Santa Cruz supervisors renew sheriff military-equipment policy and approve budget, zoning and public-safety items after heated public comment

Santa Cruz County supervisors on May 20 unanimously approved a series of administrative and policy measures including the annual renewal of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office military equipment policy under Assembly Bill 481, budgets for Zone 5 flood control capital projects, a local Mills Act program for historic preservation, an issuance of tax‑and‑revenue anticipation notes and multiple code and public‑safety amendments. The meeting drew extended public comment on lithium‑ion battery storage proposals, mental‑health and housing program funding and the adequacy of public notice for the sheriff’s AB 481 report.

The board voted across the agenda in a string of unanimous roll calls after presentations from county staff and agency directors. The most contested public discussion of the morning centered on the sheriff’s report on equipment listed under AB 481, the state law governing acquisition, public reporting and community hearings for “military equipment.” The sheriff’s office presented its 2024 annual report and requested that the county re-adopt its ordinance and findings; the board voted to approve the sheriff’s requested actions after public commenters and civil‑liberties groups asked for additional outreach and a postponement.

Why it matters: The AB 481 process is intended to give the public a yearly, statutory opportunity to review what items — from drones and armored vehicles to distraction devices or precision rifles — a local law‑enforcement agency has and how it used them in public. Public concerns at the May 20 hearing focused on the transparency and publicity of a May 8 public meeting the sheriff’s office held; activists urged a delay so more residents could review the annual report. County staff and sheriff’s representatives said the department will expand reporting and public notification in future cycles and that certain reporting practices (for example, adding AR‑15 deployments to the inventory) will change going forward.

Quotes and public comments

- “Please do not vote on this proposal today,” Peter Gelblum of the Santa Cruz County chapter of the ACLU of Northern California told supervisors during the AB 481 hearing, urging continuation so the required “well‑publicized” meeting could be held in a manner he said the county had not met. He told the board: “A B 4 81 specifically … requires at least one well‑publicized and conveniently located community engagement meeting to discuss the report.”

- Lieutenant Dee Baldwin, the sheriff’s AB 481 coordinator, said the office made two substantive changes in response to public concerns: an expanded inventory and a new…