Q&A Sessions

1. Clearly the City’s budget picture must be addressed and stabilized over the next few years. This must be done with a combination of resolute control of expenses and enhancement of revenues

2. Without positive, proactive planning, Santa Cruz faces the prospect of dreary gridlock on roads in disrepair. We must develop attractive new transportation modes that are not currently available, maintain our current transit system as a model system, and develop a revenue stream to fix our roads and maintain them on an ongoing basis.

3. Broad participation in our General Plan update is definitely a top priority having a profound effect on our City for many years. Community decisions about land use in our industrial zones will set the tone for our business future. Santa Cruz could be the home numerous vital and state-of-the-art locally owned businesses, or simply the regional big-box store destination just like the freeway off ramps of countless places across the country molded by the blueprints for Anytown, USA. These are real choices and they are here to be made now by our community.

1. Fiscal health and responsibility: We must be very firm on cost control while avoiding damage to the working conditions and morale of our excellent City staff. We need to attract and make welcome those types of businesses that are a good fit with our environmentally sensitive community. Our strong suits are tourism and high tech businesses. Our community has expressed a desire for sustainable businesses employing educated workers and utilizing green business practices. By strongly encouraging such businesses, we will assure long-term budgetary health for Santa Cruz.

We also have to plan for the expiration of the measure F sales tax. One possible approach is to build a community consensus to increase the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) to the average level of coastal cities.

2. Transportation and road maintenance: Many residents already consider Santa Cruz to be plagued with gridlock. It appears growth of auto trips is inevitable. Major growth of the business community and of UCSC virtually guarantees even more congestion unless we take action. Transportation options ARE available but inaction will not secure any improvement. We must press for an agreement with the University to install a people mover from the Harvey West Park area up to the campus. This new system should be mandated to absorb ALL of the 8000 new daily trips that UCSC is anticipating. It should also be planned to absorb about five percent per year of the current neighborhood gridlock so that local residents can experience a steady, if slow improvement in their traffic mess.

The condition of our roads has to be addressed. To repair all that are badly deteriorated, Public Works estimates it would require around forty million dollars. We need plan for a revenue stream that BOTH repairs our roads now and ALSO maintains them on an ongoing basis. All community stakeholders should explore the possible options. One option could be a parcel tax for City streets. We can bond against that revenue and fix all of our roads as soon as sufficient bonds are sold. An appropriate percentage of the revenue must be earmarked for yearly maintenance so that we don’t get into this situation again!

3. The General Plan revision process will get underway this fall. The General Plan contains most of the foundation principles and policies that guide the day-to-day decisions of our City. A community based vision process is imperative so that all members of our City have the opportunity to contribute to this plan and help form a community consensus.

If business people and residents do not participate in these community decisions, chances are that eager developers will shape our City’s future with the easiest choice, namely big box retail stores on our remaining industrial land. But, others in Santa Cruz have a different vision. We welcome and value small, locally owned businesses, particularly ones that employ green business techniques and employ local residents. The University promises to contribute to this trend with a business incubator project at the former Texas Instrument building.

UCSC plans to grow. Santa Cruz can thrive in a partnership with the University if that growth does not choke us in traffic and overload our housing and water supplies. The City General Plan revision must proceed in parallel with the UCSC Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) update that is also underway. Clearly a mutually beneficial, multi-facetted partnership between the City and UCSC is the only way we all will achieve an optimal result.

• Improving partnership between the business community and the City is key to a thriving business environment. Most issues are not single occurrences but rather ongoing processes. A continuous and healthy collaboration is the only way to maintain a vibrant business climate.
• The business community has a very real stake in making sure business areas are accessible to customers and are not grid locked and unattractive. Business participation in the activities mentioned above is of critical importance.
• Active management of our commercial areas prevents crime and blight. That means participation not only by police but also by City staff and business people.

• I have served four years on the City Council and have been deeply involved in questions involving business.
• When Downtown business owners came to the Council and asked for ordinances regulating activity and behavior on Downtown sidewalks and streets, I listened and I took action. I took the lead in responding to those requests. I undertook the extensive work of improving the environment downtown. It was difficult and often contentious and did not make me popular with many people, including some progressives and some street activists. I paid a price for this in a very direct way but it fits within my principle that everyone gets a voice and will be heard as long as I am on the Council. Further, it’s important to say on record that it is a progressive practice to protect safety and access for seniors and women downtown.
• I owned and operated a computer service business on Pacific Avenue in Downtown Santa Cruz for over nine years. Working each day at my business and all around the Downtown, I learned about the ongoing challenges of keeping a business open and making it an attractive destination for my customers.
• Before I was on the City Council, I served terms on the Planning Commission, the Zoning Board, the Public Works Commission, and the Transportation Commission. I also served on the 1990 General Plan revision task force and, as a result, I have a strong sense of what our current revision needs to include and what it needs to accomplish.

I definitely want to see more input from local business. My preference is a regularly scheduled contacts and a defined recommendation process.

I encourage and invite owners and representatives of locally owned businesses to meet with me on Sunday evenings the weekend before City Council meetings. I review the upcoming agenda with those attending and obtain suggestions and comments from those participating. These meetings are coordinated via email so I encourage those interested to email me at eporter@ci.santa-cruz.ca.us. In turn, I will include the senders email address in the list when I send invitations to these meetings. Please put “agenda meeting” in the email subject line.

I strongly encourage active and proactive setting of policy and management of our business areas. That means regular participation and comprehensive involvement. I have been there for many years and will continue to be there on an expanded basis to whatever level is needed.