Capitola Road Priorities Meeting
6:30 pm Thursday, April 27th
Live Oak Elementary School
1916 Capitola Road, Santa Cruz
This month, residents have a unique opportunity to craft the elements of a development in the heart of Live Oak. Over 20 years ago, the Redevelopment Agency (RDA) bought nearly five acres of land on Capitola Road to build a library. A decision was made at a later point to instead build the Live Oak Library on Portola Drive, and the County never completed a plan for the development of the site. The original Live Oak Family Resource Center was housed in one of the two homes on the property. In 2011, the Legislature eliminated RDAs and the County had this property, and another one on 7h Avenue and Br…
Tools for Housing
Affordability
Vu Bang Nguyen and Bob Allen presented their perspectives from work they are
doing in the SF Bay Area. Nguyen works for the Silicon Valley Community
Foundation, and Allen works for Urban Habitat, a Bay Area non-profit devoted to
increasing the power and capacity of low income communities in the Bay Area.
Impact fees for
housing
Santa Cruz has traffic impact fees on new development. The rationale is that
new development increases traffic. The fee goes to make capital improvements to
roadways. A similar fee is charged to new development for capital improvements
to the water system. Some communities in the SF Bay Area have housing impact
fees that are charged for commercial development, residential development or
both. Most cities have …
A portion of jobs created by new commercial development - hotel, retail, office, etc.- are low-paying and the new employees cannot afford market-rate housing. With commercial linkage fees - also known as job-housing linkage fees - developers are expected to ameliorate some of the housing impacts generated by such projects. This impact is measured through a Job-Housing Nexus Analysis that shows the connection between the construction of new commercial buildings, employment, and the need for affordable housing. They are usually performed by consulting firms that have specialized in this type of analysis. Methodologies vary, but in most cases the analysis begins with an estimation of the number of employees for a prototypical 100,000 sq.ft. building and …
Meeting
commenced 6:40pm Tuesday
April 4, 2017 at the home of Gail Jack Santa Cruz CA.
In attendance- Gail Jack - President, Nancy Abbey - Treasurer, Patty Threet - Secretary, Judy Geer - Membership Chair, Brian Murtha - Corresponding Secretary,Ron Pomerantz - Nominating Committee
Absent - Nora Hochman, Tom Batley, Glenn Schaller, Erik Eriksen - DCC Representative
AGENDA
- Report from nominating committee - Discussion only - Update from committee on contacts made, position needs.
- Fundraising event - Discussion only - Timeline, early June event.
- Rent to DCC for Galleria space - Discussion only - Tabled
- New by-laws - No discussion.
- Endorsement of Kimberly Ellis - Take to April General Meeting for membership endorsement
- PDC support for SB562 (Healthy California …
A slate of union/Sanders activists from every corner
of the 29th Assembly District. These people are committed to moving the Democratic Party to the left - starting with electing Kimberley Ellis to the Chair of the California Democratic Party. To learn more about Kimberley Ellis and why she'll invite more participation by the Democratic membership, watch this video by delegate Erik Eriksen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrFY534VLIU&t=17s
Kati Bassler - Salinas, California Federation of Teachers
Erik Eriksen - Santa Cruz, Sanders delegate to Democratic Convention
Jovita Dominquez - Salinas, California
Nurses Association (CNA)
Glenn Glazer - Felton, Sanders
campaign activist
Drew Glover - Santa Cruz, African American Non-profit Director
Natalie Gray -…
The Terms of health-care debate must be shifted
by Dennis Kudinich
The Nation, March 2017
The
health-care debate in America is essentially an argument over what kind of
private insurance market people should have access to: President Obama's, where
the insurance companies made out like bandits, or President Trump's, where
insurance companies will make out like bandits.
Let's change the debate by making it between for-profit insurance vs. not-for-profit health care. That's what I and Congressmen John Conyers and Jim McDermott sought to do in 2003 when we wrote and introduced Medicare for All, HR 676, in the House of Representatives.
...........Here is what the for-profit insurance system brings:
- Rising premiums and co-pays.
- Diminishing coverage.
- More government subsidy of private i…
Because every short-term vacation rental
removes long-term housing from a market that locally and regionally is in
crises of affordability, availability, and tenant security, and
Because removal of long-term housing from the market exacerbates market rates for rentals and home sales, and
Because short-term vacation rentals cause disruption, safety issues and inconvenience, for residential neighborhoods, and
Because residents expect the city to enforce zoning and not permit short-term rentals businesses to invade their neighborhoods, and
Because short-term vacation rentals do not meet the criteria the city enforces for hotel, motel, and bed and breakfast operations and thus are able to gain a business advantage over the established infra…
How Santa Cruz County is Upholding Our Values
Ryan will describe what the County is doing to stand up for Santa Cruz values despite the actions of the Trump administration. We expect that Santa Cruz will be in the cross-hairs because of our Sanctuary and other policies. This PDC meeting will be an opportunity to talk about how we can work together to RESIST.6:30 Thursday April 20
Democratic Headquarters
740 Front Street - ground floor of the Galleria
Right after the election Supervisor Coonerty and a number of other local leaders wrote a statement about standing up for our standards: www.santacruzsentinel.com/article/NE/20161119/LOCAL1/161119424. This was just the first of many steps that will be needed to protect our community …
The governing body of the California Democratic Party is the Democratic State Central Committee (DSCC). The DSCC is made up of approximately 2,800 - 3,200 members ("Delegates") coming from each of the following three groups in roughly one-third proportions:
Delegates Elected Through County Central Committees Count 4 per County Central Committee plus 1 for every 10,000 registered Democrats in the county When Depending on County, County Central Committees elect delegates between the General Election and Feb. 7 of the odd year Voting Delegates are nominated by fellow members of their County Central Committee Forms Contact your local County Central Committee for more details
Delegates Elected…
- Voter Empowerment - partner with unions and other organizations to develop voter education and registration by a strong effort to reach potential voters. (Glen Schaller)
- 18 Cubed - a campaign to find 18 eighteen-year-olds, who'll donate $18 and turn another 18 eighteen-year-olds into Democratic activists. (Matt Bruner, Brian Murtha)
- LGBTQ Outreach - develop two workshops on LGBTQ issues for this summer to develop a better understanding of newer terminology. The first in June near Gay Pride Week. (J.M. Brown and Adam Spickler)
- Facilitate Collaboration among Progressive Organizations - coordinate among existing groups and organizations in order to reduce redundancy and increase our effectiveness as activists and to build the membership of …
6:30 Wednesday May 17
Democratic Headquarters
740 Front Street
Galleria behind Riverfront Theatre
Public Banking! What is it and how do we initiate it to divest from the mega, corporate banks like Wells Fargo and Bank of America?
Scroll down to see "Why Dump the Mega-Banks", "Move your money", and "Launching a Postal Saving Bank" below.
Ryan Coonerty spoke about the County's Plan to resist Trump's attacks on our values. (see below: www.pdclub.org/blog:pdclub/article/id/3907356 )
The members unanimously endorsed three proposals:
- Kimberly Ellis for California Democratic Party Chair
- Healthy California Act - SB 562
- California Disclose Act
Other Business:
1. It was decided to participate in and to be a sponsor of the June Gay Pride Parade
2. The nominating committee was elected: Nancy Abbey-chair, Ron Pomerantz, Erik Eriksen, Judy Geer.
3. Treasurer reported $4300 in the checking account.
4. Leslie Steiner found volunteers t…
By Ryan Coonerty, Michael Watkins, Cynthia Mathews, Felipe Hernandez and nine others, Special to the Sentinel Posted: 11/19/16
In the wake of the national election results, we, your
locally elected officials, have a message for Santa Cruz County residents.
This election has shaken many of us to our core. Because of Donald Trump's campaign of bigotry, misogyny, hate and vague policy proposals, we have heard deep concerns from you about mass deportations, religious intolerance, cancellation of health care, assaults on the environment and so much more. There is no doubt that the Congress and president-elect will make decisions that will harm people, especially the most vulnerable.
However, while Donald Trump may think he has a mandate for these policies, we, as your ele…