Stop property tax hikes and vote No on 5

Homeowners, raise your hand if you want more property taxes! Proposition 5 will do exactly that by making it easier to increase your parcel taxes by lowering the percentage of “yes” votes needed to pass a bond (loan) to 55%. If Prop. 5 passes, the existing 66% “yes” vote needed would be lowered to 55% for “infrastructure,” loosely defined as almost anything (water management, police stations, rental assistance, housing, hospitals, broadband and more). The California constitutional requirement for a 66% yes vote was instituted to ensure it’s harder to borrow money for a bond unless a supermajority of voters agree that an issue is important enough to saddle themselves with a 30-40 year loan to address it.

Don’t lower this requirement to 55% unless you want to see many more lines on your tax bill, approved by only a little more than half the voters. Vote No on 5.

— Henry Raptor, Santa Cruz

Don’t fall for Big Soda’s ploy – vote Yes on Z

Do you really think that Coke, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper and Red Bull have your best interests at heart? They are pouring (pun intended) over $1 million into their campaign to defeat Measure Z, the proposed tax on sugary beverages, those that have no nutritional value and contribute mightily to our multiple epidemics of obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Like the tobacco companies, they are trying to convince you that their products are not harmful. Well, they are and you have a choice now to vote Yes on Measure Z to discourage their consumption and raise revenues that will go toward creating a healthier, safer community for all of us.

Don’t be deceived by these soda companies. Vote Yes on Measure Z.

— Scott Roseman, Santa Cruz

Protect natural resources, Yes on Measure Q

Measure Q focuses on the protection and resilience for our natural resources, including forests, water sources and working lands. A Yes vote means waterways and beaches will be cleaner, trails and fire breaks will be maintained, and parks will be improved. I am particularly moved by the funding that will go to land preservation and management as we confront our changing climate. The impacts from climate change are no joke and Measure Q delivers critical funding to increase the health of our forests, trails, open spaces and grasslands. If we invest in taking care of our land, the land will take care of us. Let’s invest together with a Yes vote on Measure Q.

— John and Patty Brissenden, Santa Cruz

No on Q and Prop. 4 that will increase fire danger

Proposition 4 and Measure Q are fatally flawed and increase fire danger, damaging natural mechanisms to keep forests and watersheds healthy and reduce fires. Trees and vegetation are windbreaks — blocking, slowing and absorbing wind. But Prop. 4 and Measure Q strip vegetation via prescribed burns, grinding and chemicals, and “limb” and “thin” trees, allowing winds to travel up hillsides and canyons and accelerate via Venturi effect, worsen existing fires, and aid in fire start.

Prop. 4 and Q destroy nature’s water mechanism of “slow and sink,” rains will cause erosion and mudslides, sediment clogging creeks and rivers, increasing flooding, and degrading the watershed and spawning grounds of trout and salmon.

These activities kill wildlife — small animals, reptiles, young birds and insects — and destroy their homes and food sources. And they make trees more vulnerable to falling. Land purchased with these bonds will be managed this way. Similar work by Monterey, PG and Carmel show the horrific damage already, with more planned.

Protect the community and vote no on Q and Prop. 4.

— Nina Beety, Monterey

Yes on Q, and opportunity to invest in the future

Measure Q, the Water & Wildfire Protection Act, is a once in a generation opportunity to invest in the future of the place we call home. Resulting from a grassroots effort across Santa Cruz County, Measure Q ensures we can care for the natural places that make our way of life possible. Invested locally and leveraged to bring in matching state and federal resources, Measure Q targets projects that will have the greatest impact. Together we can vote our values into action. Join me and vote Yes on Q.

— Mariah Roberts, Santa Cruz