Kim De Serpa the right choice for District 2
By Andrew Nevitt
Santa Cruz County
Letter: As a 40 yr resident of Santa Cruz County and District 2, I was very appreciative when Kim De Serpa chose to run for the District 2 County Supervisor. As an Emergency Physician I worked with Kim—an ER Social Worker—in the Dominican ER. I was always extremely impressed by her compassion, intelligence and dedication to patients’ needs by problem solving. The challenges were diverse and often complicated. Needs related to abuse (all types), neglect, shelter, food, natural disasters, acute and chronic illness with deterioration, disability …etc. Kim is a concerned listener combined with a tenacious “can-do” commitment. She was resourceful and effective and very knowledgeable about assistance programs, regulations and navigating through barriers. I am sure Kim is not running for political reasons or career aspirations. She is running out of a commitment to serve her community and county. Her unbiased character, integrity, intelligence and extensive knowledge of county operations add up to an extremely well qualified supervisor. Kim De Serpa is offering outstanding knowledge and skills; hopefully District 2 will choose her.
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Elect Kristen Brown
By Frances Basich Whitney
Aptos
Kristen Brown has my vote. The next District 2 County Supervisor needs to be a leader who can ask the hard questions, roll up her sleeves to get the homework done, and actually lead us through the difficult times which will surely come. I am looking for someone who knows how to mobilize resources from municipal, county, and state programs to support the community she serves. Kristen Brown has a proven track record of pulling together resources for infrastructure improvements, affordable housing plans, and programs supporting children. As a retired administrator from Pajaro Valley Unified School District including my work as the Research, Accountability, and Assessment Coordinator, I am voting for the candidate I believe to be most qualified to do the hard work required of a County Supervisor. I am voting for Kristen Brown because I believe she has the time-tested leadership skills we need in District 2.
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PVUSD board ignored, disrespected parents
By Bobby Pelz
Watsonville High School teacher
What I witnessed at the September 25th PVUSD school board meeting was outrageous. During public comment time, a father came to speak about how his son was being bullied. He said he emailed Board President Acosta and Board Vice President Soto a month ago asking for help but never received a response. The bullying has gotten to a point where he is considering removing his child from school. When another father wanted to speak about his child being bullied, he was not allowed to speak due to the public comment time limit. When the father stepped to the podium to plead his case and members of the crowd requested that he be allowed to speak, President Acosta put the meeting in recess and walked out with Vice President Soto in tow. The father, desperate to be heard, continued shouting his speech to the empty seats of Acosta and Soto. Only Trustees Holm, Scow, and Student Trustee Esqueda stayed to listen. That’s not right. It’s not okay to dehumanize people like that. PVUSD needs new leadership.
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Correcting the record
By Carol Turley
PVUSD Board of Trustees candidate
I would like to correct and clarify a quote from the September 25, 2024 article about the Pajaro Valley for Ethnic Studies and Justice School Board Candidate forum September 25, 2024 “PVUSD Candidates Grilled….”
I realize that the questions and responses were rapid fire so it is easy to
miss nuance.
What I said was, I read the curriculum that is on the PVUSD website, and I visited two Ethnic Studies classes and found nothing alarming. Rather I found engaged, articulate students who are learning to research, problem-solve, and communicate including utilizing the art of listening.
It seems there is a second level of curriculum called Community Response Education, and that is what was used for two years at PVUSD high schools to train teachers who would be involved with Ethnic Studies classes, and a third year, which would have included administrators and new teachers, was canceled. I have not read that curriculum nor attended any of the
trainings, so I can not speak to that curriculum. I have not been able to find the curriculum.
Our teachers who have participated in the training say that there is nothing in the training about the conflict between Israel and Palestine, and the program teaches empathy and not hate as some people have alleged. I believe there were PVUSD Board Trustees who did not study the
curriculum before it was originally adopted by them and I believe at least some did not study the curriculum prior to canceling the contract one year ago.
I would like to bring the topic back to the Board so that all may understand the curriculum and program and to show our teachers respect by listening to their perspectives. There is a wide disconnect between what teachers say about the program and what others have said, which leads me to believe that there is a misunderstanding of the program. Let’s look at it with the objective of understanding.
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Heartbroken situation of the river at Murphy Crossing
By Takashi Mizuno
Watsonville
I went to see the Murphy Crossing Bridge yesterday (9/29) after I stopped going to see the situation there in March. I was totally heartbroken when I saw lots of plants and willow trees growing in the sand debris in the middle of the Pajaro River near the Bridge. They have prevented the flow of the water. There were lots of algae in the water. My letter ” County needs to address the river at Murphy Crossing ” was published in the Pajaronian (1/25/2024). The flooding occurred in the Bridge area in February. The bridge was closed for three weeks. It caused congestion on Highway 1 and other roads. We had repeatedly demanded the Pajaro Regional Flood Management Agency as well as Santa Cruz County to care for the river at the bridge by clearing up sand debris and cutting willow trees in the middle of the river. Nothing has been done. I have observed the situation in the river at the bridge area since the devastating flooding in March of 2022. I never saw such a heartbroken situation of the river until yesterday. The rainy season will come in a couple of months. The Pajaro Regional Flood Management Agency needs to take action to clear the debris and plants in the river near the Murphy Crossing Bridge immediately.
