WATSONVILLE >> With voting already underway, the Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce and Santa Cruz Voice hosted a forum for candidates to discuss their views on issues and make a pitch to South County residents still deciding how to vote in their local elections.

Held in the Community Room at the Watsonville Civic Plaza and live-streamed on Santa Cruz Voice’s website, the forum featured only two candidates in the Watsonville City Council election: incumbent District 1 Councilman Eduardo Montesino — who is running unopposed — and Trina Coffman-Gomez, who is running for a seat in District 6. Moderator Michael Olson said incumbent District 2 Councilwoman Vanessa Quiroz-Carter — who is also running unopposed — and incumbent District 6 Councilman Jimmy Dutra had also been invited, but neither attended. A separate forum with Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors District 2 candidates Kristen Brown and Kim De Serpa was held later.

The candidates were asked a series of questions by Santa Cruz Voice and also those submitted by members of the audience. One question asked the candidates for their views on the local ballot initiatives Measures V and W. The former would allow non-registered voters to serve on boards and commissions, and the latter would amend the city’s charter to allow the City Council to set compensation for members of the Planning Commission, make the Library Board a commission, allow council members to receive employment benefits and increase the mayor’s salary to 25% more than the rest of the council, among other things.

Montesino and Coffman-Gomez both agreed that the charter needed updating and supported Measure W. However, they differed on Measure V, with Coffman-Gomez saying she felt citizenship was important for boards and commissions, and that the council should be more active in the community and encouraging residents to serve on boards and commissions.

“I’d like to see citizenship on here for voting and to engage more with the council members and others to bring in more people to be stepping up in terms of the civic duty,” she said.

Montesino said it was important to open up boards and commissions to all residents who want to participate in their community.

“We have a lot of people that are not citizens who want to participate but are not able to, so we’re just trying to open up our arms to everyone,” he said.

The candidates were also asked what they would do to mitigate homelessness in Watsonville. Montesino said the process should start with empathy, something he said he feels was lost in the discussion a long time ago.

“They’re our neighbors,” he said. “They’re on the levee, they’re in the sloughs. Let’s start with the empathy.”

Montesino said priorities include building more houses, bringing in more resources, discussing rent control and hosting more community workshops.

“We have to have that conversation with the community,” he said.

Coffman-Gomez, who chairs the Salvation Army Watsonville Corps advisory board, said the city should develop a strategic plan and should have a brick-and-mortar homeless center.

“The closure of the (Salvation Army) navigation center is a fine example of what we’re not doing, what we’re failing,” she said. “That money was no longer allocated for us to continue the service work for a couple dozen residents here that were getting a triage of services that were there.”

To that end, the candidates were also asked how they felt about the Recurso de Fuerza project, which seeks to develop 34 temporary housing units at 5 Cherry Court on property owned by Westview Presbyterian Church for a two-year pilot program. Montesino, whose district the project is located in, said it was important for the city to do something, especially as it has not had success with other endeavors. When asked what he felt the benefits of the project were, Montesino said it would provide a leg up for people experiencing homelessness.

“(I see) a community that, hopefully after they’re out of there, has a potential to be in a home or has some services in relation to what their needs are,” he said.

Coffman-Gomez did not feel it was a sustainable project.

“We’re going from one temporary structure at the Salvation Army that’s (2,000 square feet) that’s gonna cost us $35,000 to $45,000 to remove, and we have a micro village, now we’re gonna have about 40 of these,” she said. “We will see that in 15 years’ time, they’ll be functionally obsolete, they’ll have to be removed, there will be a sense of cost incurred, and I’d really like to see something like a brick and mortar for our safety net provider for our resource here.”

The candidates were also asked if they felt the county should do more to partner with Watsonville on mental health services. Both agreed, and Coffman-Gomez said that an association or committee devoted to that would be beneficial.

“We need the advocacy, we need the voice,” she said.

Montesino noted the community should continue to put pressure on the county to provide the right resources. He said the June opening of the South County Government Center, which houses the Human Services Department, was a step in the right direction but more was needed.

“The next property is gonna be over on Freedom Boulevard in District 6, and hopefully we can get more resources there with mental health because it’s greatly needed,” he said.

Election Day is Nov. 5.