Running for Mayor

After the election on June 2, Santa Cruz may–or may not–have a new mayor. Unless one of the candidates receives more than 50% of the vote, there will be a run-off election in November between the top two vote-getters. Each of the five candidates running has a distinct vision for what ails Santa Cruz and what the remedy might be. And each one speaks for—and to—a distinct constituency.

After the second filing period ended May 16, Santa Cruz mayoral candidate Ryan Coonerty had amassed more than $67,000, remaining the most funded candidate in this year’s race. According to his financial disclosure form (form 460), he represents constituencies of business owners, real estate developers, members of Santa Cruz’s current City Council, land-use non-profits, retirees, and more. In the last month, Coonerty collected almost $6,000 from real estate and development interests, accumulating $3,750 from individuals such as Tom and Charles Canfield, both members of the family behind the Santa Cruz Seaside Company, which runs the Boardwalk, and Joe Appenrodt, who has developed numerous commercial properties.

A lecturer at UCSC and an advisor to San Jose mayor Matt Mahan, Coonerty says if elected, he will focus on meeting state-mandated housing development goals while trying not to disrupt existing neighborhoods. With the rate of homelessness going down in the city, Coonerty claims that a majority of the unhoused population suffer from mental illness and substance abuse.

However, the rate of first-time homelessness has increased and with Trump cutting housing subsidies, people who live in 250 Section 8 homes could be on the verge of homelessness. Coonerty’s strategy is to vary outreach that offers shelter and treatment, but if that doesn’t work, to look into programs like Care Court or conservatorship, which would compel people into treatment.

Coonerty’s priority will also be to cut the time it takes to get permits for new businesses in Santa Cruz.

“Many of our problems cannot be solved by the city council passing resolutions,” Coonerty said. “It’s going to require pulling people together from the business community, from nonprofits…and I think I have a track record of doing that effectively to create good outcomes for the community.” 

Gillian Greensite raised $7124 in both filing periods, mostly from retired individuals, according to her Form 460. She ran the Rape Prevention Education Program at UCSC for 30 years and served on the Santa Cruz Civil Grand Jury in 2023-2024, drafting investigative reports including “Housing for Whom,” which made a series of recommendations on how the city’s priorities for affordable housing—focusing on local people and low-income workers—should be followed.

Greensite says she is aware that moving toward any of her goals would require a process of consultation and collaboration. She would like to reopen the question of preferences for affordable housing, as she believes that low-wage workers are driving long distances to their jobs in Santa Cruz, while people outside the city are taking affordable housing units. She says that the city’s websites confirm that twice the number of housing units required by the state were built in the last cycle, and that in the next cycle, 264 more units than required are scheduled for approval–but the city is not tracking who is occupying them.

She believes that while Santa Cruz is under pressure from the state to build more housing, it can control the pace of growth more than it has. It can also challenge the state on issues of carrying capacity, for example, whether Dominican Hospital can sustain the pressures of new residents. The effect of large, dense developments, she says, is that we’re losing “our sense of place.”

People who support her, she says, believe she is experienced enough to understand the issues and can raise questions without alienating others. “I’m a stickler for accuracy,” she says, “and rely on facts and evidence.”

Chris Krohn also had a number of retired donors, as well as various professionals and two contractors among his donors; over the last two filing periods, he raised $6,702, according to his Form 460. He was for 2o years the Environmental Studies internship coordinator at UCSC; he served on the City Council in 2020 but was recalled, ostensibly because he opposed closing an encampment for unhoused people and was accused of workplace misconduct. All but one of those allegations were dismissed after an exhaustive investigation by the city; according to the city’s report, the only one that was sustained found that he scoffed during a city staff member’s presentation. Among the donors to the recall were real estate interests.

If he were elected mayor, he says his first priority would be to listen to the public in a series of meetings and find out what their concerns are: “People are visibly upset and they feel helpless” about the direction of the city. Similarly, he proposes asking unhoused people themselves what vision they have for solutions to their situation; he wonders, for example, whether an RV park would solve the problem of RVs parked in neighborhoods. And he would refocus the priorities of development around housing for low-income people. “I’m running to restore some balance,” he said, and added ‘Santa Cruz is not for sale.”

Having raised $11,580 in the last two filing periods, Ami Chen Mills describes her donors as family and friends–various professionals, a contractor, several retired and unemployed people, according to her Form 460. She is a lecturer at UCSC and has been a journalist, an activist with Ecology Action, and a mental health volunteer assisting unhoused people. She is known for her successful campaign to remove automatic license plate surveillance cameras from the city; Flock, the camera company, has leaked information to ICE, she argues.

 If her campaign is successful, she will be the first Asian American mayor in Santa Cruz since the late Jane Yokoyama served in 1990-1991. As she points out, 10 per cent of the population of Santa Cruz is Asian American/Pacific Islander, and they deserve representation.

She would like to see a blanket policy on data collection, dialogue and transparency around city business (including Monday night community meetings before Tuesday City Council meetings), a clear policy on affordable housing, and secure funding for interim shelters and unhoused people. She believes that though community members differ on strategies for homelessness, “The community shares one goal: To get people housed.”

Those who support her “know I am a person of integrity,” she says, and they expect she will be true to her platform. 

Joy Schendledecker is a shelter worker with a close-up understanding of the stakes and challenges for unhoused people. She’d like to see homelessness understood as an economic problem, addressed through less punitive solutions. People who live outside are stereotyped, she says, and their situation is exacerbated by the removal of safe places to sleep, intensifying sleep deprivation and therefore physical and mental illnesses.

If she were elected, she says, her first priority would be to fill unfilled city positions;  remaining workers are stressed and safety concerns are unaddressed. She understands funding limits but points out that when funding is restored, it tends to go to higher-level positions. She would like the city to address growing economic inequality among its residents, via progressive taxation, such as an empty homes tax.

Schendledeckerraised $3400 in the last two filing periods from retired people, teachers, and Santa Cruz for Bernie. People who support her, she says, including SEUI, expect her to be consistent with her values, to stand up for renters, workers, and the working poor. They want to see participatory democracy—precinct assemblies, participatory budgeting, more accessible City Council meetings. “We want a democracy where the people are choosing,” she says, “not just electing a representative that does what they want for their donor class.”