By Letters to the Editor | Santa Cruz Sentinel November 2, 2022 at 5:00 a.m.
Intense redevelopment quivers on our horizons, with much to gain, much to strain, and much to lose. Within this context, big-development-funded opposition to Measure O decry “NIMBY!”
Downtown is our entire city’s communal backyard, or rather, our heart.
Measure O fundamentally says Yes to many things in our heart — where they make sense — and where certain monied interests won’t make cents. Our land is valuable. This, being as central as Lot 4.
Yes to investing eight publicly-owned parcels downtown toward affordable housing. Yes to creating a public plaza in the ideal location for both the businesses and the community. Yes to tending our Civic Center, by beautifully renovating the library.
Measure O is more a sweeping “Yes in our backyard” sentiment as any in our local history.
Where things are, matters immensely. So too is how decisions are made that will set things in concrete for generations.
— Lira Filippini, Co-Chair, Yes on Measure O, Our Downtown, Our Future, Santa Cruz