As you settle into your first term as a California assemblymember, what bills or plans do you have in the pipeline? And what plans do you have as the newly appointed Chair of the Human Services Committee?

Our state is slowly recovering from the recession, and for the first time in many years, the California legislature will not have to make drastic cuts to programs that help foster youth, the elderly, and the disabled. While this is good news, these Californians continue to suffer as billions of dollars in budget cuts have decimated essential services they need. As the newly elected assemblymember for the Monterey Bay region, including Santa Cruz, I will focus on building relationships, reaching across the aisle, and crafting effective policy to help improve the lives of the most vulnerable in our communities.

Is California’s Central Coast prepared for a potential fracking boom?

It has only been in recent years that drilling techniques have been developed to tap the enormous gas reserves trapped in Marcellus Shale beneath the Appalachian Mountains. Now, the rolling hills are scattered with thousands of new wells that utilize high volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing—a method that injects water and chemicals into the surrounding rock to create fissures through which oil and gas can flow.  

Longtime UCSC writing teacher Don Rothman to be remembered in campus memorial service

When Oakes College, one of the residential colleges at UC Santa Cruz, received a donated piece of art depicting European aristocracy coming to the New World, controversy ensued among students who believed in liberation movements.

Gov. Jerry Brown recently announced that the state’s budget outlook is finally looking brighter. How could this impact Santa Cruz County?
Many don’t know that more than 50 percent of the county’s operating funds come from the state and federal government. As such, we are highly dependent upon the state’s economic condition to fund our local health and human services, law enforcement, roads and more. Gov. Brown’s state budget proposal is good news in that it stops some of the local hemorrhaging, however it doesn’t appear strong enough that we still won’t face some tough decisions in our local budget. While it is still a few months until the county budget will be prepared, I would expect there will still be cuts in some sectors this year. Hopefully we can minimize the impacts of those cuts on the community.

Local organizations celebrate the life of MLK with art and music

The life and work of the world-renowned human rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is celebrated annually on Jan. 21 in the United States. The holiday is commonly associated with his dedication to overcoming racial inequality right up until the day he was assassinated on April 24, 1968 on a motel balcony in Memphis, Tenn. But today, many recognize that his legacy extends to encompass much more than just racial injustice.

In celebrating Roe v. Wade’s 40th anniversary, pro-choice Cruzans look to the continuing fight for reproductive rights ahead

As the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision nears its 40th anniversary on Tuesday, Jan. 22, there will be many women honoring its legacy who were not alive before abortions were legal across the United States.

For those who remember the pre-Roe era, such as former Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency Director Rama Khalsa, the anniversary brings back memories of an emotional struggle to win the right. 

Two hundred years later, ‘Mission Indians’ receive an apology from local Catholic bishop

On the night of Oct. 12, 1812, a small group of Mission Indians conspired to kill Padre Andres Quintana, a priest at Mission Santa Cruz, for his brutal treatment of native people.

A few days earlier, one of the conspirators, an Indian named Donato, was whipped under orders from Padre Quintana with a whip specially fitted with wire at the ends to make it more painful. Another whipping with the new whip was scheduled for the next day, which the conspirators intended to prevent. 

Fungus Fair speaker Christopher Hobbs on the rise of medicinal mushrooms and winning over ‘fungaphobes’

There is at least one Santa Cruz inhabitant that likes the area’s rainy weather: fungi, which flourish in our wet season. With local forests abounding with turkey tails and chanterelles, among other mushroom species, it’s no wonder that Christopher Hobbs and fellow mushroom enthusiasts with the Fungus Federation of Santa Cruz have a passion for wandering through the woods and sharing what they find with the community.

Looking at the year ahead of us, what issues do you expect to be at the forefront for the city, and how do you plan to address them?

It is an honor and a great privilege to be Mayor of Santa Cruz. We have a strong city council and staff and are prepared to work hard during 2013 to ensure that our city government moves forward with policies and programs that enable our community to thrive. For my part, I intend to focus my efforts in three areas:

One is economic development. Growing our economy is essential to solving so many of the challenges that this city faces every day. In the near-term, we must work to create jobs in Santa Cruz and keep existing jobs in town.

GT looks ahead at likely key local issues for 2013

The last half of 2012 seemed to revolve around the election. Before that, the year kicked off with the SmartMeter saga still in full swing, and Occupy Santa Cruz stealing headlines. What will be this year’s equivalent? For one thing, we will have transportation projects under way (Rail Trail, Highway 1), and continued struggles with unemployment, hunger and other symptoms of a struggling economy. But here are three issues that we suspect will unfold in particularly interesting ways in 2013.