Guest Columnist

2017 was a boring year for the financial markets. It seemed like every day last year the S&P 500 and NASDAQ creeped higher and higher. In fact, 2017 was one of the calmest year for the markets in decades. 2018 has started off a different story. After blasting off in January with the S&P 500 rising almost 6 percent, February and March have been met with large swings up and down, ending down 0.8 percent on a total return basis at the end of March. With this recent volatility, now is a good time to understand what is going on and how you might be affected.

The average refund received was just shy of $3,000 for the 2015 tax year. While it may be tempting to go out and splurge with that money, think about some alternative ways to put your refund dollars to work.

As I begin each new year as your County Supervisor, I like to report back in this column on some of the things we’ve accomplished because of your partnership and communication of priorities. Here is a very small overview of what we accomplished in 2017: Community Meetings: In 2017, we’ve held 71 open office hours in Aptos, Corralitos, La Selva Beach and Watsonville and held or attended nearly 50 community and neighborhood meetings in Seacliff, La Selva Beach, Aptos, Watsonville, Capitola and Corralitos. In addition, I’ve written over 50 columns in local papers and neighborhood newsletters and sent a number of e-newsletters to communicate with our district about county happenings.

The next workshop will take place at the Rio Sands Hotel Conference Room at 116 Aptos Beach Drive in Aptos (Rio Del Mar). It will be held March 24 from 1-2 p.m. (English) and 2:30-3:30 p.m. (Spanish).

In a recent budget message to the Board, the County Administrative Officer noted that as the county emerged from the Great Recession, the Board has worked to limit the growth of the overall budget while focusing on restoring reserves and investing in key

A community is defined by the people who take a leadership role. In the 20th century, Paul Johnston was constantly involved in the development of Aptos Village for more than 100 years.

There is no question it is very difficult to afford housing in our county. One has to earn more than $70,000 to afford the rent of a two-bedroom apartment locally and our median home prices are hovering around $850,000.

Seacliff Beach is unique because it has a fishing pier that extends out to a 100 year old concrete ship.

This January, Santa Cruz County is celebrating Positive Parenting Awareness Month for the seventh year in a row, and several other counties in California are joining in — Inyo, Napa, Mendocino, Sonoma and possibly more!

Across Santa Cruz County, inventory and sales volume is down from a year ago.