Millennials: Fighting For Change or Failing to Turn Out?
Home is a confusing thing when you’re a college student. Is it where you grew up? Where your college is located? A little bit of both? With that all taken into account, where should your opinions matter? College students have the potential to influence elections....
Santa Cruz County Ballot Measure Breakdown
’Tis the season for political yard signs. Slogans for city council members, gubernatorial candidates and ballot measures at both the local and state level can become overwhelming, especially if you are not aware of what each policy really stands for. This guide to all the...
Rent — How Do You Measure a Crisis?
A landlord rents a leaky pool shed for $350 per month. A man lives with 20 other people and works four jobs to make rent. A woman was priced out of her rental after her husband died in an electrical fire caused by a neglected...
AFSCME 3299 Back in Action
For the second time in a little over five months, AFSCME 3299 members went on strike. This time, however, it’s not from the absence of a contract, but receiving one they did not ask for. Earlier this month, the university imposed contract parameters on patient...
Candidates Gather for On-Campus Forum
In the print edition of this article, City on a Hill Press mischaracterized the effects of an amendment to Measure O. The decrease in the affordable housing requirement was applied to areas outside of downtown Santa Cruz, not downtown itself. The downtown requirement is unchanged. City...
‘H’ is for Housing
While Measure M has taken the spotlight, a quieter competition simmers between Yes on H and No on H campaigners in Santa Cruz County. Measure H, the Santa Cruz County Affordable Housing Bond, is one of several pieces of housing legislation to appear on the...
A Guide to Voting Without a Fixed Address
More and more states require a would-be voter to provide identification and an address, often excluding houseless populations. In California however, houseless people don’t need ID or even a fixed address to cast their ballot. With almost 2,000 houseless people in Santa Cruz, California regulation...
Big Money in Small Races
The Supreme Court rendered limits on individual campaign contributions unconstitutional in Citizens United eight years ago, and the effects are being felt today at the local level in Santa Cruz. While conversations about political spending largely focus on national and state races, the influence of...
The Who of the Housing Crisis
Jane Eng paid $650 a month for a one-bedroom cottage in Live Oak in 1990 when she first moved to Santa Cruz. Her wages increased 40 percent since then, and her overall rent increased by 450 percent. She now pays almost $3,000 a month for...
Accessible Voting in Santa Cruz
Every voter knows that feeling you get after you cast a ballot — that swell of pride, the uncontainable joy of slapping on an “I Voted” sticker and having everyone you pass notice that star-spangled icon of civic engagement. But when stickers aren’t incentive enough,...