Despite opposition, the Executive Board of SEIU Local 415 voted to endorse this project the night it passed in City Council.

The vote was 13 in favor, 5 opposed, and 2 abstaining.

Those speaking for the project included Cliff Tillman, Executive Director of SEIU Local 415, and former campaign manager of Tony Madrigal. In addition to working directly on his campaign, Cliff Tillman gave Tony Madrigal a large amount of paid time off from his union duties to run for City Council.

Tillman argued that the concerns union members have about the project could be incorporated into the plan after it was passed.

I spoke against an endorsement of the project pointing out that public input would pretty much end after thing passed and that now was the time to voice our concerns.

I spoke in favor of guarantees for the adjacent residents who will now be in the shadow of this monstrous project and face potential health problems from black mold. I demanded that the plan include sitting down with residents and coming up with a solution that they would agree with, a solution that would include relocation if necessary.

In addition I pointed out problems with spending well over $30 million dollars of taxpayer’s money on a project to help the capitalists make more money, calling it welfare to the rich. Santa Cruz taxpayers will be paying for this project for many years to come, and the fact that it is being paid for through bonds means that the final price out of our pockets will probably be about $60 million dollars, and that doesn’t even include additional costs to infrastructure.

Projections of increased revenue through taxes and parking fees are purely speculative in a world where more and more conferences are being done via the Internet and deeper economic problems for the capitalist system are inevitable due to a number of factors including the war in Iraq combined with the falling rate of profit.

It is not the place for the City to get involved in the capitalist speculation of the hotel and convention market with taxpayers money.