Mark Conley

Follow Mark Conley on: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. Mark joins Lookout after 14 years at the Mercury News and Bay Area News Group, where he served as Deputy Sports Editor on a staff that covered three World Series, three Super Bowls, five NBA Finals, a Stanley Cup Final, six Olympic Games and three U.S. Opens over that span. He led enterprise coverage and special projects, and guided the Merc’s premium NFL and MLB magazines to five straight years of top APSE honors.Mark chaired a digital innovation committee and partook in the Table Stakes program that led to the newsroom’s establishment of a digital subscription team and a product development approach to coverage. He helped build brands around Pac-12 and high schools coverage via robust newsletters, social engagement, promotional deals and targeted audience content. Both coverage areas became top digital subscription drivers in the sports department — and the newsroom as a whole.Mark has lived in Santa Cruz County — Westside, Eastside, Midtown and now Capitola — for more than 20 years and has a passion for seeing journalism restored in the place he lives and loves.“This county is such a special place, and it’s as much about the people who choose to live here as the magical geography,” he says. “I’m looking forward to helping tell the stories of Santa Cruz County.”
Posted inCoast Life

Unhoused Santa Cruz: The struggle for families is real — and for one family, tragedy followed triumph

by Mark Conley

The number of families experiencing homelessness in Santa Cruz County continues to increase despite the efforts by local leaders to prioritize them. Lookout learned that the number hit a two-year high in January after spiking by 27% over the past six months. One family saw the hard work needed to get rehoused finally pay off. During their day of celebration, tragedy struck.

Posted inPolitics & Policy

‘New voices, new perspectives’: What will a board of supervisors shake-up in the June election bring?

by Mark Conley and Grace Stetson

With now two open seats, diversity and change overall are in the air. How much change, led by whom and to what kinds of new spending and policy priorities, will be key questions to follow as both races heat up. It was just last week the second open seat appeared, as South County District 4 Supervisor Greg Caput surprised many by saying he wouldn’t run for reelection after 12 years in the job.

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