In third city council run, Hector Marin says he’s staying true to his goals: Community advocacy, inclusivity and transparency

Hector Marin has become a recognizable name throughout Santa Cruz over the past four years. He’s twice run for Santa Cruz City Council, first against Greg Hyver and current District 4 City Councilmember Scott Newsome in 2022, and again in 2024, when he challenged District 2 City Councilmember Sonja Brunner.

Although he lost both races, Marin is embarking on his third campaign, once again facing off against Newsome, who is running for his second term. 

Marin told Lookout he loves the city and wants to serve the public. What keeps him running for District 4 – covering downtown and part of the Westside bounded by High Street to the north and Bay Street to the west – is simple, he said: the cost of living.

“As a renter, it’s very unstable in terms of housing and making sure we have a permanent place to call home,” he said. Marin is an English language development and special education aide at Harbor High School, and said that his students and their families face the affordability problem constantly. “This story is reflective of many stories that our children and local working families are going through.”

Marin said he’s focused on being a “unifying voice” in the community, and that he strives to bring the general public together to find solutions to the city’s most pressing issues, such as affordable housing. He is also aiming to host more events for the public, such as community cleanup days.

On affordable housing, Marin said he will advocate to ease the requirements for fully affordable housing projects, reduce red tape and push for rent stabilization that works for both the renter and the property owner.

More broadly, Marin said he wants to establish “cultural overlay zoning districts” so that local establishments or businesses that are popular or historical can be preserved.

Marin said he’s learned that the city will need both market-rate and affordable housing to make the city more affordable, but also that he wants to make sure there are more tangible paths toward ownership for Santa Cruzans. That could include rent-to-own units, like condos, for people to work toward owning their own property in a community with extremely high home prices.

“I’m also the only candidate calling for mixed-income housing,” he said. The Downtown Plan Expansion, he said, encourages housing separation, with lower-income residents and higher-income residents housed in different buildings. “No matter what your socioeconomic status is, you can still be in our community and you are still welcome.”

Marin said he also wants to prioritize creating a “clean, safe and inclusive Santa Cruz.” To do that, he said he’d like to start a program he calls the Santa Cruz Volunteer Corps. The program would bring together community members and partner with nonprofits to continuously clean up and beautify the city. He also wants to introduce educational workshops for youth cyclists and e-bike riders, along with stricter regulations of the powerful electric bikes. 

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With nonprofit Housing Matters’ day services now officially closed, Marin said getting replacement services set up for the unhoused community is a major issue. While some temporary replacement facilities have been established, long-term fixes remain uncertain. He advocates building permanent 24-hour bathroom facilities throughout downtown, with city workers and community safety officers regularly monitoring the areas.

“If there’s a lack of day-center services for unhoused community members, we will see the impacts downtown, and our downtown residents will feel unsafe,” he said. “The city has to step in proactively, provide money and collaborate with the county Office of [Response, Recovery and] Resiliency.”

Marin said he supports the current city council’s January move to exit its contract with Flock Safety and halt use of its automated license plate readers. He said his commitment to helping and protecting local immigrant residents is a major factor in keeping him involved politically. He said District 4 has a large Latino population, particularly in the Beach Flats area, and that the district’s representative needs to take that seriously. He said he wants to make sure the city council and the city manager communicate frequently to stay on top of local federal immigration enforcement, and that federal immigration officers are “prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law” if they try to wrongfully arrest a community member.

Should he be elected, Marin said he will immediately set up meetings with his constituents and host town halls for residents to bring their concerns and issues directly to him. 

He said this will be a continuation of his work in the community, including his teaching job and the various events he has helped host, such as a community toy drive in Beach Flats, a Mexican Independence Day celebration and more.

“We want local government to be a place that goes to you and takes initiative, and we want to get people excited and energized about local government,” Marin said. “That’s what this is about, and that’s what we’ll bring in our city council tenure.”

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