Measure Q asks Santa Cruz County voters whether public agencies and nonprofits including the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County should collect about $7.5 million annually for land management, cleanup and conservation projects. (Stephen Baxter — Santa Cruz Local)

SANTA CRUZ >> Campaign filings Thursday offered a peek at the money trail behind some measures and candidates in the Nov. 5 election in Santa Cruz County.

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  • The Yes on Measure Q campaign — which supports a countywide parcel tax to fund land management, wildfire prep and other environmental projects — has received more than two-thirds of roughly $822,000 in campaign contributions from some of the environmental nonprofit groups that are expected to receive $3 million or more annually if Measure Q is adopted.
  • Soda companies have spent nearly $1.7 million on the No on Z campaign, or almost 40 times the Yes on Z campaign, according to Oct. 24 campaign filings. No on Z opposes a proposed tax on the distributors of soda and other sweetened beverages in the City of Santa Cruz. Supporters of Measure Z have raised nearly $40,000, including $20,000 from the American Heart Association. 
  • District 2 Santa Cruz County Supervisor candidate Kristen Brown has won endorsements from two current county supervisors and some other key figures, but Kim De Serpa is out-fundraising Brown with about $86,000 to Brown’s $56,000 in contributions. 
  • District 5 county supervisor candidate Monica Martinez has raised more than twice as much money as her opponent, Christopher Bradford.

Find more Santa Cruz County campaign donors and donations in the Nov. 5 election.

Yes on Q is bolstered by nonprofits that stand to win taxpayer dollars

The campaign for Measure Q, the Santa Cruz County Water and Wildfire parcel tax, has raised $822,882, as of Oct. 24 campaign finance filings. 

The proposed $87 annual parcel tax on the Nov. 5 ballot would raise an estimated $7.5 million annually for projects on public and private land. The projects aim to reduce the risks of wildfires and floods, conserve water and manage open space in Santa Cruz County.


More than $3 million of the $7.5 million would go to cities and the county to carry out the work, and about $3 million would go to competitive grants for nonprofit groups or other public agencies for work.

Three nonprofits that stand to benefit from Measure Q money have contributed more than two-thirds of the money to the campaign. As of Oct. 25, reported contributions to Yes on Q include:

  • $500,000 from Peninsula Open Space Trust.
  • $11,100 from the Sempervirens Fund.
  • $56,009 from the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County.

If voters adopt Measure Q, at least $600,000 would go to projects in San Vicente Redwoods, an 8,900-acre privately owned forest, each year, according to the ballot measure. The land is managed by the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, Peninsula Open Land Trust, the Sempervirens Fund and Save the Redwoods League. 

The Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County — a government entity — and a nonprofit partner would receive $1.5 million annually of the $7.5 million haul if Measure Q is adopted. The nonprofit partner isn’t named, but it must be a Santa Cruz County-based nonprofit that has operated for at least 10 years and owns and manages private open space. A description that may only apply to the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County.

“Thanks to support from donors, we have the resources needed to communicate with voters about the benefits of Measure Q,” Sarah Newkirk, executive director of the nonprofit Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, wrote in an email. “The effort has been led by local nonprofit organizations, who have local staff with direct knowledge of the tools and strategies needed in Santa Cruz County to make a real impact now and for future generations.”

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Projects funded by Measure Q, including those helmed by nonprofits on private land, can have direct impacts on the intensity of natural disasters like floods and fires, Newkirk said. 

For example, a “shaded fuel break,” or strip of land cleared of underbrush, reduced fire damage in the San Vicente Redwoods during the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex Fire. Creating more shaded fuel breaks could make the next fire less disastrous, she said. 

There is no organized opposition to Measure Q, according to campaign filings.

Soda companies spend $1.6M on to fight soda tax

The No on Z campaign against a Santa Cruz soda tax has spent nearly 40 times more money than the Yes on Z campaign, according to Oct. 24 campaign filings. 

Measure Z aims to tax the distributors of sugar-sweetened beverages to raise about $1.3 million annually for the city’s General Fund. 

The American Heart Association has helped Measure Z proponents gain ground, but pro-Z spending is still dwarfed by beverage industry-funded opposition. The Yes on Z Committee for a Healthier Santa Cruz has raised $19,779 this year. Separately, the American Heart Association has spent $20,000 on pro-Z efforts.

No on Z has spent more than it has raised — with $1.69 million in expenditures and $1.24 million in contributions as of Oct. 24.

Contributions include:

  • $210,938 from Keurig Dr. Pepper.
  • $569,335 from Coca-Cola Co.
  • $434,103 from PepsiCo.
  • $20,625 from Red Bull.

De Serpa out-fundraises Brown in District 2 supervisors race

Kristen Brown has earned major institutional endorsements for the District 2 Santa Cruz County Supervisor seat, including from Santa Cruz County Sheriff Jim Hart, Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley, and Santa Cruz County Supervisors Felipe Hernandez and Justin Cummings. 

But Brown’s opponent, Kim De Serpa, has consistently out-fundraised her. De Serpa has raised $85,993 this year, while Brown has directly raised $56,155. De Serpa’s campaign website lists more individual endorsements from District 2 residents. 

Brown’s efforts have been bolstered by the union SEIU Local 521, which endorsed her and has spent $20,160 independently of the official campaign.

Martinez funding tops $100,000 in District 5 supervisor race

Monica Martinez’s official campaign raised nearly twice the money Christopher Bradford has in the fight for the District 5 county supervisor seat — $61,966 to Bradford’s $33,619. SEIU Local 521 has also pitched in nearly $40,000 for Martinez in independent expenditures, bringing total pro-Martinez fundraising over $100,000.

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Reporter / California Local News Fellow | + posts

Jesse Kathan is a staff reporter for Santa Cruz Local through the California Local News Fellowship. They hold a master's degree in science communications from UC Santa Cruz.