Quick Take
Donna Lind has been a constant in Scotts Valley, having served the city in various roles for nearly 60 years. As she enters her fourth term as mayor, Scotts Valley faces major changes, largely in the form of state-mandated growth. Lind and her councilmember colleagues say she is well-suited to guide the city through the coming challenges.
On her way to interview for a job at Scotts Valley City Hall while she was still in high school in Santa Cruz, Donna Lind and her uncle actually missed the highway exit for Scotts Valley.
“There were no stoplights or signs or anything. The city was just starting out,” she said, recalling the late 1960s, a time when Scotts Valley was far less developed.
Now, nearly 60 years later — and in the year of the city’s 60th anniversary — Lind, 75, has taken the reins as mayor for the fourth time. By 2028, she will have been on the city council for 20 years. In Scotts Valley, the mayor is chosen by the city council and serves a one-year, rotating term. Councilmember Derek Timm held the role in 2025.
Lind said she could’ve waited until her final year on the council to assume the role, but opted for 2026 because the 60th anniversary is meaningful to her.
“It will mean a lot to me to recognize the work that’s been done and the people who brought us here,” she said.
Lind landed that first job with Scotts Valley, as secretary for the city’s first manager, Friend Stone, and it led to many other firsts for Scotts Valley. She worked as an emergency dispatcher before becoming the city’s first female police officer in 1978 and the first female police sergeant later.
Lind said when she was first asked to run for city council prior to her 2008 campaign, she wasn’t sure that holding elected office was right for her. But she soon realized that her time with the police department, which included working as a hostage negotiator, prepared her for an elected role. Additionally, she felt her connection to the community put her in a good position to serve the city, having lived there since she was 15.
“It took me a while [to run for office] because I was going, ‘You guys are crazy,’” she said.
“But I don’t want to see a polished politician, I want someone whose heart is here, who will listen, and be reasonable.”
Since her first city council race in 2008, Lind has seen tumultuous times from the dais, most notably the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis, the CZU fire and the COVID-19 pandemic. She’s assuming leadership again as the city faces another significant change: a state mandate to add housing.
The city’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation allotment, which is determined by the state, requires Scotts Valley to plan for 1,220 new housing units by 2031. Some 803 of them must be for moderate-, low- and very low-income residents. The planning for these units is already well underway, with a number of projects in the pipeline. Lind estimates that there are about 300 units in the planning stages in her city.
She and many other elected leaders in cities and counties around the state are frustrated by these requirements.
“We do need affordable housing, but to remove the local control to where the community doesn’t even have a voice is frustrating,” she said, adding that she believes the 1,220-unit state requirement overcorrects for the jurisdiction’s lack of housing.
When these state requirements were first published in late 2022, Lind recalls 120 mayors and city managers telling state legislators they were concerned that these large housing mandates didn’t come with resources to move the work forward, such funding, grants or environmental waivers.
Although the municipal leaders’ complaints didn’t move the needle, Lind believes she can guide the city as it enters uncharted territory by bringing as much transparency to the housing development process as possible, and making herself and city representatives accessible.
“Part of it is letting people vent, explaining the process and encouraging them to write to their elected officials,” she said. “Being able to make the people feel that they have a voice and that they’re heard is important.”
Lind acknowledged that she can’t stop projects or change the state’s mind on housing requirements, but her many years working for and living in the city puts her in a unique position to listen to residents and discuss their concerns.
Timm, coming off a year as mayor, agreed.
“She has the most longevity of any person in the city of Scotts Valley in an elected or even employee capacity,” he said. “That goes a long way in being able to know how to confront difficult situations, emergencies, and also lead us to good times.”
Councilmember Steve Clark, who, like Lind, worked as a police officer for over 30 years, said that beyond a life of public service, Lind’s has been one of community care.
“She has had this overflowing love and dedication to the people of Scotts Valley ever since she stepped foot into city hall as the secretary,” he said, adding that the two worked together when he worked for Santa Cruz’s police department and she worked for Scotts Valley’s. “It’s an absolute pleasure to be able to work with her on council and see how much she gives to the community. We’re excited about the direction of Scotts Valley and I think we have a great council.”
Clark also acknowledged that the city is on the precipice of change, and said he believes Lind’s historical knowledge will be valuable as the transformation plays out.
“It really helps to have someone you can turn to and get that context, because we have to make hard decisions, and I think we make better and more caring decisions when we understand that context,” he said.
One of Timm’s final acts as mayor was presiding over the approval of the long-awaited Town Center project with 657 housing units, 35,000 square feet of public space and 82,000 square feet of commercial space. While the development represents major growth for the city, Lind said getting the project moving is “huge,” because it has been in the works for decades, and many doubted it would ever materialize.
The city is aiming to interview developers for the project and select one later this year. While some residents have concerns about congestion, traffic and impacts on local businesses, Lind said the city will work with the builders to ensure that the development works for the city.
“This is not going to be plopped down in one place. If a business owner looks and says something will have a negative effect on my nearby business, we can work with the developer,” she said. “As it’s developed, we will be tweaking.”
If this turns out to be Lind’s last dance on the city council, she plans to stay involved in public life in Scotts Valley. She’s a chamber of commerce ambassador, the president of the Fallen Officer Foundation, involved in her church and a member of a bowling league, to name a few of her other pursuits.
“I’m always pretty busy, so if I step away from the council, I’ll probably have more time to do some of those other things,” she said. “But I know I’d stay here and stay involved. My heart is totally here.”
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