By Bruce McPherson, County Superintendent 5th District
I want to invite you to an Open House regarding plans for the new Felton Library. We are now at the point of designing the interior of the building and will share the conceptual floor plans, lighting options and ideas for furniture and other materials.
The floor plans include a large community room, a children’s room, a teen/multi-purpose room, a study room, staff quarters and main library room with the book stacks. I’m happy with conceptual plans and think they reflect the community’s ideas of what they want to see in the library. It’s also very exciting to be getting close to anticipated groundbreaking next June.
The Open House will be from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, December 4th at the Felton Community Hall meeting room at 6191 Hwy 9, Felton. Please drop by. We’ll have tables of information, drawings, and samples of materials that are under consideration.
Strategic Plan Underway
Santa Cruz County is developing its strategic plan, Vision Santa Cruz County, which is the first of its kind for the County. It’s a valuable way for residents to help determine an overall plan for the community. The first community planning meeting was held recently in Ben Lomond.
We had lively discussions of our community’s strengths and opportunities. Additional meetings are happening throughout the County. The strategic plan is a high-level vision for our community, which includes our collective values, mission and goals. The goal is to provide guidance to County staff and leadership when it comes to allocating County resources and energy.
A survey is underway that asks for your feedback on your community vision and values as well as the strengths and weaknesses of County government. It will be available through December at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/P8RRNFB.
Thumbs Up to Cabrillo Students
As a member of the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District (Metro) Board of Directors, I want to wholeheartedly thank Cabrillo College students for voting a few weeks ago to impose a fee on themselves for bus service throughout Santa Cruz County to the campus. It makes for a better public transportation system for everyone.
This isn’t the first time Cabrillo College students have “stepped up to the plate.”
In the spring of 2016, Cabrillo students voted with 53 percent in favor of assessing fees for sustainable bus service in the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 fiscal years. Just a few weeks ago, twice as many students voted — again — by a 78 percent margin to continue that assessment beyond 2018-19. The assessment is $40 for both fall and spring semesters, as well as $20 for the summer semester, and allows them to travel anywhere in the county (not including the Highway 17 route) seven days a week.
It took a team effort to run a successful campaign, including bus drivers and unions, Citizens for Sustainable Transportation, Metro board members, administrators and, of course, the students. It couldn’t have come at a more opportune time.
During the Great Recession, revenue from the 1978 ½-cent sales tax measure passed by voters to establish Metro had fallen an alarming $26 million from reasonable projections.
A slight reduction in service was imposed, and an increase in fares and all other options were considered. But again, last November county voters recognized the value of having a public transportation system in passing Measure D, a 30-year ½-cent sales tax to support all forms of transportation, including 16 percent of the revenue going to Metro.
And, as far as support for Metro goes, don’t forget the students at UCSC who make up more than half of Metro’s “boardings” every year. The system would suffer tremendously without their ridership.
Our need for Metro cannot be overstated. Every year, Metro provides more than 5 million trips for our friends and neighbors, including 750,000 trips for seniors and riders with disabilities. More than 75 percent of Metro’s customers don’t have access to private transportation and, and use Metro services five times a week.
For those who complain about mid-day low ridership buses … comparatively, the same is true even for Highway 1 during non-commute hours. To put it another way, our already-overburdened transportation system would be further stymied without Metro.
Metro is a vital part of our transportation, economic and educational networks in Santa Cruz County. The vote from Cabrillo College students to assess themselves in another election puts an explanation point on that statement, and we thank them for their support.