From left, Derek Timm and Allan Timms defated Jim Reed for two seats on the Scotts Valley City Council. (Contributed photos)

Last county update: 3/6/2024 1:48:00 AM

SCOTTS VALLEY >> Derek Timm and Allan Timms defeated longtime Scotts Valley Councilmember Jim Reed in a contest for two seats on the Scotts Valley council, according to official election results posted Dec. 6.

In August, Santa Cruz Local talked to 20 Scotts Valley residents about their priorities for the Scotts Valley City Council.

The top themes raised by residents were:

  • A need for more bike and walk infrastructure.
  • A need for affordable child care.
  • A desire for more parks and recreation programs.

Here is where the top vote getters stand on the issues, based on our interviews with the candidates.

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Derek Timm

Derek Timm (Contributed)

  • On improving bike safety, Derek Timm said, “We have made improvements in Scotts Valley around bike lanes. But I think there’s another component, which is teaching our kids where to safely ride their bikes and how to do it and what equipment to have. I’ve worked with Ecology Action to set up training for students at schools.”
  • On improving roads, Timm said, “One of the things to educate voters in Scotts Valley around, is that about 60% of our roads are not city roads. People will look at the condition of some of the roads and think, the city doesn’t take good care of the roads — but we don’t actually have the right to maintain them,” Timm said. “We did just update our Active Transportation Plan and our community improvement process. Through that, we have a list of priorities and which roads we want to prioritize. We’re also doing a pavement management program and we’re evaluating a few different third parties on what to tackle.”
  • Read more about Timm in Santa Cruz Local’s Election Guide.

Allan Timms

Allan Timms (Contributed)

  • Allan Timms on a need for child care: “The child care arrangements that were provided by parks and recreation prior to the pandemic were very affordable and pretty available. Then, over the course of the pandemic, the parks and rec department really suffered very heavily on funding. They lost a lot of staff, they got very much behind in terms of their ability to just even just maintain things like sprinklers. The Boys & Girls Club in Scotts Valley is absolutely something that the city I think invested in and has certainly supported, and then there’s the Champions child care facility on the Vine Hill (Elementary School) campus.”
  • Allan Timms on improving the city budget and city economy: “What (Scotts Valley) gets from property taxes is very small compared to most cities. We get sub-7% of property tax revenues going into the city’s budget, versus other nearby cities (16% in Santa Cruz) just because of how the city’s budget and incorporation happened back in the early days. Then, the (hotel) occupancy taxes are currently at 11%. Twelve percent is pretty much the standard. Santa Cruz is already looking at expanding that to think the state overall is looking up. I think it’s almost certainly a necessity for Scotts Valley, actually, to have that as well. I think I’d be open to exploring all of those things. If there’s a way to change how much of the property taxes we get, that would clearly help. I think that the sales tax measure is likely to need to continue. I think the (hotel) occupancy tax is probably inevitable. The hotels we are in consultation with appear to support that.”Timms added, “There’s other things we can explore, such as short-term vacation rentals and occupancy revenue. Larger and commercial developments will help boost the city economy too. They also bring a willingness to explore better restaurants, better stores and more local-business foot traffic.”
  • Read more about Timms in Santa Cruz Local’s Election Guide.

Read Santa Cruz Local’s Election Guide on the Scotts Valley City Council to learn about:

  • Council members’ roles and responsibilities.
  • Candidates’ profiles and voting records.

Related stories:

Read more about early results:

Measure O

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