Don Lane, Santa Cruz City Council - KCOY Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo - News

Don Lane, Santa Cruz City Council

Party/Affiliation: Democrat
Current Job: Mayor of Santa Cruz

Top 3 Priorities if Elected:

ADEQUATE FUNDING FOR MUNICIPAL SERVICES: PUBLIC SAFETY, PARKS AND RECREATION, TRANSPORTATION, AND PROGRAMS TO ADDRESS SOCIAL PROLEMS 

Adequate funding for municipal services: public safety, parks and recreation, transportation, and programs to address social problems

We can address by holding costs down, improving efficiency in government and increasing city revenue.  We can increase city revenue by promoting expansion of existing small businesses, assisting small tech start-ups, increasing and improving our hotel and visitor accommodations; recruiting additional retail stores in key opportunity locations and by adopting a 1 percent increase in the hotel tax.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: OUR COMMUNITY NEEDS ADDITIONAL JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESSES 

The city has an excellent record of using its Economic Development staff to work closely with existing local businesses and with new prospects to facilitate permitting and finding financing.  We have approved several new lodging and visitor serving projects that will bolster our local economy and create new jobs. And we are in the process of bringing the Golden State Warriors minor league basketball team to our community to generate new jobs and local business activity. We have also made major strides to turn our arts community into an important economic engine for Santa Cruz.

PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT

The City has taken a leadership role in adopting an aggressive Climate Action Plan and in adopting new restrictions on plastic and Styrofoam pollution.  We are also working on many fronts to support alternative transportation and to reduce carbon emissions from city operations.