It’s spring and hope isintheair
I am writing this column moments after watching President Biden and Vice President Harris celebrate the signing of the American Rescue Bill. The bill is the beginning of investing back into American towns and cities, local businesses, and families and children. A true investment into lifting all Americans up and I have high fives in the air!
As we move toward spring anticipating the county will move into the orange tier by the end of March, I can’t help but feel celebratory but also reflective. It is hard to trust that normal life lies ahead but it does feel like we have turned a corner. As vaccinations become more widespread, our confidence and joy in interacting with friends and family, getting our kids back into school, and beginning to enjoy our favorite places to eat and gather I think we all feel more hopeful. So, it is fitting that city leaders turn our attention to immediate opportunities and ways to help our community get back on its feet and work toward the future.
The City of Santa Cruz has been hard at work on looking at that future and building out a framework for our community to begin to recover and more importantly to thrive into the future. As a local government, our losses have been severe due to revenue losses from COVID-19 shutdowns. The city estimates a loss of $23 million in revenues in the past year. Our employees have been furloughed, services have been reduced and facilities have been closed and maintenance deferred.
In the midst of all of this, city staff and the City Council maintained a focus on what things would look like post-COVID and began looking toward fiscal sustainability, downtown and business revitalization, and investment in infrastructure. This focus was recently revealed to our community through the adoption of three important plans in the past few weeks — the City of Santa Cruz Economic Development Strategy, and the City of Santa Cruz Interim Recovery Plan and our 2021 Legislative Action Program. These sound like a lot of boring government plans but actually, these plans chart a course for the city, our residents and local businesses to
succeed coming out of COVID and ultimately grow more opportunity for all. You can find all of these plans on the City of Santa Cruz website at cityofsantacruz.com.
So, what is in these plans and how do they help Santa Cruz recover and more importantly expand our economy and opportunities for our residents? The Interim Recovery Plan focuses on key investments the city is working on for affordable housing, three new libraries, the next segments for the Rail Trail, modernizing our parks, and improvements to our municipal wharf. These investments will generate jobs and spending locally. Ultimately, we will end up
with more families living downtown, a newly remodeled transit station on Front Street and a bike trail system available for all. Raising funds will be critical for the success of these projects and our city is well poised to gain from the federal and state stimulus efforts.
With regards to job growth in the city we continue to chart a vision based on equity and opportunity through our five-year Economic Development Strategy. The strategy documents the strengths of Santa Cruz and the inspiring types of businesses that are taking root here including sports and outdoor recreation companies, artisanal food and beverage producers, biotechnology and life sciences companies, and green jobs in industries such as solar and building electrification.
The strategy also outlines investing in the development of our future workforce recognizing that a diverse workforce benefits all residents. The goal of the education and workforce strategies is to leverage our robust network of workforce, education and business partners to better connect workers to high-quality job opportunities. This work will include better connecting local companies with city construction projects and developing workforce training for technical and construction-related jobs. All of these activities keep our residents and businesses front and center in our focus to recover and thrive into the future.