Jacob Pierce

Staff Writer

CORRECTED: City, Activists Stand by Separate Desal Initiatives

Mayor Don Lane says November 2014 is too long to wait to hold an election on a desalination plant. Photo by Chip Scheuer.

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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Lane and Terrazas Want Desal Ballot Measure

It might be an overstatement to say Santa Cruz’s discussion over desalination has been blown out of the water, but it definitely just changed. Mayor Don Lane and Councilmember David Terrazas will propose an ordinance at the next city council meeting that would put a desal plant to a vote sooner rather than later, as outlined in a statement released Wednesday, Feb. 15.

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Coonerty Seeks Job with County

Councilmember Coonerty has applied for a job with the county.

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

Former mayor Mike Rotkin says a community oversight board would amount to unneeded bureaucracy and distrust for city council.

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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