Ryan Coonerty
Candidate for Mayor, Santa Cruz
Ryan Coonerty was born and raised in Santa Cruz and returned to elected politics after a three-year break from public office. He served on the Santa Cruz City Council from 2004 to 2012, including as mayor in 2008 and 2011, then completed two terms as Santa Cruz County's District 3 Supervisor from 2014 to 2022, following his father Neal Coonerty in both the council and supervisor seats. As supervisor he worked on programs for low-income families, helped bring a Golden State Warriors G League team to Santa Cruz, and worked on establishing the Cotoni-Coast Dairies National Monument, along with clean-energy initiatives and advocacy against predatory lending and unregulated vacation rentals. He currently teaches law and government at UC Santa Cruz and Cal State Monterey Bay, directs Leadership Santa Cruz County, and co-hosts a political podcast.
Positions in brief
Coonerty's platform centers on managing growth to keep Santa Cruz affordable while protecting neighborhood character, addressing unmanaged homeless encampments through accountability paired with services, and revitalizing downtown through economic development and clean, well-maintained public spaces.
On his campaign site, Coonerty says he will fight out-of-scale development while protecting neighborhoods and creating affordable housing for local residents, and wants UC Santa Cruz to build more student housing before expanding enrollment further. On homelessness, he wants to end unmanaged encampments through a combination of accountability measures and effective, humane services, and has argued other jurisdictions in the county should share responsibility for homeless-services funding rather than concentrating the cost in Santa Cruz. He wants downtown and neighborhoods kept clean, safe and well-maintained and the city prepared for natural disasters. On the economy, he wants to fill vacant downtown storefronts, create jobs, and establish a permanent farmers' market. He supports protecting the city's greenbelt, parks and the bay, and wants to improve affordability for seniors and working people. He has also said the city should resist federal immigration enforcement targeting undocumented residents and defend LGBTQ+ residents from federal targeting.
On the issues
Supports building affordable housing while opposing out-of-scale development that changes neighborhood character; wants UC Santa Cruz to build more student housing before expanding enrollment.
“Fight out-of-scale development, protect neighborhoods and create affordable housing for locals”
Source →Wants to end unmanaged street encampments through a combination of accountability measures and effective, humane services, and believes other county jurisdictions should share responsibility for homeless services rather than concentrating the cost in Santa Cruz.
“End unmanaged encampments through accountability and effective, humane solutions”
Source →Wants downtown and neighborhoods kept clean, safe and well-maintained, and supports preparing the city for natural disasters.
“clean, safe and beautiful”
Source →Wants to fill vacant downtown storefronts, create jobs, and establish a permanent farmers' market, promoting Santa Cruz's economic-development brand to attract investment.
“Fill vacant storefronts and create jobs”
Source →Supports protecting the city's greenbelt, parks, and the bay.
“Protect greenbelt, parks, and bay”
Source →Wants to improve affordability for seniors and working people in Santa Cruz.
“Improve affordability for seniors and working people”
Source →Says the city should resist federal immigration enforcement targeting undocumented residents.
“Resist the Trump Administration's targeting of undocumented and LGBTQ+ neighbors”
Source →Says the city should resist federal targeting of LGBTQ+ residents.
“Resist the Trump Administration's targeting of undocumented and LGBTQ+ neighbors”
Source →
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