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Tiny home village not enough
A band aid on a missing limb is not the only answer. Westview Presbyterian Church is doing an honorable part in the helping of human suffering. But 36 rooms is not enough to help the hundreds of homeless in Watsonville. City management needs to come up with better solutions than moving the homeless to another part of town. Jobs, jobs, jobs. When I was a teenager, the county would pay us to work in the county, weeding roads, cleaning City streets, picking berries. There are alternatives, let’s help city management come up with solutions, together.
Enrique Luevano
Watsonville
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Allowing 16-year-olds to vote a mistake
If people think that the PVUSD is dysfunctional now with Trustee Medina, imagine what it would be like with more trustees like him on the board.
Why do you think he wants to let 16-year-olds vote? We saw dozens of school kids come to board meetings to harass the trustees over ethnic studies and later over the censure motion of Gabriel Medina.
Perhaps they will vote for trustees who will mandate no homework and no grades below a B. If they can vote, then shouldn’t they be allowed to serve as a voting member of the board? Sixteen-year-olds cannot drive alone, or buy tobacco or alcohol, but Medina wants them to be able to vote.
There is a reason why we limit voting to adults. Since we have absentee ballots, how do we know that they will not be filled out by a parent or some other adult at home? We don’t. We also would be setting a two-class system where students who are citizens can vote but many of their classmates could not. Will ICE or Homeland Security have access to any of this information? I hope not, but they might try, especially if the birthright citizenship is in doubt.
I don’t know the logistics of having people be able to vote for school board members but nothing else. That could be a nightmare for the registrar of voters. How will this work and will there be a cost to the taxpayer? It is a bad idea and it should not be pursued.
Gil Stein
Aptos
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Thank You, Sen. Laird, for advancing food security in California
As California finalized its state budget for this year, Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Cruz County—your food bank and the first established in the state—extends our deepest gratitude to State Senator John Laird for his steadfast leadership and unwavering commitment to ending hunger in our community and beyond. Thanks to Senator Laird’s steadfast advocacy, the CalFood program—which supports food banks across California—was funded at $60 million for the 2025–26 fiscal year, a significant increase from the $8 million proposed in the Governor’s May Revision. This landmark investment underscores Senator Laird’s deep-rooted commitment to food security on the Central Coast and throughout the state. Working alongside Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen, Senator Laird helped secure critical funding that enables food banks to purchase fresh, California-grown food—nourishing families while investing in our state’s farmers and food producers. This funding helps us provide not just more food, but better food—nutritious, locally sourced, and rooted in dignity. Since taking office in 2020, Senator Laird has consistently prioritized hunger prevention, recognizing that food security is inseparable from housing stability, economic justice, and public health. As food costs rise and too many Californians face impossible choices between basic needs, this investment in CalFood sends a powerful message: our state values the well-being of every resident. Thank you, Senator Laird, for being a true champion in the fight against hunger—and for your unwavering commitment to education, housing, environmental stewardship, and the well-being of all Californians. Your leadership continues to make a lasting difference in the lives of those who need it most.
Erica Padilla-Chavez
Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County CEO
