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District 2 Santa Cruz County supervisor

The District 2 Santa Cruz County supervisor seat is up for election. District 2 includes Aptos, Freedom, Corralitos and parts of Watsonville and Capitola.

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Kristen Brown is a candidate for the District 2 Santa Cruz County supervisor seat.

Kristen Brown

Age: 37.
Residence: Capitola Village.
Occupation: Capitola mayor, vice president of government relations at Silicon Valley Leadership Group.

Kim De Serpa is a candidate for District 2 Santa Cruz County supervisor.

Kim De Serpa

Age: 57.
Residence: Trout Gulch in the Aptos Hills.
Occupation: Social services manager for Salinas Valley Health Medical Center.

Quick comparison (full answers below)

Issue Kristen Brown Kim De Serpa
Experience:
  • Capitola mayor and city council member.
  • Former congressional staffer.
  • Member of Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission and the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments.
  • 15 years as a Pajaro Valley Unified School District trustee.
  • Social worker and social services manager of Salinas Valley Health Medical Center, connecting patients with housing and other resources.
Views on passenger rail service on the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line: Supports passenger rail on the Santa Cruz Branch Line. Willing to support rail “if feasible” but has concerns about its cost and usefulness.
Road repair priorities: Would prioritize roads in moderate condition, with less money for failed roads. She said South County roads should get equitable funding. Wants to increase spending to repair and maintain all roads. She declined to state which roads she would prioritize.
Would you support a county law that allows rent control? Yes. No.
View on a potential empty-home tax in unincorporated county areas: Instead of an empty-home tax, wants to incentivize long-term rentals for empty homes. Would consider an empty-home tax with broad support. Would consider supporting an empty-home tax, depending on the amount of the tax.
Do you support the Nov. 5 ballot measure for a parcel tax for land and water management, cleanup and conservation? Yes. Yes.

District 2 candidates on the issues

These questions are based on Santa Cruz Local’s interviews with residents throughout District 2.

Besides the rail trail, how would you improve and expand bike and walk infrastructure in District 2? 

Brown said she wants to:

  • Request grants that combine road maintenance with a “complete streets” project to make roads safer for cyclists and pedestrians.
  • Advocate for more funding to the state and federal legislature for walking and biking paths. 
  • Consider calling an election to extend Measure D, a 30-year sales tax approved by county voters in 2016 that helps fund transportation projects.

De Serpa said she wants to:

  • Reallocate the county’s budget to prioritize infrastructure like roads, sidewalks and bike lanes. She said she won’t know where the money should come from until she becomes supervisor.
  • Go after grants to fund more sidewalks and bike lanes. As a Pajaro Valley Unified School District trustee, De Serpa advocated for the district to hire a grant writer who went on to bring in millions of dollars in grants, she said. “To the extent that I have that experience of being able to turn over rocks wherever we can to get money for the county, that’s the same thing I would advocate for,” she said.
  • Redesign intersections that are dangerous for pedestrians, such as at Trout Gulch Road and Valencia Street in Aptos Village.

What are you going to do about the 60% rise in homelessness in Watsonville in the past 12 months?

“I’m really looking to listen and learn from South County representatives and residents about what they feel would be most helpful in addressing the homelessness crisis there,” Brown said.

Parts of her strategy include:

  • Hasten the development of new housing by streamlining the permitting process and reducing fees. 
  • Build more supportive housing, transitional housing and tiny homes.
  • Institute tenant protections and other programs to help renters stay housed.
  • Make sure the county supervisors include South County in state and federal grant applications.

De Serpa said she would:

  • Work with District 3 Supervisor Felipe Hernandez to advocate for the board of supervisors to reallocate more homelessness funding for services in District 2.
  • Advocate to reopen the Salvation Army homeless shelter in Watsonville. The shelter closed in March after it lost much of its county funding.
  • Advance more affordable housing projects, including permanent supportive housing, in District 2. “There’s just not enough, and especially there’s not enough for people with disabilities. We need to build more housing for vulnerable people. We need to provide case management, supportive case management, to help them stay housed.”

What specific county policies do you plan to propose in your first two years to address the county’s lack of housing affordability?

Brown said she’s learning more about affordable housing financing, and hopes to apply that knowledge to incentivise developers to build more below-market-rate homes.

She said she also wants to:

  • Allow more housing in the county’s zoning code.
  • Reduce fees and wait times for building permits.
  • Fully staff the planning department, and add hiring bonuses and other incentives to recruit and retain planners.
  • Use tax credits or other means to incentivize owners of vacation homes to use their properties for long-term affordable rentals. 

De Serpa said she wants to:

  • Build below-market-rate housing on county land, including county complexes on Emeline Avenue in Santa Cruz and Freedom Boulevard in Watsonville.
  • Inject more money into potential below-market-rate housing developments by using “forward funding,” where an investor agrees before construction to purchase property from a developer.
  • “Change the culture” in the planning department to make building easier. “I’m right now in the middle of a remodel at my house,” she said. “We’re putting solar on and we thought we were going to do an [accessory dwelling unit]. And I just can’t even tell you how difficult it is to get the permits.”
  • Ease setbacks and other requirements for new single-family homes. State law requires the county to waive setback requirements and other rules for affordable housing developments. The same rules should apply to other developments, De Serpa said.

How will you advocate to fix South County roads on the regional transportation commission and county board of supervisors? What policies would you pursue?

Brown said she wants to work with county staff to request funding for South County roads from the transportation commission and ensure “that South County is getting equitable funding.”

She said she would consider calling for an election to renew Measure D, a sales tax approved by county voters in 2016. The measure helps fund transportation projects and is set to expire in 2047. 

Brown said she agreed with the county’s policy of prioritizing roads in moderate condition for repair over completely failed roads. 

“I’m not advocating to abandon the roads at all, and I’m certainly not saying let’s ignore them,” she added. “I am saying that there might be some roads that 10 miles of them are in extreme disrepair, and we might have to say, ‘this year we can fix 2 miles of that, because we’ve got another 10 miles that might become that if we don’t address it.’”

De Serpa said she wants to raise a countywide assessment that is earmarked for road repairs.

Because District 2 has more miles of roads than some other districts, it should receive more money for road repairs. Currently, roads are prioritized based on how many people use them and on supervisor and community input. 

De Serpa added that she wants the county and the regional transportation commission to prioritize road repair over other transportation needs, like Santa Cruz Metro bus service.

Issues brought by young voters in District 2

What policies will you propose in your first two years to address the rising cost of rent?

Brown said she’s supportive of California Proposition 33, a Nov. 5 ballot initiative that would let local governments create stricter rent control laws.

“Should Prop. 33 pass, I would be interested in talking with my fellow supervisors, if I’m elected, to see what the opportunities might be for us there,” Brown said. “I myself am a renter, and I’m probably always going to be a renter if something doesn’t change. So this is an issue that I very much am connected with.”

De Serpa said she wants to build more housing, including more below-market-rate housing. 

“To the extent that I will support that, I’m going to, and it’ll be at different price points, much of it affordable, much of it for moderate earners.”

De Serpa said she also wants to support pathways for young people to get training for high-paying jobs so they can afford rent.

We’ve heard from young people in your district that they’re frustrated with a lack of attention to Watsonville and the Pajaro Valley. What will you do to advocate for Watsonville and the Pajaro Valley?

“I don’t want to come into an area ever and say, ‘This is what I’m going to do for you,’” Brown said. “I want to come into an area and say, ‘What can I do for you?’ And then work to advocate for the needs of the community based on what they’re telling me.”

Brown said she would hold regular office hours in South County and work with District 4 Supervisor Felipe Hernandez to vote on policies that support Watsonville residents.

“I’m going to show up to work every day and fight for mid and South County, everything that is due to them,” she said. She said she plans to collaborate with Supervisor Hernandez, the Watsonville City Council, and with Monterey County supervisors who govern part of the Pajaro Valley. As a PVUSD trustee, she said she already has relationships with some Monterey County supervisors. 

De Serpa said she would push the other Santa Cruz County supervisors to allocate more money for homeless services, roads and other needs to South County. 

What will you do to increase access to LGBTQ+ health care like gender-affirming care and mental health treatment in Santa Cruz County?

Brown said she wants to ensure that nonprofit-administered programs to advance LGBTQ+ health care are encouraged to seek funding through the county’s CORE program. She also said she wants to boost funding for staff salaries in the county’s Health Services Agency and Human Services Department. 

“I think being able to do that would also go a long way in ensuring that the LGBTQ+ youth and community are able to get the resources that they need,” she said.

“There’s not enough doctors in Santa Cruz County, period. And there’s not enough doctors being trained who can afford to come back to live in our areas,” she said. “It’s the same with other, you know, workforce issues that we’re having, whether it be teachers or law enforcement or first responders.” 

De Serpa said she supports expanding access to gender-affirming care to clinics and hospitals across the county. She said she also wants to expand access to addiction services. “I’m super concerned about fentanyl poisoning of our young people,” she said. Medication-assisted treatment for opiate addiction and Narcan — a drug that reverses opiate overdoses — need to be more accessible, she said.

De Serpa said her career uniquely positions her to evaluate county and nonprofit health care programs. “I’ve been doing social work for the last 27 years, and much of it in the hospital, health care clinics, hospice,” she said. “So I know kind of what works and what doesn’t.”

What will you do to create more opportunities for high-paying jobs for young people in District 2?

“I think it’s important to incentivize businesses and companies to come into the area for economic development purposes and to provide good, high-paying jobs,” Brown said. “That’s something that I’m going to need to spend more time looking into, because government doesn’t necessarily control that.”

The county can help ensure high-paying jobs for county employees by providing hiring bonuses and longevity bonuses, and hiring higher-level employees from within, she said.

De Serpa said she wants to focus on preparing young people for existing high-wage jobs in fields like health care and the trades.

PVUSD middle and high schools include programs for students to prepare them for college or technical education and start them on the path to high-earning jobs. De Serpa said she would like to support similar programs across the county.

“They can either go on to college or go to Cabrillo [College] to continue, or to go to apprenticeship programs,” she said. “We’ve got these unbelievable programs down in Castroville for electrical and plumbing. We have a carpenter’s apprenticeship over the hill. These are six-year apprenticeships that lead to union jobs.”

District 2 candidates on their record

What accomplishments have you made as Capitola mayor and city council member that show your qualifications as a supervisor? 

Passing a city law to stabilize rents for Capitola mobile homes in 2023 “was a really big one for me that I’m really proud of,” Brown said. “I think it shows not only that I am committed and able to address issues of affordability in our city, but also that I’m responsive to the needs of our constituents and our residents.”

Brown said she also led efforts to put youth student seats on Capitola’s boards and commissions and advocated to earmark part of the city’s hotel tax into a dedicated Children’s Fund that pays for community grants for programs that help children.

Do you think the Capitola Trestle should be rebuilt for passenger rail service?

“Yeah, if we’re going to move forward with passenger rail, and I hope we do,” she said. “I also share the sentiment of like, this is this gorgeous piece of history, and it’s sentimental,” she said. “But for the sake of transit options and opportunity and moving forward, yes, we will have to replace it. And we can replace it with something that looks very similar.”

Current plans call for a path through Capitola Village until the trestle can be rebuilt to accommodate a trail and a train. Some Capitola residents have supported the construction of a path across the existing trestle. That would require railbanking the track, which isn’t feasible, Brown said. There is no funding for a trail across the trestle, and the railbanking process would take years, she said.

The trail “would still have to go through Capitola Village for at least as long as it will take for them to go through Capitola Village now, with the plans that are already in place,” Brown said. 

How did you vote on Measure L in 2018?

Capitola voters approved Measure L in 2018. It directs the city to “take all steps necessary” to preserve a trail on the Capitola Trestle and prohibits the city from spending funds or resources on “a detour of the trail onto Capitola streets and sidewalks.”

Brown said she “probably did vote against” the measure, but isn’t sure. “It’s not a cop out— I just honestly, I don’t remember,” she said.

“I remember thinking that it was an incredibly deceptive measure,” she said. “The truth is, people were going around saying, ‘This is about saving the Capitola trestle,’ and Capitola doesn’t own the trestle. And so I felt that it was really kind of deceptive to suggest to people that if you vote for this, that the trestle will never be removed or replaced.”

In Santa Cruz Local’s 2020 election questionnaire for Capitola City Council, you wrote that Capitola residents you’ve spoken with about the rail trail have been adamantly opposed to the train — but supported a trail — and that you would only support public transit on the corridor if it was supported by residents. Do you still agree with that statement, and how has your view of passenger rail evolved over the past four years?

“I still agree with what I said,” Brown said.

In 2022, Measure D failed, which would have changed the Santa Cruz County General Plan to remove planning for passenger rail. It garnered about 27% of the vote countywide, and also “failed miserably” in Capitola, Brown said. “And that’s why I think that I have not really flipped my thoughts on, ‘I will only do this if the residents support it.’”

What accomplishments have you made as a PVUSD trustee that show your qualifications as a Board of Supervisors candidate?

De Serpa said her seat on the PVUSD board has given her experience with:

  • Managing the district budget. “I’ve sat on the board during difficult times where we had to make a lot of cuts and difficult decisions,” De Serpa said. “And I’ve been privileged to watch the build-back of art and music and sports and counselors and all those things that had been cut away.”
  • Negotiating with unions. “There’s been times when it was really hard, the negotiations were very difficult,” she said. “I do understand how to successfully solve those issues, even in difficult budget times.”
  • Setting priorities and goals for the district. 
  • Personnel issues and hiring.

You voted to end a three-year contract with a Community Responsive Education to work with district staff to develop ethnic studies curriculum. Why did you make that vote?

“I was very happy to put in the ethnic studies program. And I remain very proud of the work that’s been done,” De Serpa said. “The contract that came in front of us was for [Community Responsive Education leader Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales] to do one more year working with our administration. She had already done her work with the teachers and faculty.”

Although the Community Responsive Education’s contract with PVUSD has ended, “We haven’t asked teachers to change the curriculum,” De Serpa said. “We haven’t stopped ethnic studies,” she said.

De Serpa said she became critical of the contract after learning Tintiangco-Cubales had helped craft a proposed state curriculum for ethnic studies that in 2019 came under fire by the Jewish Caucus of the California Legislature for alleged anti-Jewish bias. “I’m not going to allow that — I’m Jewish,” she said. In a letter, the Jewish caucus said the curriculum did not include substantive discussion of antisemitism and was biased against Israel. Tintiangco-Cubales has called the allegations of antisemitism defamatory.

What we heard from District 2 voters 

Santa Cruz Local spoke with residents in District 2 and collected responses through an online survey to better understand their top priorities for supervisor candidates in the Nov. 5 election. This was not intended to be scientific, but rather a straw poll of issues important to voters.

District 2 residents’ most common concerns included:

  • Affordable housing.
  • Road conditions.
  • Bike safety.
  • Traffic relief.
  • Public transit.
  • Natural disasters.
  • Homeless services.

What do Santa Cruz County supervisors do?

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors includes five members. The board create laws for unincorporated county areas, sets the county budget and oversees many state functions. Supervisors serve four-year terms with an annual salary of $143,328 excluding benefits.

The supervisors oversee:

  • County roads.
  • County fire protection.
  • Public health.
  • County law enforcement: Sheriff’s Office, jails, probation.
  • District Attorney’s Office, public defender.
  • Handles most federal, state money to county.
  • Building and environmental services.
  • County parks.
  • Assistance with food, shelter.

The board typically makes policies for the unincorporated areas of the county. However, they can coordinate with cities for countywide policies such as for homelessness. Roles include:

  • Planning for new construction and land use in unincorporated county areas.
  • Advocate and plan for parks and recreation facilities.
  • Response to emergencies.
  • Homeless services.
  • Housing policies including vacation rentals, affordable housing.
  • Parking permits.

Five supervisors represent five districts. District 2 includes Aptos, Freedom, Corralitos and parts of Watsonville and Capitola. You can find high-resolution maps of each district on the county’s website. You can also look up which district you live in by your address.

A map of Santa Cruz County Supervisor District 2.

View a high resolution map of District 2 here.

Still have questions about the District 2 County Supervisor race? Let us know.

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