Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed cuts to public services, including buses, park playgrounds and fire departments. An act on the November ballot looks to save these city services. Photo by Devika Agarwal.

Photo by Devika Agarwal.

Photo by Devika Agarwal.

And the cuts keep on coming.

Last Friday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed to address a $20 billion state budget deficit with a new budget plan that will last through June 30 of next year. While it still needs approval from the California legislature, Schwarzenegger’s plan includes $8.5 billion in spending reductions, including cuts and borrowing from numerous local services statewide.

Santa Cruz City Councilmember Tony Madrigal is one of the many local officials promoting the “Local Taxpayers, Public Safety and Transportation Protection Act” — a statewide ballot initiative created to protect local interests. Without this initiative, some fear the state would be unable to repay the money it proposes to borrow from cities.

“The state legislature and government find themselves unable to find a balanced budget without taking funds from local cities,” Madrigal said. “[The act] will be one more weapon in our arsenal to defend ourselves.”

Sponsored by the League of California Cities, the California Transit Association and the California Alliance for Jobs, the act opposes the removal of funds from local governments, public safety and transportation.

“This measure will help cities,” Madrigal said. “It’s an opportunity for voters to defend the funding for local services.”

Deanna Sessums, the Monterey Bay regional public affairs manager for the League of California Cities, discussed several of the ideas in the governor’s recent budget plan.

“The governor is proposing to eliminate the sales tax on gas and replacing it with an excise tax,” Sessums said. “It’s an accounting gimmick. The sales tax is for the city, but by eliminating it and replacing it with an excise tax, he can use the money however he wants.”

Sessums also explained that since the majority of the Santa Cruz General Fund goes to the police, fire department, parks and libraries, these services will be affected first.

Local transit services should also expect cuts from funding if Schwarzenegger’s plan comes through.

Santa Cruz Route 20D bus driver Dennis Baldwin discussed the importance of local transit, and why it should not lose money from the state.

“We need an initiative … we can’t have them dipping into transportation, because fares don’t pay for buses,” he said.

UC Santa Cruz fourth-year Sulimon Sattari values the significance of adequate local transit funding.

“It’s important,” Sattari said. “It makes you more mobile and the better the transportation, the more mobile you are — the more things you can get done.”

Baldwin also commented on the importance of services like the fire department, police department and emergency dispatch.

“There’s no way to take from those departments and get the city to run properly,” Baldwin said. “We’ve finally got enough in those fields where [they] are taken care of, and now if we take from them, we’ll be at a shortage.”

In an effort to get the act on the November 2010 ballot, the League of California Cities is asking every city in the Monterey area to collect at least 100 signatures by April.

“It’s our goal to collect 10,000 signatures from the Monterey Bay region,” Madrigal said. “Legally, we need nearly 700,000 valid signatures, but 1.1 million signatures is our goal for the state.”

According to the website SaveLocalServices.com, this past year the state legislature “borrowed approximately $2 billion in property taxes from local governments, despite no clear path to repay these funds.”

The legislature additionally took $2 billion in local redevelopment funds, despite a recent Superior Court ruling that says these types of raids are unconstitutional.

“Redevelopment is really important for our economy,” Sessums said. “Students will be impacted because it means less jobs and less affordable housing.”

In light of the budget crisis’s recent direct influence on UC students, Madrigal stresses the importance of reducing these cuts as much as possible and making an effort to protect all of the services the city has to offer.

“Students at UCSC depend on the same local services that residents do,” Madrigal said. “I invite all of the students of UCSC, regardless of your party, to call or e-mail or text me to make arrangements to sign our petitions.”

~~~~~

Additional reporting by Jacob Pierce.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Proposed Act Aims to Protect City Services

Eager participants at the Immigration and Citizenship Seminar, held at Lady Star of the Sea Church last Sunday, had the opportunity to learn about the citizenship process from legal professionals. Photo by Morgan Grana.

With microphone in hand, City Councilmember Tony Madrigal welcomed crowd members in exuberant Spanish, high-fiving people in the front row and smiling at the small children who roamed the parish hall while their parents sat, waiting expectantly.

The occasion was the 7th annual Free Immigration and Citizenship Forum, held at the Lady Star of the Sea Church last Sunday, Oct. 18, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Madrigal and the Community Information Center for Migrant Assistance (CIMA) organized the event. A multitude of people gathered in the small parish hall, sacrificing their Sunday to find out more about the few ways they can become a legal citizen of America more quickly.

Despite the grave circumstances, everyone seemed to be smiling, gossiping and talking with one another as if they were one very large family.

In the back of the hall, a panel of 12 lawyers sat at individual booths, prepared to spend three hours offering guidance counseling, hoping to lead their clients in the right direction towards citizenship.

“It’s something the community has grown to expect now and I get asked about it every year,” Madrigal said. “‘When’s it coming? When’s it coming?’ People get excited about it.”

The event began with a short PowerPoint presentation given by one of the lawyers on the panel for free consultation, Guerrero Vilma.

“We present it in order to dispel rumors,” Vilma said. “One of the main misconceptions is that people think it’s a lot easier to gain residency than it actually is. They say, ‘I’ve waited 10 years and still haven’t gotten my papers, there must be something wrong.’ But we know that 10 years is normal, and that it might be fifteen.”

Madrigal agreed.

“A lot of people think it’s just an easy process, but the steps are really complicated and not everybody knows where to turn to, and if we’re able to line up a dozen lawyers to steer them in the right direction, that’s a good first step.”

Vilma pointed out that many people who are not connected with the issue of immigration do not realize or appreciate how long and hard the process is to become a citizen in the United States. She said many immigrants have little to no idea about the nature of the operation.

“Education is key. People need to know where they stand, what they do or do not qualify for,” she said.

After Vilma’s speech ended, people began taking numbers and standing in line to speak with a lawyer. Tony Madrigal stood up front with the microphone again and asked, “¿Están listos para la consulta?” — “Are you ready for consultation?” Which was met with an enthusiastic “Si!”

Overall, the mood in the parish hall was one of lending a hand and helping people in need. Unfortuantely, though, some of those who attended the forum said a helpful spirit can be hard to find for immigrants, with fraudulent lawyers known to give misleading counsel.

“People get a lot of bad advice,” Vilma said. “It’s important they get the right information so that they can assess their situation and make an informed decision.”

For Madrigal, this was one of the main reasons he started the free legal forum in the first place.

“There are certain immigration consultants that are out to scam,” he said. “People need to be aware of that. I mean, they don’t know what they’re doing, and the lawyers are feeding them false hopes.”

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Free Legal Forum

Camille Stevens and Sarah Dooley, local high-school students, browse the racks of dresses at this year’s prom dress giveaway at the “Prom Dress Boutique” downtown. Photo by Isaac Miller.

While prom is now merely a distant memory for most collegiates, high-school students are knee-deep in the action of making plans for the big night. 

However, hunting down a beautiful, affordable dress remains a challenge for many.

In recognition of the need for affordability in a financially depressed economy, City Councilmember Tony Madrigal and Classic Cleaners sponsored their first prom dress giveaway last weekend to help high-school girls tackle the daunting task cost-free. Free dresses were offered to any girl who needed one for her big day, no questions asked.

“Attending your high-school prom is a great American tradition,” Madrigal said. “High-priced proms with all the expenses, including clothing and accessories, can very easily make a prom feel out-of-reach, leaving some students feeling left out.”

Over 2,000 dresses were collected through donations from citizens of Santa Cruz County over recent months. Community members were recruited to bring new and gently used dresses to any Classic Cleaners location, as well as other spots around the county set up for the drive. Armfuls of dresses were dished out at three “prom dress boutiques” on Saturday and Sunday in downtown Santa Cruz, Felton and Watsonville.

Aleen Raybin, a youth advocate at the Walnut Avenue Women’s Center (WAWC), expressed appreciation for the generous donations.

“People in Santa Cruz really responded to the drive,” Raybin said. “The community of Santa Cruz really came through.”

Jenn O’Brien-Rojo, the resource development director at the WAWC elaborated on the success of their outreach.

“When they got there to open there were already 10 to 15 girls lined up,” O’Brien-Rojo said of the Felton location.

Girls arrived consistently throughout business hours, bringing along a valued second opinion in the form of a friend or mother. 

Camille Stevens and her friend Sarah Dooley, two local Santa Cruz high-school students, giggled and chattered about their plans for prom while sorting through the silk and satin hanging on garment stands. 

“I’ve been looking forward to prom for many years,” Stevens said. “We’ve had plans to go together since middle school.”

Racks were hung with a rainbow of gowns in all styles, and tables displaying glittering jewelry were stationed next to shelves of high heels awaiting their new owners. 

Some girls had visions of what style they were looking for before they hit the racks. Stevens had a clear thought of what her prom dress would look like.

“My perfect dress would be something similar to a strapless, 1950s formal cocktail dress,” she said.

Others simply knew they wanted something fabulous.

“I really don’t have criteria, it’s really about what makes me feel good,” Sarah Dooley said.

Shoreline Cosmetology School is offering girls free make-up and hair for their special day, one of many local vendors who are donating time and resources. Classic Cleaners contributed much time and effort into making this event happen as well.

“Classic Cleaners have been amazing with all of this,” Raybin said. “They cleaned every single dress before [the giveaway].”

“Elected officials who have a good idea [still] need a team of community volunteers,” Councilmember Madrigal said. “I feel blessed for all the people who made this possible.” 

The organizers and volunteers of the first-ever prom dress giveaway don’t have a definite count yet of how many dresses were handed out, but they are confident the event was not just a success in numbers.

“This will reach way beyond the girls that showed up,” O’Brien-Rojo said. “It will let people know they live in a community that really cares about them, and cares about something as basic as the prom.”

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at God Bless the Dress