October 1998

eight former mayors announce opposition to expansion plan
On September 11, six former Santa Cruz mayors presented Mayor Celia Scott with a letter opposing the B/SOL Plan. Mardi Wormhoudt organized the mayoral opponents, and she was joined by former mayors John Laird, Burt Muhly, Bruce Van Allen, Jane Weed, and Jane Yokoyama. Former mayors Lorette Woods and Sally Di Girolamo also signed.
City Council candidates Sugar, Krohn, Fitzmaurice, and Clark are all against the plan, and, if they win all three seats in the November 3rd election, could overturn the plan by joining Katherine Beiers, who is already seated. Mayor Scott, who is expected to vote against the plan on October 6, is leaving the council.
But five votes on the current City Council will assure the plan is a done deal. Those five votes sold out the Pelton Street homeless garden program and voted for the Gateway Shopping Center — which displaced Food Not Bombs and the Organic Community Garden and destroyed housing and historical buildings. Joined by pro-development Cynthia Matthews and the eternally dim-witted Mary Beth Campbell, five votes are in the bag.
Santa Cruz taxpayers must pay for yet another big case of corporate welfare to a company that receives 3.2 million visitors per year, but only pays $1,301,600 in revenue to the City now, and has NO UNIONIZED LABOR!
Beach Rats residents lose one-third of their neighborhood and gain diminished-quality, token replacement housing for which few who are displaced will qualify. The homeless will have no chance to find affordable housing or living wage jobs in Beach Flats — but the richest man in the city of Santa Cruz will be a lot richer.
For more information:
Beach Area Working Group: 831/458-343?"
Beach Flats Neighborhood Association:
831/423-0170
Santa Cruz Homeowners & Residents
Committee: 831/429-6016
To arrange a walking tour of Beach Flats call:
831/426-3026 or 423-0170
To contact the author: e-mail to
Wmnofstl@cruzio.com