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Articles

The Santa Cruz Housing Element: False Promises?

By Susanna L. Jennings, 3/3/2004 –

The people of Santa Cruz County truly believed in 1978 that by allowing the government to limit growth in the County, they would be able to preserve the small town character of the county that they loved. But, by giving the County apparently unlimited control over the free market and building permits, they have created the opposite situation.

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Smart Growth - Planning

Draft Housing Element Herds Residents into Dense Communities

By Colleen Shaw, 3/3/2004 –

Summary:
Santa Cruz County officials claim that the Housing Element is necessary to solve a housing shortage problem, but once it is approved and goes into effect, residents will not have many of the common amenities now available. By this analysis, the only housing choice available to most families will be dense multi-family units with limited parking.

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Sustainable Development

Regional Governance is Here

By Henry Lamb, 3/3/2004 – Few people realize that regional commissions even exist, or the growing influence they have over the lives of ordinary people, by providing the mechanism through which appointed individuals, rather than elected officials, develop public policy. 

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Education Transformation

“New SAT” Presents Troubling Scenario

3/3/2004 – Students taking the new SAT will be required to report personal opinions on sensitive subjects – opinions that they may understandably wish to keep private, Charles Lewis argues. Will personal and political views be used to judge who can attend college?

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Sustainable Development

Putting a Happy Face on Socialism

3/3/2004 – While Santa Cruz County is radical enough to call SD/A21 by name, neighboring Monterey County has a differently packaged program to promote the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Agenda 21 – an interactive, web-based, Community Planning Model.

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Sustainable Development

Packard Foundation: Creating a Fiefdom on the California Central Coast

3/2/2004 – The United States has experienced an explosion in federal, state, and local regulations in recent years and it is not the result of elected officials responding to the expressed desires of their electors. Robert Eckert shows how the Packard Foundation and a host of other corporate global-government providers are busy working to regulate every aspect of our lives and the lives of our children.

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