• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Santa Cruz Local

Sound local news

Santa Cruz Local
  • News Stories
    • Santa Cruz
    • Watsonville
    • Live Oak
    • Scotts Valley
    • Capitola
    • Santa Cruz County
  • Membership
  • Elections Guide
  • Guía para las elecciones
  • Mudslide and evacuation resources
  • COVID-19 Resources
  • Podcast
    • Episodes
    • Editor’s Picks
  • Community
    • Community Advisory Board
    • What is community engagement?
  • Sponsorship
  • Advertising
  • Contact us
  • About
  • Account
  • Faq
  • Log In

Santa Cruz County supervisors approve eviction ban

March 24, 2020 By Stephen Baxter

by Stephen Baxter
March 24, 2020March 24, 2020Filed under:
  • coronavirus
  • economy
  • eviction
  • health
  • Homelessness
  • Housing
  • Santa Cruz
  • Santa Cruz County
  • Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors

Get updates on the local response to the coronavirus. Subscribe to Santa Cruz Local’s free newsletter.

SANTA CRUZ >> Santa Cruz County tenants who have lost “substantial” income or face big out-of-pocket medical expenses from the coronavirus pandemic will not face evictions through May 31, county supervisors said Tuesday. 

The order applies to residential and commercial tenants such as shops and restaurants in the unincorporated county areas. It comes in the wake of a March 16 order for county residents to stay home and for all but essential business to close temporarily.

Santa Cruz County Supervisor Ryan Coonerty helped introduce a ban on evictions for people and businesses impacted by the coronavirus emergency. The board of supervisors unanimously approved the order Tuesday. (Community Television of Santa Cruz County — Contributed)

“This is not a rent holiday. This is a prevention of evictions,” County Supervisor Ryan Coonerty said at Tuesday’s meeting. Coonerty and Supervisor John Leopold introduced the measure. 

“We understand that both landlords and tenants, both residential and commercial, are in a difficult situation. We’re hoping that there will be support from the federal government and the state government going forward, but right now we just cannot add to our homelessness population. We do not have the resources to support the people who are currently homeless,” Coonerty said. 

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office typically enforces evictions. From Tuesday through May 31, sheriff’s deputies will no longer enforce evictions, said Santa Cruz County spokesman Jason Hoppin. 

If threatened with eviction, tenants should stay in their homes, Hoppin wrote in an email Tuesday. There is nothing in the order nor was there discussion at Tuesday’s board meeting about county payments to landlords in lieu of rent.

“Over the long term, this is a negotiation that’s going to happen between every tenant and every landlord,” Coonerty said. “As we look at the economic impacts of this, there simply won’t be a way for everybody to come out of this whole or for everyone to be supported. It’s going to take us working collaboratively together to find solutions,” Coonerty said. “It won’t work if we have a 20 to 30% unemployment rate and doubled our homeless population.”  


Times like these need reliable reporting. Our work is free for everyone in Santa Cruz County, but we need your support. Become a member today.

Yes! I support local news.
I’ll become a Santa Cruz Local member.


Everett Downs, a Felton resident, said he worried about his income. He said he and his wife live off of social security and rent from their tenant. 

“How [are] you going to make me whole?” Downs asked the supervisors at the meeting. “You going to pay my lost wages?”

County supervisors voted unanimously in favor of the order. Supervisors Bruce McPherson and Zach Friend deliberately called in to the meeting rather than attend it in person to practice social distancing in the wake of the coronavirus. 

Cities such as Watsonville recently have enacted similar eviction moratoriums.

The order does not “absolve tenants from paying rent,” but rather provides “an opportunity for normal business functions to recover so local working families and their employers can stay part of the fabric of our local community,” according to the county report. 

The order also directs the county’s economic development office, county administrative officer and the office of the county’s auditor, controller, treasurer and tax collector to return to the board April 14 with more proposals to help small businesses. 

“Untold numbers of people are unable to go to work, schools are closed, and the hospitality industry which includes our vibrant food and beverage businesses, our tourism-based businesses, as well as the lodging and recreation industry has been devastated,” county staff wrote in a report. 

“This severe economic dislocation is felt by all members of the public. For a community already suffering from the high cost of living, the economic impact of this pandemic cannot be overstated,” the report stated.

Stephen Baxter

[email protected] | Website | + posts

Stephen Baxter is a co-founder and editor of Santa Cruz Local. He covers Santa Cruz County government.

  • Stephen Baxter
    https://santacruzlocal.org/author/admin-10/
    City to use eminent domain
  • Stephen Baxter
    https://santacruzlocal.org/author/admin-10/
    Stephen's ethics statement
  • Stephen Baxter
    https://santacruzlocal.org/author/admin-10/
    Show me the data
  • Stephen Baxter
    https://santacruzlocal.org/author/admin-10/
    Did Measure M talk shrink Santa Cruz's rental market?
Tagged:
  • Coronavirus
  • Santa Cruz
  • Santa Cruz County
  • Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors

Post navigation

Previous Post Why the census matters for Santa Cruz County
Next Post Santa Cruz City Council encourages eviction ban

Footer

Subscribe to our newsletter

@theSClocal on Twitter

My Tweets

Sitemap

  • About
  • Account
  • Contact Us
  • 🎧Episodes
  • Ethics – Kara’s Statement
  • Ethics – Stephen’s Statement
  • Help
  • Home
  • Login
  • Members Wall
  • Membership
  • Send Us A Tip
  • Sponsorship
  • News Stories
  • Who supports us?
  • Get our community watching and engaged.
  • We want to hear from you.
  • Guide our elections coverage
  • What is community engagement?
  • Sign up for local housing news
  • Sign up for local homelessness news
  • Sign up for local development news
  • Sign up for local government news
  • Subscribe free for local development news
  • Subscribe free for local housing news
  • Subscribe free for local government news
  • Subscribe free for unbiased local news
  • Subscribe free for homelessness news
  • Sign up free for local news
  • Support local journalism on housing
  • Support local journalism on growth in Santa Cruz County
  • Support journalism on local government
  • Support local journalism on homelessness
  • Support unbiased local journalism
  • Dreams for Santa Cruz
  • Tell us what you want to know about the coronavirus in Santa Cruz County
  • COVID-19 resources in Santa Cruz County
  • Want local news on COVID-19?
  • Please take our super quick reader survey
  • Upgrade your Santa Cruz Local membership
  • Support Santa Cruz Local with Ride Out the Wave
  • Apply for Santa Cruz Local’s community advisory board
  • We want to hear from you.
  • What do you want from local government?
  • Thank you for sharing your priorities
  • Share your business talent with Santa Cruz Local
  • Community Advisory Board
  • ¿Qué quiere usted de su gobierno local?
  • Santa Cruz Local surpasses 500 members
  • Apply for Santa Cruz Local’s Pay it Forward campaign
  • Santa Cruz County mudslide and evacuation resources
  • Tell us what you need.
  • Santa Cruz Local’s Elections Guide and Results
  • Business Advisory Circle
  • Pay it Forward
  • Vote Nov. 3: The People’s Agenda
  • Our advertising policy
  • Santa Cruz Local: Guía para las elecciones
  • Santa Cruz Local’s Elections Guide
  • Share your thoughts on police in Santa Cruz County
  • Become a Santa Cruz Local member
  • Comparta lo que piensa sobre la policía en el condado de Santa Cruz
  • Share your thoughts on schools in Santa Cruz County
  • Comparta lo que piensa sobre las escuelas en el condado de Santa Cruz

Copyright © 2021 · Log in