There is a lot of commotion in the City of Santa and the entire state of California around how governments can be more efficient in reducing the number of people experiencing homelessness. Recent data documented by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reveals that California has “more than 151,000 homeless people, including more than…
At our last board meeting, the Business Council had an opportunity to hear from representatives from Measure R, Measure Y, and Measure Z about the details of these specific ballots. Read what these representatives had to say by reading the summary below. For more information about all nine upcoming local ballot measures visit https://www.votescount.com/Home/Elections/March2020PresidentialPrimary/March3localmeasures.aspx Cabrillo College,…
As was expected, Uber Technologies and Postmates Inc. filed a legal challenge against California’s AB5 “Gig Economy” law this past week in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, which is appealable to the Federal Ninth Circuit Court. AB5 was adopted by the State legislature this past year to codify the…
As we mentioned in our last newsletter we will be continuing our series on the upcoming March 2020 ballot measures. This week we will be discussing Measures M, S, T, U, and V. Measure M- Aromas-San Juan Unified School District (55% vote) reauthorize $4.2 million of Aromas-San Juan Unified School District’s bonds previously approved…
If you watched last week’s Santa Cruz City Council meeting you may have unknowingly seen a perfect example of everything that is wrong with housing politics in Santa Cruz. For just a brief moment, you saw elected leaders literally say one thing, and then in the exact same set of remarks, admit that it wouldn’t…
It’s always a special and nervous time when a new chancellor takes the reigns of the University of California, Santa Cruz. Dr. Cynthia K. Larive came to us from UC Riverside, which is not far from my hometown, and ever since she got here Santa Cruz has never felt more like home. I’ve been a…
At our last committee meeting in October, our staff presented on Focus Strategies which is a unique consultant group whose entire focus is on applying a systems approach to addressing homelessness. Their fundamental goal is to reduce homelessness to being “functionally zero” within communities. Focus Strategies has done an initial assessment in the City of…
Last week the Santa Cruz City Council took an important step in our community’s housing future by approving 190 West Cliff, a density bonus project that will provide 79 new condos, 10 deeply affordable units, and a local market–combined with public open space–on what used to be an inefficient surface lot. The Business Council has been working…
Last month, Governor Gavin Newsom signed California AB 5 into law. AB 5 is expected to have a large impact on California’s gig economy. Our staff took a look into the details of AB 5 including which practices are exempt from the law. You can check out our short one pager as well as our…
It’s been about a month since the current Santa Cruz City Council decided to kill the famous Housing Corridors Plan, which would have allowed for taller, mixed use buildings along the four main transportation corridors throughout the City: Ocean, Water, Soquel, and Mission Street. This is basically urban planning 101: when you are constrained based upon available land, it’s both more efficient and…