Candidate Forum Draws a Crowd
Wednesday’s Candidates Forum at Highlands Park Senior & Community Center attracted a packed house amid road closures and power outages from recent storms. The ‘standing room only’ crowd gathered in a cold community room lit only by a backup generator and flashlights to learn more about the four candidates running to fill the Santa Cruz County 5th District Supervisor seat. The forum was moderated by the League of Women Voters of Santa Cruz County and each candidate – Theresa Bond, Christopher Bradford, Tom Decker, and Monica Martinez – had 90 seconds to answer select questions submitted in advance by those in attendance. Subjects included broadband internet service and AT&T’s application to the California Public Utilities Commission to withdraw landline service in the Santa Cruz Mountains; the lack of permits being granted by the Santa Cruz County Planning Department to rebuild after the CZU fire disaster; and how each candidate might perform in the role of District Supervisor as a voice for funding and infrastructure support from the County and the State for the towns of the unincorporated San Lorenzo Valley.
To a collective cheer, the power came back on halfway through the two-hour presentation.
View candidates’ website and policy positions
Theresa Bond theresabond2024.com
Christopher Bradford bradfordforsupervisor.com
Tom Decker deckerforsupervisor.com
Monical Martinez martinezforsupervisor.com
Election info
Election Day is Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Voters should have already received their voter guides in late January. Ballots for the March 5th Presidential Primary were mailed out on Monday, February 5. You can vote in person on Election Day or deliver your completed, signed, and sealed ballot in one of the following ways:
>>Mail your ballot so that it is postmarked by Election Day, March 3, 2024
>>Hand deliver your ballot to the Santa Cruz County Clerk/Elections office or the Capitola, Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley, or Watsonville City Clerk.
>>Drop off your ballot on Election Day at any polling place in the State of California.
A candidate must receive over 50% of the vote to win in March, or the top two vote-getters will proceed to a runoff election in November.
More information: votescount.santacruzcountyca.gov
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