Answers to UCSC Democrats Questionaire 

Running for: Santa Cruz City Council

Question One:

I currently serve as Chair of the Living Wage Advisory Committee of the City of Santa Cruz. I was a member of the City of Santa Cruz's Homeless Issues Task Force (1999-2000).

Outside of formal public service, I have served in a leadership role in nearly every organization with which I've been involved. Currently, these include the Santa Cruz Green Party (where I've facilitated meetings and regularly attending agenda setting meetings), the GLBT Alliance (where I've served as a steering committee member since it was founded about 18 months ago), Affordable Housing Advocates, and SoBOA (South Bay Bisexual Organizers and Activists), where I've served as a member of the Executive Board for the last two plus years. For an extensive listing of my activities and experience, see the Experience section of my web site.

Question Two:

The most fundamental problem for nearly everyone in this city, especially students, is obtaining quality housing at an affordable price. I will work to ensure that enough market rate affordable housing ("granny shacks", SRO, studio and 1BDR apartment complexes, legalized campgrounds and car/RV parks) is built that students no longer have to pay hundreds of dollars to crowd into single family residences five or six at a time, and that they can afford to stay in town after they graduate without having to spend almost everything they earn on housing.

I will also work to support public transit, environmental protections and social service programs that serve youth and students. I will work to expand Santa Cruz's economy and attract businesses to all areas of the community to increase the quality of life for neighborhoods, provide decent paying jobs at a Living Wage (or better) near affordable housing, and make it possible for those who have to work their way through school, or who desire to stay here after graduation, to earn a decent living using the education they acquired at UCSC.

Secondarily, the students at UCSC will be represented by someone closer to their own age than anyone currently sitting on the City Council, someone whose Green/progressive values are in sync with their own and someone who is committed to grassroots democracy and citizen participation. I am committed to reaching out to the campus community for City Commission appointments, task force memberships, and informal consultation on major policy issues. I am committed to seeing that City government pro-actively reaches out to all areas of the City, and that City Commission meetings are regularly held in each individual neighborhood and on campus. See my web site for details on all of my policies and positions.

Question Three:

Students will no longer be bragging about having found a room in a shared single-family residence for "only" $700.00 a month. They will be engaged in the City's civic process on a pro-active basis. They will have a broader assortment of better paying jobs to choose from, and a greater variety of recreational opportunities near where they live. They will have greater access to public transit, and to social services that will help them address any personal challenges they face.

Campaign Website: http://www.thomasleavitt.org/cc/ For More Information: info@thomasleavitt.org, 408-591-3342