Illustration by Maren Slobody

“It’s a stark choice. There is no middle way. There is no compromise.”

These were the words of Gov. Jerry Brown just last week, when he travelled to UC Santa Cruz, urging students here and across the state to vote “Yes” on Proposition 30.

Proposition 30 is a proposition that would raise taxes on Californians to fund K-12 and community college education costs, and forestall further cuts.

On his website the governor states, “Proposition 30 will protect school and safety funding and help address the state’s chronic budget mess. It’s time to take a stand and get our state back on track.”

City on a Hill Press, as a group of students that is personally affected by this “chronic budget mess,” officially endorses Proposition 30 and encourages our readers to vote “Yes” on the measure next Tuesday.

Proposition 30 is not to be confused with Proposition 38 — another funding measure on the ballot this November that does not prevent trigger cuts. Trigger cuts could cost the UC system a total of $250 million, with an additional $125 million in potential funding lost if Proposition 30 fails to pass. Proposition 30 would prevent this loss of much needed funding, and is the better choice for our school systems.

Currently, polls show Proposition 30 on the cusp of passing, but this may not be enough. According to ABC News, Brown’s temporary tax plan to fund education has dropped below 50 percent in two surveys released Oct. 25.

The more support garnered for this tax measure, the better. Even the Regents of the University of California have endorsed Proposition 30. President Mark Yudof has said, “As you know, we’re down virtually a billion dollars in the last four years, we’ll be down another $375 million if Proposition 30 doesn’t pass …This is a disgrace in my view, and a lack of commitment to the students, and I’m with you. I’ve said it publicly, I’ve said it over and over.”

However, in the same interview on Sept. 19, Yudof said, “We have the most generous financial aid system in the United States. … 30 percent of our tuition gets turned back into financial aid. In addition to that, we have Pell Grants and we have Cal Grants and so forth. The result is, half of our students pay no tuition. That’s pretty affordable. I don’t say it’s free, I mean, you have to have a roof over your head, you have to eat, you have to buy books, you have to travel, you have issues, but in this world, that’s pretty good.”

If we don’t have the regents on our side — ones who do not think we have “affordable” education simply because 50 percent of students pay no tuition — we cannot reach the goal of affordable education for all, regardless of circumstance.

The University should be working to alleviate systemic struggles instead of stopping short of the goal of accessible education for everyone. Although Proposition 30 will not solve all of our problems, it puts us on the path to recovery. This is something the UC system cannot do without.

Barry Jakob. Photo by Sarah Manley.

UC Santa Cruz is No. 2 in voter registration at 16 percent, falling right behind UC Santa Barbara at 36 percent, said Student Union Assembly (SUA) vote coordinator Barry Jakob.

Jakob wants to change that with a new SUA initiative: SlugVOTE.

“Ideally, I’d like to see the numbers go up to 40 or 50 percent of the student body,” Jakob said. “I want us to be number one in the UC system.”

SlugVOTE is a planned SUA voter registration initiative conducted by Jakob and several other students. The goals of SlugVOTE, Jakob said, include being a constant presence on campus.

“SlugVOTE is an organization that acts all year, every year” he said. “It’s not just an implied power that only acts a month in advance of election season.”

SlugVOTE isn’t like CalPIRG or other Quarry Plaza staples, Jakob said, but there will be a Quarry Plaza presence.

“We want to outreach in a way that’s different from the way voter registration has been done here before,” Jakob said. “We want people to come to us. We’ll have a table with a five-gallon water cooler, candy, things like that.”

Jakob and SUA communications director Shaz Umer said the central hope behind SlugVOTE is that it will outlast the presence of its current coordinators. Plans are underway for the initiative to be institutionalized within the infrastructure of SUA.

“It’s also being incorporated in the position of SUA external vice chancellor [currently held by Nelson Cortez]. SlugVote will be one of the responsibilities of the office of the EVC,” Umer said.

Most students are probably familiar with the packets received on move-in day, complete with a voter registration form. Jakob thinks that method is too passive, and intends to go door to door among the dorms, knocking and asking people to register to vote.

“Campus move-in day is going to look a lot different. You’ll see a voter registration presence there,” Jakob said. “We want it become a cultural, core feature of UCSC civic engagement. We want it to last for future generations.”

Umer and Jakob also hope the initiative can be interwoven with other campus events.

“We would like to make SlugVOTE services available to all student organizations on campus, and we would like to be able to table at those events,” Jakob said.

Illustration by Jamie Morton

In the city of Santa Cruz, like other cities across the United States, times are tough. Unlike many places, however, we do have at least one advantage: People still want to visit. According to SantaCruzCA.org, tourism generates over $500 million for the county every year.

To capitalize on this happy circumstance, Mayor Don Lane and other city council members are working to get a measure on the November ballot that would raise hotel taxes from 10 percent to 12 percent.

While a 2 percent hotel tax increase is most likely a negligible expense to tourists, it could be a large gain for the Santa Cruz community.

In a recent press conference with student media (see p. 6), Lane said this could be especially beneficial because all tax money collected from hotels stays local.

In the past, the city has been forced to make many undesirable budget cuts. Local school districts have taken a hit close to $1 million already, and that will likely double this year. The Santa Cruz Metro has scaled back on its bus service since 2009. Not to mention the possibility of a desalination plant in our future — something that could potentially cost millions of dollars down the line.

That the Santa Cruz City Council is looking for creative ways to bring money into the community is commendable and comforting, given the precarious position the city finds itself in. That it would come from outside sources is an even bigger plus, and shows the council is looking out for Santa Cruzans first.

The only drawback is hotel owners might not be fond of having to drive their prices up even more, especially given that compared to other cities, our rates are already pretty high. However, the gains far outweigh the losses, especially when keeping in mind what’s good for Santa Cruz is ultimately good for the hotel industry — nobody wants to visit a run-down city.

To students who may not live in Santa Cruz for more than four or five years, voting on local issues may feel unimportant or arbitrary. Some abstain from voting on local issues because they have not done their research and do not want to harm the local vote with their uninformed ballot.

But getting something like the hotel tax increase on the ballot and voting yes would be a service to the community even the least informed voter can get behind.