policies

Santa Cruz Community Engagement Pledge

I pledge to be a public servant who listens, serves, and acts alongside the people of Santa Cruz:

• Regular Community Town Halls & Listening Sessions – Open, accessible meetings across neighborhoods to hear your concerns, ideas, and priorities.

• Volunteer Programs & Community Initiatives – Launch and support programs like the Santa Cruz Community Drive, neighborhood clean-ups, seasonal toy drives, and other initiatives that strengthen local communities.

• Hands-On Leadership – Work with residents, small businesses, and local organizations to ensure city policies reflect real needs, not just theoretical plans.

  We should invest in an inclusive Santa Cruz that puts community first.
  

An Affordable Santa Cruz

• Prioritizing local housing providers building ADUs with access to funds from the City’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund to keep our housing dollars in Santa Cruz.

• Providing a diverse set of housing solutions that involves home ownership.

• Reframing our affordability metrics to make new developments truly affordable to local Santa Cruzans

• Creating an Office of Housing Stability and a Homelessness Trust Fund to coordinate services for our unhoused and vulnerable residents

• Ensure every new development supports our infrastructure and quality of life. Projects should secure sustainable water supply, address traffic impacts, and include safe, well-designed streets with pedestrian and bicycle access. Growth should reduce congestion, and prioritize safety from the start.
  

Protect What We Love

• Preserve Santa Cruz’s character, culture, and coastline

• Stand up for local businesses, music, and community spaces

• Balance growth with Santa Cruz’s unique identity 

• Invest in safer streets by improving infrastructure in high-traffic neighborhoods and around schools, including better crosswalks, traffic calming measures, and street design that protects pedestrians, cyclists, and families.

• Protecting our schools, our culture, our environment, our parks (like the Beach Flats Garden) and our public areas by creating cultural overlay zones and mitigation impact funds to properly invest and serve our local businesses and public spaces; 

A Clean, Safe & Inclusive Downtown

•  Launching the Santa Cruz Volunteer Corps to beautify our Downtown through a community-led effort comprised of local businesses, neighbors, and community safety partners

• Launching a pilot program to open Pacific Avenue as a pedestrian-and-bike-only public area

• Expanding access of clean restrooms and day center services for all residents while filling vacancies for city workers to provide essential city services. 

• A community safety kiosk in our downtown to prioritize the safety of our community.

• Expanding residential parking options in new developments and improving local transportation, including better transit access and community loop buses for seniors and neighbors.

• We must promote responsible e-bike riding through education, clear rules, and enforcement in high-traffic areas. Our goal is to protect pedestrians, cyclists, and riders alike while adapting to new transportation. Santa Cruz can embrace e-bikes and ensure the safety of our residents.