“Nuñez also credited Sen. John Laird for advocating on behalf of the hospital.

“I’m really grateful for the advocacy from John Laird and the role that he’s played in keeping not only the hospital open, but also all of the services intact over the last four years,” Nuñez said.”

Hey everyone,

r/Watsonville has grown a lot lately, which is great. Unfortunately, a lot of the nonstop political fighting and general hostility that can often exist in other local subs has started spilling into this one too.

That’s not what we want this place to become.

This sub should be about Watsonville and the Pajaro Valley as a whole:

• local events
• food
• history
• photos
• businesses
• questions
• community issues
• cool local stuff
• helping each other out
• yes, even local politics sometimes

…but not endless toxic slapfights in every single thread.

So we’ve added some new rules and moderation tools.

Reputation Filter Enabled

If you consistently rack up negative karma in this sub, your posts/comments may now require manual mod approval before they become visible.

In simple terms:
If all you do is antagonize people, pick fights, derail threads, or act like every conversation is a Facebook comment war, you may lose the ability to freely participate here.

Be nice. Contribute constructively. It’s not hard.

Weekly Politics Megathread

We are also starting a weekly politics/civic discussion megathread.

General political discussion, Santa Cruz spillover arguments, national political debates, outrage posts, etc. should go there.

Major Watsonville-specific news may still be allowed as standalone posts depending on relevance and whether people can behave like functioning adults in the comments.

This sub is not r/WatsonvillePolitics.

If someone wants to create that sub, go for it. Seriously. But this community needs room for more than nonstop political warfare.

Also, if your main goal is soapboxing, arguing with strangers, posting ragebait, or treating every local issue like a culture war battlefield, there are already plenty of platforms built almost entirely for that:

• Facebook
• Nextdoor
• X/Twitter
• Instagram comments
• TikTok comments
• local comment sections
• literally any Bay Area Facebook group

You have options.

The goal here is not censorship. The goal is making this place feel like an actual local community again instead of an exhausting comment section.

Thanks to the many people here who already make this sub better.

This thread is for political and controversial discussion related to:

• Watsonville
• Pajaro Valley
• Santa Cruz County
• California
• national politics that affect the area

Use this thread for:

• political opinions
• debates
• city/county/state issues
• election discussion
• development fights
• policy arguments
• general civic discussion
• topics that would otherwise take over the front page

Major Watsonville news may still be allowed as standalone posts at moderator discretion.

Keep it civil.
No personal attacks, harassment, racism, threats, or nonstop bad-faith arguing.

The goal is not to ban politics. The goal is to keep the rest of the sub usable for the community too.

GILROY, Calif. —
Plans to construct a federal ICE detention facility near Gilroy are sparking growing concern and opposition from local residents and officials. The proposed site, located on the 7,000 block of Holsclaw Road, could house an 18,000-square-foot facility, according to public documents.
Santa Cruz County Supervisor Felipe Hernandez said, "We should absolutely be concerned."

Hernandez added, "It's very concerning to us here because as it is, we have families that are scared to go to work. They're scared to send their children to school. They're scared that, you know, children are scared themselves, that their parents won't be home when they come home."

Public records show the federal government has leased the land from Elmwood Capital Group, based in Beverly Hills, and documents suggest ICE has signed a contract with a developer to build the detention center to support immigration enforcement efforts along the Central Coast.
Luis Alejo, Monterey County supervisor, said, "We think this would have the adverse impact and this fear would spread across all our counties. And that is why it is imperative right now that we do everything possible to stop this project. It is not what we need."

Protests have already begun, with demonstrators gathering outside the Santa Clara County offices in San Jose earlier this week.

County leaders, including Ken Christopher of Christopher Ranch, which employs one of the largest migrant workforces in Gilroy, expressed frustration over the lack of transparency.

"The problem right now is confusion, and that's the real problem. That's what's causing anxiety and causing pain and causing fear is because there's no clear answer," Christopher said.
Concerns have also been raised about whether the land can be rezoned to accommodate the facility and whether the federal government can override local control. Alejo said the Monterey County Board of Supervisors will consider approving a referral next week to support opposition to the plans.

"So that our county, the county of Monterey, could officially oppose and join Santa Clara in its opposition and join any efforts, whether it's joining litigation to stop the construction of this prison, immigration prison outside of Gilroy," Alejo said.
Opponents of the project have indicated they are prepared to fight the plans in court.

is this sub orangelovers’ personal political sub or is it about Watsonville? u/hootygator

“In this race for District 4 county supervisor, Tony Nuñez stands out as the candidate offering a clear break from business-as-usual politics and a stronger focus on engagement, responsiveness and long-term community vitality.”

Tony Nuñez is the full time Marketing and Communications Manager for Community Bridges, delivering fundamental resources to the people of Santa Cruz County and North Monterey County. He is also the Chair of the Wastonville Community Hospital Board amongst other Board positions and a lifelong Watsonville resident. 

Hearing from a friend who uses ND that most of the Nextdoor comments on threads about the District 4 race are not from Watsonville - Rio Del Mar, Seascape, Mar Monte, Ben Lomond, Capitola, Prunedale.

How do people feel about this?

I feel like ND is a trash fire politically so I don’t bother reading it btw. Lot of admins are with Greenway (train haters and/or affiliated with Bud Colligan).

I think my favorite is The Farm House. Steak and Eggs is prob my fave traditional breakfast food they offer but my fav dish there is the Dino's Stuffed Burger. You could eat that burger and die a happy death.

Curious if anyone here would be interested in joining or starting a dog walking or hiking group. Ceres, Luna, Sol and I already walk every morning and like to switch up locations. Thinking it could be fun to meet weekly at different parks around Pajaro Valley. Dogs get to socialize and explore new spots, and we get to meet some new people.

So one assumes Orange is now against Felipe as well since he received Greenway donations for his campaign?

“Hernandez received support from several committees including the AT&T EMP political action committee and the We Power California PG&E Co. Employees PAC”