Help affordable housing crisis by voting yes on Prop 5
California has been grappling with an affordable housing crisis for years. Although the state has passed many laws to reduce barriers to create more housing, for people in need of an affordable place to live, it feels like little progress has been made.
California’s Constitution has been a significant barrier to funding affordable housing projects with its two-thirds threshold for passing housing bonds. In Santa Cruz County, the 2018 Measure H affordable housing bond would have provided an estimated 1,000 housing units for local residents, and while it came close, with the two-thirds vote threshold it did not pass.
Affordable Housing NOW believes that Proposition 5 can be a game changer to help address our unprecedented affordable housing crisis. Like Proposition 39 passed decades ago by voters to lower the threshold for school bonds, Proposition 5 would amend California’s Constitution to lower the required threshold to 55% for housing bonds to fund affordable housing construction, down payment assistance programs and public infrastructure projects to support new housing, like roads, transit and water.
Proposition 5 shifts decisions about public policy and spending priorities related to housing away from state government and into the hands of local voters and gives local communities more power to choose how to address the housing needs of low and middle income families, seniors, veterans and first-time home buyers. The ballot measure gives communities the power to design housing programs tailored to local needs and does not rely on statewide programs designed by the Legislature for the whole state. Local control works better for effective local solutions.
Santa Cruz has the distinction of being one of the most expensive places to live in the country. Middle-class families and public servants like teachers, nurses and firefighters who work in Santa Cruz County are being forced to find affordable housing elsewhere, instead of in the community where they work. Prop 5 offers a real solution for the housing needs of our essential workers and will help ensure that people who dedicate their lives to public service can also be a part of the communities they serve.
As an organization that has been actively involved in pro-housing advocacy, Affordable Housing NOW believes that Prop 5 is a crucial step toward making housing more affordable for our working families and community members who struggle to make ends meet and are at risk of becoming homeless. The measure is a powerful tool to help local governments take action to address the housing crisis without relying on statewide bonds or federal dollars.
In November, voters can be part of the solution to make Santa Cruz more affordable for our local workforce and provide families living paycheck to paycheck and struggling to pay rent with a safe stable affordable place to live. Vote yes on Prop 5 because everyone deserves a place to call home.
Tim Willoughby and Linda Kerner
Members, Affordable Housing NOW
Vote for Martinez to bring experience to SLV
We in the San Lorenzo Valley deserve a leader like Monica Martinez. Monica has run complex, grant-funded nonprofits while developing extensive partnerships. She can navigate the complex bureaucracies of the County and Sacramento to deliver lasting value for our community.
She will leverage her decade-plus of managing large, complex nonprofits, where she dealt with similar challenges. Our water infrastructure is outdated and one disaster after another has damaged them further: drought, fire, windstorm, flood and landslide. Water outages mean kids miss school or businesses cannot serve customers.
We need to build partnerships and bring resources into our community. Monica knows how. We are not ready for the next big fire: Most of our fire hydrants lack adequate pressure. We need to upgrade 25 miles of water lines and several tanks to be fire-ready. We need to rebuild a major supply line to be ready for the next drought.
Large state and federal grants will be key to this work. Monica has done that for years. We must help our neighbors who still cannot rebuild after the 2020 CZU Fire. Customers of private companies like Big Basin Water and nonprofits like Forest Springs Mutual need our help.
Without formally connecting to San Lorenzo Valley Water, families cannot demonstrate they have the water supply needed to rebuild. Consolidating will require complex legal agreements and partnerships. Monica has done that, too.
Bringing our infrastructure up to date and rebuilding our communities will require expertise navigating issues across the local, state and federal levels of government. Let’s elect Monica to get it done.
Bryan Largay
Felton
Support Martinez for Fifth District supervisor
I’m so grateful that Monica Martinez committed to run for supervisor. She is hands down the best-qualified candidate and, best of all, she has a life-long belief in service to people and to the community.
I am an advocate for environmental awareness and prioritization by our government leaders, and I am glad Monica is clear about her priorities. She embraces the vital importance of investing in renewable energy programs and water conservation initiatives.
The County’s current regional priorities—the Santa Margarita Groundwater Agency (committed to protection and enhancement of our vital aquifer) and Central Coast Community Energy (3CE) (providing affordable clean, renewable electric energy sources)—are safe in her hands. She will work to protect our vital resources into the future.
Monica is clearly committed to ensuring that our County, as well as state and federal representatives will promote legislation to address climate change and support marginalized communities. This means making decisions that reduce our dependence on fossil fuels; creating green, union jobs; and investing in sustainable transportation.
Monica Martinez is the most aware and the most competent candidate to understand the range of concerns throughout the District, and act responsibly for everyone. She will also support environmental stewardship to protect our region’s cherished ecosystems.
Join me in voting for Monica Martinez for Fifth District supervisor.
Nancy Macy
Boulder Creek
Community forum falls short of expectations
As a longtime member of our community, I recently tuned into the SLVWD candidate and Measure U forum hosted by the Valley Women’s Club at the Highlands Park Senior Center, eager to gain insights into the candidates and the discussions surrounding Measure U.
Unfortunately, what I witnessed was both appalling and embarrassing. The candidate forum was filled with finger-pointing, particularly from Alina Layng, who repeatedly criticized current Board members. Some of the candidates’ remarks were perplexing.
While I expected to leave with a clear sense of whom to support, I instead emerged knowing whom I would not vote for. The situation escalated during the Measure U discussion.
Candidate Layng, along with the director of Highlands Park Senior Center and several members of the Valley Women’s Club, attempted to stop the forum entirely by inappropriately invoking the Brown Act. Their actions seemed premeditated, aimed at silencing the discussion on Measure U. They were disruptive, aggressive and disrespectful, interrupting the speaker multiple times, yelling, and even went so far as to take their belongings in the middle of the presentation.
Such conduct infringes upon our community’s right to hear an informed discussion on this important local measure and is entirely inexcusable. The individuals involved are supposed to represent our community, yet their behavior undermines the principles of transparency and open dialogue that we rely on.
Forums like these exist to provide voters with the information necessary to make educated decisions, not to promote the agenda of certain individuals.
Furthermore, the unprofessional behavior displayed by temporary SLVWD Board member and candidate Alina Layng raises serious concerns about her ability to collaborate with current Board members if elected and reflect a troubling lack of respect for our community’s rights and the democratic process.
Shandra Hunt
Boulder Creek
