It’s 2024, a New Year and a new political campaign season is under way as we organize to elect three County Supervisors, and four Santa Cruz City Council members.
As I’ve noted in previous posts (HERE and HERE), Santa Cruz County lends itself well to bioregional organization. Supervisorial Districts and Santa Cruz City Council Districts are already bioregionally defined, with borders largely determined by water courses and watersheds.
Oddly, though the districts are delineated bioregionally, they are designated by arbitrary numbers, rather than by meaningful descriptions. Comparing the Supervisorial Districts map with the Watersheds map, I would, if I had the power, rename the districts with names meaningful to those who live there, such as: 1) Live Oak/Soquel; 2) Aptos/San Andreas; 3) Santa Cruz/North Coast; 4) Pajaro; and 5) San Lorenzo.
In a similar way, I would rename the Santa Cruz City Council Districts by names reflective of their neighborhoods and the people who live there. For example: 1) Branciforte; 2) Seabright; 3) Bay/Westcliff; 4) Downtown; 5) Pogonip/UCSC; 6) Westside.
This would be a good start to help the people of Our Fair County understand local political organization, and appreciate the effects on the Natural World of decisions by local government representatives.
If you stop the average person on the streets of Santa Cruz City or County, unplug their ear buds, and ask them which voting district they live in, the majority would be unable to identify their district number or even the Supervisor or Council member who represents them. But ask them what neighborhood or community they live in, they will quickly and proudly identify with a particular area, such as Live Oak, Pleasure Point, Aptos, Westside, Eastside, Downtown, San Lorenzo Valley, North County, Mid County or South County.
The basis of bioregional democracy is this identification with the place, neighborhood or area that we inhabit, that we know, that we care about, where we have a stake in the outcome of local government plans and policies. Local political organization should reflect this normal human identification with place, as a means to engage the public in the process of local governance and to receive and embrace meaningful contributions from local residents based on their local experience. This would both help local government representatives to make decisions and craft laws and regulations that are meaningful to the public and appropriate to local social and environmental conditions. It would also increase the credibility of local government representatives in the eyes of local residents.
Over the years, as Santa Cruz has become more populated, urbanized and extensively developed, local government has become more centralized and authoritarian. County and City unelected staff have increased influence on government plans and policies, non-local contracted planners and advisors have replaced knowledgeable staff, and many commissions and advisory bodies have devolved into perfunctory social organizations rather than acting as meaningful public advisory bodies providing a desired service to the Board of Supervisors and city councils.
Democracy requires consistent, on-going public participation with the Board of Supervisors, city councils and county and city commissions, committees and advisory bodies. That means attending meetings of the Board of Supervisors, city councils, planning commissions and other advisory bodies whose purview includes those activities, places, natural habitats, wildlife and plant life that we hold dear and care for.
Bioregional democracy brings consideration for all life in the places we call home into the process of human governance. Let’s keep this in mind as we go through and beyond this election year.
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We Live in the Natural World 
Nice article , Michael, thx !
U are sure right that most folks in SC haven’t the slightest clue about what’s going on here- and don’t care to take the time. As in the recall, they believe what they hear . And that is largely propaganda mailed to them and in the local newspaper , both controlled by the Real Estate and other biz interests.
Maybe some will wake up when they see the devastation begining to be constructed here. But then it will be too late !
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