Dozens of community members and local leaders gathered at a rally Friday at Watsonville Community Hospital in support of Measure E, the temporary half-cent sales tax created to protect the community services threatened by federal cuts.
Speakers urged supporters to take action in support of the tax in the final weeks before the election on Nov. 3.
“Federal funding cuts are putting our local healthcare and safety net systems at risk,” said Elaine Johnson, executive director of Housing Santa Cruz County. “Without local action, our hospitals and emergency rooms will face reduced services … Measure E is how we respond.”
Measure E is expected to generate $27 million annually over the course of the tax, which supporters said will help the county’s safety-net services stay afloat in the face of the $200 million loss in funding coming from the federal level as a result of H.R. 1.
H.R. 1, commonly known as One Big Beautiful Bill, is a federal law that changes federal spending for healthcare and welfare. The bill cuts approximately $1-1.15 trillion from federal healthcare and $200 billion for federal SNAP spending over a 10-year period while limiting who qualifies for those benefits.
MariaElena De La Garza, executive director of Community Action Board, spoke on behalf of CAB and the Pajaro Valley Collaborative, a collective of 26 member organizations who voted yes to endorse Measure E.
“If 15 Community Action Board Board of Directors—who are activists, who understand the issues of poverty—can come together and collaboratively agree to support this measure, it’s because we know what we need to do in this response,” De La Garza said.
Tony Nuñez, Pajaro Valley Health Care District Board Chair, discussed the recent PVHCD decision to endorse Measure E.
“What is coming from the White House today and what is coming from the White House and what we are fighting as a community and in this hospital is an onslaught on healthcare and it’s an onslaught on our community,” Nuñez said. “We have to band together and fight.”
Nuñez and PVHCD board member Joe Gallagher, a retired physician, have been canvassing on behalf of Measure E, which Nuñez said is necessary not just for Watsonville Hospital but for Santa Cruz County as a whole.
Watsonville City Councilmember Maria Orozco addressed the predicted effects of H.R. 1 in the county.
“These changes threaten essential services that thousands of our neighbors depend on every single day,” Orozco said.
Nearly one in three county residents rely on Medi-Cal for healthcare and projections show that overall enrollment could drop by as much as 32%. As for food services, nearly 50% of Watsonville residents rely on Second Harvest Food Bank for food, which will be impacted by the funding cuts to SNAP.
“I wish that we were not in this situation,” Orozco said. “I would rather be reinvesting in our community, expanding those services, but here we are. This is the reality that we’re facing and I believe we have a shared responsibility to do everything we can to minimize the harm to our communities, because this is a county-wide issue.”
Other speakers included Salud Para La Gente’s CEO Donna Young, Senator John Laird and Santa Cruz County Board Chair Monica Martinez, all of whom encouraged voters to vote Yes on Measure E and get involved in the campaign.
“Measure E will be one of the things that helps Watsonville Hospital get to that point of sustainability,” Laird said. “It is locally managed, locally accountable … it is really a measure that will make a fundamental difference.”
Martinez, a co-chair of the Yes on E campaign, called for volunteers to support Measure E as the election draws near—physically, financially or via social media.
“We’re not going to let this community lose essential services, lose access to healthcare, lose access to food assistance because of the inhumane decisions that are happening at the federal level,” Martinez said. “We know we can do better.”
•••
Syd Fluker is a California Local News Fellow. Visit fellowships.journalism.berkeley.edu/cafellows.
