Santa Cruz Spatial is based out of the central coast of California. Founded by Paul Garcia in 2025, Santa Cruz Spatial aims to provide a unique experience by providing personalized GIS services based on your needs.
With 25 years of experience in GIS, Paul has provided GIS services within Santa Cruz County government to numerous agencies and the public.
Paul's area of local GIS specialty has been emergency preparedness and response. Through years of relationship building and simply paying attention, Paul has been on the short list of initial calls when the county Emergency Operations Center is activated. Notable activations include flooding, rain & wind events in 2023 & 2024, PGE PSPS events, and fires large & small. Of course the CZU Fire of 2020 was the single largest modern fire in the county. During the CZU response a severely understaffed GIS team sprang into action, utilizing GIS as a means of situational awareness, field data gathering and public information.
Paul has worked with many agencies providing top notch GIS services to:
Planning Department
District Attorney
Public Works
Environmental Health / Health Services / Human Services
Elections
Fire Agencies
Sheriff's Office
Emergency Services
And also:
Firewise communities
Firesafe council
ARES (amateur radio services)
County Office of Education
Along with making pretty maps, Paul has numerous activities keeping him busy beyond GIS. Many of those fit in neatly with the many reasons that folks move to California's central coast. Beach exploring, forest hikes and biking are favorite ways to enjoy our area. But playing music is at the top of the list of Paul's non-work activities. As a drummer, Paul has played with numerous bands in many genres. The shared connection between musician and audience will always be a call that Paul finds irresistible.