FEATURED COLUMNIST
Will Capitola Voters Be Asked to OK Tax?
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By Jondi Gumz
hould Capitola ask voters to approve an empty home tax or raise the sales tax to fund city operations? In April, the City Council asked Gene Bregman & Associates to poll voters. He interviewed 168 voters. Bregman presented the findings at the council meeting via Zoom on May 26 after Capitola-Soquel Times went to press. The results were made public Tuesday. The summary charts show: 71% say Capitola is doing an excellent job compared to 79% in 2016. 50% say Capitola is doing an excellent/ good job managing its budget compared to 58% in 2014. 53% said need for more affordable housing is the top issue, followed by
“COVID Update” from page 8 The government interprets “sanitation” to mean “applying of measures for preserving and promoting public health.” The judge disagreed, writing that historically, public health has been regulated at the state level, and the 1944 law has no clear language that Congress intended the CDC to take over. The CDC did not allow public comment although the Administrative Procedures Act requires agencies provide a 30-day comment period on new rules. The CDC did not explain mask exemptions for people eating, drinking or taking medication or for children under age 2. By not explaining, the CDC action was arbitrary and capricious, the judge ruled. The CDC did not conduct a study to generate scientific evidence that wearing cloth masks slows spread on an airplane. Santa Cruz County, which updates its dashboard on Monday and Thursday, reports 1,715 active cases, on the rise but down from the peak of 10,000. Omicron Less Deadly he Omicron variants are less deadly than the Delta variant, which raged in 2021. Santa Cruz County reported 37 Covid deaths after Omicron, compared to 225 as of Dec. 15, before Omicron. One statistic is similar: 79% to 81% of those who died had pre-existing conditions. Why do people fear Omnicron? They may have a pre-existing condition (diabetes, obesity, asthma, high blood pressure). Half of Americans do, so they are at higher risk for severe Covid illness.
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The slides [showing poll results] I saw are difficult to interpret. need to maintain beaches, 41%, and road conditions, 24%, maintaining police, 38% 60% say Capitola has a great or some need for more money; compared to 55% in 2016. The slides I saw are difficult to interpret. A slender majority favored a second home tax of $6,000 or $4,000, but opposition increased after hearing more information. A second home tax earmarked for roads and affordable housing had a slender majority of support but it was
hard to tell if the tax would be $3,000 or $1,500. Raising the sales tax from 9% to 9.5% for improve streets and roads got a 38% yes. The city manager says there is an Aug. 12 deadline to get a tax measure on the November ballot. So this will likely come up in June and July. The city manager estimates a second home tax could generate $2 million a year & a quarter-cent sales tax could generate $1 million a year. How many second homes in Capitola?
So are people 85 and older. California reports 83.5% of residents age 5 and up have had at least one shot. On the CDC Covid tracker, Santa Cruz County reports 91% of residents age 5 and up have at least one shot and 83% fully vaccinated. Soquel Elementary Cases he Soquel Union Elementary School District reports 79 active student cases and 8 active staff cases in May. Soquel Elementary reports 30 student cases and 4 staff cases. Main Street Elementary reports 26 student cases and 1 staff case. Santa Cruz Gardens reports 16 student cases and 1 staff case. New Brighton Middle reports 7 student cases and 2 staff cases. Adverse Effects Database n a 2022 report in the Journal of American Medical Association online, Dr. Matthew Oster of the CDC reported the government’s VAERS database received 1,991 reports of myocarditis after one dose of mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine and 1,626 met the CDC’s definition for probable or confirmed myocarditis. Oster’s conclusion: “The risk of myocarditis after receiving mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccines was increased across multiple age and sex strata and was highest after the second vaccination dose in adolescent males and young men. This risk should be considered.” Public health officials say the scientific consensus is that Covid vaccines are safe, but some are skeptical about relying on science from drug-makers, which saw profits rise in 2021. They point to the U.S. government database, https://vaers.hhs.gov/, where
health care providers are to report adverse events after a vaccine. The reporting site was created after Congress passed a law in 1986 protecting vaccine manufacturers from civil personal injury lawsuits and wrongful death lawsuits resulting from vaccine injuries. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar invoked the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, a 2005 law allowing him to provide legal protection to companies making or distributing critical medical supplies such as vaccines unless there’s “willful misconduct” by the company. This protection lasts until 2024. The VAERS database lists reports of injuries after a vaccine, but there’s been no follow-up study to evaluate if the injury was cuased by a vaccine. Renz Law, representing military whistleblowers, sued the federal government to lift the vaccine mandate for military personnel and appeals for passage of legislation repealing immunity for vaccine manufacturers. “If vaccines are truly safe and effective no one should oppose this,” the lawsuit reads. After mRNA COVID-19 vaccines were mandated for the military in 2021, cases of heart attack, pulmonary embolism, cancers, and myocarditis spiked dramatically, according to the Defense Military Epidemiological Database queries by the whistleblowers. The Department of Defense’s response was that a glitch in the database affected the data from 2016-2020. Myocarditis is inflammation of the heart, which can lead to clots, a stroke or heart attack.
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10 / June 2022 / Capitola Soquel Times www.tpgonlinedaily.com
That information has not been made available, but I hope it will be. How many of the second-home owners vote in Capitola? That information has not been made available, but I hope it will be. The city finance department posts reports on sales tax revenue quarterly on its website. To view online council meetings, generally the second and fourth Thursday, go to: https://www.cityofcapitola.org/ meetings?&field_microsite_tid=All&field_ microsite_tid_1=24 n ••• What questions do you have about a tax on second homes in Capitola or a higher sales tax in Capitola? Email editor Jondi Gumz at info@ cyber-times.com and this could be part of our follow-up report in July. Testing he Santa Cruz County Office of Education offers drive-though testing for students, staff and families at: Cabrillo College, Aptos, Parking Lot K, Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Santa Cruz County Office of Education, 399 Encinal St., Santa Cruz, Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. See: https://tinyurl.com/get-testedsanta-cruz. Booster shots: https://myturn.ca.gov/ Vaccine providers: www.santacruz health.org/coronavirusvaccine. Local information: www.santacruz health.org/coronavirus or (831) 454-4242 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. n •••
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Total COVID cases: 1,557
••• COVID Deaths: 262 As of May 26 Age 85 and older: 113 • 75-84: 61 • 65-74: 46 60-64: 15 • 55-59: 4 • 45-54: 10 35-44: 8 • 25-34: 5 Underlying Conditions Yes: 212 •No: 50 Race White 150 • Latinx 89 • Asian 16 Black 3 • Amer Indian 1 Hawaiian 1 • Another 2 Gender Men: 135 • Women: 127 Location At facility for aged: 116 Not at a facility: 146
