Ryan Coonerty Lands City's Top Spot

Santa Cruz's next generation showed off their governing skills Tuesday night as dozens of children took turns sitting literally in the seats of government.

One young boy grabbed the microphone and endorsed candy for all, a clear sign he knew his constituency.

Council chambers opened early Tuesday evening to families—and there were free scoops of ice cream—prior to the selection of the city's new mayor and vice mayor and the installation of the newly elected (and re-elected) councilmembers.

"Maybe one of the kids that are here tonight will end up being a councilmember, so we should treat them nice now," said David Terrazas, one of the council's new faces.

Tuesday night also marked Hilary Bryant's first night on the job and the beginning of Lynn Robinson's second term as a councilwoman. And Mayor Mike Rotkin and Cynthia Mathews said goodbye to the public sector as a result of term limits.

The new council selected Ryan Coonerty as the new mayor and Don Lane as vice mayor.

Rotkin began the meeting with another announcement: Tom Graves, the deputy city clerk, will be the interim city clerk after Lorrie Brewer exits for Mountain View.

Graves said the move was expected. He said he wants to focus the city clerk's office on technology.

"I'm looking forward to bringing the city clerk's department into the information age," said Graves. "I want to get much more stuff online. I want to be more responsive to the public. I want to make it easier for them to see what the city does in their name."

He said his biggest challenges will be dealing with a limited budget.

"We've gotten to a point where we have to do what we do better and more efficiently," he said. "We have to hold the line. How we can do it better with what we have?"

Rotkin and Mathews each took a few minutes to offer their thanks and say their goodbye to life in public.

"It's impossible to sum up 16 years of experience in just a few minutes," said Mathews. "I want to express my real gratitude to the people of Santa Cruz for being able to serve you. I have felt honored to serve in this position."

Rotkin joked that although he was "trained to give lectures that are an hour and 45 minutes, I'm going to try to avoid that," referring to the length of UC Santa Cruz lecture classes.

He said that although the mayor gets more attention, Mathews' contributions should not be overlooked.

"She was the council member who has done the most heavy lifting," he said. "She's is the consummate council member."

New member Bryant was the first to be sworn in. Her daughter hung on her legs as she took the oath.

"I am so excited about the future," she said. "Twenty years from now, I want this to be a place where our children want to raise a family. My aim is to contribute to Santa Cruz in measurable ways, but we all need to work together on this."

Terrazas said the challenges the city faces must be addressed creatively.

"We must work together to do old things in new ways to address the challenges we face," he said.

Robinson, who began her second term on the council Tuesday night, made the motion to select Coonerty as mayor, his second time serving in the role.

"Having Ryan as a young mayor was a really great experience for me, and now being able to nominate him, it's a wonderful experience," she said. "I am thrilled."

Coonerty took a few minutes to discuss his plans for the future. He said he wants to create a technology taskforce.

The idea, he said, is to "make it easier for citizens to interact with the city."

One of his goals, he said, is to make meetings more accessible to residents—which means more 7 p.m. meetings and fewer 3 p.m. meetings.

"The hope is that more people can participate, and they won't have to choose between finding child care and attending the council meeting."

But he said the residents are the key to the city.

"We are a world-class city with significant challenges to address," said Coonerty. "We need the most precious thing you have to give—your time, effort and faith in Santa Cruz. If you give us that precious gift, Santa Cruz will be a better community."