Santa Cruz Council Candidates Talk Transportation
Few surprises at citizen-sponsored forum
By Curtis Cartier
Of the nine Santa Cruz City Council hopefuls who made the trip to Wednesday’s Candidate Night Transportation Forum at Louden Nelson Community Center, four walked, three biked, one carpooled and one drove.
A good ratio even for a sustainable transportation debate.
But it wasn’t, in all honesty, much of a debate. Since each of the six moderators was allowed to present his or her views before asking any questions—and since candidates were allowed all of a minute and a half to respond—the answers that were expected were clear as day. And when, at one point, the whole audience began belting out, They paved paradise and put up a parking lot - along with the rest of Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” — it would have taken a candidate with a death wish to say, “C’mon, we need a five-story parking garage there.”
The two-hour question-and-answer session gave the 75 or so audience members a look at some of the contenders for the four soon-to-be-open seats on the city council. And with hot button issues like the Cathcart/Cedar parking garage, Highway 1 widening and the Rail Trail on the agenda, there was no shortage of weight behind each candidate’s answer.
“The bottom line is we need a sustainable transportation network,” said Transportation Commissioner David Terrazas. “The Rail Trail, more sidewalks, easier public transportation, eco-pass bus tickets... They are all part of what needs to be a functional network.”
Mayor Ryan Coonerty was articulate and calculated in his responses and championed the Rail Trail as “the single most important element of our transportation plan and a legacy to leave future generations.”
Retired academic librarian and former mayor Katherine Beiers also held up the Rail Trail as a keystone for countywide transportation and charged city staff with seeking out grants to fund its construction as opposed to axing existing programs.
Coming in from the left, wellness coach and healer Blas Cabrera and medical marijuana activist J. Craig Canada offered the same suspicion of misinformation and additional police presence but differed widely on getting their point across.
“When we have a debate about building a parking garage and getting rid of the farmers market it has to include the issue of public health,” said Cabrera. “By removing a huge supply of organic food from the community, you are taking away one of their rights to a healthy lifestyle.”
Canada admitted through his own yawns that he had yet to figure out what Personal Rapid Transit was when the issue was brought up, but he did warn against changing rules of the road to better suit public transportation without first considering the consequences.
“If you turn Beach Street into a convertible lane, you’re going to need a fleet of tow trucks when rush hour hits,” says Canada.
Another ages-past former mayor, Don Lane, asked for bus passes, Zip cars, carpool incentives and bike lane upgrades and called upon “local volunteers” to make the projects possible.
Others, like community volunteer Simba Kenyatta, doubted any alternative transportation programs could be funded, calling the city “dead broke.”
“In the end it all comes down to money,” said Kenyatta. “I’m all for these programs, but sometimes lofty goals run into trouble when it comes time to fund them.”
UCSC writing lecturer and former councilman Tim Fitzmaurice, after very directly imploring the audience to vote for him, called improving bike passage on King Street a “life or death issue,” a reference to the two bicyclists killed on Mission Street in the last year.
And Councilman Tony Madrigal took a hard stance against Highway 1 widening by pointing to the adverse health effects on roadside communities.
“You see cancer pockets and trouble breathing in these communities (near highways),” he said. “Where do the rich people live? They live by the beach where the air is clean.”
After the debate, attendees were both impressed and frustrated by the proceedings, with several audience members calling the structure of the forum “fixed” and “forced.”
“I thought the questions were ridiculous and far too general,” says longtime Santa Cruz journalist Bruce Bratton. “All the candidates knew what answer was expected. I didn’t learn anything.”
Others came away eager to learn more about some of the new faces, like Susan Martinez and her husband Fred Geiger, who were glad to have the candidates on the record and planned to hold them accountable later.
“I think we were both impressed by Blas Cabrera,” Geiger said. “I’ve been involved with local politics for years and had never heard of him. He seemed intelligent and definitely worth looking into. Look, I’m just glad transportation is getting to the forefront along with housing.”
