Hello everyone! My name is Melinda Orbach. I am so grateful I get to call Capitola home and I love being able to raise my family in this beautiful community.  I am running for City Council because the western half of our city, which is responsible for 83% of annual sales tax revenue and has been identified for 90% of projected future housing development, needs more representation on City Council. The future of the City is 41st Avenue, and the existing and future residents in this area need to have a voice in the policy making and budgeting processes that will shape that future.

Capitola is facing critical issues and the community will have to change to address them.  Whether it’s more frequent coastal storms due to climate change, new housing laws from Sacramento, the decline of brick and mortar retail, or an influx of new residents and visitors seeking relief from the oppressive heat of inland California, the status quo is clearly not going to work in our ever-changing world.  If we want to survive and thrive, we need to change our way of thinking about everything from housing to building codes to transportation.  

I have ideas for how we can adapt, but even if I am elected, I will only be one of five City Council members.  I am committed to working with councilmembers Clarke, Pedersen, Brooks, and whoever else is elected to tackle the challenges we face head on, whether it’s adaptation to sea level rise, building more workforce housing, or providing more active and public transportation options.  The only guaranteed way to fail is through inaction.  I look forward to working with the other elected officials to identify the actions we need to take to revitalize our commercial corridor along 41st Avenue, provide the workforce housing we desperately need, and evolve into the community I know we can become.