Quick Take
With ballots set to go out to voters on Monday, Santa Cruz mayoral candidate Ryan Coonerty says his discussions with prospective voters show a great deal of concern with quality-of-life issues. He says he doesn’t hear the same concern about his policies and political positions that his opponents have raised.
Ryan Coonerty is no stranger to campaigning, having served as a Santa Cruz city councilmember, mayor and county supervisor over the past two decades. He said that although many of the issues the community faces aren’t new, they have evolved. There’s a “broad frustration” that quality-of-life issues aren’t being addressed with more urgency, he said, with a heightened anxiety about the current job market a newer concern among the electorate.
“It’s everything from traffic to encampments to beautification to proposed developments that are out of scale and will impact adjacent neighborhoods,” he said. “I’m hearing at the doors that people love Santa Cruz, they love living here, and they’re also frustrated by these issues where they want to see more progress.”
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Coonerty said that his platform and the issues he’s most concerned about haven’t changed much since he first announced his bid for mayor, but said balancing issues is always a challenge.
“There are 30 issues at any given time that the city needs to figure out how to respond to,” he said, naming road maintenance and pushing back against proposed offshore oil drilling as examples of both basic and complex problems. “I don’t know that we’ve added to the variety of issues, but I feel like I’m getting a more nuanced view of these issues from my conversations with community members.”
On job creation, given its emergence as a major community worry, Coonerty said he wants to ensure businesses currently operating can continue to do so. That means meeting with them to understand their needs, whether it’s a facade makeover, a parklet or another amenity. He also wants to ensure that the city pitches Santa Cruz as a place with talented people and a good quality of life.
“There’s no better way to connect to a community than to open a brick-and-mortar store and get to know your neighbors,” he said. “You can bring your skills and business acumen to a community and get an economic benefit, but also community benefit.”
Coonerty said that the issues cited by opponents — namely his support for automated license-plate readers and his advisor role for San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, now running a campaign for governor that has received sizable donations from tech moguls – don’t come up at all when walking neighborhoods and talking to residents. He said his work with Mahan has “nothing to do with technology,” and that his position on automated license-plate readers is the same as the current city council’s.
“If there’s a way to [use automated license-plate readers] that doesn’t have the concerns with the current administration’s abuse of civil liberties, then we should explore those,” he said. However, he added that he’s not in a rush to do so, especially during a Trump administration.
His opponents point out that Coonerty also has received donations from real estate agents and developers as well as consulting fees from development firms such as Lawlor Land Use. But he said that doesn’t change his stance on development in Santa Cruz. He also said he wouldn’t do any consulting for local projects should he win the mayorship. He said he would also make sure any work he undertakes complies with conflict-of-interest laws. He added that about 90% of his contributions are from locals, regardless of what industry they work in.
“I have made clear that I believe that there are good projects that benefit the community, provide needed housing or revenue that are real pain points for the community,” he said. “I’m also completely prepared to fight against bad projects.”
Overall, Coonerty thinks his experience speaks for itself, as well as his commitment to the community as someone who has started businesses, run nonprofits and volunteered.
“I love this community. I believe that with focus, we can improve our quality of life and create opportunities for everybody,” he said. “I think I have the skills, knowledge, experience and relationships to get the outcomes the community wants.”
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FOR THE RECORD: The headline has been updated to clarify that criticism of Coonerty from opponents has not come up in conversations with residents.
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