Politics
In 2004 and again in 2008, Coonerty was elected to four-year terms on the Santa Cruz City Council, finishing first in a field of 10 candidates in 2008. He served a one-year term as mayor from November 2007 through 2008.
In 2007, he considered running for the California State Assembly seat vacated by John Laird, who was forced out by term limits. He opted out of the state race in April 2007.
As mayor in 2008, he served as the lead city negotiator in an agreement with the University of California Santa Cruz related to their Long Range Development Plan. The agreement ended half a dozen lawsuits. The agreement was adopted unanimously by the City Council, County Board of Supervisors, and a citizen group. For this effort, he was profiled as a Santa Cruz Sentinel Newsmaker of the Year in 2008. He also coauthored the Clean Oceans, Rivers and Beaches initiative which passed as an initiative in the November 2008 election. In 2008, he was selected to be a Rodel Fellow in Public Leadership at the Aspen Institute.
He served a second one-year term as mayor in 2011. During his term, he worked to balance the city budget, launch the Mayor’s Academy, and appoint a Technology Task Force to improve the use of technology by the city. As a result of this effort, Code for America selected Santa Cruz as one of its six partner cities for 2012.
Some of his efforts have received national attention, including the creation of an Ayuda Linea (Help Line) for day laborers to report incidents of abuse, and a policy 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 and now used as a model practice. Coonerty also founded Santa Cruz NEXT, a non-partisan organization dedicated to engaging the next generation of Santa Cruzians in the civic life of the community. He continues to serve on the board of Santa Cruz NEXT.
When same-sex marriage was legalized in California, Coonerty officiated several same-sex marriages. He also voted to have the city join lawsuits challenging Proposition 8 and supporting San Francisco's challenging the constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
Responding to complaints of illegal behavior in downtown Santa Cruz, Coonerty (with fellow council members Cynthia Mathews and Lynn Robinson) advocated for more police patrols with cooperation with merchants. 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 Department.
In 2011, Coonerty led the council in supporting a 125-room condominium and hotel project, even though it was 14 feet (4.3 m) taller than zoning limits permitted. The California Coastal Commission voted against the project in August 2011.
In 2012, he played a key role in recruiting the NBA D League Santa Cruz Warriors to Santa Cruz.
Read more about this topic: Ryan Coonerty
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