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Voters reject Measure T by wide margin

Tarmo Hannula/Register-Pajaronian

WATSONVILLE — Luisa Carpio harvests calla lilies Tuesday at a Golden State Bulb Growers farm in Watsonville.

Lilies of the field

By TODD GUILDOF THE REGISTER-PAJARONIAN

WATSONVILLE — Every day, hundreds of satellites pass miles overhead and use sensi-tive scientific equipment to take detailed images of the vast open ocean. The oceanic data give sci-entists information on a wide variety of things, including pollution and planktonic life so vital to marine ecosystems. Soon, new satellites could be focusing in on Pinto Lake in Watsonville. That poses a problem for space-borne research, however. Gathering similar information gets more complex closer to land, and even more so on inland lakes where human im-pacts and other disturbances such as steams can skew the data.

Enter a team of NASA re-searchers and UC Santa Cruz scientists, who were at Pinto Lake Wednesday setting up equipment to study the water. Their mission was to use the equipment for “ground truth-ing,” or gathering data that will one day be compared to data taken from soon-to-be-launched satellites. Those satellites, part of NASA’s Hyperspectral Infrared Imager (HyspIRI) Mission, will study the world’s ecosystems and provide information on natural disasters such as volca-noes, wildfires and drought. As they pass over Pinto Lake, the satellites will gather data on cyanobacteria, blue-green algae that sometimes thrive there and produce a toxin known as

Scientists take a closer look at Pinto LakeSatellite program to study toxic algae

By TODD GUILDOF THE REGISTER-PAJARONIAN

WATSONVILLE — Measure T, which would have annexed 95 acres of agricultural land on the outskirts of Watsonville to make room for retail development, was soundly defeated Tuesday night with just over 77 percent of the voters rejecting it. According to election results from the Santa Cruz County Clerk website votescount.com, 3,600 of Watsonville’s 14,198 voters had cast their ballots in the special June election. Supporters, chief among them Watsonville City Council-man Daniel Dodge who spear-headed the measure, said the move would have brought jobs and much-needed tax revenue to the city. “I’m disappointed with the result,” Dodge said. “I do think everyone was interested in

protecting jobs, it was just how they visualized things. I’m glad the discussion was brought up, and I’ll look forward to continu-ing the dialogue.” Dodge said the discussion veered from one that centered on simply moving the urban limit line and giving the city the option of building to a personal one. “It became a defensive dis-cussion,” he said. “I think people took the issue to heart.” Opponents expressed con-cern that it would permanently destroy prime farmland while several viable retail and indus-trial properties languish unused throughout the city. As voting day approached, several organizations came out against the measure, including Watsonville Wetlands Watch, the Santa Cruz County Busi-ness Council, the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County, the Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce & Agriculture, Santa Cruz County

By JESSICA M. PASKOFOR THE REGISTER-PAJARONIAN

WATSONVILLE — When Monique Sesma found out her junior year that she was preg-nant with her son, she didn’t think she’d be able to graduate high school, much less pursue post-secondary schooling. She persevered with the help of family, friends and teachers, and on Tuesday, she graduated at the top of her class from Renaissance High School. Now she plans to at-tend cosmetology school. “We have all faced personal and academic challenges to be the Renaissance High School class of 2013,” Sesma told her fellow graduates at Tuesday’s ceremony, held at the Henry J. Mello Center. Sesma told the packed room that it was family that got her to this day, a term she used to in-clude the teachers and friends who have helped her out. “I know we’ll keep fighting obstacles in our paths. Here’s

to our futures and the rest of our lives,” she said. “Class of 2013: We did it.” Sesma was one of 72 stu-dents graduating this year

from the Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s continuation school, which serves students who need to make up credits or who have fallen behind for

various reasons. Some have trouble with drugs or the law; others have suffered illness, family issues, or a lack of aca-demic support at their previous schools. Some, like Martin Con-treras, came to this country speaking no English and later spent time in Juvenile Hall. Now Contreras, who’d never thought college was even a pos-sibility, has graduated at the top of the class and plans to attend community college. Principal Artemesia Cortez said this year’s class was one of the largest ones in recent years. “I’m very proud of them,” said Cortez, who beamed as diplomas were distributed. The pride felt by Cortez and faculty members was palpable as they introduced each of their students and handed out diplomas, and many a student and teacher shed a few tears as they stood on stage.

Challenges overcome, Renaissance grads move on

Tarmo Hannula/Register-Pajaronian

Aaron Romero shows his excitement after receiving a $1,000 scholarship from the Freedom Rotary Club Tuesday evening at the Mello Center where Renaissance High School held its commencement ceremony.

By TODD GUILDOF THE REGISTER-PAJARONIAN

WATSONVILLE — Starting next year, first-graders in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District will have fewer classmates, thanks to a decision Wednesday by district officials to reduce class sizes by hiring 16 new teachers. The announcement means that class sizes for first-grade will be 24-1, a big change from this year, where as many as 30 students pack a room. The same thing will happen for grades K-3 over the next two-to-three years, Chief Business Officer Brett McFadden said. But the plan to reduce class sizes

for first grade fell flat with the teachers’ union officials, who say the district has the means to expand it to K-3 immediately and should have been prepared to do so. The decision came after the district’s business office took a look at Governor Jerry Brown’s May 10 budget revise, which showed a stronger financial picture thanks to Proposition 30 and to Brown’s proposal to shift a larger portion of financial control to local districts, McFadden said. Prop. 30, passed by voters in Novem-ber, is Brown’s plan to impose temporary taxes to bolster the state’s budget and help schools avoid more cuts. Still unclear is just how the so-called Local Control Funding Formula will be implemented. In addition to Brown’s plan, different factions of the California Legis-lature have floated their own proposals. “What we’re doing is a gamble,” McFad-

den said. Still, all versions offer some form of class size reduction, McFadden said. “We’re saying that no matter what passes, class size reduction will be a part of it, so lets go ahead and pass this,” he said. The offer to reduce class sizes for first-grade classrooms was part of a contract proposal rejected May 30 by PVFT, which included a 4 percent salary increase. Offering the plan to reduce class sizes despite the rejection, McFadden said, came despite district fears negotiations would stall after the offer was rejected, McFadden said. “We’re not going to let kids and families suffer anymore because the adults in the district haven’t reached an agreement,”

PVUSD to reduce first-grade class sizesSchool district plans tohire 16 new teachers

Tarmo Hannula/Register-Pajaronian

Rafael Kudela (left), an ocean science professor from UC Santa Cruz, and Stanford Hooker, an oceanographer from NASA, hook up a bioshade Wednesday that they will use to measure light at Pinto Lake City Park.

Turnout low in special election

Page A6 — REGISTER-PAJARONIAN, Thursday, June 6, 2013

PINTOFrom page 1

DEFEATFrom page 1

GRADUATESFrom page 1

Farm Bureau and Commu-nity Alliance With Family Farm-ers. Supporters included Mon-terey-based Orosco & Associ-ates, Inc., the developers behind the Overlook Shopping Center and Home Depot on Green Val-ley Road. Monterey/Santa Cruz Coun-ties Building and Construction Trades Council Political Action was also in favor of the mea-sure. Amy Newell, who co-chaired Committee to Save Jobs and Farmland, said she was con-fident the measure would be defeated. Newell acknowledged that unemployment and budget defi-cits do plague the city, but said that paving over farmland is not the way to solve the problems. “I look forward to working with the city to address the issues that do exist here,” she said. “I think we need more creative thinking and harness-

ing the momentum of our campaign.” Newell attributed the defeat to the large amount of support from the community, which put out yard signs, wrote letters to the editor and made contributions. “It was a tremen-dous community ef-fort,” she said. “That’s why we got the margin of victory we did.” Celia Organista, the group’s other co-chair, said the victory came despite the fact that opponents began their campaign late in the game.“It really shows the community is committed to the preserva-tion of agriculture at the pri-mary business,” she said. Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau Past-President Chris Enright slammed city leaders for putting forth the measure. “Isn’t it time to elect new leaders who can solve the city’s problems by working with the community, not against it?”

he stated. “A majority of non-farming voters have spoken and they said urban sprawl is not the answer. Paving our farms is not the answer. Dividing the community is not the answer. “We look forward to a newly awakened city council that must take this election seriously,” Enright continued. “It’s time to accept the obvious: agriculture, Watsonville’s proud corner-stone, will not be paved over anytime soon.”

microcystin. Although the count of the toxin is presently at zero and the lake is considered safe for recreation, algal blooms that cause the toxin to proliferate have earned Pinto Lake the unfortunate designation of one of the most toxic in the world. The data gained as the satel-lites pass over Pinto Lake seven times per day could tell scien-tists when the blooms occur, why they’re happening and what might be done to stop them. More importantly, the study at Watsonville’s tiny, easily accessible lake could help re-searchers conduct similar ex-periments on a more global scale. “We get a t remendous amount out of this opportunity,” said NASA researcher Stanford Hooker. “It lets us show that this technology works on a global scale.”

Scholarships were awarded to many of the students as well. Jesse Diego, 17, received a scholarship from the Asso-ciation of Mexican American Educators for having what Watsonville High School teacher Abel Mejia described as “the

heart of a lion.” Mejia recalled being so im-pressed by Diego, who “took three buses to get to my house to turn in his scholarship ap-plication.” After the ceremony, Diego, who wore black and white Converse sneakers under his gown, grinned as he greeted friends and family. He said he plans to attend Cabrillo College and then transfer to a full-time university.

“I consider it a good experi-ence,” he said of his time at Renaissance. “I learned a lot.” The ceremony had a sad note though, as Cortez recalled Cynthia Madrigal, a class of 2013 student who died in a car crash in April 2012. A moment of silence was held in the 16-year-old’s honor. “She is in your hearts,” Cor-tez told her students. “I know she would be very proud.”

Photos by Tarmo Hannula/Register-Pajaronian

ABOVE: During a No on Measure T gathering Tuesday at the California Grill, Chris Enright (fourth from left) is delighted to learn that a landslide was forming against the measure. BELOW: Randy Rampone drops Measure T ballots belonging to him and his wife in the box Tuesday at the Watsonville Civic Plaza building.

PVUSDFrom page 1

Tarmo Hannula/Register-Pajaronian

Kendra Hayashi tests a depth meter at Pinto Lake.

he said. “Small class sizes are in the best interest of the kids, lets start there.” McFadden said the district will take a “phased-in” approach to bringing back small class sizes as it seeks classroom space and other infrastructure lost over the years due to budget cuts. PVFT negotiator Jack Carroll called the announcement disap-pointing. “One of the reasons it’s lim-

ited to first grade was that there was insufficient planning on the part of the school district to ac-commodate all grades,” he said. Carroll explained that teach-ers have been asking the district to begin a plan to reduce class sizes since Prop. 30 passed in November. “We told them there are prac-tical needs to implement class size reduction,” he said. That includes preparing classroom space, refurbishing or purchasing portable class-rooms and creating the neces-sary infrastructure, Carroll said. “The district has been flat-footed on that,” he said.

Carroll added that few teach-ers will want to work for the district, which he described as one the lowest paid of similar sized districts in the state. PVFT president Francisco Rodriguez said he hoped the district would consider expand-ing the class size reduction plan sooner than proposed. “We are confident that the way the budget is going thanks to California taxpayers, we have an opportunity to really invest in a quality public education for all grade levels,” he said. “We hope the district is open to that pos-sibility as opposed to only one grade level.”

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