Candidate for
County Supervisor; County of Santa Cruz; Supervisorial District 3

Mardi's philosophy can best be seen through her accomplishments. Following is a list of some of them:

ENVIRONMENT

- GRAY WHALE RANCH -

At the time of Mardi's first campaign for County Supervisor, a 70+ lot subdivision was proposed for the spectacular 2, 400 acre Gray Whale Ranch. Because of Mardi's clear and unswerving commitment to open space preservation on the property, the owner understood that the subdivision had little chance for approval once Mardi was elected. He soon agreed to sell the Ranch to the Save the Redwoods League and it is now part of Wilder Ranch State Park, preserved for public use and environmental protection forever.

- COAST DAIRIES -

The 7,000 acre Coast Dairies and Land Ranch located on the North Coast on both sides of Highway 1 between Laguna Creek and Swanton Road is one of the gems of the California Coast. Under one ownership for around a hundred years, it was sold several years ago to a Nevada developer who proposed to divide it into 130+ lots. Mardi strongly opposed this proposal and encouraged interests attempting to purchase the Ranch for the protection of its open space, agricultural, and scenic values. When County assistance was requested to finalize the acquisition, Mardi sucessfully championed this participation. Coast Dairies is now owned by the Trust for Public Land. Mardi is participating in the process to develop a long term Management Plan for the Ranch to assure that the incredible environmental resources are preserved into the future.

- SCHOOLS RECYCLING PROGRAM -

Mardi understands the importance of conserving our limited resources and is a strong supporter of recycling efforts. She led the County, in cooperation with local cities, in establishing and funding a comprehensive recycling program in many of the County's schools. This program has produced major reductions in the landfilling of solid waste from these schools.

- TIMBER HARVEST REGULATIONS -

Timber harvesting can have major impacts on environmental resources as well as the residential areas near them. Although the State has taken over control of most logging activities, Mardi has sought to increase the County's role in regulating timber harvests. She led the Board of Supervisors in restricting the areas in which timber harvesting could occur. She pushed for the banning of helicopter logging and timber harvesting in riparian corridors. She has also supported appeals to the State Board of Forestry of inappropriate timber harvest applications.

- AGRICULTURAL LAND PROTECTION -

As a member of the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), Mardi has been a powerful voice protecting prime agricultural land in the County. She persuaded LAFCO to deny the Riverside Annexation request by the City of Watsonville, which would have converted some of the best agricultural land in the world to urban uses. She led the effort to prevent the annexation of the TAI property and strongly supported the agreement with the City of Watsonville to assure that no annexations of agricultural lands in the Coastal Zone occur in the future.

- RV CAMPGROUND AT WILDER RANCH STATE PARK -

When the State Parks and Recreation Department proposed a mammoth RV campground at Wilder Ranch State Park, Mardi led the successful local opposition effort. She organized the community group fighting the proposal, lobbied State representatives against the project, and testified at the State Parks and Recreation Commission. She played a key role in convincing the State to drop the proposal.

- FERAL PIG LEGISLATION -

Wild pigs are responsible for a tremendous amount of environmental and private property damage in the North Coast area of the County. Mardi pushed for legislation that loosened the requirements on the taking of these animals. Mardi continues to work with local residents and State agencies on ways to reduce the damage that they do.

- GOAT FARM -

When a biomedical goat raising facility opened on the North Coast, residents were concerned with the impacts that the existing number of goats and the proposed 5,000 goats were having and would have on the environment. Mardi agreed with these concerns and relentlessly pursued every possibility to regulate the facility and ensure that it complied with County, State and federal standards. The Coastal Commission ultimately responded to these concerned and closed the operation.

- BEACH AREA PLAN -

When the proposed General Plan amendment for the Beach Area in the City of Santa Cruz contained proposals for a major expansion of commercial development in that area, Mardi joined the citizen effort to scale back the Plan. She was an important part of the community advocacy effort that ultimately convinced the City Council to significantly reduce the amount of commercial development allowed by the Plan.

- COUNTY PESTICIDE POLICY -

Mardi initiated a County policy to reduce and ultimately eliminate the use of pesticides in County facilities. Working with community advocates and County staff, Mardi helped craft a policy that, while requiring major cutbacks in pesticide use, was seen as workable by County staff, and received unanimous approval from the Board of Supervisors.

- CELL TOWERS -

As the number of cell phone users and companies have increased in recent years, the requests for additional cell towers in the County have also grown. The proliferation of cell towers can create major visual impacts if permitted in an unregulated fashion. In addition, while under federal law, the County has no ability to regulate cell towers in terms of their potential health impacts, this issue is of great concern to many County residents. In response to citizen concerns regarding both the visual and health issues related to cell towers, Mardi convinced the Board of Supervisors to approve a strict ordinance regulating their siting. She also pushed the County into exploring its legal options regarding its ability to regulate the health effects of the towers.

- PAJARO RIVER LEVEE PROJECT -

The existing flood control protection project along the Pajaro River is no longer adequate to protect against severe flooding danger. The Corps of Engineer has investigated potential solutions to this problem including a series of twelve foot high walls along the levee. Mardi joined the groundswell of citizens opposing this proposal and urged the creation of a community based process to explore alternatives. Working with local citizens, County staff, and federal representatives she successfully advocated for this approach.

HUMAN SERVICES

- LATINO EQUITY FUNDING -

The County Board of Supervisors has granted money for many years to community programs for a variety of human services for lower income people. Soon after Mardi was first elected to the Board of Supervisors, a concern was raised by representatives of the Latino community that services to that community were not receiving their fair share of community program funding. Mardi was a strong and successful advocate for special increased funding for Latino based programs and over the years the Board of Supervisors granted several hundred thousand dollars in additional Latino Equity funding.

- COMMUNITY PROGRAM FUNDING INCREASES -

Mardi recognizes the critical role played by the County's Community Programs in providing services to those in need. For the 2000-2001 budget year, when County finances looked better than usual, Mardi convinced the Board of Supervisors to increase the level of funding for Community Programs by $1 million. This funding increased service levels, improved salaries, leveraged grant money to upgrade technology, and provided assistance for locating needed facilities.

- JOB TRAINING TASK FORCE -

Mardi understands that job creation efforts in the County should be tied to the needs of the locally unemployed in order to not simply stimulate additional housing demand. To further this concern, Mardi persuaded the Board of Supervisors to establish a Job Training Task Force to develop job training programs geared to meet the needs of local employers and to encourage employers to hire local workers.

- TEEN AGE DRUG FACILITY -

When a local teenager died from a drug overdose, his parents expressed their concerns to the Board of Supervisors regarding the lack of a residential facility, outside of the criminal justice system, for teenagers with drug problems. Convinced of the need for such a facility, Mardi made it a priority for the Board of Supervisors. She persistently advocated for the necessary funding and staff commitment to make it happen. A residential treatment facility for teenagers with drug problems is now in operation.

HUMAN RIGHTS

- GAY ISSUES -

Mardi successfully sponsored an anti-discrimination ordinance at the Board of Supervisors to prevent discrimination in the County based on sexual orientation. This ordinance strengthened local protections in the areas of employment, real estate transactions, business and education activities, etc. In addition, Mardi has consistently supported funding levels for the Santa Cruz Aids Project (SCAP) to assure their ability to provide an adequate level of service.

HOUSING

- AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECTS -

Mardi has been a strong advocate of affordable housing for many years. At the Board of Supervisors, she has been a consistent supporter not only of all proposed new construction affordable housing developments, but also of the acquisition and rehabilitation of the San Andreas Farm Labor Camp housing as well as the Marmos and Golden Torch mobile home parks.

- COYOTE VALLEY PROJECT -

The Cisco Systems proposal to construct a project in the Coyote Valley area of San Jose will create about 20,000 jobs only a relatively short distance from Santa Cruz County. No housing units are included in the proposal and the potential impacts on Santa Cruz County's traffic congestion and housing prices are enormous. Mardi spoke out against this development at the San Jose Planning Commission and City Council hearings calling for a better analysis of the impacts on our County and the construction of housing on-site. When San Jose refused to comply, Mardi successfully urged the Board of Supervisors to sue the City for violating the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Mardi is currently part of the Board appointed committee designated to attempt to negotiate a settlement with the City, if possible.

- SECOND UNIT ORDINANCE -

As an advocate for additional affordable housing in the County, Mardi is a strong supporter of allowing second units in single family neighborhoods, as long as they are small, affordability is guaranteed, and certain minimal site standards are maintained to protect the integrity of these neighborhoods. When attempts were made to eliminate the affordability restrictions on second units, Mardi vigorously and successfully resisted them. Given the price of housing in the Santa Cruz housing market, Mardi is convinced that without affordability restrictions, lower income people would soon be priced out of the second unit market.

- HOMELESS PROGRAM FUNDING -

Mardi support for homeless services is longstanding. Recently, she voted to approve the development permit for a homeless shelter for teen-agers as well as County funding to assist the program. She also secured County funding to provide a family resource center at the Homeless Resource Center in the City of Santa Cruz. After a visit to the temporary homeless shelter at the Armory, Mardi successfully advocated for better service and amenities at the facility. In addition, Mardi has pushed the County to prepare a comprehensive plan to improve and coordinate services to the homeless. Finally, she has been a consistent and active supporter of the full range of County programs for the homeless.

- UNIVERSITY GROWTH -

When Mardi was a member of the Santa Cruz City Council, she struggled to limit the growth of the UCSC campus to a size the community could adequately serve. She was one of the local negotiators who compelled the University to agree to the policy of housing two thirds of their undergraduate population on campus. Since her election to the Board of Supervisors, Mardi has consistently pushed the University to meet their housing commitments and provide additional on-campus student housing. She has also maintained her vigorous opposition to the construction of an Eastern Access road through Pogonip Park.

LABOR

- LIVING WAGE -

Mardi sponsored the Living Wage program at the Board of Supervisors. She got the Board to approve in concept a living wage ordinance for County employees and contractors, and to allocate a 4% cost of living increase for Community Programs to raise the salaries of the lowest paid workers. She also convinced the Board to set aside over half a million dollars to increase the wages of home care workers, some of the lowest paid workers in the County.

- LABOR ISSUES -

Mardi has been a consistent and effective advocate for labor on the Board of Supervisors. She pushed for pay equity adjustments and Program Coordinator salary adjustments as part of the negotiation process. She actively encouraged the establishment of the Temporary Employees Bargaining Unit. She supported In Home Support workers (IHSS) organizing under public authority as well as the organizing efforts of the Waste Management employees. She participated consistently in activities to support the UFW. And she played a key role in bringing about the successful conclusion to the Deputy Sheriffs' contract negotiations. When labor asked for Mardi's help, she was there.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

- JUVENILE HALL IMPROVEMENTS -

When Mardi joined the Board of Supervisors, she found disgraceful conditions at the County's Juvenile Hall. Tensions and paranoia ran high, cultural competence and assistance programs were limited, and overcrowding was a serious problem. Mardi fought to improve conditions at the Hall. She demanded a different approach that encouraged alternatives to incarceration. At this point, under a new Chief Probation Officer, overcrowding is not a problem at the Hall, a number of new successful alternative programs exist, and the tensions at the Hall are much reduced.

- PROGRAMS AT BLAINE STREET FACILITY -

The Blaine Street facility is where women are incarcerated. While the facilities for men offer a wide range of rehabilitation programs with an emphasis on employment, few meaningful programs were offered for the women at Blaine Street. As a result of Mardi's concern with this situation and efforts with the Sheriff and at the Board of Supervisors to change it, the number and relevance of programs at Blaine Street have increased significantly.

- CAMP PROGRAM IMPROVEMENTS -

For many years, the Sheriff's Department participated in extensive helicopter flights in the Bonny Doon area and other parts of the County as part of an anti-marijuana growing effort. Mardi received many complaints from constituents regarding the intrusiveness of these flights and their invasion of privacy of innocent residents of the rural areas. As a result of Mardi's advocacy both at the Board of Supervisors and with the Sheriff directly, the Sheriff revised the program in a manner that has eliminated the complaints. Mardi still opposes the Camp Program as inefficient and ineffective.

TRANSPORTATION

- WILDER RANCH BIKEWAY -

Mardi is a strong support of transportation alternatives to the automobile. Supporters of parks and bicycle advocates asked Mardi's help to secure a safe and separated bicycle connection along Highway One between the City of Santa Cruz and Wilder Ranch State Park. In response, Mardi pushed for the project at both the Board of Supervisors and Regional Transportation Commission. The Wilder Ranch Bikeway is currently under construction.

- MISSION STREET WIDENING PROJECT -

Plans to widen Mission Street to reduce the traffic impact on nearby residential streets were in the works for many years. As a member of the Regional Transportation Commission, Mardi persistently pushed CALTRANS to implement the project, which is currently under construction.

- METROBASE -

When the Transit District proposed to locate their needed consolidated maintenance and operations facility on the Westside of the City of Santa Cruz, Mardi was the first elected official to support th citizen opposition to the project and to publically oppose it at that location. Although not a member of the Transit District Board of Directors, she worked to convince the Board that the site was neither viable nor desirable and another location needed to be identified. The Transit District is currently pursuing an alternative location.

- UNION PACIFIC RAIL LINE ACQUISITION -

Rail service is often seen as a viable alternative to automobile travel and the existence of the Union Pacific rail line spanning the County from Davenport to Watsonville seems to be a natural. Unfortunately, though, the extensive study conducted by the Regional Transportation Commission found that passenger rail service within the County was not financially feasible for the foreseeable future. However, rather than let the rail option simply die, Mardi strongly advocated for the purchase and protection of the rail line to assure that the option of passenger rail service in the future would not be lost. The Regional Transportation has set aside $10 million for the acquisition and negotiations with the railroad are currently underway.

NORTH COAST

- BONNY DOON FIRE STATION -

For many years the volunteer Bonny Doon Fire Team occupied a facility with inadequate space in a location not central to their service area. Limited funding and disagreements over the site of a new facility stymied a solution to the Fire Team's space problem. Working closely with the Fire Team, the California Division of Forestry, and County staff, Mardi fashioned an agreement acceptable to everyone and continued to work on the issue until the construction of a new fire station serving the entire Bonny Doon community was a reality.

- NORTH COAST BEACHES ACCESS IMPROVEMENTS -

The beaches on the North Coast are one of this County's precious resources. Growing public use over the years has led to increase public safety dangers along the highway, degradation of wildlife habitats, and the need for basic public services, such as trash pickup. Improvement plans for some of the North Coast beaches have been in the works for a number of years. Mardi has strongly and consistently supported the implementation of these plans, which provide improved public access while protecting the environmental and scenic values of the beaches. As a result, there are now access improvements at Davenport Landing, Bonny Doon, and Scott Creek beaches. The Davenport Landing improvements include a public restroom and a disabled access ramp. The parking area at Bonny Doon Beach has been made safer and left turn lanes installed at the Bonny Doon Road/Highway One intersection. Finally, at Scott Creek Beach, the endangered Snowy Plover nesting area has been protected and safer public parking along Highway One provided.

- DAVENPORT SEWER LINE IMPROVEMENT PROJECT -

Treated sewage from the town of Davenport is released into the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, even though the sewer treatment plant had been upgraded, the old sewer lines collected so much rainwater during the winter that the treatment plant was overwhelmed and sewage spills occurred. Mardi spearheaded the effort that led to the replacement of the entire sewer line system in Davenport's old town and solved the problem.

- DAVENPORT - SAN VICENTE WATER LINE IMPROVEMENT -

When residents of San Vicente Road in Davenport brought to Mardi's attention the inadequacy of the water line serving their residences, Mardi worked with Davenport Sanitation District staff to find the funding for the needed upgrade and to give the project the priority it needed to get it implemented.

- NORTH COAST LARGE HOUSES -

When a 15,000 square foot house with helioport was proposed for a parcel of agricultural land on the North Coast of the County, Mardi actively participated in the community effort to defeat it. When a majority of the Board of Supervisors approved the house despite her objections, she continued her opposition at the Coastal Commission and it now appears that the project is dead. Mardi also strongly supported a County ordinance requiring a special permit for any single family house over 7,500 square feet.

- TEEN CENTER IN DAVENPORT -

The Davenport Resource Service Center (DRSC) has provided a variety of services to the Davenport community for many years. Recently, they identified a need for a teen center and initiated a program to create one. Mardi closely cooperated with DRSC staff throughout the process and when the final financing of $25,000 was needed to make the project a reality, Mardi convinced the Board of Supervisors to provide it. The Davenport Teen Center is now open.

- PROTECTED FARM LABOR HOUSING ON COAST DAIRIES -

When Mardi learned that long term farm workers living on the Coast Dairies and Land Ranch were threatened with eviction because the farmer who had been leasing the land terminated his operation, Mardi stepped in and played a key role in negotiating an agreement that has maintained the housing for these workers.

- NORTH COAST DEVELOPMENT -

Under the County's General Plan, Bonny Doon is to remain rural and the small town quality of Davenport is to be preserved. Over the years, Mardi was worked closely with constituents in both Bonny Doon and Davenport to assure that the General Plan policies are implemented. She has vigorously opposed proposals that would overdevelop these areas, while supporting projects that adhered to the policies.

PUBLIC SERVICES

- PUBLIC ACCESS TO THE INTERNET - EIRS, COMMISSION INFORMATION ON-LINE -

Mardi understands that the Internet has enormous potential for helping government serve the people better. She convinced the Board of Supervisors to increase the amount of information regarding County services and activities on the Internet as a high priority work item. She pushed to get the entire Board of Supervisors meeting agendas, not just the announcement of the different items but all the back-up material, on the Web and, in fact, Santa Cruz County was one of the first local governments in the country to do so. In addition, as a result of her efforts, all County produced draft Environmental Impact Reports are made available on the web. Finally, in order to assist citizens interested in serving on one of the forty plus County advisory bodies, she got the Board to approve a project that not only puts information about all these bodies on-line but also allows citizens to apply for them on-line as well.

- BROADCAST OF BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MEETINGS -

Many County residents are interested in County government and the activities of the Board of Supervisors but are unable to attend the Board meetings that usually start at 9:00 a.m. on most Tuesdays. In order to increase citizen involvement and understanding of their government, Mardi urged the Board of Supervisors to televise their weekly meetings. Largely through her perseverance, the Board meetings are now televised.

- LOUDEN NELSON MURAL RENOVATION -

The popular mural on the Louden Nelson Community Center was one of the first murals on a public building in Santa Cruz. Over the years the condition of the mural deteriorated but, unfortunately, funding for restoring the mural was a low priority. As a result of Mardi's efforts, funding was identified and the mural was renovated.

- VETS BUILDING IMPROVEMENTS -

Mardi has a long history of involvement in efforts to improve conditions at the Veterans Memorial Building. Before her election to the Board of Supervisors, Mardi served as a member of the Board of Trustees designated by the County and approved by the veterans groups to manage the facility. As a Supervisor she has consistently championed increased funding to upgrade the building and succeeded in getting over half a million dollars allocated for a variety of needed renovations.