Bruce McPherson Reflects on Three Terms as 5th District Supervisor
Moving into the final month of a 12-year tenure as your Fifth District Supervisor, I can’t help but reflect on the many good things our community has accomplished – as well as the many hardships we have endured – all by working together.
This District, and really the whole of Santa Cruz County, looks much different than it did when I took office in January 2013. Still recovering from the Great Recession, we were staring down a housing crisis and struggling with climate change – all while missing key strategies for protecting water resources, improving transportation, supporting libraries, and stewarding parks.
And in the midst of addressing those issues during my first two terms, at the beginning of my third we faced the COVID-19 pandemic, the CZU Lightning Complex Fire, and a series of severe storms that decimated roads, bridges and culverts to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Despite these difficulties, serving as your County Supervisor has been the most rewarding job of my 25-year career in public service, including my years as California’s Secretary of State and as a member of the Assembly and Senate. It has been my deepest honor to represent Santa Cruz County in all of these roles, and I encourage residents of the San Lorenzo Valley both to look back on our collective achievements and be mindful of future challenges.
Let’s start with the prosperity of Central Coast Community Energy, or 3CE, which my office began exploring in 2013 as California’s first tri-county community choice energy agency that has since grown into 35 agencies across five counties and is a hallmark strategy of climate-action plans regionally. This would not have happened without the creativity and cooperation of elected leaders and staff throughout our cities, counties and partner agencies.
With the passage of Measure S in 2014, the County was able to build a new library in Felton and renovate the Boulder Creek branch. But it was truly the tenacious advocacy and fundraising of the Felton Library Friends that made the beautiful new branch possible, not to mention the adjoining Felton Discovery Park built from scratch in partnership with County Parks. I am also proud that our office made a critical County investment that resulted in Boulder Creek Rec and Park District’s ownership of Bear Creek Community Center, and that we reopened the sheriff’s substations in Felton and Boulder Creek.
Community support for Measure D in 2016 created a first-ever dedicated local funding source to improve beleaguered roads, plan for active transportation networks and reimagine our rail corridor. Through the leadership of the Regional Transportation Commission, we have laid the groundwork to transform Highway 9 through the SLV Complete Streets Plan, most notably with a major project going under construction in 2025 to improve circulation and safety from the combined SLV school campuses to downtown Felton. Plans to improve the highway, in its capacity as Central Avenue in Boulder Creek, are set to go under construction in 2028.
In partnership with the San Lorenzo Valley and Scotts Valley water districts, our office joined private well owners and key personnel from the County and City of Santa Cruz in establishing the Santa Margarita Groundwater Agency in response to new state laws governing groundwater resources. Early on, we helped to coordinate Lompico Water’s consolidation with SLV Water and are currently playing a role in the post-fire stabilization of Big Basin Water Company.
I cannot overstate the importance of good relationships with our state and federal partners, both at the elected levels and within regulatory agencies, to jointly solve problems and pursue opportunities to solve historic and emerging challenges. And I’m proud of the work our Board of Supervisors has done, in partnership with County Administrative Officer Carlos Palacios, over the past decade to maintain strong fiscal health and respond to multiple disasters while also addressing state mandates related to housing growth, behavioral health, and natural resources.
I’ll close by noting that I had the opportunity during our November Board meeting to honor the late Mary Hammer for her unmatched dedication to nonprofit work in the San Lorenzo Valley, and then two days later, to meet four young people from the Fifth District recently appointed to the County’s new Youth Advisory Task Force. It reminded me that, generation after generation, we are grateful to those who are willing to step forward and serve their community.
As I prepare to turn this office over to the incoming supervisor, Monica Martinez, I hope you will join me on December 17 at the Board of Supervisors to celebrate all we have accomplished together and commit to supporting her leadership in meeting the needs of your fellow residents.
Bruce McPherson is Supervisor in the 5th District of Santa Cruz County. He holds office until the end of this year.
Photo contributed: Supervisor Bruce McPherson at the Felton Covered Bridge.
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