Opinion

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 ecology of the San Lorenzo Valley water systems and watershed areas, he has a lot to say about the management of our water system. He makes no secret about his concern for the state of the aging infrastructure that delivers water to more than 7,000 rate payers. Being one of those rate payers, I share his concern. I asked him about the decision making process that led the District to the conclusion that they needed so much more money. Our resulting conversation identified additional subjects beyond the rate increase for which I should be concerned. 

Dear Editor,

EDITOR,

Hopefully, our county supervisor, Mark Stone, will not approve the construction of the new La Bahia hotel in Santa Cruz. At least, not as it is presently planned, with its projected height to be four stories and blocking the ocean views of the residents on Beach Hill. The hotel could have been built by now, but the developers will not budge from their insistence that the height be well over zoning regulations. They say that they must have that fourth story for two large and, we must assume, very expensive penthouses. The new La Bahia will not be just a hotel. It will be a four-star hotel. Meaning that it's not going to be a place where the grandkids can stay and be close to the Boardwalk.

EDITOR,

EDITOR,

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s May revise of the 2010-11 budget represents a cynical attack on the most vulnerable people in California.