Our side, Monterey County, we don’t see them doing the work.” Vehicles and homes engulfed by floodwaters in Pajaro, California on Saturday, March 11, 2023. “The other side, Santa Cruz County, does maintain and makes sure it’s in proper condition. “We know that there isn’t proper maintenance done on river itself to protect the levees, to have trees removed, shrubs removed, in order for water to move more freely,” said Fabiola Alcaraz, office manager for a company that provides cold storage for fresh-picked fruit in Pajaro. But those who live and work in Pajaro say the relative lack of maintenance along the Monterey County side of the river had significant consequences. “Our focus is on recovery and re-entry” of the town’s flooded out residents, Bauman said, “and I most appreciate your understanding.”ĭetails on how the maintenance money was spent on either side of the river were not available last week. Lew Bauman, the Monterey County Water Resources Agency’s interim general manager, would only echo Strudley’s response. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel)Īlong the river’s north bank, the Santa Cruz County Flood Control and Water Conservation District Zone 7 has spent $16.9 million in the last three years on Pajaro flood control work.Īlong the south bank, the Monterey County Water Resources Agency spent about $3.4 million over those same years on Pajaro flood control work, almost five times less. ![]() ![]() Gavin Newsom is flanked by Santa Cruz County Supervisor Felipe Hernandez, left, Santa Cruz County Undersheriff Chris Clark, Monterey County Supervisor Luis Alejo and Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto as he tours flood damage in Pajaro on Wednesday. It could almost be called the Tale of Two Levees.īecause the river forms the border between the two counties, flood control work - including levee maintenance like tree and vegetation removal, rodent control and slope rehabilitation - has historically been done by separate agencies that devoted vastly different resources to the upkeep, the news organization’s review found. That may help explain why the nearly 75-year-old south levee crumbled March 11, despite the river never rising to levels historically associated with disastrous floods - or even topping flood stage. But a Bay Area News Group review reveals there had been significantly less flood control work on the south bank where the levee failed this month, catastrophically flooding the small farming town of Pajaro, than along the north bank, where the city of Watsonville escaped a similar fate. The chilling effect of silencing opposing views through intimidation should concern all of us who value the free exchange of ideas in an open society.Twelve miles of levees were built to hold back the Pajaro River - a waterway with Monterey County on one side, Santa Cruz County on the other. They have given advance publicity to anonymous persons who will be engaging in an aggressive pressure campaign this week on our property. In these times of war and misinformation, a free and independent press is more important than ever.Īt a time when the journalistic community should stand together for free expression and the safety of journalists, we are also deeply disappointed to see competitors exploit this situation. We will continue to do that and we will continue to elicit and print comments from the community, which is fundamental to our role as the Santa Cruz County’s principal locally-owned newspaper. Activists on the Palestine issue should understand that the same protections afforded their critics protects their own free speech and assembly rights. We oppose Islamophobia, antisemitism and hate speech and, we also believe that drawing attention to these issues serves the public interest. We are here as independent journalists to cover local issues and dig deep into the things that make Santa Cruz tick. One group subsequently made threats and issued demands that we make political statements on the future of Israel in Palestine. They publicly single out Monroy, who was doing his job as a journalist: reporting on local events, including quotes from the people there. The leaflets personalize and give further distribution to the very words and ideas our critics contend we promoted. After the removal, two masked individuals showed up at Good Times’ office and anonymously posted flyers.
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