Lookout Santa Cruz: Guest Commentary | Yes on Santa Cruz’s Measure C: Let’s not let the perfect be the enemy of the good

By Don Lane

Keven Cook wrote a thoughtful opinion article for Lookout a few days ago with a critique of some of the details of Santa Cruz’s Measure C, the ballot measure that will generate funds to make a real difference in making housing in the city of Santa Cruz more affordable, as well as investing in prevention of homelessness.

Measure C’s thresholds and exemptions are central to Cook’s concerns. Clearly, the authors of the measure were trying to balance many interests and many policy goals, the most important of which are making a difference in the housing crisis and doing it in a fair and practical way.

Cook and I agree that Measure C has the very valuable purpose of providing housing for older adults, local families and lower-income essential local workers. But he then proceeds to justify blocking a “laudable” (his word) effort by saying the measure doesn’t meet his high standards of perfection. You could say his desire for perfection is also laudable — but it does nothing to create housing for health care workers, educators, service workers, seniors, younger families and folks with significant disabilities.

Where we especially differ is on this question: Would the work on affordable housing be advanced by passing Measure C or not? My answer is a definitive “yes.” But Cook seems to unintentionally argue for doing nothing about funding for affordable housing. If he has his way, Measure C will fail, which means no new funding for affordable housing.

Cook’s approach is a classic case of letting perfection be the enemy of the good. It’s totally unrealistic, impossible actually, to just write a measure that you personally like better and thrust it before voters close to an election. Getting a measure to the ballot for voters to consider takes a commitment to doing the work required to get a substantial community coalition behind it.

Measure C was developed through a long and detailed community process that produced a measure written in a way that can achieve significant voter support and meet our housing policy goals. After it was written, a signature-gathering campaign was required to get approximately 4,000 valid signatures. And then, of course, there’s the need to run a strong campaign to achieve a majority vote.

Cook might be waiting to see what the voters decide to do. But the thing is, we know what happens if Measure C does not pass. It will be more of the same horrible housing crisis that has been driving seniors and essential workers out of their homes, causing health care workers and educators to commute more than an hour each way to work in Santa Cruz, and forcing young people who grew up in Santa Cruz to move away.

Wait and see is not a strategy our community should tolerate any longer. 

I don’t want to wait and see. I want to take action today by voting Yes on C. I hope you’ll join me, even if Cook will not.

Don Lane is a former mayor of Santa Cruz. He is a co-founder of Housing Santa Cruz County, serves on the governing board of Housing Matters and has been a homeowner for 40 years.