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Santa Cruz leaders ask Caltrans to find new place for unhoused at Highways 1,9
City officials are in talks with Caltrans and Santa Cruz County staff to relocate unhoused people at Highways 1 and 9 to allow for an intersection widening project.
Caltrans, the California Department of Transportation, owns the land along the highway shoulders where dozens of people have pitched tents.
The governor’s office must approve any move to clear the camp, said Santa Cruz Planning Director Lee Butler, in an update to the Santa Cruz City Council on Tuesday. He added that Caltrans officials have been willing to pursue relocation of the camp due to safety concerns.
City staff have asked Caltrans to provide a place to relocate the homeless — either on Caltrans land or other state land. “Conversations are still ongoing,” Butler said.
Watsonville mass vaccination clinic to open for seniors, health care workers
A mass vaccination clinic will open Thursday at the council chambers of Old City Hall, 250 Main St., Watsonville for:
County residents 75 and older
County residents 65 and older who live in 95019, 95076 or 95077 ZIP codes
Health care workers
Vaccinations are by appointment only. Register online or by phone at 877-218-0381. The call center is open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekends, in Spanish and English.
The clinic will operate 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday through Monday and offer 210 appointments each day. Identification to prove age is required for residents 65 and older and proof of employment is required for health care workers. Appointments have been filled for Thursday but slots are open Friday through Monday, said Tamara Vides, Watsonville assistant city manager.
A separate mass vaccination clinic at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds has supplied more than 1,600 shots since it opened several weeks ago, said Watsonville City Manager Matt Huffaker.
Starting Wednesday Feb. 10, the clinic there will be open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays with a goal to administer 1,000 vaccinations each day.
The site has been open to residents 65 and older who live in ZIP codes 95019, 95076 and 95077 and health care workers. Registration was full as of Tuesday Feb. 9. Check the county’s website for updates.
About 41,500 vaccine doses have been administered to Santa Cruz County residents across all health care providers, according to a state dashboard.
Sutter Health, Dignity Health Medical Group-Dominican and Dominican Hospital have administered more than 24,000 doses combined in Santa Cruz County, according to spokespeople from those companies. Learn who’s eligible and how to register.
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Tuesday, the city council voted 5-2 to remove a bust of George Washington from City Plaza to Watsonville Public Library with a bilingual plaque that explains a broader history of Washington.
Councilmembers Francisco Estrada, Rebecca Garcia, Aurelio Gonzalez, Eduardo Montesino and Mayor Jimmy Dutra voted in favor of moving the bust to the library. Mayor Pro Tempore Ari Parker and Lowell Hurst voted against it. Hurst and Parker spoke about putting the decision on a citywide ballot.
The bust was installed in 2001 as a bequest from a Watsonville resident who was a Croatian immigrant. A movement to remove the bust started in July in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement and Washington’s role as a slave owner. In the fall, the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission voted 4-2 to move the bust to the library with a bilingual plaque with a broader history.
Nearly every resident who spoke at Tuesday’s meeting supported the removal of the bust. Councilmember Rebecca Garcia noted Washington’s role in indigenous genocide during the French and Indian War in the 1750s and his role in the outlaw of runaway slaves in the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793.
“A great nation and a great community confronts its history,” said Councilmember Francisco Estrada. “A great nation should answer and should atone for its own history. And really then, and only then, can we begin the overdue process to heal and move forward. And I sort of think that this is doing a little bit of that.” Estrada added, “You should love your country. And I’m not talking about glorifying nationalism. I’m talking about loving it enough to see it for what it is, and to fight to make it what we know it can be.”
Mayor Jimmy Dutra said the “The issue is not the bust, the issue is the racial divide we are facing in this community.” Dutra said that a library setting would help make the artwork more conducive to education.
— Stephen Baxter
Santa Cruz rentals approved despite appeal
A controversial three-story, three-unit apartment complex on a lot with a single-family home at 418 Pennsylvania Ave. was approved by a 5-2 vote by the Santa Cruz City Council on Tuesday.
The Planning Commission’s previous approval was appealed by a next-door neighbor and two others who live nearby. Dozens of neighbors listed concerns about the project’s size and effect on neighborhood character to the city council and planning commission. Other residents — several of whom cited difficulty finding rentals in the city — advocated for the project.
Planning Director Lee Butler said the issue boiled down to SB330, a state law that limits cities’ ability to block housing projects.
Councilmembers Justin Cummings and Sandy Brown voted against the project. They wanted the council to delay action and give the neighbors and developer another chance to reconcile.
Watsonville City Council members on Tuesday approved about $414,000 to city departments after higher than expected revenue was reported through September.
Sales tax income is up 15% in the last quarter — a surprise, staff wrote, largely due to boosts in vehicle sales and the city’s share of online sales tax revenue.
The city council last year approved $4.4 million in cuts to balance the budget. City staff have proposed to restore some of that money, including:
$216,000 for fire department overtime pay. Firefighter strike teams battled wildfires, those shifts in the city were backfilled with overtime pay because of minimum staff rules, city staff said.
$89,000 for police overtime pay and salaries
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