Leslie Nielsen, center, speaks at a June 4, 2024 Santa Cruz Local event for Capitola residents. (Kara Meyberg Guzman — Santa Cruz Local)
A group of business owners in Capitola, hard hit by storms in 2023, wanted more collaboration with Capitola City Council and organized a series of interviews with council candidates to make it happen.
On Sept. 12, 2024, the Capitola Village and Wharf Business Improvement Area, or BIA, held a series of interviews with the four council candidates to build relationships with elected leaders and get commitments and ideas from candidates on how they would work with business owners.
At Santa Cruz Local’s June 2024 listening session to understand Capitola voters’ priorities, residents and members of the BIA said they wanted more communication with the city council. Many Capitola businesses are still bouncing back from the pandemic and 2023 winter storms, and some business leaders said they felt left out of city decisions such as putting a Capitola sales tax hike on the Nov. 5 ballot.
“I don’t feel like what the community wants, and the people in the city who are responsible for executing it, are in as much alignment as they need to be,” said Leslie Nielsen, 60, a short-term rental owner. Nielsen is a member of Capitola’s BIA, and went on to work with others in the BIA to plan the candidate interviews.
Members of the BIA asked Santa Cruz Local CEO/Co-founder Kara Meyberg Guzman to help moderate a private BIA forum to interview the candidates. On Sept. 12, Meyberg Guzman facilitated BIA interviews with the four candidates vying for two seats: Enrique Dolmo Jr., Gerry Jensen, Margaux Morgan and Melinda Orbach.
As part of the interviews, candidates were pressed on their plans to increase communication between council members and business leaders. The candidates were also asked if they would commit to “early engagement” with the business community. All candidates offered a verbal commitment. The BIA Board of Directors ultimately endorsed a candidate.
BIA members now say they have opened important lines of communication with the candidates. BIA Chair Anthony Guajardo recommended that other resident groups organize similar events. Guajardo is the owner and chef of Mijo’s Taqueria. “Get in front of the candidates or in front of the council,” Guajardo said. “Because they can’t hear from the community if there’s not an opportunity to engage with the community.”
—Jay Leedy
Santa Cruz Local is a nonprofit news organization working to increase civic engagement. We’re tracking examples of residents who – inspired by Santa Cruz Local – have taken action with local government, elections or our county’s biggest issues. Read more.