2020 Santa Cruz City Council Candidate
Martine Watkins
What do you think are the three most pressing issues facing Santa Cruz?
Income inequality, housing affordability, and its societal impact affecting low income citizens, particularly of people color
K-16 educational disparities along with affordable childcare for working families
Impact of pandemic - loss of small business and jobs for working people
Please name one city ordinance or policy that creates negative racial impacts? Will you work to change this ordinance or policy? How will you work to change it?
As a current Council Member
I am committed to policies that reverse racial injustices. As an equal opportunity employer, the city should not have any policies/ordinances that are biased against people of color..
That said, the way we prioritize projects, implement improvement plans, invest in underserved areas/communities negatively impact race.
I have already implemented a policy/ordinance with Health in All policies which factors health equity and sustainability into all our decision making. Although this policy is in place, I will continue to advocate to see the implementation through and change the structural injustices that lead to negative racial impacts.
What city council actions will you support to implement antiracism in policies, funding, training, hiring practices, partnerships or any other way within your power? Be as specific as you can.
Support the policy changes being made by police department
Use-of-force changes
Prioritize unconscious bias and equity trainings
Onboarding of new staff to align with anti racism values of city
Health in All Policies integrates equity into all decision making.
We can also use equity screening tools as we support various projects
Continue to have courageous conversations about race as uncomfortable as they can be. We must talk about it and take steps to disrupt systemic racism.
Advocate for state and federal action such as reparations to repair past harm from slavery and racism on people of color
How would you effectively build a coalition to address issues of racial justice in Santa Cruz County?
Listening to all stakeholders through focus groups expand decision making process to include targeted minority populations
I am interested in creating a county coalition to address racial justice because racial justice is law enforcement, probation, courts, jails and beyond. County and city coalitions can prioritize this work. We want a thoughtful process to build that coalition and recruit members to ensure we have the right voices at the table, This coalition must be dedicated to using people’s time wisely and genuinely listening to all voices in order to agree on specific actions to make racial justice a reality in Santa Cruz County.
How will you use your role on the city council to educate the community about racism in our city?
implement a public relations campaign to educate community
I will continue to bring items forward such as health in all policies and declaring racism
as a public health crisis forward.
I will advocate for the city to invest in racial equity trainings and resources to ensure we’re educating our city staff and community on historic racism that our country has perpetuated to this day, and the impact it has on every person’s life.
Monitor and track data to change practices.
To not let this moment of our history go by and not have rich dialogue resulting in meaningful change. We must have hard discussions about race.
What have you learned recently about your role in racism?
As a biracial woman I’m very aware of race in my life, my role to address it, to understand myself and assumptions, and to listen and learn from the experiences of those who have had different experiences from mine. As a policy maker, my role is to bring others along, to shift how we make policy, and not only understand the legacy of racism within our systems but to actively disrupt and repair them.
What in your past record will give voters confidence that you will make substantial antiracist decisions on the Santa Cruz City Council?
Specifically the equity lens of the Health in All Policies framework that I championed
Banning flavored tobacco including menthol cigarettes
Instituting a Children’s fund focused on early childhood scholarships for families and enrolling more underprivileged children accessing our parks and recreation programs. My vision is that every child can access our prosocial programming regardless of their socioeconomic status
Being named as a plaintiff in a state lawsuit opposing state preemption law and advocating for cities rights to have voters decide to tax sugar sweetened beverages and reinvest those dollars into health for children and community wellbeing through an equity lens.
Climate resilience strategy using equity screenings and intentional outreach, trust building and integration in a meaningful way underrepresented voices
Working with schools to build workforce development programs and students
Professional work history of working with and supporting marginalized youth throughout Santa Cruz County.
Instituting equity policies such as prioritizing minority populations and women accessing cannabis industry opportunities to remedy past injustices that have disproportionately led to criminalization of black and brown people.
There have been numerous Grand Jury findings that point to a need for stronger City Council leadership. Do you support amendments to our City Charter that would help create a strong council and more oversight over city management as outlined in a recent Grand Jury Report, entitled “Failure to Communicate”? Why or Why not?
I’m committed to strong leadership, transparency and accountability of our government workers and elected’s. I’m definitely for these changes, and through the current legal challenge facing the city, we’ll have an opportunity to have community input and transparent processes to revisit our charter and be in complience with the fair voting rights legislation.
Please share your concrete suggestions about how you will address the high cost of living and lack of affordability for average working folks.
Workforce housing partnerships
Supporting families and offsetting cost of living burdens like childcare
Seek recovery strategies rooted in uplifting communities left behind and good paying jobs in a green economy
Increase more affordable housing and keep people in their homes during the current crisis
Income inequality is one of the issues that creates difficulty in living in the city of Santa Cruz. Would you, as a City Council Member be willing to introduce and create a Universal Basic Income (UBI) pilot program. If so, how would you propose funding such a program? If not, why not?
This sounds wonderful! I know many communities have philanthropic funding to implement these programs. As we face extreme financial hardships as a city, we’d need to work with philanthropic/private sector funding to see this through. I'm definitely interested in this and would need to explore how it is working in communities with it and how we could design something to work here in Santa Cruz. My understanding of this program is that most of the communities where these programs are in place are often economically univested in predominantly minority residents. Santa Cruz is an affluent city so we’d need to see how to design a program that works for our city.
The homeless population in the City of Santa Cruz has been an issue for many years. The current Covid-19 pandemic is acutely highlighting the need for safe and humane housing as well as long term food and housing security. How do you plan to work with City, County, and community to address this both in the short and long term?
We have to mitigate impacts and seek solutions that meet those in need today, while moving toward preventing homelessnss in the first place and moving people out of homelessness and to independence in the longer-term. I’d like to expand the existing County/City programs. The first is the Mental Health Liaison Program that has dedicated Licensed Crisis Clinicians who are assigned to work with law enforcement through the Santa Cruz PD (2- Liaisons). These staff accompany law enforcement on crisis calls in the community. I’d also build on our Mobile Emergency Response Team which sees individuals in crisis in the office as well as other community locations. The HOPES Team (Homeless Outreach and Proactive Engagement Strategies) as well as our Focused Intervention Team (FIT) program does outreach and crisis intervention services to the homeless population in the downtown and city. Although these interventions aren’t fully addressing the root causes - drug addiction, poverty, mental illness - they are a step toward meeting people where they are and by doing so, improving the experience in our downtown. We must continue to support these types of interventions.
A “housing first” model may not be possible as there isn’t enough permanent housing available to house houseless citizens. What do you suggest the city do for the thousands of homeless in Santa Cruz for the upcoming winter?
Work with the county and nonprofits to provide shelter, restrooms, etc. and subsidies
Are there aspects of the SC police contract that you think should be changed?
The police chief and SCPD are working with members of our Black community to review the contract and police practices for continuous improvements, including recruitment strategies to hire more officers of color. I’d like to have SCPD work with HR to have ongoing anti-bias and systemic inequities training.
Given that the SCPD spends over 1/4 of the entire city’s 2020 budget on policing (estimated 30 million of 107 million total budget) and over half of the SCPD’s budget is spent on homelessness issues. Would you as a city leader support shifting at least 5% ($1.4 million) from the current police budget toward creating actual solutions to homelessness? Why or why not?
I support this in concept. After we conduct a study to get a broader understanding of the needs and determine the most effective alternatives we can make an informed and sustained policy.
Yesterday, the City Council voted to have a study session to begin this conversation, including having people from the Cahoots program in Oregon present to Santa Cruz.
Would you support creating an alternative 911 call line in a Cahoots-style triage system to address the mental health crisis, drug overdoses, and wellness checks as is now being done in Eugene, Oregon? If not, what other ideas do you have?
Yes, absolutely looking to explore this model. We’re planning to have a study session to better understand the program, the issues, our resources and potential pathway forward.
For the tenants living at the Tannery Arts Center who share the neighborhood with the homeless encampments along the river, calls made to the police are often met with hours and hours of wait time before assistance arrives. Many of these calls are concerns with domestic violence and drug abuse along the river and adjacent to the residential buildings. What do you believe is a solution to the lack of will to address the Tannery residents’ concerns for their neighborhood and the children who live there?
When these issues are brought to my attention, I always bring it to the attention of our police Chief and our City Manager. This is unacceptable and I’m following up with the chief regarding this question/concern about lack of response.
From Chief Mills to me: “We have responded to each call there. I’ll pull the data for you. It is one of the camps we are working to solve. We have homeless encampments throughout the city. We have prioritized them and are systematically addressing them. Remember, even though some won’t like it, being homeless is not a crime. That is clear. We are working with the County to help us house people because it’s their job; while we work together for long term solutions. This has been kicked down the road and I know you want to solve it from a Health In All Policies advantage point. To me this means finding mental health programs, housing and drug addiction services for rehabilitation.“
Support PD with increased funding for mental health services directed toward the Tannery.
Where do you stand on the new library/garage?
As a current city council member I have already voted for this project to proceed. Many people who don’t have access to technology need a 21st century library. Many of our senior citizens and low income read books, and need a modern, safe library.
Now that the City of Santa Cruz has just finished the historic painting of the Black Lives Matter street mural what are the top three actions you want to achieve in fulfilling its objectives with tangible policy changes and accountability towards equity, inclusion, and justice.
Institutional initiatives to address these objectives throughout all aspects of city businesses. This is evidenced by the HiAP, equity training, incorporation into the agenda reports of equity, and an inclusive process to truly integrate the voices of those who’ve not traditionally felt comfortable coming to government - essentially not token involvement, meaning ways to co-create solutions with marginalized members of our community.
What resources are you aware of that are being given out to the BIPOC community to ensure that our health, investment in businesses and quality of life are on par with the white population? What will you do while serving on the city council to guarantee this?
As a member of the recovery committee I’ve expressed this as a priority to integrate into our post covid economic strategies. I championed having a criteria of prioritization for women and people of color gaining access to the cannabis industry to remedy past injustices that have led to the disproportionate marginalization of black and brown people.
What is your top priority for our SC Youth, specifically the Black students who statistically are not graduating at the same rate as their white counterparts?
The Santa Cruz County Board of Education enacted a resolution in support of equity and anti-racism, calling on our local school districts to utilize restorative justice practices, implicit bias training, and ethnic studies course offerings. To this end, the Santa Cruz County Office of Education has been working with our leadership teams to help examine and improve our student programs in a way that disrupts inequities and fosters student leadership. We are collaborating with the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to create learning resources for students to be implemented in our schools. We also have been looking internally as an organization by taking steps to better ensure that school leadership in our county better represents the diverse population we serve. We must come together as a community to deepen our commitment to our shared values of diversity, inclusivity and justice.