NewsPolitics
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City, Activists Stand by Separate Desal Initiatives
NewsPolitics Feb 21, 2012, by Jacob Pierce
When Santa Cruz Mayor Don Lane read local activists’ ballot initiative to put desal to a vote, he says one thing caught his attention. It had to do with timing. Lane agrees with a host of activists that Santa Cruz voters should weigh in on whether or not to build a $100 million-plus desalination plant on the Westside to increase the fresh water supply. But they agree on little else—including when to hold the vote.
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Coonerty Seeks Job with County
NewsPolitics Feb 08, 2012, by Jacob Pierce
City councilmember, former mayor and NextSpace co-founder Ryan Coonerty is preparing to further buff up his resume and applied to be the county’s next economic development coordinator. “This is something I’ve done on the city council for seven years trying to attract and retain businesses,” says Coonerty, also a legal studies lecturer at UCSC. “And I thought it was important for the county to have an effective strategy to create jobs. I have a commitment to doing that.”
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Pols Show Little Love for Oversight Board
NewsEnvironmentPolitics Jan 31, 2012, by Jacob Pierce 2 Comments
With the 108-page Climate Action Plan awaiting final approval by the Santa Cruz City Council, environmentalists are nursing hopes that a few final items on their wish list will make it into the framework. One such item is creation of a citizens’ advisory board to make sure the city meets its own goals for cutting its emissions. “I envisioned a working group where there were would be committees that were open the public,” says People Power’s Micah Posner. Some politicians are hesitant to say the least. “I think that’s a big, big mistake,” former Mayor Mike Rotkin told city council.
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Phase Two For Redevelopment
BusinessPolitics Jan 03, 2012, by Jacob Pierce
In its 24-year history, the Santa Cruz County Redevelopment Agency has built 1,385 affordable housing units, miles of sidewalks, the Simpkins Family Swim Center, the Live Oak library and much more. But its work—after it wraps up a slate of expensive projects green-lighted last summer by panicking county supervisors—is over. The California Supreme Court ruled Dec. 29 that the state’s redevelopment agencies are unconstitutional.
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Why Two-Way Pacific Came to Screeching Halt
NewsPolitics Nov 09, 2011, by Jacob PierceIf last week’s turn of events is any indication, the two-way Pacific Avenue plan that activists had criticized for moving too fast might have been doing just that. Last week, the Downtown Association withdrew its fast-tracked $20,000 proposal to re-design the street for a two-way traffic trial run that would have launched during the holiday season.
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I was already homeless and sleeping here before the protestors came, so it was kind of a natural thing to do for me to get involved. I was here with a lot of my friends, who were homeless too. We’ve had a very interesting integration time with the Occupy people.
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Faces of Occupy Santa Cruz
NewsPolitics Nov 08, 2011, by Samantha Larson 1 Comments
When I originally came down to Santa Cruz, about three weeks ago, I was sleeping in my car because my friends and I didn’t really have very much money and there was nowhere to camp. It’s pretty much illegal to sleep anywhere here—you get arrested or ticketed and things like that. And parking’s ridiculous, too—you’ve got to get up every couple of hours just to feed the meter so you don’t get ticketed for that, too.
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Credit Unions See Boost from Bank Transfer Day
CommunityPolitics Nov 02, 2011, by Traci Hukill
As we steam toward Bank Transfer Day this Saturday, Nov. 5, local credit unions are staffing up and making extra copies of their application forms. Indeed, it seems that L.A. art gallery owner Kristen Christian’s initiative—to dump your lyin’, cheatin’, extra-fee-chargin’, bailout-hoardin’, refi-refusin’ corporate bank and cast your lot and your shekels with a locally owned bank or credit union—is already yielding some results locally.
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Hurried Hearings Set for Two-Way Pacific Trial
NewsPolitics Nov 01, 2011, by Jacob Pierce
Meetings to be held Nov. 3 and 8 will test the out the idea of turning Pacific Avenue two-way. The council’s decision to try the scenario represents a 180-degree turnaround since retail expert Bob Gibbs first brought up the idea at a city council meeting in September.
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Free Parking Disappearing from Downtown
NewsPolitics Oct 27, 2011, by Jacob PierceFinding a free parking spot downtown isn’t about to get easier anytime soon. The city council voted on Tuesday, Oct. 25 to proceed with plans to start charging at one of the last free downtown parking lots—at River and Front streets north of Trader Joe’s.
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