The quaint little Santa Cruz we’ve known for decades has been booming in 2024, like no other time since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
It’s been a boom year for construction all over the county. It’s also been a boom for environmental troubles, a time when officials have to decide how they will face climate changes that have affected not just the coast, but everywhere throughout the county.
UCSC is growing, while public schools face budget troubles because families and teachers can barely afford to live here.
There have been positive steps, including bond measures to help build affordable housing for teachers and students. Legislators in 2024 showed they are walking the walk after decades of talk.
One only has to look at the skyline—a skyline!—in downtown Santa Cruz to see what’s made the year’s biggest change. Is it a plus or a minus? Depends on who you ask.
On the fun hand, the good times have blossomed in this county with more entertainment and great food than you could find in a county of fewer than 300,000 people anywhere in the country. Every night of the week there’s something special going on, from poetry to pop, from Shakespeare to punk.
JANUARY
’SHROOM ZOOM
Finally, after hundreds of years, California got a state mushroom; surprisingly, it’s not psychedelic.
This year, Cantharellus californicus became the official state ’shroom.
So what does it do? You eat it and it tastes great, fans say, and the portions are huuuuge.
The yellow-orange native fungus, clocking in at a max of 20 inches wide, is the largest edible chanterelle in the world, although nothing compared to the Termitomyces titanicus, of West Africa and Zambia, whose cap reaches 3.28 feet in diameter.
Just imagine the pizza you could make.
DEBATE FORESTALLS ACTION
The Santa Cruz City Council unveiled a new version of the Wharf Master Plan, designed to enhance and maintain the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf. The new plan ditched the proposed Western Walkway, a pedestrian path eight feet below the restaurants with new, shorter pilings to protect the current pilings from big waves. The change came after a group called Don’t Morph the Wharf, headed by Gillian Greensite, won a CEQA ruling in 2022 that found the city’s plan didn’t take environmental repercussions into account.
On Jan. 9 the council voted unanimously for the new plan, in part because Don’t Morph the Wharf agreed to drop ongoing litigation—which allowed the city to get $6 million in funding from the Coastal Conservancy for wharf repairs. Councilmember Renee Golder, who favored the walkway, explained her vote: “It is time we move on. We just need to protect the infrastructure.”
More proof of how badly that work was needed came at the end of the year when 150 feet of the wharf fell into the sea during especially high waves. Expect the battles to continue.
LAWFARE
California lawmakers were busy making your life more complicated for the new year. Sacramento legislators sent off 1,046 bills, of which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed 890 into law.
They included: raising the minimum wage up to $20 an hour from $15.50 and up to $25 an hour for health care workers, or still not enough to afford a home in Santa Cruz.
Another law raises the number of employee sick days from three to five and prohibits employers from penalizing sick workers.
In response to harsh abortion laws passed in other states, California shields doctors from being prosecuted for providing abortions to women who come from other states and protects physicians who mail abortion pills to out-of-state patients.
Landlords have been restricted from asking for more than one month’s rent for a security deposit and PG&E rates were defined by income. Low-income customers were to be billed $300 a year less and those earning more than $180,000 a year would pay $500 more.
In the fun dept., lawmakers made it unlawful for cities to make cruising illegal and forbid employers from testing or asking about past marijuana use.
SANTA CRUZ GAVE
Who says there’s no good news? There was plenty to end 2023 and start 2024 on a high note: Santa Cruz Gives, the charity sponsored by Good Times, raised $1 million for 65 charities last year and is on track for more good news this year.
FEBRUARY
KIDS STRANDED
Pajaro Valley School District students were being left at school and parents have had to take time off work to pick them up because of a shortage of bus drivers. The district needs 75 drivers to take care of the area’s largest school district, but is short 21.
The district voted to reward $1,000 to anyone who recommends qualified bus drivers. Low pay and high housing costs contribute to the shortage. Hourly wages range from $19.68 to $25.11 and it can take six months to get certified.
TERMINAL TERMINATED
The downtown Santa Cruz bus terminal, long a fixture on Pacific Avenue, was closed this month for a reset. Bus service has been kicked to the curb, literally, along Front Street, Soquel Avenue and River Street, while the old spot is turned into a behemoth of apartments that will contain 126 units of affordable housing, commercial and office space and a new bus station.
For better and worse, Santa Cruz now has a skyline more resembling Mountain View than Carmel.
Some people claim quaint Santa Cruz is now ain’t Santa Cruz.
PUBLIC OR NOT?
Despite the California Coastal Commission’s order to allow the path behind Aptos condos along Beach Street in Rio Del Mar to be open and available for all, the owners of what are mostly beachside vacation rentals rebelled against a $4.8 million fine and replaced the small, haphazard wall they first made with a big fence, blocking the public from walking along the beach and forcing them to walk in a busy street.
This is a long-standing debate that will still have more days in court. The local court ruled in favor of the homeowners, while the Commission favored public access to the path.
FAREWELL TO A LOCAL HERO
Hundreds of locals showed up at Cabrillo College Feb. 17 to say goodbye to philanthropist Rowland Rebele, who passed away in November 2023.
Reb contributed so much to this community, as writer Geoffrey Dunn recalled “his tireless advocacy for those experiencing homelessness; his generous commitment to the arts, education, journalism and newspaper publishing; his relentless protection of First Amendment rights; his delight in political campaigns (win or lose). Reb was seemingly everywhere at all times…his passions were broad and his energies both enthusiastic and unyielding.”
Recently retired County Supe Zach Friend noted: “Whether it was helping build skate parks for local youth or ensuring that the least fortunate are elevated in local government, Reb always quietly and effectively finds a way to make our community better for future generations.”
MARCH
GETTING HIGH
On March 4, local developer Workbench submitted a pre-application plan for the Clocktower Center to the City of Santa Cruz. At 18 stories with 260 apartments, the building at the former site of Santa Cruz County Bank and the Rush Inn would be the tallest building in the county. The next day, voters nixed Measure M, which would have required an election for buildings taller than the city’s current limit of five to eight stories.
But even without the threat of the vote, there was significant pushback on the idea of an 18-story structure. As it currently stands, Workbench has submitted an application for an eight-story project with 174 units on the Clocktower site, and city planners are reviewing the application.
To get a rough idea of what eight stories looks like, one needs to look no further than the 530 Front St. housing project in downtown Santa Cruz, an eight-story, 276-unit rental housing complex now under construction by Swenson Builder, which was approved by the city in April 2023 and soared skyward in the past year.
APRIL
SLUGGER TIME
The most illustrious member of the Ariolimacidae family, the banana slug, was upgraded from UCSC’s mascot (voted in by students in 1986) to California’s own state slug in April when the Legislature gave thumbs up to Assembly Bill 1850, authored by Santa Cruz’s Gail Pellerin.
Signed into law by Gavin Newsom in September, the bright yellow gastropod takes its place among other state symbols, including the pallid bat, the California dogface butterfly and the Pacific leatherback sea turtle.
STORM WATCH
The West Cliff 50-Year Community Vision was adopted by the Santa Cruz City Council on April 9. A response to the damage sustained by West Cliff Drive from the 2023 winter storms, the 50-year plan addresses the biggest issues facing the roadway.
But one part of the vision—a pilot program for one-way traffic—was voted down after dozens spoke out during public comment, including residents, former officials and members of the Santa Cruz Boardriders Club.
Since then the city has continued working on a 5-Year Roadmap for this beloved stretch of road, with a final report heading to the Santa Cruz City Council in March 2025. A public comment period will run through mid-January.
MAY
GROWING LIKE WEEDS
The corner of Mission and Laurel began a process of transformation this spring, first on May 13, when the contentious debate over approval of a dispensary operating near Santa Cruz High School ended when the Santa Cruz City Council voted 6-1 to greenlight the Hook Outlet at the former site of Emily’s Bakery.
But the bigger change came on May 28 when the Santa Cruz City Council unanimously approved a 48-unit housing project at the current site of the Food Bin and Herb Room, a project with no available parking, where residents aren’t allowed to own cars. WTF?
UPS AND DOWNS
One century ago, on May 17, 1924, the wheels began to turn on the Giant Dipper, and the momentum kept the historic wooden roller coaster moving into the 21st century.
In his Good Times, author Geoffrey Dunn remembers the day that he, like countless locals before and after him, finally surpassed the 50-inch mark and was tall enough to take that first thrilling ride.
He also reveals other milestones in the history of roller coasters in Santa Cruz, which began in 1885.
CURTAIN FALLS…AND RISES
On May 26, Jewel Theatre Company took its final bow with a production of Ted Swindley’s Always … Patsy Cline. Company founder Julie James plays the title role, which Good Times critic Christina Waters fits her talents perfectly, “from her bouffant hairdo down to her kitten heels.”
Though it survived a 20-month shutdown during the pandemic, the Jewel—like many other theater companies—suffered a form of “long Covid” in the 2022/23 season, when only 70% of its subscribers returned.“Many people just simply got out of the habit of attending performing arts events,” James said when she announced the closure at the end of that season.
The good news? All About Theatre, a great local company, has moved in.
UNCLE CHARLIE’S SPRING CAMP
Extracurricular activities on the UC Santa Cruz campus made headlines this year, especially as the spring semester drew to a close.
UCSC Students for Justice in Palestine began an encampment at Quarry Plaza, echoing protest demands on other campuses that colleges nationwide divest from companies with ties to Israel.
On May 20, UCSC graduate students and researchers went on strike to protest the treatment of fellow union members during pro-Palestinian protests at UCLA and UC San Diego. In the early morning of May 31, law enforcement agencies from across the state were called in to dismantle a blockade at the base of the campus.
University officials said more than 100 protesters were arrested, and the University also issued a two-week campus ban for students who were detained. Charges are still pending.
JUNE
NEW TOWN?
The north end isn’t the only part of downtown Santa Cruz that’s seen taller buildings sprouting. Also in the works is the South of Laurel Area Plan, which envisions a bustling neighborhood and a new 3,200-seat arena for the Santa Cruz Warriors in the south end.
A riverwalk, open-air dining on Pacific Avenue down to the beach and a pedestrianized Spruce Street in front of the future Warriors’ arena are among the enticements, along with 1,600 new living spaces. Comments were collected through mid-July, and we are awaiting a final report.
HEADING SOUTH
Santa Cruz County took a big step toward equity for residents in the south when the new South County Government Center opened on June 11. A makeover of the former West Marine building on Westridge Drive, the 121,000-square-foot building holds the Human Services Department, Agricultural Commissioner’s Office, County Clerk/Elections and Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office.
TWO DECADES OF FRIDAYS
This year, Santa Cruz’s First Friday celebration turned 20—and it’s still going strong.
Writer Richard Stockton interviewed its founders, Kirby Scudder and Chip, and also talked to current director Bree Karpavage, who says that although the monthly open gallery event was intended to help emerging artists.
“Over 20 years it has become a place for any artist of any level to show their work. A lot of well-known artists are Santa Cruz based; they live and work here but they haven’t necessarily shown here, and now because of First Friday, they’re starting to show in Santa Cruz.”
JULY
BIG MUSIC BOOST
The Santa Cruz Symphony announced a $1 million legacy gift from longtime board member Mark Chambers-Bray in memory of the late Roy Chambers-Bray, the largest single donation in the 67-year-history of the Symphony.
A longtime supporter of the arts, Mark Chambers-Bray recalls that he and Roy had agreed, upon their retirement, that they “really wanted to funnel our energies and our passion toward the things that inspired us. And the Santa Cruz Symphony was one of those things.
TINY HOUSES, BIG QUESTIONS
For years, unhoused people have camped in the levee area at the border of Watsonville and Pajaro, which is vulnerable during floods.
The “Recurso de Fuerza” (Resource of Strength) tiny home micro village was proposed in 2023 as a joint effort between Santa Cruz and Monterey counties to address homelessness. But residents in the East Front Street neighborhood of Watsonville pushed back against the project, saying local officials had ignored their concerns over crime and safety.
“Why is our voice not being heard?” asked Catalina Torres, who is a spokesperson for the group. Councilmember Eduardo Montesino said the decision on the project will lie with the county and state, but he urged residents to keep an open mind.
CAMPS OUT
Days after Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order directing jurisdictions throughout the state to address the homeless encampments within their borders—and about one month after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that laws banning sleeping in public do not constitute cruel and unusual punishment—unsanctioned camps throughout the state have been cleared, and the residents moved to shelters, or to other illicit sites.
On July 29, Santa Cruz Police were in Pogonip Open Space, clearing out several encampments where homeless advocates say 50 people had been living.
Santa Cruz Homelessness Response Manager Larry Imwalle said the action was not sparked by Newsom’s announcement or the Supreme Court decision. Rather, officials were looking to clear fire-prone areas and ameliorate environmental impacts caused by campsites.
Police “made multiple visits over several weeks trying to engage folks, connect them with services if they’re interested and shelter options in particular,” according to Imwalle, who added, “It’s the humane and respectful way to go through this process.”
Similarly, in Watsonville, officials cleared encampments along the Pajaro River, where people living along the levee have dug shelters into the soil, which weakens the levee and increases flooding risks, Watsonville Police spokeswoman Michelle Pulido said.
Athena Flannery of Homeless United for Friendship and Freedom took exception with the sweeps, arguing that 10-day notices didn’t give campers enough time, especially for homeless people with few resources, many of whom are disabled. She added that the Homeless Persons Health Project would present a letter to the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, asking for a shift in thinking in the way local officials deal with the homeless population.
AUGUST
REASONABLE DOUBTS
The courtroom was packed as Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Denine Guy read her ruling that the prosecution had shown there was reasonable doubt that convicted murderer Adrian Gonzalez should be released from the juvenile detention system in October—on his 25th birthday—after his conviction for the 2015 kidnapping, rape and murder of his 8-year-old neighbor, Madyson “Maddy” Middleton.
According to state law, the juvenile system only keeps individuals until they are 25 years old. After that it is up to the courts to decide if they should be released. The judge said there was “probable cause to warrant a trial,” leaving Gonzalez’s fate in the hands of 12 jurors, with a verdict not expected until the new year.
HARBOR FUGITIVES
Two people were shot Aug. 8 after the Crow’s Nest Beach Party in the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor. Santa Cruz Police arrested Moses Dollar, 27, after he was captured in Los Angeles Sep. 18.
On Sept. 30, a second suspect, Mo Jakaella Porter, walked into the Santa Cruz Police Department, turned herself in and was booked for criminal conspiracy and attempted homicide.
SEPTEMBER
SHERIFF APPARENT
The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors unanimously appointed Undersheriff Chris Clark to take the agency’s lead role, a decision that was foreshadowed when Santa Cruz County Sheriff Jim Hart announced in August that he would leave before the end of his term and endorsed Clark to succeed him.
The supes got on board Sept 3, along with Santa Cruz County District Attorney Jeff Rosell and Chief Public Defender Heather Rogers, to make it official. County Supervisor Zach Friend said that said the tension that exists in many other law enforcement agencies—and the high turnover—does not exist in the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office thanks to the leadership of Clark.
Clark took on the new position Dec. 6.
WHARF’S UP
Several thousand people showed up for the reopening ceremony of the Capitola Wharf on Sept. 25, celebrating its survival after it was cleaved in two by heavy storms.
The wharf, built in 1857, boasts new lighting, side rails, benches, permanently mounted viewing scopes, several art installations, a wider deck, restrooms, bait and gift shops and a boat rental facility. Around 150 new pilings were added for strength.
The renovation repaired damage from the 2023/24 storms and tidal surge.
Jessica Kahn, the city’s public works director, said the $10 million project was “a huge investment for a city this size.”
NEW LOSD LEADERSHIP
After this year’s budget crisis, threat of layoffs and resignation of a beleaguered superintendent, things are finally looking up in the Live Oak School District. Patrick Sánchez takes the reins as district superintendent, seeking to turn things around and avoid more cuts amid enrollment declines at the district’s six schools.
The working 2025-26 budget calls for an additional $1.3 million in salary reductions if the district’s financial picture does not improve by next year. Sánchez is aiming to increase enrollment by developing “signature programming” at each school site.
DISLODGING PROTEST
After USCS’s 2024 spring quarter ended with dramatic clashes between hundreds of protestors and multiple law enforcement agencies at the base of the campus, resulting in over 122 arrests, new university policies are tamping down on direct actions. The policies were required by state lawmakers as part of the Budget Act of 2024, which allocated over $4.8 billion for the UC system.
The new policies ban any form of encampment on university property; the erection of any structures on university property; the blocking or obstructing of roadways, walkways, buildings, parking structures or other passageways. It also bans the use of masks to conceal identity.
On Sept. 9, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a suit in Santa Cruz County Superior Court against the University, saying the bans were “unconstitutional and overbroad, depriving students and faculty of their due process rights.”
Jimmy Dutra liable in sexual abuse case
A jury found that Watsonville City Councilman Jimmy Dutra committed sexual battery and lewd and lascivious acts on a minor in his Los Angeles apartment 19 years ago.
The jury awarded Stephen Siefke more than $1 million in damages for emotional and mental suffering and economic losses. The jury did not, however, determine that Dutra acted with malice, and so could not award punitive damages.
Only one juror dissented.
The verdict came after roughly three days of deliberation, which followed a weeklong civil trial.
OCTOBER
SOUTHERN EXPOSURE
Pajaro Valley Health Care District—the board responsible for overseeing Watsonville Community Hospital—announced the purchase of the building and surrounding property. The move would bring full local ownership to the institution after years of corporate mismanagement.
In more good news for South County, a gaggle of local, state and federal officials gathered in Watsonville to celebrate the groundbreaking for the $600 million Pajaro River Flood Risk Management Project, which will build up the levee system and give the region the flood protection it’s needed for decades.
And the party didn’t stop there. The Watsonville art community gathered downtown to celebrate the completion of Watsonville Brilliante, the massive mural project that graces the Civic Center parking structure and transforms the city’s modest skyline with a splash of color.
BUTTS OUT
Santa Cruz County supervisors passed an ordinance banning the sale of filtered cigarettes in unincorporated areas. The thinking was commendable enough—smokers should indeed keep their dirty butts off of our streets, sidewalks and natural areas. Opponents found the move silly and more than a little performative, since smokers need only drive to their friendly local tobacco shops in unaffected cities to find their butts.
NOVEMBER
LOSE SOME, WIN SOME
On Election Day voters in Santa Cruz approved Measure Z, the 2-cent-per-ounce sales tax on sugary beverages that is expected to raise $1.3 million a year for improving parks and providing safe routes to schools, among other things.
The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors will get its first female members since Ellen Pirie left in 2012. Kim De Serpa and Monica Martinez, who represent the First and Fifth districts respectively, were sworn in on Dec. 23.
Changing of the Guard
Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees incumbents Oscar Soto, Georgia Acosta and Adam Scow were unseated by political newcomers Gabriel Medina, Carol Turley and Jessica Carrasco. With Misty Navarro having been appointed the previous month to replace Jennifer Holm, the two-month period represented the biggest upset on the board in the past decade. The new board will now be tasked with a coming economic recession, budget woes caused by declining enrollment and $5 million in budget cuts next year.
But the financial news in PVUSD was not all bad. Voters approved Measure M, the $315 million bond measure that will raise $18.3 million annually by placing $60 per $100,000 of assessed value on properties within the district. The funds will go to construction projects, upgrades and repairs at all of the district’s 35 schools.
Cabrillo College must cut 70 of its 1,394 classes and $4.5 million from its $89.3 million budget as a result of low attendance and state funding cuts. While the news was grim for Santa Cruz County’s community college, it was not all bad because…
DECEMBER
INTERMURAL HOUSING
Cabrillo College is working with UC Santa Cruz to build a 624-bed student housing complex, a move that is expected to bring in more students and pave their way toward higher degrees.
TURBULENCE
With newly reelected President Donald Trump promising to take a hard-line stance against immigrants, those here both legally and illegally are bracing for an unknown future. The county supervisors showed their support for the immigrant community with a resolution that county officials will not cooperate with federal immigration officials.
While some are expecting stormy weather ahead in 2025, plenty came before the end of the year.
Speaking of strange atmospheric phenomena, on Dec. 14 Scotts Valley experienced its first tornado, which flipped several cars and left the little city reeling. And on Dec. 23, heavy waves smashed the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf, shearing off a 125-foot section that was already being repaired from damage incurred in the 2023 storms. Pilings and wood debris were scattered in the ocean and onto the shore, along with entire buildings that fell off the wharf.
