Save Santa Cruz Candidate Questionnaire – 2018 City Council Election

TEN TOUGH QUESTIONS FOR THE CANDIDATES FOR SANTA CRUZ CITY COUNCIL

Save Santa Cruz asked all ten of the candidates who are running for the Santa Cruz City Council to respond to a candidate questionnaire. The results are below. After we sent out our report, two candidates said they didn't receive the questionnaire, so we gave everyone another chance to provide responses to our questions. Only Justin Cummings and Paige Concannon chose to do that. 
 Save Santa Cruz strongly believes that the City Council that takes office after the November 6, 2018, election must be prepared to deal with the critical issues of growth and development in Santa Cruz, specifically housing, traffic, and water. We hope you agree. 
Stand by for citizen action. We are going to need it! 

Question #1
The City planning staff has proposed a “Corridors Zoning Plan” that would result in very dense, high‑rise mixed-use developments along Mission Street, Ocean Street, Water Street, and Soquel Avenue. Negative public reaction to this plan led the City Manager to inform 

the Council in June 2017 that he was instructing his staff to put the Corridors Plan on the “backburner.” If elected to the City Council, will you terminate the proposed Corridors Zoning Plan? (As you recall the City Council in 2016 was for the Corridor plan.)
Responses To Question #1
YES:
Paige Concannon, Justin Cummings, Drew Glover, Cynthia Hawthorne, Greg Larson, Donna Meyers
NO:
DON’T KNOW / NO POSITION:
Ashley Scontriano
NO RESPONSE:
Philip Crawford, David Lane, Richelle Noroyan 

Question #2
The City planning staff is urging the City Council to reduce inclusionary housing requirements in new developments,
in order to make new developments “pencil out” for the developer.
If elected to the City Council what position will you take? (This means are the candidates for including a larger percentage of affordable housing in new projects?)
Responses To Question #2
WHAT THE STAFF RECOMMENDS:
Paige Concannon
KEEP CURRENT INCLUSIONARY REQUIREMENTS:
Greg Larson, Donna Meyers, Ashley Scontriano
INCREASE, SIGNIFICANTLY CURRENT INCLUSIONARY REQUIREMENTS:
Justin Cummings, Drew Glover, Cynthia Hawthorne
DON’T KNOW / NO POSITION:
NO RESPONSE:
Philip Crawford, David Lane, Richelle Noroyan
 Question #3
Almost 80% of the voters in the June 2018 election voted against any further UCSC growth. If elected to the City Council, will you vote to provide staffing and financial support for an aggressive campaign to stop future UCSC growth, focused on the State Legislature, the Regents, and other UC communities that are adversely affected by
UC growth, and do everything you can, as a Council Member, to stop the unsustainable impacts of the proposed growth of the UCSC campus?
Responses To Question #3
YES:
Paige Concannon, Justin Cummings, Drew Glover, Greg Larson, Cynthia Hawthorne, Donna Meyers, Ashley Scontriano
NO:
DON’T KNOW / NO POSITION:
NO RESPONSE:
Philip Crawford, David Lane, Richelle Noroyan 

Question #4
Recent state laws attempt to override local land use decision-making authority, on the grounds that local communities are putting unfair requirements on proposed development projects, thereby making the state’s housing crisis worse. If elected to the City Council what will be your approach?

·         I agree with the state’s efforts to override local ordinances and will facilitate dense, high-rise development, in accordance with the new state laws, despite the limits on development that local zoning laws would otherwise have mandated or allowed.

·         I would go beyond the state’s requirements and seek to maximize the possibility for dense, high-rise development as a way to try to meet housing demand.

·         I think local land use decisions should be made at the local level, and I would ask the planning department and the city attorney to help the City Council find a way to fight back against these recent state laws, restoring local control as much as possible, and maximizing the Council’s ability to make the kind of land use decisions that the Council believes are best for Santa Cruz.
Responses To Question #4
AGREE TO OVERRIDE LOCAL ORDINANCES:
Paige Concannon
GO BEYOND STATE REQUIREMENTS:
FIGHT FOR LOCAL CONTROL:
Justin Cummings, Drew Glover, Greg Larson, Cynthia Hawthorne, Donna Meyers, Ashley Scontriano
NO RESPONSE:
Philip Crawford, David Lane, Richelle Noroyan 

Question #5
A local housing crisis exists and local residents with average or below average incomes are priced out of the housing market. Do you think that this housing crisis can be solved by building new market-rate housing in Santa Cruz?
Responses To Question #5
YES:
NO:
Paige Concannon, Justin Cummings, Drew Glover, Greg Larson, Cynthia Hawthorne, Donna Meyers, Ashley Scontriano
DON’T KNOW / NO POSITION:
NO RESPONSE:
Philip Crawford, David Lane, Richelle Noroyan 

Question #6
UCSC will be able to obtain City water for expansion into the “North Campus” area (currently an undeveloped natural area) only if the City Council agrees to extend its water services to this currently undeveloped part of the campus. If you are elected to the City Council and the City is asked by the University to extend water service to allow the development of the UCSC North Campus, what will you do?
Responses To Question #6
VOTE TO EXTEND WATER SERVICE IF UNIVERSITY REQUESTS THAT:
VOTE AGAINST EXTENDING WATER SERVICE TO PERMIT MORE UCSC GROWTH:
Paige Concannon, Justin Cummings, Drew Glover, Greg Larson, Cynthia Hawthorne, Ashley Scontriano
DON’T KNOW / NO POSITION:
Donna Meyers
NO RESPONSE:
Philip Crawford, David Lane, Richelle Noroyan 

Question #7
Traffic is already at intolerable levels throughout the City. If elected to the City Council, will you vote for an ordinance that will require the Council to deny approval for any major new development project that will lead to significant and additional traffic congestion?
Responses To Question #7
YES:
Justin Cummings, Drew Glover, Cynthia Hawthorne
NO:
Paige Concannon, Donna Meyers
DON’T KNOW / NO POSITION:
Greg Larson, Ashley Scontriano
NO RESPONSE:
Philip Crawford, David Lane, Richelle Noroyan 

Question #8
Many homes in Santa Cruz are “second homes,” with out-of-city owners. These homes are vacant a good part of the year and are therefore not available to help alleviate the housing crisis affecting our community. If elected to the City Council, will you vote for a “vacancy tax,” like the tax enacted by the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, which will impose a very sizable tax on any home that is not owner-occupied or rented to a full-time tenant?
Responses To Question #8
YES:
Justin Cummings, Drew Glover, Cynthia Hawthorne, Ashley Scontriano
NO:
Paige Concannon
DON’T KNOW / NO POSITION:
Greg Larson, Donna Meyers 
NO RESPONSE:
Philip Crawford, David Lane, Richelle Noroyan 

Question #9
The City’s planning staff often recommends that major new residential developments provide fewer parking places for residents and visitors than the zoning code would otherwise require. On some occasions, the staff has recommended that new developments provide even fewer than one parking place per new unit. This approach shifts parking into the neighborhoods and/or shifts costs onto the public.
If elected to the City Council, what would be your approach?
Responses To Question #9
FAVOR REDUCING PARKING REQUIREMENTS:
Ashley Scontriano
PROJECTS SHOULD COMPLY WITH PARKING REQUIREMENTS:
Paige Concannon, Greg Larson, Donna Meyers
NO FIRM POSITION:
Justin Cummings, Drew Glover, Cynthia Hawthorne
NO RESPONSE:
Philip Crawford, David Lane, Richelle Noroyan 

Question #10
Extremely rapid economic growth in the Silicon Valley, and in the San Francisco Bay Area generally, has made the City of Santa Cruz a desirable place to live for persons who are employed outside of Santa Cruz County. Our community has more natural amenities than most Silicon Valley cities, and housing costs are lower here than in the Bay Area. Faced with this reality, I believe that the City of Santa Cruz should: 

Accommodate these out-of-county growth pressures as best we can, doing everything possible to promote and build housing for those who wish to live in Santa Cruz.

·         Approve new residential developments only when they are demonstrably able to meet the housing needs of average and below-average income families who live and work in Santa Cruz County. (This means approving major new housing developments only when at least 30% to 50% of the new housing will be price restricted to be affordable to local working families).
Responses To Question #10
ACCOMMODATE OUT OF COUNTY GROWTH:
APPROVE DEVELOPMENTS ONLY WHEN THEY MEET THE HOUSING NEEDS OF AVERAGE AND BELOW AVERAGE INCOME FAMILIES:
Justin Cummings, Drew Glover, Cynthia Hawthorne
NO SPECIFIC IDEA ON HOW TO HANDLE GROWTH PRESSURES:
Paige Concannon, Greg Larson, Donna Meyers, Ashley Scontriano
NO RESPONSE:
Philip Crawford, David Lane, Richelle Noroyan