Argument for Measure E

Choose Your Mayor Santa Cruz!

Santa Cruz has the opportunity on June 7th to decide whether City voters should be allowed to elect the City Mayor, or whether the Mayor should be selected by the City Council without public vote.    Only by voting “yes” on this Measure can the city have a Mayor that represents the entire city, elected by all voters in the city. 

One major benefit of a directly elected Mayor is that candidates for office will have to talk with and listen to all city voters about priorities and concerns regarding city-wide issues.  A directly elected Mayor will be accountable to all of us. Don’t you think our 63,000 residents should vote on who is the best candidate to be our Mayor?  

A second major benefit to this Measure is that it would allow the elected Mayor to serve a 4-year term, instead of the current one-year term of Council appointed Mayors.  The longer term means that the voters’ choice of Mayor will be in a much better position to work on long-term initiatives and outcomes in City government and pursue the interests of the entire City (not just one voting district).   Voting “yes” on this measure will not otherwise change our form of governance in the city: The city would still be managed and operated by the City Manager, and the Council would develop policy for the City.  However, a 4-year term for Mayor, elected by all residents, increases City Hall’s ability to maintain a big picture view of the needs of the city and to work on Santa Cruz’s most pressing problems. 

This is an important decision for the voters to weigh in on right now.  Let’s give ourselves the ability to pick the right person for the job. Vote Yes!

SIGNERS

Donna Meyers – Former Mayor
Neal Coonerty – Former Mayor
Renee Golder – Councilmember
David Terrazas – Former Mayor

If an asterisk (*) appears after a name, it means the person is signing on behalf of that agency/organization.

If no asterisk (*) appears after a name, it means the person is signing as an individual.