Low-Income Sunny Meadows Renovation Moves

Register-Pajaronian
Saturday
WATSONVILLE
PAJARO
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SATURDAY, August 18, 2012 — 144th Year — No. 72
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Low-income Sunny Meadows renovation moves forward
By TODD GUILD
OF THE REGISTER-PAJARONIAN
WATSONVILLE — The floors
were new, the bathrooms were
gleaming and the appliances were
pristine.
That’s what the residents of
Sunny Meadows apartments found
when they returned to their residences Thursday after a six-month
renovation project displaced them.
The four-stage project to refurbish the 200 units at Sunny Meadows at 220 Ross Avenue is being
conducted by nonprofit MidPen
Housing, which purchased the
complex in 2010.
The original owner, Green Valley Apartments, was a nonprofit
group made up of United Presbyterian and First United Methodist
churches. When the time came
to sell, they wanted the complex
to go to an owner that wanted to
keep the units affordable for lowincome people.
Today, the units are occupied
by individuals and families with
incomes no greater than 60 percent of the area median income.
Rents range from $469 for the
least expensive studio apartment
to $1,090 for the most expensive
four-bedroom apartment.
The remaining three phases are
expected to wrap up in December
2013. Along with the $6.5 million
purchase of the complex, the
entire project will cost about $22
million.
The city of Watsonville Redevelopment successor Agency helped
finance the rehabilitation, contributing a total of $3.125 million.
“We are proud to play a role
in updating and preserving the
affordability of these homes for
200 families in Watsonville,” said
Watsonville Mayor Eduardo Montesino. “Sunny Meadows is one of
the largest apartment communiSee HOUSING, page A8
Teresa Rodriguez admires her
newly refurbished apartment
Thursday at Sunny Meadows
affordable housing community.
Tarmo Hannula/Register-Pajaronian
Freshmen get
linked in as new
year beckons
Program helps ease students into
Watsonville High School life
By TODD GUILD
OF THE REGISTER-PAJARONIAN
WATSONVILLE — Wideeyed, giggling, nervous and
more than a little excited, more
than 400 freshmen packed Watsonville High School’s new
gymnasium Friday morning for
a brief orientation and pep talk
from the principal and other
administrators.
But perhaps the most important reason they were there
was to meet the student mentors who would help get them
through their first day at the
sprawling school, and ostensibly, during their entire first year.
The mentors are otherwise
WHS juniors
Jorge Garcia
(right) and
Manny Garcia
(left) help
welcome
incoming
freshman
Luis Diego
Brambila to
their campus
Friday.
Tarmo Hannula/
Register-Pajaronian
known as the Link Crew, part
of the school’s “Bridge to High
School Mentor Program.”
With so many new students
set to descend on the campus Monday, the Link Crew
helps ease the transition to
high school for the students and
also alleviates the confusion of
hundreds of students looking
for their classrooms in the first
days of school.
Their task Friday was not an
easy one. They first had to help
ease the nervousness of their
charges, then give them a tour of
the campus and pointers to help
them be successful in school.
Principal Elaine Legoretta
said students are recommended
for the Link Crew by teachers
who recognize their leadership
skills. Aside from that, she said,
they run the gamut of student
groups from athletic to the
academic and everywhere in
between.
“Really it’s students from
every aspect of the campus,” she
said. “We want to find students
who all students will relate to.”
During the orientation, Legoretta encouraged the kids to get
involved in one of the school’s
Incoming freshman Christina Lazcano studies her new
surroundings inside Watsonville High School gymnasium
Friday.
Tarmo Hannula/Register-Pajaronian
By TARMO HANNULA
OF THE REGISTER-PAJARONIAN
SOQUEL — A 28-year-old
Soquel man was shot and killed
early Thursday morning in front
of a home where he was staying
in the Soquel hills. Jeff Smith
died from at least one gunshot
at 3 a.m. in the driveway of a
home in a wooded area at 383
Nicasio Way.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s
Sgt. Steve Carney said emergency officials initially got a call
about a gunshot victim lying in
front of the Nicasio Way home.
When deputies arrived they
found the victim bleeding on the
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ground with no one else around.
He was pronounced dead at the
scene.
No suspects have been identified or taken into custody.
As the morning unraveled,
the victim’s father, Riley Smith,
showed up and identified the
victim as his son, according to
KSBW TV.
Carney said investigators
have no information as to a motive.
“We are confident this is
an isolated incident and that
there is no further danger to
the neighborhood as far as
outstanding threats,” Carney
said. Investigators have ruled
out gang behavior in the death.
Carney described the shooting
as not being a “random act” and
Ricardo Abuendez, 16, said
he chose to be a Link Crew mentor because he enjoys working
with people.
“I want to teach freshmen
that high school is not as bad as
the media makes it out to be,” he
said.
Alex Rodriguez, 17, said
See LINK, page B1
OF THE REGISTER-PAJARONIAN
Tarmo Hannula/Register-Pajaronian
Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputies maintain watch at a crime
scene on Nicasio Way in the Soquel hills where a 28-year-old
man was shot and killed early Thursday.
added that investigators are
treating the death as a homicide.
A woman showed up at the
crime scene about 10 a.m. and
said she wasn’t surprised by
the shooting, claiming she has
witnessed numerous arguments
and “questionable behavior” at
the property.
Carney would not com-
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WATSONVILLE — Sandra Nichols, who has served on the
Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees for 12
years, announced Thursday that she plans to run for a seat on
the Santa Cruz County Board of Education in the November
election.
The announcement came with her resignation from the
PVUSD board of trustees, which was cemented Wednesday
when she registered to vote at her new address in Santa Cruz.
“No matter where I live I would want to be on the school
board,” Nichols explained. “I enjoy the opportunity to work
for what I consider to be a great future for California.”
Nichols and her husband Peter Nichols purchased a new
home in Santa Cruz late last year where they intend to retire.
They initially planned a yearlong move with Peter occupying
the Santa Cruz residence while Sandra maintained the Larkin
Valley residence to complete her third school board term in
December.
But when SCCOE trustee Arnie Levine announced he is not
seeking another term, Nichols said her plans changed.
See NICHOLS, page A8
See KILLING, page A8
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25 clubs or one of the sports
teams, while teacher and Link
Crew organizer Debi Michel got
the kids excited with a series of
icebreaker games and chants
designed to ease the tension in
the room.
But once the kids were
placed into groups, it was up to
the student mentors to do the
rest.
By TODD GUILD
Inside
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— Ricardo Abuendez, 16, member of the Link Crew
Sandra Nichols seeks seat on
County Board of Education
Man, 28, killed in Soquel;
no suspects identified yet
Investigators rule
out gang connection
‘I want to teach freshmen that high school
is not as bad as the media makes it out to
be.’
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Page A8 — REGISTER-PAJARONIAN, Saturday, August 18, 2012
KILLING
From page 1
ment as to whether a weapon
had been found. He said the
victim did have ties to the residence but would not specify if
that meant he was related to
residents there or simply had
friends living there.
Other media sources have
reported that Smith had
been temporarily living at
the home, which is situated
in a dense forest at the corner of Moores Gulch Road,
with his wife Amanda Fox
Sloan, 30.
N i c a s i o Wa y s t e m s o f f
of Laurel Glen Road and is
about 6 miles from Soquel
Village.
Tarmo Hannula/Register-Pajaronian
Yellow tape defines the crime scene at 383 Nicasio Way where
a Soquel man was gunned down at 3 a.m. Thursday.
NICHOLS
From page 1
Tarmo Hannula/Register-Pajaronian
Modern architecture, earth tones and spruced up landscaping now grace much of the Sunny Meadows affordable housing
community.
HOUSING
From page 1
ties in the county of Santa Cruz
and provides much-needed
affordable housing for our
workforce here in Watsonville.”
Built in 1971, the buildings
at the complex were showing
their age, said Jan Lindenthal,
MidPen Housing vice president
of development.
“It was coming to the end
of its useful life,” she said. “It
needs a renovation so it can
continue to be useful for the
next 50 years.”
Lindenthal tipped her hat to
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the residents, who she said
have been patient during the
construction.
“Most of them have chosen
to remain at Sunny Meadows
during the rehabilitation in
large part due to the wonderful
sense of community that they’ve
established here with their
neighbors,” she said. “Then,
when complete, they will continue to pay very affordable
rents for like-new apartments
with enhanced amenities and
enjoy an even stronger sense of
community.”
The renovation includes
all mechanical, electrical and
plumbing systems, as well as
new windows and flooring.
Kitchens will receive new cabinets, counters, appliances, and
lighting. In addition, roofs will
be replaced and solar panels
will be installed.
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‘It was coming to
the end of its useful
life.’
— Jan Lindenthal, MidPen
Housing vice president of
development.
Teresa Rodriguez, who has
lived in a two-bedroom apartment for eight years, said the
cabinets were old, the offset
front door allowed light to seep
in from outside and the fixtures
were unsafe.
“I was afraid to use them
because they would spark when
I turned them on,” she said.
Now, everything in her apartment is new, she said.
“I’m amazed,” she said. “I
didn’t expect these changes.”
“That created an opportunity for me to step up and
continue my fight on behalf of
students and parents for excellent schools,” she said.
Nichols moved to Santa Cruz
in 1972 and became a county
social worker before earning
her masters degree in Education from San Jose State. She
taught at Bay View Elementary
School from 1986 to 2004, then
at Westlake and Natural Bridges
Elementary Schools for several
years each.
Over a 25-year period, Nichols served speech and language
students at every Santa Cruz
City school, according to a press
release from Peter Nichols.
In 2006, she entered the race
for County Superintendent of
Schools finishing a close third
in a five-person race.
Nichols is producer and
host of “Teacher, speak out” on
Community TV, which featured
teachers, administrators and
board members from throughout the county discussing issues
of importance
to the education community.
Nichols was
instrumental
in creating the
district’s Seal
of Biliteracy
Nichols
on diplomas
for graduates
demonstrating
proficiency in English and a
second language. The state later
adopted a similar program for
all graduates.
She has been a vocal opponent of No Child Left Behind
and remains a fierce opponent
of the act’s provisions, which
include testing and the labeling
of schools as failures.
As the trustees made millions of dollars in cuts over
the past few years, Nichols has
often been on the minority vote
as she promoted cutting instead
at the administrative level.
While most cuts have nevertheless been aimed at the
classroom and school-level areas, district administrators did
concede to a six-day furlough,
as opposed to the five taken by
teachers.