: SLV Water spins the PR spin
by Mark Messimer
Sep 19, 2013 | 15 15 comments | 374 374 recommendations | email to a friend
The excessive rate increase proposed by SLV Water District has taken on a whole new spin within the recently sent public notifications. Hiring a new and expensive PR firm will do that. The $6 milli...
Commentary: Downtown cell tower needs to be stopped
by Rachel Wooster
Sep 12, 2013 | 27 27 comments | 386 386 recommendations | email to a friend
Until it happens to your town, this sort of news seems like another distant struggle. When we — residents of Boulder Creek — discovered that a 50-foot cell tower had been proposed smack in the hear...