By Bruce McPherson, Fifth District Supervisor; Board of Supervisors Chairman
I am very pleased to be the Chair of the Board of Supervisors for 2016. I anticipate that it will be a very productive — and busy — year.
Over these past several years, through the combination of holding the line during the Great Recession, and practicing some cautious optimism during today’s mild economic recovery, Santa Cruz County is in a position to provide additional services to our county residents this coming year.
In the area of public safety, we have added additional patrol deputies in the Sheriff’s Department the past two years, and I hope we will be able to do the same in 2016-17.
With the help of so-called “unfunded mandate” money coming back to the County from the State — money owed to the County for about a decade –we were able to address needed improvements to our parks. I am hopeful that we will have projects in every county park in the Fifth District.
Last year, we worked on sustainable land use policies with continued protection of the environment. Now we are in the position to look for more opportunities for affordable workforce housing, as well as employment opportunities.
A Community Choice Energy program, which we have been working on for three years, will be thoroughly vetted in 2016, and the Board will make a decision whether to move forward. The program would allow us to depend on a higher percentage of renewable energy resources through local purchasing.
We should know in March whether our request to the PG&E to change the electrical baseline designation is successful. The goal is to reduce the cost of electricity and reduce air pollution from woodstove smoke. Currently, due to the high cost of electricity, many San Lorenzo Valley area residents use wood-burning stoves as their primary heat source, resulting in smoke particulate pollution.
Also in March, we will know whether the merger of Lompico Water District with the San Lorenzo Valley Water District is successful. Lompico voters will decide whether to form a $2.75 million assessment district to pay for the improvements needed as a condition of the merger.
We will also continue to shape the rules and regulations addressing the cannabis industry. The Board of Supervisors has given initial approval to a proposal that creates a two-tiered system to license small “cottage gardens” and “level one” cultivations of up to 500 square feet of plant canopy.
Meanwhile, the 13-member Cannabis Cultivation Choices Committee, known as C4, will continue work with the goal of making further recommendations to the Board in June. I am interested in a proposal that will protect neighborhoods from the nuisance and environmental impacts of cannabis cultivation while also allowing the innovative industry to thrive.
Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed $122 billion state budget proposal, overall, is a positive one for counties. While it limits ongoing funding commitments, it recommends mitigating what he has identified as the two biggest liabilities facing the state: transportation/infrastructure and state retiree benefits.
I hope that we too, will follow that approach, again increasing our budget reserve in preparing for the next economic downtown that is sure to come, while also looking out for health and human services opportunities for county residents.
Improvements to two critical services appear likely to be decided by county voters, not the Board of Supervisors, in 2016: a $49.50 a year parcel tax in June for our 10-branch library system, and a ½ cent sales tax measure in November for a balanced transportation program.
I plan to continue to hold neighborhood meetings in the district this year. If you and your neighbors are interested in hosting, please let me know by emailing me at [email protected].