Santa Cruz city, county elected leaders split on Israel-Hamas cease-fire

Does a local elected body carry a responsibility to take a position in international crises? The answer in Santa Cruz appears to be sometimes yes, sometimes no. 

Santa Cruz’s mayor and city councilmembers initially had plans to tackle hyperlocal issues during the year’s final city council meeting Tuesday. The marquee items were fixing to be surveillance-state concerns tied to the police department’s request for automatic license plate readers, and an eight-year housing plan. 

However, a war is raging between Israel and Hamas, and political tensions are surging globally and on Main Street. It wasn’t on the agenda, but Santa Cruz residents decided they want their elected leaders to take a stand against the bloodshed, as more and more local jurisdictions are being called on to do. Hundreds showed up to city hall Tuesday and turned the first nearly four hours of the meeting into an impassioned plea for city leaders to draft and pass a cease-fire resolution. 

In a tense 5-2 vote, the Santa Cruz City Council majority voted to draft a cease-fire resolution and requested a special meeting in December to bring it back for a vote. Councilmembers Sandy Brown and Sonja Brunner will work with the community on developing the resolution. City Manager Matt Huffaker emphasized the holiday would make scheduling difficult, so the vote might not happen until the city council’s Jan. 9 meeting. Councilmembers Scott Newsome and Vice Mayor Renée Golder voted no. Councilmembers Martine Watkins and Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson each visibly hesitated before voting yes.

Only hours earlier and a half-mile up Water Street, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to reject a cease-fire resolution brought by Supervisor Justin Cummings. Cummings and Supervisor Felipe Hernandez, the dais’ newest supervisors, were the lone yes votes. In voting no, the others said such a resolution would work only to further divide the community, and reached beyond the influence of county government.  

However, both bodies have waded into international issues before. In March 2022, supervisors passed a resolution condemning “in the strongest possible terms” the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In August of this year, Supervisor Manu Koenig signed a proclamation commemorating the 32nd anniversary of Ukrainian independence. In February of this year, Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley proclaimed Feb. 24, 2023, Solidarity with the People of Ukraine Day. In the early 2000s, the Santa Cruz City Council was one of the first in the U.S. to oppose the country’s invasion of Iraq. 

The Israel-Hamas war has proved more complicated and divisive. 

Santa Cruz City Hall turned into a chamber of cease-fire support Tuesday. Most who spoke in person implored the city council to draft a resolution. The relative few who pushed back against the idea delivered their position remotely, over the phone. They disagreed that a local city council had any responsibility to wade into international issues, questioned the logistics of a cease-fire, and argued that supporters of Palestinians were not laying enough blame on Hamas for the bloodshed. 

Many of the supporters asked city councilmembers to call a special meeting later in December and pass a cease-fire resolution modeled on the language the Oakland City Council unanimously passed last month, which also calls for the release of all hostages and unrestricted access into Gaza for humanitarian assistance. 

“You are in a position of power, you have influence,” local organizer Kayla Kumar, the afternoon’s first speaker, said. “Although it is a small step, it is an important step.” 

Santa Cruz decided to take its own direction. Councilmembers Brown and Brunner wanted to model the resolution after Oakland’s. Councilmember Kalantari-Johnson, who grew up in revolution-era Iran, said she has met with community members of the Muslim and Jewish faiths to understand what she can do as a city councilmember to help them feel safe. However, she said she was unsure how she’d land on a cease-fire resolution, but would be open to formally calling for a humanitarian response. 

“This is complicated. The death of human beings is not complicated, but this is complicated, with a lot of history,” Kalantari-Johnson said. “I don’t know what a resolution might do but create more divisiveness in our community.” 

Keeley said he would be open to seeing a resolution, but emphasized he wouldn’t support any language that refers to a genocide of the Palestinian people. 

“I am standing with Israel,” Keeley said. 

Golder said she was displeased that the lengthy public comments were extending the meeting time, and that long meetings turned people off from running for public office. She said she was not interested in passing a cease-fire resolution. At one point, Golder said the city council needed to move onto its “actual work.” These comments prompted loud and pointed comments from the audience toward Golder. 

Golder pointed to the exchange as an example of the tensions wrought by the war. 

“This is divisive, and I’m not willing to sign onto anything that is going to further divide our community,” Golder said.

FOR THE RECORD: A previous version of this story incorrectly described the substance of the Santa Cruz City Council’s vote Tuesday. The council voted to draft a cease-fire resolution and call for a special December meeting. Lookout regrets the error.

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