County Poet Laureate

Farnaz Fatemi

Farnaz Fatemi, an Iranian American poet and writer, has been named the 2023-2024 Santa Cruz County Poet Laureate.

She was officially appointed by the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors at the board meeting on Jan. 31. Selection of the Poet Laureate was made through a competitive application process in which the panel considered artistic achievement in poetry; community engagement experience and ability to communicate well across a diverse range of communities; demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion; and alignment of the proposed project with the Poet Laureate mission and role.

leaders who are willing to hold their staff accountable to treat each and every citizen with respect while adhering to appropriate policing protocols.

No person because of their race, gender or identity should be subjected to differential treatment by law enforcement. No parents, family members, or friends should have to mourn the loss of loved ones because of illegal law enforcement practices.

“NAACP Reaction” page 10

Fatemi is a founding member of The Hive Poetry Collective, a member of Writers of Color — Santa Cruz County, and a former lecturer in writing at UCSC. In summers she teaches new transfer students in UCSC’s Transfer Edge program. Her book, Sister Tongue, was published in September 2022. It won the 2021 Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Prize, selected by Tracy K. Smith, and received a Starred Review from Publisher’s Weekly.

“Poet Laureate” page 10

“Green Hills Road” from page 4

Many of the roads into Scotts Valley have been closed, impacting residents and workers. These closures have included Highway 17, Mt. Hermon Road, Glenwood Drive, Granite Creek Road, and Bean Creek Road. When this was written, Granite Creek Road, Bean Creek Road and Glenwood Drive are impassable at points outside of Scotts Valley city limits.

I encourage everyone to help others who are in need of assistance in any way you can. The Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County (831-427-5070) is actively organizing groups to assist families who have been severely impacted by floods. They are searching for groups of volunteers willing to work with individual families and stick with them for 4 to 6 weeks as they work through recovery.

I am incredibly grateful to everyone, especially city workers, assisting our City with storm efforts and cleanup. Let’s hope that the rain backs off for a while, so we can regroup, repair and return to our normal lives. n

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Jack Dilles is mayor of Scotts Valley. Contact him at jdilles@scottsvalley.gov.

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Editor’s note: A week after the mayor wrote this column, he told Scotts Valley Times he has not seen a cost estimate to repair Green Hills Road. Public Works staff will visit the site again with engineers to inspect the damage, try to come with a plan to repair the road and provide a timeline for opening. Staff are concerned about the stability of drainage infrastructure at the top of the slide and the potential for more slides. Having declared a disaster, the city may proceed to request reimbursement for repairs. We want to fix this problem and are exploring our options.