Opinion

When everyone has what they need to thrive, we all benefit. That core belief is part of what our group, Rise Together, an initiative of Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, is all about. Our intercultural, multi-generational Rise Together coalition has built bridges and trust...

By GREG CAPUT The Santa Cruz County Fair was facing bankruptcy when Dave Kegebein entered his position to save our county fairgrounds. The state had pulled back funding and thus threatened the existence of the fair. Many county fairgrounds have shut down in California due to...

Measure S is a fair compromise Watsonville Mayor Pro Tempore Eduardo Montesino made some important points in his letter (The Pajaronian, Sept. 23) urging voters to vote Yes on Measure S and No on Measure Q. As a member of the Pajaro Valley Unified School...

By Kathleen Kilpatrick Twenty years ago my family and I supported Measure U. Measure U was a compromise measure that came from Action Pajaro Valley, a robust stakeholder process that created the Watsonville Urban Limit line to allow for some growth and protection of farmland...

Murals express culture Murals are about community and freedom of expression. In Watsonville, mural artist Jessica Evanjelista from the Arts Council of Santa Cruz County led Empower Watsonville, a youth-led group that focuses on expanding youth advocacy to implement more equitable policies, on a mural...

By Eduardo Montesino As a longtime Watsonville City Councilmember, I know how essential the agricultural industry is to Watsonville and the Pajaro Valley. Many Watsonville residents have friends and family who continue to work in the agricultural sector. It is an undeniable fact that many of...

Social issues being faced by Watsonville are being encountered by every town and city in California and across the country. Rising real estate prices, housing needs and homelessness are not solved by paving over farmland. Watsonville is a special and unique place and does not...

I grew up in Watsonville and have lived and worked in the Pajaro Valley all my life. I have been an agronomist, scientifically analyzing agricultural soils in California and throughout the United States. I have studied thousands of different soils, and I can say...