Measure Z tax will just flow into ‘black hole’

It is baffling that Measure Z is currently winning by a little over 800 votes. We already pay just shy of 10% sales tax in our city and now it looks like those who like to drink sugary drinks are going to be further taxed for that indulgence. Sure, the City Council will create yet another committee to “recommend” how this new tax revenue “should” be spent, but the harsh reality is 100% of this new revenue stream will flow right into the black hole known as the general fund to be never seen again, let alone spent on trying to get people to stop drinking sugary drinks.

For the record I do not drink sugary drinks, it just seems crazy to me that people think we can tax our way to better health.

— Brent Ruhne, Santa Cruz

Cabrillo student housing – replace soccer fields

While I’m excited about the important new student housing at Cabrillo, I am sorry to see that it will displace the soccer fields that have been used by this community for decades — most recently, the home for 600 youth soccer kids. Many of these same children will be attending Cabrillo in the coming years, just like their parents before them.

The fields are part of our community.

The good news is that the administration is investigating a campus site for a new and better field.

Cabrillo, make this happen!

— Bill Simpkins, Live Oak

Serious harm by cutting child care CORE funding

Santa Cruz city and county CORE funding recommendations have been announced, and child care has been abandoned. Decades-long partnerships with the city and county previously allowed multiple nonprofit child care centers to provide high quality child care for a diverse population of low-income families. The process was always competitive, and we consistently reported successfully meeting the objectives of our grants. This funding cycle, only two child care centers applied — the Santa Cruz Toddler Care Center and Walnut Avenue Family & Women’s Center. Neither was recommended for funding. Local government funding to make child care affordable is essential. The amount of money that it takes to provide high-quality child care is simply more than most families can afford to pay. The results of these cuts will seriously compromise our ability to provide high-quality child care to low-income families.

High-quality child care has an undeniably monumental impact on not only the well being of young children and their families, but the economic stability of a community. Parents simply can’t work without child care, and economies simply can’t function without working parents.

— Nora Caruso and Heather Burquez, Co-Executive Directors, Santa Cruz Toddler Care Center

‘Absurd charges’ against Trump helped elect him

A recent letter writer (Nov. 12) wants to immediately “end the discussion” about the GOP win as she emphatically points to the fact that a rapist and felon was elected to the presidency.

What she neglects to understand is the illegitimate machinations by the federal government that led to these absurd charges in the first place. The American people have spoken. Those charges, as we the majority understood, were defamatory and completely false, and were a transparent attempt to jail a political opponent.

The weaponization of the federal government is the danger to democracy that so many have spoken of.

— Beth Ahrens-Kley, Santa Cruz

Dangerous game being set up on climate change

We’re playing Russian roulette with the climate and we don’t know what’s in the loaded chamber. One thing that could be there is disruption of AMOC — the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation — an ocean current that circulates warm water from the tropics and cold water from the Arctic, creating our current climate in the eastern USA and Europe. What could mess up AMOC? Melting ice, lots of it. Where from? Greenland, an island domed with a sheet of ice the size of Alaska and two miles thick. And it’s melting fast, at an accelerating rate. A massive infusion of melting ice water will throw AMOC out of whack, causing a rapid transformation of climate. Ice core research tells us that the past 12,000 years of relatively stable climate is the exception. Previously it oscillated widely, and will do so again. Want to see what’s in the loaded chamber? Drill, baby, drill.

— Mik Moore, Santa Cruz