Realtors’ ‘misinformation’ on housing measure

Affordable housing is needed in town. A local nonprofit, Housing Santa Cruz County, has worked over the last 18 months to prepare the Workforce Housing Solutions Act which needs your support. It will ensure that more of the housing being built around town will be affordable. It will help local workers find local housing. It will reduce traffic congestion. It will help us be a more fair and equitable community. Let’s sign this initiative and get affordable housing on the ballot for November.

But now, after months of careful work, a last-minute opposing petition has been initiated by a monied group of local realtors. This is a scam with a similar looking petition meant to confuse and disrupt. This measure does nothing to advance affordable housing. Organized misinformation is ruining the democratic process and is no longer acceptable. Watch carefully which initiative you sign and make sure that you are supporting the Workforce Housing Solutions Act. If you would like to join the campaign, please reach out to our website at https://www.workforcehousingnow.net/

— David Foster, Santa Cruz

Protest over mobile home park owner’s charges

This letter reports an event at last week’s County Manufactured and Mobilehome Commission. After hearing the County knew about double charging, I asked what the Assistant County Counsel would do. She said she’d ask the park owner to stop it. She didn’t want to order compliance with the law. When pressed if it would take days or years, all she said was “not years”.

I was attending the meeting as the Commissioner for District 2. I quit this volunteer work because of this sort of County disregard for enforcing the rights of mobile-home residents.

I had been on the Commission since 2007. County support for residents has been declining since about 2010.

— Henry Cleveland, Aptos

Petition to keep auto access on SC street

The City and County of Santa Cruz have a “down low” vision to take 1/2 of street parking away and extend a bike path through Brookwood Drive to the hospital. This is an unlawful taking. Santa Cruz needs auto (read, ambulances, police, fire and everyone else who would need to evacuate in an emergency such as a wildfire or health emergency) access on Brookwood Drive.

We urge everyone to sign the “Stop the Street Grab!” petition on MoveOn.org

— Louisa, Chris and Jonas Capp, Santa Cruz

Columbia student’s arrest and Jan. 6 rioters

So let me get this straight: Mahmoud Khalili has been arrested and threatened with deportation for leading the protests at a university and interrupting educational proceedings.

But if he instead protested on January 6th, broke into the Capitol building - where people actually died - and interrupted official U.S. government proceedings, then he would have been hailed as a patriot.

So basically, if you do something on Donald Trump’s behalf, then laws don’t apply to you.

And if you lead the protests, such as say, calling people to DC, telling them to fight like hell, and directing them to march down to the Capitol, well then, you are above the law.

— Phil Hormel, Scotts Valley

Published accusations about DEI ‘blatantly racist’

I think most of us shake our heads when extreme viewpoints are published in your Opinion section. But one frequent conservative writer’s tiresome tirades against the evil communists of Santa Cruz gets my reaction when he lowers himself to openly racist remarks.

To start, DEI programs are not based on the assumption that all white people are racist. White people are the beneficiaries of institutional racism (advantages in real estate, banking, education, etc.) and DEI programs are meant to even the playing field.

To say that DEI programs produce mediocrity is blatantly racist and deeply insulting.

I wish you would do a better job at filtering out hate speech.

— Erica Aitken, Santa Cruz,

Contemplating yet another ‘cost cutting’ DOGE move

I’m sure any day now we will hear, in the interest of efficiency and cost cutting, vowels will be removed from all government documents.

— Jerry Cabak, Santa Cruz