#204 / Sam's Idea

Sam Farr, who represents the Monterey Bay Area in the United States Congress, used to be a County Supervisor in Monterey County. 

Robley Levy, a former member of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, recently hosted a great dinner, and both Sam and I were invited. 

During this somewhat nostalgic gathering of past supervisors, Sam noted that Santa Cruz County's land use policies are truly extraordinary and unusual, and that Robley and I had done well by our constituents. Among other things, local policies, starting with Measure J and going from there, have protected the county's agricultural land, and have prevented the kind of sprawl so prevalent elsewhere in California. 

Sam serves on the House Appropriations Committee, and is the top Democrat and the only California member serving on the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies. This subcommittee has legislative jurisdiction over most of the Department of Agriculture as well as the Food and Drug Administration, so Sam knows what he is talking about when agriculture is the topic. Someone, said Sam, should write a history of how we managed to enact such forward thinking and progressive land use policies, here in Santa Cruz County.

That's a good idea, and doing such a history would be a great Ph.D. thesis! The UCSC Library has a whole boatload of relevant documents, too!

Image Credit: 

http://www.friendsoffarr.org/