Lifestyle

Zach Friend Interview: Housing Affordability

May 17, 2016 by Seb Frey

In the eighth segment of our Zach Friend Interview Series, the Supervisor talks about housing affordability and what needs to happen to improve it in Santa Cruz county. According to Friend, too many people live in substandard and overcrowded housing conditions, and it is simply unacceptable for this to be happening in a place and time as wealthy as we live in. The Supervisor notes that if current trends continue, there will be more renters than home owners in Santa Cruz county in a couple of years.

He remarks that many of today’s problems with traffic can be attributed to the fact that most of the new housing in the county has been built in the southern portion of the county, but most of the job growth has been to the north. While the county does not build housing, what it can do is facilitate an environment where housing can be built that fits the present-day and future needs of Santa Cruz county.

The Supervisor also discussed redevelopment of the Par Three Golf Course and the Poor Clares property as well, as there’s been some talk in the community over the years about these properties.

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In the ninth segment of the interview, Supervisor Friend wraps up our interview and discusses the Aptos Village Project.

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Aptos Cares

May 13, 2016 by Seb Frey

A couple of weekends ago, Comcast Cares Day came to Mar Vista Elementary School, where my son is currently enrolled in first grade. Each year, the good folks at Comcast sponsor community service events throughout the country, enlisting thousands of volunteers to help make their communities a better place. Comcast provides tools and materials, and actually also donates $10 per volunteer who shows up to help.

Orlando Calderon, Mar Vista Student Parent and Comcast Employee

Mar Vista Elementary School was very fortunate to have been chosen this year, and we owe it to a Mar Vista Elementary school parent, Orlando Calderon, a Comcast employee, who nominated Mar Vista Elementary for the program this year. As it happens, Orlando came to my house and fixed an issue I was having with my high-speed Internet (the first issue I’d had in over 2 years of service) – and he doggedly stuck with it until the issue was resolved. It’s clear that Orlando really cares, about Comcast’s customers and our community as well.

It was great to see so many families from Mar Vista come out to participate in the event. Things got rolling around 7:30 AM, and a whole bunch of folks stayed for the entire day, with a break for lunch provided by Aptos Street BBQ. Lots of kids were out there working too. In an era of omnipresent iPads and other digital distractions, it was really refreshing to see so many kids happily and enthusiastically helping make their school a better place.

Comcast even got Supervisor Zach Friend out of bed early on a Saturday morning, leaving his wife and toddler son back at home, to come and give Principal Rich Determan a certificate from state senator Bill Monning, who, unsurprisingly, could not actually attend in person. I shot a little video of Zach’s remarks, which you can see below.

Zach Friend’s Remarks at Comcast Cares Day

This morning at the gym, I finished watching President Obama’s commencement speech for the 2016 class at Howard University. Say what you like about Obama’s politics, but the guy gives a good speech. What I took away from it is that your personal involvement in the community is really important. It’s not enough to sit and complain and refuse to participate because it’s futile or because the whole system is corrupt.

And I think this is what makes Aptos the amazing place that it is. People are engaged. People care. And you really saw that a couple of weeks ago at Comcast Cares Day. So thanks to Orlando Calderon, to Comcast, and to everyone who came out to help spiff up our school. You’ve helped make the world a better place, one shovel full of mulch and paint brush stroke at a time.

Zach Friend Interview: Fiber Optic Broadband Internet

May 3, 2016 by Seb Frey

In the seventh segment of our Zach Friend Interview Series, the Supervisor talks about Fiber Optic Broadband Internet which will be publicly financed. Zach Friend mentions that the first legislation he brought forward upon being elected was a “dig once” policy to require notification to all utilities when a road would be dug up, so all concerned parties could do whatever work they needed to do at the same site, at a fraction of the cost.

The Santa Cruz Fiber Optic Broadband project is part of the Sunseys project. Every 1600 feet, any Internet provider will be allowed to break into the line to provide “incredibly” high speed Internet to any customer. Providing ultra-high speed Internet to residents of Aptos and Santa Cruz county is very important as it will enable high-tech Silicon Valley companies to open satellite offices here in Santa Cruz county, allowing many workers to stay locally and off the roads. This project has already gone through all the environmental impact reports and is now in the permitting phase.

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In the eighth segment of the interview, Supervisor Friend talks about the lack of affordable housing in Santa Cruz county, and what can be done to improve the situation.

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Zach Friend Interview: Sustainable Santa Cruz

April 18, 2016 by Seb Frey

In the sixth segment of our Zach Friend Interview Series, the Supervisor talks about the Sustainable Santa Cruz County plan. The Supervisor says that the county has been trying to look for new ways to do a lot of things. How can we manage growth in Santa Cruz county in better ways to create a more livable and sustainable community – while respecting Measure J, the growth management plan passed in 1984.

The Sustainable Santa Cruz county plan will direct the quality and direction of development in Santa Cruz county for years to come: what kind of new housing should we create, and where should we create it? The same questions go for jobs – what kind of new jobs do we want, and where do we want them? How can we create live/work environments, and how can we take cars off the roads? Zach touches on all of these in this segment of the interview.

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In the seventh segment of the interview, Supervisor Friend talks about the upcoming Fiber Optic Internet Broadband Service which should be reaching customer doors toward the end of 2017.

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Zach Friend Interview: Passenger Train and Rail Trail

March 31, 2016 by Seb Frey

In the fifth segment of our interview with Supervisor Zach Friend, we discuss Santa Cruz Passenger Train service and the Santa Cruz Rail Trail. This is one of the longest segments in our interview, clocking in at over seven minutes. It’s a fairly wide ranging discussion in which the Supervisor talks about the hurdles to establishing passenger rail service, or removing the rails and proceeding with a trail-only solution as some in the community have advocated for. Whether you’re pro-train, anti-rail, or still haven’t made up your mind, you will find this segment very interesting to watch.

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In the sixth segment of the interview, Supervisor Friend talks about the Sustainable Santa Cruz plan, and the overall economic vitality plan for the county.

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Zach Friend Interview: Transportation

March 27, 2016 by Seb Frey

In the fourth segment of our interview with Supervisor Zach Friend, Zach talks about the tremendous challenges we as a community face with our transportation. He talks about the need for Santa Cruz county to become a “self help” county when it comes to transportation. He says this is the only way that the county will be able to attract outside dollars (from the State of California and Federal government) for our much-needed transportation projects, such as widening Highway 1, Santa Cruz Metro, the Mar Vista Pedestrian Bride, and the Santa Cruz rail corridor.

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In the fifth segment of the interview, Supervisor Friend talks about establishing passenger rail service along the Santa Cruz Branch Line rail corridor, and the construction of the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail Network.

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Zach Friend Interview: Second Term Goals

March 10, 2016 by Seb Frey

In the third segment of our interview with Supervisor Zach Friend, Zach talks about what his second term goals are. He cites a lot of unfinished business from his first term, especially on the infrastructure side. Roads, traffic, and transportation financing are problems he feels need to be addressed in a multitude of ways. In the interview, Friend notes there has been a significant cultural shift in the county in recent years with three new members of the board of supervisors. Zach says the county too often has been in the business of saying no, but now we need to find a way to say yes to ways to address a number of problems facing the county while still staying true to our values and the character of the county.

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In the fourth segment of the Interview, the Supervisor talks about what can be done to improve transportation in Santa Cruz county, which is a hot-button issue for virtually everyone. Zach has a lot of interesting things to say on the topic, so be sure to watch this space for that!

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Zach Friend Interview: First Term Accomplishments

March 7, 2016 by Seb Frey

In this second segment of our interview with Supervisor Zach Friend, we asked Zach to speak about his accomplishments during his first term as 2nd District County Supervisor. Zach touched on a number of achievements, including working to refund the public safety element of the county budget, re-establishing the Santa Cruz County Parks department as its own department, independent of Public Works, and infrastructure improvements such as Citizen Connect, the county’s new mobile app. When it comes to public safety, he points out that the Sheriff’s department is once again fully staffed for the first time since 2008. Not only is the Parks Department on its own again, we also opened the first new park in Aptos in a generation, and are set to break ground on new permanent restrooms and concession stand at the Polo Fields Park in a few months.

There’s lots more to this segment of the interview, watch it below.

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In the third segment of the Interview, the Supervisor talks about why he’s running for re-election, and his goals and priorities for a second term. We’ll have that ready for you in a few days – so stay tuned!

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Zach Friend Interview: Introduction

March 1, 2016 by Seb Frey

I got to sit down with Santa Cruz County 2nd District Supervisor Zach Friend for an interview, to talk about a number of topics that concern his constituents here in Aptos – and all of the 2nd District, and Santa Cruz county as a whole, for that matter. Although Zach has been supervisor for nearly four years, a lot of folks in the community are not too familiar with him and his background. To kick off the interview, we asked Zach to introduce himself. Many folks know that Zach isn’t native to Santa Cruz – so I asked him how it is that he ended up living here in Aptos, and the answer he gave may surprise you.

Watch the Zach Friend Interview: Introduction

In a few days, we’ll post the next segment of the Interview – there are a total of 9 segments in all. In the next segment, we ask Zach to reflect on what he considers to be his biggest accomplishments during his first term as county Supervisor. We discussed a lot of hot-button topics for the community: housing, transportation, economic development, fiber optic Internet, Aptos Village, the Rancho del Mar Shopping Center, and many more issues our community is grappling with.

Stay tuned!

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A New Year, a New Kitten in Aptos

January 5, 2016 by Seb Frey

Happy New Year everyone! As I’ve mentioned before, I really love a new year. Already, I feel like the year is off to a good start – I know the freakish weather on the east coast and in Europe is a concern, but finally, we have rain in California. The local economy feels much improved from a year ago, so who cares what the Chinese stock market did today?

Our family started the year off in a big way, by welcoming a new addition, right on January 1st: a beautiful two-ish month old tabby cat, tentatively named Sparky. Our kids have wanted a pet for…well for years now, probably. They’re head over heels in love with him! We got him thanks to Melissa, a friend of ours who works with Heading Home Animal Rescue (you can also find them on Facebook). If you’re looking for a new dog or cat to join the household, check there first!

Despite an auspicious beginning for some of us, there’s no shortage of reasons to be pessimistic about the future, given the state of things today. But the world’s always going to have horrific events like what’s recently happened in Paris, San Bernadino, and pretty much all of Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and Libya. Bad things are going to happen. I grew up terrified of a nuclear winter; now we’re terrified of climate change, and who knows what our kids will have to worry about.

But thankfully, most of this feels a world away. Here in Aptos, the economy is doing well, the rain is pattering on my roof, and California’s crime rate is at a 47 year low. Our kids are healthy and happy – the new kitten is an additional joy in our lives. We are truly blessed, and we are looking forward to a beautiful 2016 with our friends, family, and our community at large.

We hope all of you have a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2016!