City leaders discuss key issues in Santa Cruz at 2nd annual State of the City

At least 150 people showed up Tuesday to Hotel Paradox for the city of Santa Cruz’s 2nd annual State of the City where leaders discussed several key issues including homelessness, housing, the city’s budget deficit and aging infrastructure.

The event included presentations from Mayor Cynthia Chase and City Manager Martín Bernal. Neither were shy about the problems facing the city, but say they are committed to fixing the city’s shortfalls. Notably, Santa Cruz’s lack of affordable house. During her speech to a packed ballroom, filled with other city officials, members of the public, business community and nonprofit sector, Mayor Chase called the issue a “full blown crisis.”

“At this point, I think our entire community agrees that it is a crisis,” Chase told KION’s Paul Dudley. “We don’t all agree on the solution, but for me, that is one of the things I am really focusing on this year.”

Several possible solutions were discussed including options for higher density, mixed-use, workforce and affordable housing.

“Those are some of the issues the council will be dealing with that will impact the supply and demand for housing,” said Martín Bernal, city manager with the city of Santa Cruz.

Plans to fix the city’s homeless problem were also on the agenda. Bernal told Dudley they are looking at the root of the dilemma and trying to answer the question — why are people homeless?

“What we are looking at is partnering with state and county governments to implement programs to help people get out of homelessness,” said Bernal.

One idea that got a big applause from the audience was implementing a downtown street team. The plan would try to solve the city’s issue with homeless by getting them back to work by doing various community improvement projects throughout Santa Cruz.

This year the City Council will also have to make some decisions about improving aging infrastructure throughout the more than 150 year-old city.

“Do we fund things that largely people don’t see but heavily rely upon?” said Chase, “Or do we support other things that people might see and experience on a day-to-day basis but maybe are not as important?”

The city is also facing a budget deficit of $2 million out of a $100 million dollar operating budget so using only available money is paramount. Leaders will also being looking at ways to reduce spending, especially since they expect an economic slowdown by 2020, according to Bernal.

The city says for all of these issues they want input from the public and, this year, leaders are trying a different approach to reach people including a greater presence on social media and small neighborhood meetings.

“Finding different ways to engage with different segments of the population is one of the things we are really focus on this year,” said Chase.

Tickets for the event were for $15 and sold to offset the cost of the ballroom and food, according to Bernal.