On Monday June 14, 2004 the Santa Cruz Coalition for a GE-free agriculture decided to move forward in approaching the county board of supervisors to formally request the placement of a special measure on the November 2004 ballot that would, with a majority vote, create an ordinance banning the production of genetically engineered crops
in Santa Cruz County.

The last opportunity for the Board of Supervisors to decide upon the placing of a special measures on the Nov. ballot will be Tues. June 22nd. (Supervisors are on recess during the month of July and all measures must be placed on the ballot by Aug. 6th. June is therefore the only operative month.)

Several members of the Coalition attended the public meeting of the Board of Supervisors on the morning of Tues. June 15, 2004 to make such a formal request. Supervisor Wormhoudt and her staff suggested that we write a formal request of this to each of the Supervisors and that upon receiving such a request that any one of the Supervisors could place this item on the June 22 agenda for discussion and decision.

A letter of request has been submitted as of 12:00 noon today. This request includes the draft language of the ordinance and a promise to provide each supervisor with education materials on the subject.

In order to get this measure placed on the Nov. 2004 ballot, it needs to first be discussed and and decided upon at the June 22nd meeting of the County Board of Supervisors. Before this can happen we need to first convince a very busy Board of Supervisors that is is in their constituencies interest to have it place on the agenda for the 22nd of June. We therefore request the following immediate action:

Please contact your district supervisor today Tues. June 15th and/or tomorrow Wed. June 16th and requesting the following (see contact info. below):

1. Tell your supervisor (or staff) that you are concerned about the issue of genetically engineered crop production in Santa Cruz County.
State your reasons why.

2. Ask your supervisor to include an agenda item on the June 22, 2004 meeting of the County Board of Supervisors to discuss and decide on whether or not to include a special measure on the November 2004 ballot giving voters an opportunity to decide on a county-wide ban of GE crop production.

3. That you personally are in support of a county-wide ban on genetically engineered crop production and request that such a measure be placed on the November 2004 ballot allowing the citizens of Santa Cruz county to decide upon a County-wide ban on genetically engineered crop production.

4. Please circulate this request as widely as possible to all persons you may know in Santa Cruz county concerned with the environmental quality and human health risks associated with genetically engineered crop production.


Contact and district information for Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors:

District 1: Jan Beautz
701 Ocean Street, Room 500, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
(831) 454-2200 (phone)
(831) 454-3262 (FAX)
E-mail: bds010 (at) co.santa-cruz.ca.us
Note: The First Supervisorial District includes the communities of Live Oak, Soquel, Branciforte and a wide area of the Santa Cruz Mountains from Highway 17 to Nisene Marks including the Summit.

District 2: Supervisor Ellen Pirie
By Mail: 701 Ocean Street, Room 500 Santa Cruz, CA 95060
By Phone: (831) 454-2200
By Fax: (831) 454-3262
By E-mail: ellen.pirie (at) co.santa-cruz.ca.us
Note: The Second Supervisorial District includes the communities of Aptos, La Selva Beach, Corralitos, Freedom, and portions of the cities of Capitola and Watsonville

District 3: Mardi Wormhoudt
701 Ocean Street, Room 500, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
(831) 454-2200 (phone)
(831) 454-3262 (FAX)
email: bds034 (at) co.santa-cruz.ca.us
Note: The Third District includes the communities of Davenport and Bonny Doon as well as the City of Santa Cruz.

District 4: Tony Campos
Main Office:
701 Ocean Street, Room 500, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
(831) 454-2000 (Phone)
(831) 454-3262 (Fax)

Watsonville Office:
231 Union Street, Watsonville, CA 95076
(831) 763-4712 (Phone)
(831) 454-3262 (Fax)
E-mail: bds040 (at) co.santa-cruz.ca.us
Note: The Fourth District is bound to the south by the Pajaro River and the Monterey County line, to the east by the mountain range which intersects with the San Benito and Santa Clara County lines,
and to the west by Highway 1.

District 5: Mark V. Stone
By Mail: 701 Ocean Street, Room 500, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
By Phone: (831) 454-2200
By Fax: (831) 454-3262
By E-mail: mark.stone (at) co.santa-cruz.ca.us
Note: The Fifth Supervisorial District includes: the San Lorenzo Valley communities of Boulder Creek, Brookdale, Ben Lomond, Felton, Zayante/Lompico, and Mount Hermon; the Santa Cruz mountains west of Highway 17 and Mountain Charlie Road; the City of Scotts Valley; portions along Highway 9 south, including parts of Henry Cowell State Park, the SanLorenzo River basin, and Paradise Park; portions of the City of Santa Cruz; and Stevenson College and faculty housing at the
University of California, Santa Cruz.