Results: To Vote, or Not to Vote
In the first week of November 2021, Santa Cruz Works (“SCW”) sent a survey out to our 11,000+ members. The question we asked was simple: to vote or not to vote on the future of our rail corridor. In other words, should registered voters have the opportunity to vote on changes to the county’s General Plan regarding the rail corridor and, in essence, provide strong countywide feedback on the direction voters prefer?
In the survey we did not include information about the rail corridor itself, the history, the various organizations for/against, ad nauseam. The survey was simply about whether to put it to a vote or not: yes, or no. If you have been living under a rock for 20+ years and know nothing about the issues, select “undecided”. At SCW, we attempt to stay neutral about this unfortunately divisive issue. We have staff that are pro Greenway, pro FORT, and others who are undecided. We respect each other’s opinions and continue to work together productively.
Some might argue that SCW should not be involved in community issues. As a 501c6 organization, we have a right to be involved in such issues. We believe it’s in the best interest of our community to get voters’ input on this important issue and hopefully move forward productively as a cohesive community. We have not lobbied on this issue. We have invited all sides to join us at our events. We welcome data-driven articles from all.
SCW firmly believes the corridor issue fits into our mission to improve and grow a vibrant tech ecosystem in the tri-county area. We received ~2% responses to our survey and lots of comments. We examined the results and removed duplicates, and hacks / gaming. Here are the survey results.