Better jobs, affordable housing on the minds of Aptos voters – Santa Cruz Local

To understand voters’ concerns and priorities, Santa Cruz Local gathered nine residents at a listening session at Aptos Branch Library on June 13. Nearly all the residents at the listening session lived in Aptos. More residents shared their concerns in an online survey.

Participants talked about some problems and potential solutions for District 2. They also outlined their questions for the supervisor candidates. 

Respondents’ top issues included: 

• A need for higher paying, quality jobs for younger people who grew up in the area and want to stay.
• A need for more affordable housing, especially for younger people and families.
• An excess of empty vacation homes, especially in Seacliff.

Some proposed solutions included an internship program, subsidized housing for local young people and funding affordable housing with a potential tax on empty homes. 

Santa Cruz County Supervisor District 2 includes part of Capitola and spans to part of Watsonville. (County of Santa Cruz)

Corinne Kappeler leads a Santa Cruz Local listening session at the Aptos Branch Library in June. (Kara Meyberg Guzman — Santa Cruz Local)

Affordable housing

Participants listed a need for more affordable housing as a top priority. Participants were particularly concerned about a lack of affordable housing for local young people and families. 

Jessica Powell, 48, of Aptos, said that she’s worried her sons will not be able to stay in their community after graduating from high school or college. Powell said there was not enough housing for students or young people, forcing young people who grew up in the community to leave. 

“I’d like to hear what the candidates think about the longevity of our community,” said Powell, “and providing opportunities for young people to stay and be able to make it here with a quality of life, not just work 25 jobs and bounce around.” 

Similarly, participants were concerned about a lack of new housing for families. While some projects under construction like Aptos Village Phase 2 are set to provide multi-bedroom units, participants said not enough has been done to build below-market-rate multi-bedroom units. Many proposed developments in the county contain mainly studios and one-bedrooms. 

“I don’t see families living in small studios,” said Ken Moonie, 66, of Aptos.

Employment for young people 

Participants were concerned that young people cannot access work because of transportation issues. “We need other modes of transportation” beyond driving, an online survey respondent wrote. “If we had a train, it would stop right in front of the [Santa Cruz Beach] Boardwalk for our youth. Parents would not have to drive them back and forth.”

Some participants expressed concern about a lack of higher-paying jobs that young people need to build a life in the county. “We want to organize internships locally, instead of having to go somewhere else,” said Powell. She said she wanted the county to step in to make it happen. Employers “won’t say yes until there’s some financial help to say yes,” she said.

Some participants suggested a potential solution: subsidized, dorm-style housing for recent high school or college graduates that could be paired with internships or apprenticeships.

Empty homes

Participants pointed to empty homes as a growing issue in Aptos and county supervisor District 2. “My complex is more than half empty,” said Barry Scott, 67, of Aptos. Melissa Milburn and Kevin Flynn, of Seacliff, said the home they share is surrounded “on all sides” by empty second houses.

Aptos resident Tina Andretta said she wanted a tax on empty second homes. (Kara Meyberg Guzman — Santa Cruz Local)

Participants said second homes should be disincentivized so those homes could be made available to families who live and work here year round. Vacant homes also hindered a sense of community in some neighborhoods, they said.

“We have a supply problem and a demand problem,” said Flynn. “Demand being placed on us by the university and supply problems placed on us by empty second homes”

“We need a tax, an empty-house tax,” said Tina Andretta, 70, of Aptos. County supervisors “should consider a tax on empty homes,” said Barry Scott. Some participants said the tax revenue could help fund affordable housing development. 

In 2022, Santa Cruz city voters rejected Measure N, which would have placed a tax on empty homes. The Capitola City Council considered a vacancy tax in 2022 but did not bring a measure to a city vote. A similar measure has not been proposed in Aptos or other unincorporated areas in Santa Cruz County.

A tax on empty homes in Oakland raised $14.4 million in two years, an Oakland city spokeswoman said.

Doreen O’Donovan, 64, said she wanted more support for young people who grew up in Santa Cruz County to stay in the county. (Kara Meyberg Guzman — Santa Cruz Local)

Questions for District 2 county supervisor candidates

Participants’ questions for District 2 candidates included:

• How can you support generational stability so our children and young people can find stable housing and meaningful, gainful jobs? If all our younger people leave, what kind of community will be left?
• Do you support taxing empty homes? 
• How will you use your office to pressure UC Santa Cruz to provide more student housing?
• What are your strategies to bring more affordable housing?
• Do you support subsidized housing for young people? 
• Have you looked at best practices in other similar communities for ideas on how to address our problems?

Santa Cruz Local plans to press the candidates on voters’ top concerns, then publish their responses and much more information in a guide to the Nov. 5 election.

What do you think?

Read more recent surveys of Santa Cruz County voters