Ryan Coonerty

Ryan Coonerty is the mayor of Santa Cruz, California. He was born in Carmel, California on March 10, 1974 and raised in Santa Cruz. As well as being mayor, he currently serves as vice president of his family’s bookstore, Bookshop Santa Cruz. Coonerty is also a lecturer in the Legal Studies department at the University of California Santa Cruz and in the Political Science department at Cabrillo College. Coonerty is the author of "Etched in Stone: Enduring Words From Our Nation's Monuments".

Early Life and Education

Ryan Coonerty graduated from Santa Cruz’s public school system and attended the University of Oregon, where he graduated from the Honor’s College. He received a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and a law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. Prior to attending law school, he managed a school bond campaign for Santa Cruz City Schools that raised $86 million to repair and remodel school facilities and served as an outreach coordinator for Assemblymember Fred Keeley. Following law school, he served as legislative counsel for the Markle Foundation Task Force on National Security in the Information Age in Washington, DC. Previously, he was on the professional staff for the National Commission on Federal Election Reform, which was chaired by former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford. Coonerty has been involved in numerous community activities including serving on the board of the Santa Cruz Community Credit Union, Dientes Community Dental Care, Santa Cruz Education Foundation, and the Locally Owned Business Alliance. In 2004, he was elected to a four-year term on the Santa Cruz City Council.

Electoral History

In 2004, Ryan Coonerty challenged four incumbents in his race for a seat on the Santa Cruz City Council. He gained endorsements from many groups, including the Democratic Women’s Club, the People’s Democratic Club, College Democrats, GLBT Alliance, BAYMEC, Santa Cruz Sentinel, Metro Santa Cruz, City on a Hill Press, and Locally Owned Business Alliance. He was elected with 17,379 votes out of 32,000 votes cast – the second most votes received by a candidate in the history of Santa Cruz.

On November 27, 2007, he was elected Mayor of Santa Cruz. This marked the first time a child of a former Santa Cruz mayor was elected to the post. Neal Coonerty, his father, had served for four years on the council from 1990 to 1994 and had also served as mayor of Santa Cruz for one year in 1994.

In February 2007, Ryan Coonerty announced his candidacy in the 2008 California State Assembly race for the 27th District. [ [http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2007/February/01/local/stories/09local.htm "Santa Cruz Sentinel", 1 Feb 2007] ] By April he had bowed out of the race citing demands on his time.

City Council

In his term on the Santa Cruz City Council, Ryan Coonerty expressed his intention to bring together labor union members, social service providers, environmentalists, and local businesspeople to promote innovative strategies to improve the quality of life in Santa Cruz. Some of his efforts have received national attention, including the creation of an Ayuda Linea (Help Line) for day laborers to report incidents of abuse¹. Coonerty led an effort to invest part of the City’s reserve funds in local financial institutions to stimulate the local economy — an effort praised by the National Center for Local Sustainability as a model practice. Coonerty also authored an ordinance to incentivize small for-sale housing units to be built, which will allow teachers, city workers, firefighters, police and young professionals to buy into an expensive housing market.

Coonerty created an interagency task force to coordinate efforts to increase the safety, cleanliness, and promotion of Downtown Santa Cruz. [ [http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2007/February/18/local/stories/02local.htm "Santa Cruz Sentinel", 18 Feb 2007] ] He also worked with local artists to streamline the City’s permitting process so that musicians could play in restaurants and cafes without having to seek a permit from the Police Department³.

Coonerty has voted to preserve six acres of the city’s greenbelt from development and has sponsored resolutions supporting coastal protection and limits on pollution. Coonerty spearheaded the effort to have Santa Cruz partner with Ecology Action to implement green practices in city facilities and local businesses to dramatically reduce energy usage and pollution and to enable private and public cost savings.

Coonerty also formed a working group to establish a hi-tech research and development park and university-city technology transfer project on vacant industrial lands.

Coonerty has voted to increase funding for social service programs, including funding for the Homeless Garden Project, the Homeless Services Center and the Familia Center every year he has been on the City Council Fact|date=July 2008. In 2007, he co-sponsored a successful request to provide additional funding for the Homeless Services Center to increase their shelter and shower facilities.

Coonerty fought to bring Santa Cruz the Coast Hotel Development project, that would have generated dozens of jobs with good pay and benefits as well as more than $1 million a year in additional tax revenues that could have been used to support social services, road repair and parks and recreation programs. The hotel was supported by labor unions, art groups, and the business community. During City Council debate over the proposal, supported a council vote after more than dozen public meetings and 10 hours of public testimony in just the final two hearings. Coonerty also made motions that decreased the massings of the hotel 8% and provided more than $1 million to assist the adjacent mobile home community.

Coonerty was elected Mayor of Santa Cruz in November 2007.

Teaching career

Coonerty began his teaching career at the University of California Santa Cruz in 2003 in the Legal Studies department. Coonerty teaches Civil Liberties in the Age of Terrorism; Jews, Anti-Semitism and the American Legal System; Law and Democracy; and Constitutional Law. In 2006, Coonerty began teaching at Cabrillo College, located in Santa Cruz County. Coonerty teaches International Relations and American Government in the Political Science department at Cabrillo.

Criticism

While courting progressive votes in the historically progressive community of Santa Cruz, critics of Coonerty argue that his record tells a different story. In the press, Coonerty has been touted as a "pragmatic progressive." To charges of conservatism, Coonerty responds, "I believe we're in a different era. It's time to make the table a little bigger, to maybe not have big fights but instead look at a number of targeted policies." [cite news | url=http://www.metroactive.com/papers/cruz/04.06.05/coonerty-0514.html | title=Native Son | publisher=Metro Publishing | accessdate=2008-02-25]

Reaffirms Sleeping Ban

In November 2007, Coonerty, reaffirmed his support for the Santa Cruz outdoor sleeping ban (also known as the Camping Ban) in spite of a California Supreme Court decisions declaring similar local California laws unconstitutional. [City Code 6.36, subsection "camping"] [cite news | url=http://cityonahillpress.com/article.php?id=908 | title=A Law to Criminalize Sleep? | publisher=City on a Hill Press | accessdate=2008-02-254] [cite news | url=http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/11/14/18461204.php | title=Sleeping Ban Debate – Broadcast on Community TV Voices of the Village | publisher=Santa Cruz Community TV | accessdate=2008-02-25] This law was challenged most visibly by a homeless camp-out on the lawns of City Hall in August 2007. Then Vice-Mayor, Coonerty refused to meet with homeless advocates. This local law has yet to be challenged in court. Though Coonerty has never voted on the outdoor sleeping ban which has been in effect since 1978, he has publicly voiced his support for the law.

Restricts Public Assembly in Public Lots

Also in November 2007, Coonerty co-sponsored a Santa Cruz law ostensibly prohibiting loitering in public parking lots, but effectively prohibiting public assembly in acres of public space. While the city manager cited safety concerns in the parking lots, scant data on parking lot crime was provided. [cite news | url=http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/10/04/18451726.php | title=Ban on Public Assemblies in Public Parking Lots at City Council Next Tuesday | publisher=Santa Cruz Indymedia | accessdate=2008-02-25] The law came principally at the request of city staff, their union representatives, city Redevelopment Agency, and Santa Cruz Police Department. [cite news | url=http://www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/pw/dc/2007/minutes/052407m.pdf | title=Downtown Commission Minutes | publisher=City of Santa Cruz | accessdate=2008-03-06] Earlier, Coonerty had co-sponsored a law prohibiting loitering and public assembly in city-owned parking garages. The Santa Cruz Sentinel said, "Councilman Ryan Coonerty, a strong defender of the ordinance, said parking lots are meant for nothing more than parking cars and bikes." [cite news | url=http://www.hiway17.com/news.php?extend.577 | title=Dawdling in Santa Cruz parking lots may now cost you | publisher=Santa Cruz Sentinel | accessdate=2008-02-25]

tepped-up Enforcement of Downtown Ordinances

In February 2007, Coonerty lead an effort to step-up enforcement of the outdoor sleeping ban and a set of laws pushed through a decade earlier by his father, former mayor Neil Coonerty, called collectively the "downtown ordinances," which include sitting, standing, performance, and panhandling restrictions in downtown Santa Cruz. "There is a sense of urgency now because people don't feel comfortable downtown. We have to respond to that," Coonerty said. [cite news | url=http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/02/13/18362577.php?show_comments=1 | title=Downtown difficulties bring new sense of urgency for S.C. leaders | publisher=Santa Cruz Sentinel | accessdate=2008-02-25] While merchants, such as Coonerty, whose family owns Bookshop Santa Cruz, welcome the "clean up" of downtown, the downtown ordinances have faced fierce public opposition for years. [cite news | author=Wong, May | title=Protesters Test New Laws and Police Make Arrests | publisher=Santa Cruz Sentinel | date=May 5th, 1994] [cite news | author=Wong, May | title=Protesters Challenge New Laws | publisher=Santa Cruz Sentinel | date=May 12th, 1994]

upported Police Spying

In early 2006, Coonerty voiced unqualified support for Santa Cruz police after it was discovered that undercover officers had infiltrated community meetings organizing an unpermitted New Year's parade. Coonerty opposed an independent investigation and supported an investigation by police of their own behavior. The investigation was lead by the police administrator who ordered the original undercover investigation. Predictably, police cleared themselves of any wrongdoing. Santa Cruz own police auditor Bob Aaronson later concluded, "in my opinion, the Santa Cruz Police Department violated the Last Night DIY Parade organizers' rights to privacy, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly in the manner in which they went about obtaining information about the organizers' activities," [cite news | url=http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/03/22/18097101.php | title=Independent Investigation: SCPD Violated Civil Rights Of Organizers | publisher=Santa Cruz Indymedia | accessdate=2008-02-25] After Aaronson panned the City Council-requested Police investigation, Coonerty altered course and stated, "The most important thing is to move forward and to design a policy that allows the police to do their job and at the same time protect civil liberties." [cite news | url=http://www.ksbw.com/news/8210403/detail.html | title=Santa Cruz Police React To Auditor's Report | publisher=KSBW Action News 8 | accessdate=2008-02-25]

upported Coastal Hotel Development

In January 2005, Coonerty threw his support behind the proposed Coast Hotel and Conference Center Development on the Santa Cruz main beach. Despite widespread community opposition, the hotel was supported by labor unions, art groups, and the business community. Supporters point out that it would have been the first green certified, union built and operated hotel on the west coast. During City Council debate over the proposal, Coonerty opposed additional community involvement and pushed to rush the vote. [cite news | url=http://www.metroactive.com/papers/cruz/04.06.05/coonerty-0514.html | title=Native Son | publisher=Metro Publishing | accessdate=2008-02-25] After increased opposition and a signature gathering campaign, the project was withdrawn by its developers.

Etched In Stone

Coonerty is the author of a new book from National Geographic, entitled "Etched in Stone – Enduring Words From Our Nation’s Monuments". The book evokes our nation's heritage and aspirations by chronicling the words engraved on 50 public spaces across the United States. The book features a foreword by historian Douglas Brinkley and photos from photographer Carol Highsmith. Upon its release, "Etched in Stone" was profiled in the Wall Street Journal and Coonerty was interviewed on National Public Radio.

"Across the United States, on county courthouses and national monuments, below statues and over doorways, are words etched in stone. These poems and quotations are lasting testimonies to what our nation was, is, or aspires to be. Even as the nation and its people succeed and fail in these aspirations, the words in stone remain," writes Coonerty.

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