There are three Scotts Valley City Council seats up for grabs this election, and Donna Lind, a retired Scotts Valley Police Department sergeant, is the only sitting member seeking another term. She’s formed a slate with food industry salesman Corky Roberson and retired Santa Cruz Police Department deputy chief Steve Clark, in hopes of edging out nurse Krista Jett, IT contractor John Lewis, UCSC student Dustin Lopez and mobile app founder Mercedes Molloy.
His candidacy has prompted critics to revisit Clark’s contentious relationships with the homeless community, reporters, police accountability advocates, members of the media and civil liberties activists over the years.
“I have a deep history of community involvement and volunteering that has forged relationships,” he told Good Times, in an email Sunday. “I understand the issues that affect the day-to-day lives of Scotts Valley residents.”
While many of his opponents are political newcomers, Clark has a public record, with his name appearing in police reports, court cases, council documents, press statements and other places, many of them dating back decades.
Clark—who’s running on a platform of prioritizing public safety, improving schools and parks, supporting small business and managing residential growth—grew up in San José and joined SCPD in 1986. He garnered a reputation as an enthusiastic drugs cop as he rose through the ranks. “I believe in protecting the community from gang violence that follows these types of crime,” he said. Clark retired in 2016.
Over the years, he attracted complaints from members of the unhoused and social justice communities who say he engaged in threats and intimidation—though he denies a published report that accused him of threatening to kick a homeless man’s injured leg in the 1980s if he didn’t leave town.
He says he doesn’t remember the specifics of one enforcement action in the mid-’90s involving three homeless individuals, Anthony Patango, Pat Ring and Dan Hopkins. In that instance, he reportedly confiscated at least one of their blankets in the middle of the night. But, Clark says his graveyard patrol team was tasked with addressing an “ongoing illegal camping operation” at City Hall and says he does remember that Ring was cited on multiple occasions.
“Because of the repeated nature of the violations and construction of the campsite, the city attorney gave direction to seize the bedding materials as evidence,” he said. “As a patrol officer, it was my job to follow directions.”
As Scotts Valley allies have rallied to his cause. Clark has collected endorsements in a variety of quarters, such as from former Santa Cruz County supervisor Ryan Coonerty, prominent realtor Robert Aldana and retired SVPD chief John Weiss.
During his early days in the political arena, he faced criticism from members of the progressive community. In September 1992, following a Council meeting in which Clark spoke as president of the Peace Officers Association, then-Santa Cruz mayor Don Lane wrote him a letter stating he was “extremely troubled” by Clark’s remarks.
“In addition to my perception that you presented an attitude of self-righteousness and arrogance, I found the substance of your remarks offensive and counter-productive,” Lane said. “Many people, including myself, will find it difficult to ‘forgive’ or ‘forget’ your stance of obstruction, name-calling and insensitivity to the public’s desire for police accountability and scrutiny.” Clark says the Association believed the City was being dismissive of officer well being—and was actually violating the terms of their contract.
“Mayor Lane and I had a very cordial and productive relationship in the years that followed,” he said. “Mr. Lane would invite me to his classrooms at UCSC to speak with his students and answer questions from a law enforcement perspective.”
On March 29, 1996, Clark was the subject of a complaint by John Malkin, who’d helped establish the Citizens’ Police Review Board. It centered on an Aug. 2, 1995, letter Clark wrote to the city manager, as POA president, in which he’d taken issue with the group’s newsletter and singled Malkin out, calling his fears of police cover-ups “absurd.”
But it was an Aug. 30, 1995, meeting, involving Clark, Malkin and Police Review Board Chair Kaye Bowden, that Malkin says haunts him to this day. According to the complaint, Clark told him, “I have been investigating you” and “we have a file on you.” He even produced a copy of the thesis Malkin wrote as a Community Studies major at UCSC—about the possible creation of a police review board. Malkin, an investigative reporter who contributes to Good Times, said he found the interaction “upsetting and scary.”
A few days after the meeting, Bowden typed a letter to Clark that echoed the one he’d received from the mayor a few years earlier. “We respect your right to comment on the content of the newsletter articles and welcome constructive criticism. However, your personal comment about John Malkin’s motives caused us some concern,” she said.
Questions about the incident resurfaced after Clark sought to discredit a 2015 article Malkin wrote for Good Times, which included an account of the meeting. It also featured former Santa Cruz mayors Chris Krohn and Tim Fitzmaurice detailing a confrontation with Clark during a City Council meeting discussing the acquisition of a BearCat armored truck for the local department.
Both former mayors opposed the idea. According to Fitzmaurice, he and Krohn stepped into the courtyard and Clark followed them out, accusing them of having their facts wrong.
“It was a disturbing display of lack of control,” Fitzmaurice said at the time. Now, almost 10 years later, Fitzmaurice says he’s surprised to hear he’s running for office. “You’re asked to listen to people who are going to present opinions that are contrary to yours,” he said. “It’s important that you listen with respect.”
Former Santa Cruz City Council member Micah Posner locked horns with Clark when Council considered the acquisition of Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) cameras. He says Clark threatened him during a coffee shop meeting.
According to Posner, Clark implied he knew of ways to target him indirectly and in secret.
“The problem with Steve is not his political views—which are far-right Republican—the problem with Steve is the way he achieves his political goals,” he said. According to Clark, it was actually a “cordial, but frank” conversation. “Mr. Posner claims he went to the city manager to complain about the meeting and the city manager took no action,” Clark said. “If my comments were inappropriate, certainly I would have heard from the city manager.”
Robert Aldana says it’s important to look at the sources who are criticizing Clark, noting Posner was censured for renting out an illegal dwelling in his backyard. He says Clark has carved out a solid reputation as a civic contributor in Scotts Valley. “The Steve Clark I know has given countless hours of volunteering at church, mentoring and being a great shoulder to lean on when others need guidance,” he said. “That is the man I know.”
Clark took to KSBW’s airwaves to call Santa Cruz City Council hopeful Leonie Sherman an “anarchist” without evidence. While he was speaking on behalf of the police union, he was also then the SCPD spokesperson and the force’s deputy chief. Sherman had participated in the 1999 “Battle in Seattle” protests against the World Trade Organization.
Sherman said she was simply engaging in “civil disobedience.” She ended up losing the race by 303 votes (less than 1%) to Richelle Noroyan, who was endorsed by the city’s police and fire unions.
Sherman says she finds Clark’s election bid concerning. “I did hear that he was running for City Council in Scotts Valley, and I’m guessing that people in Scotts Valley are not aware of his actions when he was deputy chief of police for the city of Santa Cruz,” she said.
Clark stands by his comments about Sherman. “The Union was concerned when they learned of Ms. Sherman’s involvement with protests that turned violent,” he said. “She had at least some involvement in these protests.”
Updated Nov. 1, 2024 at 3:15pm
