By: Sandra Parhami My name is Sandra Parhami, and for the last seven months I have served as the Policy and Programs Intern for the Santa Cruz County Business Council. As a recent college graduate from UCSC, I studied Economics and Cognitive Science— many would see this as a peculiar combination, but I thoroughly enjoyed […]
News
High Tax Burden is Burning Out Local Cannabis Industry
By: Sandra Parhami After more than a century of prohibition on recreational Marijuana, constituents were hopeful that the passage of Proposition 64, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA), approved by voters in 2016, would create state and federal tax revenue, as well as reduce the scope of the unregulated market, or ‘black market’, to […]
Balancing Affordable Housing in Watsonville
Last week the City of Watsonville held a study session to review potential options for their inclusionary zoning ordinance. Now we’ve covered inclusionary zoning (IZ) extensively in other blog posts, but essentially IZ is when a jurisdiction requires a certain percentage of new housing to be deed restricted to only be available to those earning […]
Homeless Services Center Presentation
At our May 2018 Board Meeting the Board heard from Susie O’Hara of the City of Santa Cruz regarding possible temporary homeless encampment sites within Santa Cruz County. The Board also heard about action being taken by Homeless Services Center to aid homelessness in Santa Cruz through their programs as well as the current temporary […]
Exploring Sonoma and Marin Counties SMARTer by Train?
Exploring Sonoma and Marin Counties SMARTer by Train? By: Sandra Parhami As a Southern California native, my first experience traveling by train was the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner, along the California coast, followed by a recent journey through the forest hills of Felton aboard the Roaring Camp Railroads. Neither of these experiences prepared me for the […]
Upcoming Forum for 4th District Supervisor Seat
The Santa Cruz County Business Council and the Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce & Agriculture would like to invite you to be part of a public candidates forum of those running for the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors 4th District seat. This forum will include five candidates- Dr. Nancy Bilicich, Jimmy Dutra, Felipe Hernandez, […]
Santa Cruz Climate Adaption Planning and Progress Update
Today the Joint Transportation and Infrastructure/Government Affairs Committee of the Santa Cruz County Business Council heard from Tiffany Wise-West from the City of Santa Cruz Climate Action group discuss the City of Santa Cruz’s Climate Adaption Planning and Progress Update. Her full presentation can be found below: Climate Adaptation Update_SCBC Apr 2018_Wise-West
Density Bonuses and You
Last week we announced that the Business Council would be working with other community partners, including Affordable Housing Now, MBEP, and the Chamber, to advocate in favor of a model density bonus program to be adopted at the County level. As part of that discussion we promised to provide a deeper dive into what a […]