Economic Development for Watsonville

Economic Development for Watsonville     Passage of Measure T has defeated. Now what? Three weeks ago I attended the TriCounty Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Summit here in Watsonville. On the panel were community members who spoke about city revenue, the incubator concept, tourism, and the strawberry industry to address the issue of economic development. There were several ideas of what needs to be done in each of the three counties. However, what specifically does Watsonville need to do to enhance its economic development? The area I would like to address is the annexation provided by Measure U on the Manabe/Ow property.  

LAFCO zoned the Manabe/Ow property as light industrial. Unfortunately, because of the elimination of Redevelopment Funds the Manabe property won’t be developed. The peat soil from the slough requires soil reinforcement. Also a bridge is needed to better access the property. The city has absolutely no funding to fulfill these requirements. However, the 30 acres of Ow property can be developed for light industry. But will this bring the jobs and revenue needed for economic development? It could bring jobs. Light industry such as Fox Shox brought in 600 jobs. But what industry does not do is bring revenue to the city. This, too is part of economic development.  

You have been reading about two proposed city budgets that recommend that concessions from the past five years continue or that some concessions with layoffs be implemented. Concessions have included staff reduction in the form of position elimination and furloughs. These are lost jobs. Many departments have been affected by these concessions. These departments include library, parks and recreation, public works, community development, police and fire. If plan B budget is adopted the police department and fire department will further be affected with lay-offs. So in addition to jobs we must bring revenue to the city to support its services to the community.  

A call to the revitalization of downtown has been emphasized. Yes, we must do this, but in reality there is only a 6% vacancy rate for this revitalization with the former Gottschalks building being the largest. However, we have 30 acres of Ow property that could be rezoned to bring in the jobs and revenue the city needs. Will it be easy to rezone? Definitely not. The greatest hurdle will be LAFCO. But even before LAFCO the City of Watsonville, Santa Cruz County, and the Wetlands Watch would also have to agree to come together to develop a plan to support this rezoning. It would be a long and difficult process, but not an impossible one.  

We as members of this community must continue to advocate to our city leaders all possibilities for economic development. The rezoning of the Ow property is one prospect. The types of businesses that could come to that property can be supported through the incubator concept, it could be retail, it could be tourism, it could be technology, it could  be...? With the defeat of Measure T the community has sent the message that it wants to protect agricultural land. Now we as a community in partnership with the City have to offer an alternative to support economic development for Watsonville. Please call your city council representative to offer your ideas. You say they don’t listen, call any way. It is our responsibility to hold them accountable.