Voices of the Ville

Paul is a local muralist and owner of Monterey Bay Murals in Watsonville. Paul shares how he got started in the arts, projects he has worked on in the community, and his experience taking a Cabrillo College art class as a freshman (which triggers him to giggle when watching the Titanic). 

Artist of the Ville is a new segment where we interview local artist from the Watsonville area. Thank you to the Arts Council Santa Cruz County for sponsoring this segment.

#watsonville #aotv #votv #art #community #artist #podcast #localpodcast #paint #murals

In this episode Gabe interviews Vanessa Quiroz-Carter who is running to become the City Council representative for District 2 in Watsonville. Topics include:

• Reallocating expenses in our city budget, and what we should prioritize
• The arts and how we can tap into this creative community to beautify our city
• Using technology to connect with Watsonville during the time of COVID
• Recommendations to improve city safety 
• Graduating from college and looking for jobs in our community
• The impact of gentrification and the need for affordable housing

For more information on Vanessa please visit her website at: https://www.vanessaquirozcarter.com/

In this episode Abby and Gabriel talk to Maria Orozco, Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustee Member, and the progressive stances she's been taking since joining the board. Topics include:  

• Being young and running for office
• Big money, and it's influence on our district
• Reforming an antiquated system of governing
• Bringing 21st century job training to PVUSD students
• The importance of our migrant program and the need for more resources for our farmworker families
• Eliminating SROs from the school district
• The importance of having POC teachers in our schools
• The importance of LGBTQIA and ethnic studies in our school

In this episode Abby and Gabe have a conversation with our previous and most progressive Mayor, Paco Estrada from Watsonville. Topics include: 

• Project Runway
• Running for Watsonville City Council
• The BLM Movement
• Progressive or Democratic Socialist? 

Local Watsonvillian, Lizett Peña, is a Public Interest Lawyer who focuses on immigration and employment law. Being born in Mexico and growing up in Watsonville has given her a perspective rooted in advocacy for the immigrant and undocumented community. Much of the work she does lies in legal advocacy for farmworkers in the Watsonville community. In this week’s episode, we discuss Lizett’s journey in becoming a lawyer to the legal advocacy work she does in the community. She discusses an often overlooked topic, unemployment benefits for our undocumented and immigrant communities during COVID-19. As many undocumented and immigrant workers continue to work and expose themselves during the pandemic, it is vital to have open dialogue regarding workers rights and unemployment benefits. The undocumented and immigrant communities are in many ways Santa Cruz County’s essential workers, ironically, these are the communities that are often overlooked and invisible when it comes to policy reform.

#Watsonville #VOTV #VoicesOfThe Ville #Undocumented #Immigrant #Indocumentado #Inmigrante #KnowYourRights #coronavirus #COVID19 #podcast #Advocacy #PublicCharge #Lawyer

Local Watsonville business, Queen’s Shoes was established in 2007 by business owner, Sindy Hernandez. Since Queen’s Shoes inception, it has overcome many challenges from the 2008 economic crisis to being evicted from their previous location. Sindy discusses her evolution from business owner to mother to running her own clothing line, SINDY Collection, and where that’s led her today. In this week’s episode we discuss how Queen’s Shoes has navigated the unpredictable economic landscape that has unfolded in the past couple of months due to COVID-19. Similarly, as many local business owners are experiencing a similar fate, it is important to shed light on the tones of resilience and creative thinking small business owners have resorted to in order to survive the pandemic with their livelihoods intact.

Amidst such times of uncertainty, the world economy is facing an all time state of turbulence causing many small business owners to weather a very unpredictable financial storm amongst other things. Oftentimes the financial burden of the working class manifest in other parts of their lives causing a domino effect. In this week’s episode, Gabriel and Abby interview local business co-owner of Slice Project Pizza, Brando Sención, where they discuss how Slice Project Pizza came to be, the process a local business in Watsonville undergoes to attain a liquor license, and how Slice Project Pizza is weathering the COVID-19 storm. 

Hosts Gabriel and Abby talk about their experience with COVID 19 and the impacts it's had on their daily schedule and their family. They also discuss the renters and property owners moratorium, and the impact that COV19 has had on the undocumented community along with their view on the 2020 Census.