Ryan Coonerty

Ryan Coonerty (born March 10, 1974) is an American businessman, academic, author, and politician, who served as mayor of Santa Cruz, California, United States, in 2008^[1] and 2011. In addition to serving on the Santa Cruz city council, Coonerty co-founded NextSpace Coworking, also in Santa Cruz, in 2008.^[2] Coonerty is a lecturer for the Legal Studies department at the University of California, Santa Cruz, as well as the Political Science department at Cabrillo College. He is the author of Etched in Stone: Enduring Words From Our Nation's Monuments, published by the National Geographic Society (NGS).

In 2010 and 2011, Coonerty was the Second Harvest Food Bank’s (known as Feeding America since 2008) "Holiday Food Drive" co-chair;^[3] in 2010, the drive set a record by collecting 2,200,000 pounds (1,000,000 kg) of food.

Background

Ryan Coonerty graduated from Santa Cruz's public school system and attended the University of Oregon, where he graduated from the Honors 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. He also served as an outreach coordinator for Assemblyman 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. In 2000, he was on the professional staff for the National Commission on Federal Election Reform. Coonerty has been involved in community activities including serving on the board of the Santa Cruz Community Credit Union, Dientes Community Dental Care, and the Santa Cruz Education Foundation. He is a cofounder of Santa Cruz NEXT and the Locally Owned Business Alliance.

Teaching

Coonerty began his teaching career at the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2003, as a lecturer in the Legal Studies department. Coonerty teaches several courses including Civil Liberties in the Age of Terrorism; Jews, Anti-Semitism and the American Legal System; Law and Democracy; and Constitutional Law. In 2006, he began teaching courses at Cabrillo College, also located in Santa Cruz County. Coonerty taught International Relations and American Government in the Political Science department at Cabrillo. Students gave Coonerty generally positive ratings on a website based on a set of qualifications such as helpfulness and clarity of instruction.^[4]

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.^[5] He served a one-year term as mayor from November 2007 through 2008.^[1]

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.^[6]

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.^[7] For this effort, he was profiled as a Santa Cruz Sentinel Newsmaker of the Year in 2008.^[8] He also coauthored the Clean Oceans, Rivers and Beaches initiative which passed as an initiative in the November 2008 election.^[9] In 2008, he was selected to be a Rodel Fellow in Public Leadership at the Aspen Institute.^[10]

He served a second one-year term as mayor in 2011.^[11] 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.^[12] As a result of this effort, Code for America selected Santa Cruz as one of its six partner cities for 2012.^[13]

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.^[14]

When same-sex marriage was legalized in California, Coonerty officiated several same-sex marriages.^[15] 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.^[16] 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.^[17]

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.^[18] The California Coastal Commission voted against the project in August 2011.^[19]

In 2012, he played a key role in recruiting the NBA D League Santa Cruz Warriors to Santa Cruz.^[20]

NextSpace and PredPol

In 2008, Coonerty co-founded NextSpace Coworking + Innovation, a shared workspace with locations in Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, San Jose and San Francisco.^[21] He currently serves as the chief strategist. Coonerty and NextSpace have been profiled by Fast Company as an example of a new approach to job creation and economic development.^[22] Coonerty and his business partner are frequently asked to write and speak about coworking and the future of work.^[23] Coonerty has spoken at Renaissance Weekend, the Local Government Commission, CoreNet Global,^[24] and the Founder Institute.^[25] In 2011, NextSpace announced that it had raised $700,000 in an equity round for expansion.

Coonerty now serves as Director of Government Relations and Strategy for PredPol, a software company that uses an algorithm to predict when and where crime will occur. PredPol was selected by Time Magazine as one of the 50 Best Inventions of 2011.^[26]

Publications

Coonerty is the author of a book from National Geographic, entitled Etched in Stone – Enduring Words From Our Nation’s Monuments. The book chronicles America's aspirations by surveying the words engraved in 50 public spaces across the United States. The book features a foreword by historian Douglas Brinkley and photos from photographer Carol M. Highsmith.^[27] Upon its release, Etched in Stone was profiled in the Wall Street Journal, and Coonerty was interviewed on National Public Radio.^[28]

Coonerty and his NextSpace co-founder Jeremy Neuner are the authors of The Rise of the Naked Economy – How to Benefit from the Changing Workplace (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013).

Criticism

When asked in April 2005 if he thought he was more conservative than some of the older council members, Coonerty responded, "I think I have a fundamentally different outlook on the role of government, on important battles that need to be fought. A lot of people came of age in a time of direct conflict and the issues they were fighting were huge. Protecting the North Coast. Lighthouse Field. 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. I don't see symbolic battles happening. I see it more about making sure the city operates within a set of core values in a way that brings more people into the process." Some business owners felt the increased law enforcement Coonerty supported in downtown Santa Cruz improved the area, while others called it a "crackdown" and said "[security] didn't need to be so heavy-handed".

In early 2006, Coonerty voiced support for Santa Cruz police after it was reported that undercover officers had infiltrated community meetings to organize a New Year's parade without obtaining a permit. Coonerty supported an internal investigation, which cleared the police of any wrongdoing. The city's own police auditor determined that police had violated the civil rights of parade organizers and, with pressure from the community and the ACLU, the city put in place a policy to curb some of the abuses of police power.

After the Sentinel noticed his supporters wrote an "admittedly glowing Wikipedia profile that they hoped might hook Web-savvy young voters.", he was quoted as saying "Given it all, I would rather just not have a Wikipedia page". Like many other politicians, including Hillary Clinton, Coonerty has struggled to stop the spread of misinformation as anyone can edit a page on Wikipedia.

References

External links

• "Ryan Coonerty for City Council". Political web site. Retrieved September 25, 2011.