Tallying Real Estate and Development Contributions to Ryan Coonerty's Mayoral Campaign

All of the 2026 Santa Cruz mayoral candidates, except for Ryan Coonerty, signed the city's voluntary campaign expenditure limit agreement to cap expenditures to around $40,000 per election cycle, which amounts to a limit of nearly $80,000 for the full mayoral campaign, including the primary and the run-off. As of September 19, Ryan Coonerty had exceeded the spending limit by over $15,000, and Ami Chen Mills still had not raised enough in total contributions to reach the limit.

Total contributions received by City of Santa Cruz mayoral candidates through September 19, 2026 are as follows:

Ryan Coonerty: $131,978.00
Ami Chen Mills: $43,398.33

Total contributions include monetary contributions, nonmonetary contributions, and loans received, as reported by candidates using Form 460.

Total expenditures made by each campaign, as of September 19, are as follows:

Ryan Coonerty: $95,774.86
Ami Chen Mills: $26,053.24

Monetary contributions made to City of Santa Cruz City mayoral candidates from real estate and development interests are as follows:

Ryan Coonerty

$900 Steven Allen (Aptos, CA), Real Estate, Allen Property Group
$900 Thomas Brezsny, Realtor, Christie's International Sereno
$900 Charles Canfield, Owner, Santa Cruz Seaside Company
$900 Tom Canfield, Executive Vice President, Santa Cruz Seaside Company
$900 Timerie Gordon, Principal, Nielson Studios (also member of City of Santa Cruz Planning Commission)
$900 Karl Rice, CEO, Santa Cruz Seaside Company
$500 Victor Gomez (Hollister, CA), Consultant, Land Use Planning, Pinnacle Strategy LLC
$500 Greg Lukina (Scotts Valley, CA), Realtor
$450 Joe Appenrodt (Capitola, CA), Real Estate
$450 California Real Estate PAC (Los Angeles, CA), California Association of Realtors
$450 Eli Karon, Owner/Realtor, Karon Properties
$450 Nicole Karon, Real Estate, Karon Properties
$450 North Coast States Regional Council of Carpenters Power PAC (Sacramento, CA)
$450 Hallie Richmond, Property Manager, Surf City Rentals
$450 John Swift, Land Use Planning, Swift Consulting Services Inc.
$450 William Ow, Real Estate, Ow Properties
$400 Richard Beach, Real Estate Broker, RealtorBeach
$400 Tom Ralston, Contractor
$400 Don Roland, Vice-President of Government Affairs, Granite Construction
$350 Bradley Angell, Architect
$300 Reuben Helick (Aptos, CA), Commercial Real Estate Agent, Cushman & Wakefield US Inc.
$300 Pete Kennedy Green Building Expert, Beyond Effiency (also member of City of Santa Cruz Planning Commission)
$300 Derek Timm (Scotts Valley, CA), Real Estate Broker, Montalvo Homes & Estates
$299 Krista Cook, Realtor, Lighthouse Realty
$299 Owen Lawlor, Developer, Lawlor LandUse, 201 Front SC LLC
$250 Sandra & Claudio Locatelli, Property Management
$250 Barbara Palmer (Aptos, CA), Business Manager/Realtor, Bailey Properties Inc.
$250 Louis Rittenhouse, Developer/Major Property Holder
$200 Scott & Lynne Rogers, General Contractor, SLR
$200 Audrey Tennant, Realtor, David Lyng Real Estate
$200 Mari Tustin, Real Estate, John Stewart Company
$200 Miro Weinberger (Burlington, VT), Housing Advocate, Let's Build Homes
$150 William & Linda Bailey, Realtor, Miritz-Bailey
$150 Celeste Faraola, Real Estate Broker, Schooner Realty
$150 David Plumlee, Realtor
$100 Cathy Calfo, Property Manager
$100 Randy Parker (Soquel, CA), Real Estate Broker, JR Parrish
$100 Scott Renfrew, Project Manager, Bayview Services
$100 Clarke Shultes, Building Designer

Total: $15,448


Ami Chen Mills

$610 Micah Posner, Low Income Developer
$450 Barukh Bennaim, GPI Builders
$250 Jennie Dusheck, Landlord
$200 Ray Newkirk, Contractor, Outside Enterprises Inc.
$150 Lee Brokaw, General Contractor

Total: $1,660


Independent Expenditures Funded by Real Estate and Development Interests

The group Santa Cruz Together has reported spending $13,410.83 in 2026 on campaign mailers in support of Ryan Coonerty's mayoral campaign, according to a finance report filed on May 6, 2026, during the primary election.

A campaign finance form filed on May 4 shows that Green Valley Corporation, S.C. Beach Hotel Partners, and the Santa Cruz Seaside Company each contributed $5,000 to Santa Cruz Together.

On September 24, Green Valley Corporation and S.C. Beach Hotel Partners each contributed another $5,0000 to Santa Cruz Together. It is presumed that these two large contributions will be used to support Ryan Coonerty's campaign since he is the only candidate Santa Cruz Together has endorsed during November 3 election cycle.

These three businesses have been the only contributors to Santa Cruz Together during the 2026 mayoral campaign. All three businesses have major local development interests.

Green Valley Corporation is a development and construction company based in San Jose that is owned by the Barry Swenson family. The company has a local office in Santa Cruz, and is responsible for many developments in the area.

S.C. Beach Hotel Partners owns La Bahia Hotel & Spa and the Dream Inn Santa Cruz. Over the years, the company has proposed developing its main parking lot into a high-rise housing complex, but dropped its most recent plans to do so. Historically, Ryan Coonerty was a strong supporter of the construction of the La Bahia Hotel, especially the early versions of the design that were widely opposed by the public and other stakeholders, including labor unions.

In addition to owning the Boardwalk, the Santa Cruz Seaside Company also owns many other properties in the city, including several key parcels in the Downtown Plan Expansion area south of Laurel Street. The parcels could be used to build the new Santa Cruz Warriors arena, which is expected to come before the Santa Cruz City Council during the next mayor's term.

Campaign contributions that go through a political organization in this manner are called independent expenditures, and they are not subject to the same limits as individual contributions made directly to the campaign.

Santa Cruz Together was originally formed to fight Measure M, the rent control measure on the ballot in the City of Santa Cruz in 2018.

Funded mostly by real estate and development interests, Santa Cruz Together describes itself as a "grassroots coalition" of "neighbors, local businesses and organizations" on its website, however the group hasn't reported receiving any small political contributions in years.

As of the writing of the article, no independent expenditures funded by real estate and development interests have been reported in support of Ami Chen Mills.


Ryan Coonerty's Economic Interests Disclosures

Looking at the most recent Form 700 filings for all of five of the mayoral candidates, Santa Cruz News Network found that Ryan Coonerty is the only candidate who has reported receiving income from the development industry.

On March 10, 2026, Coonerty reported receiving income from several local real estate and development companies, including Redtree Partners LP, 201 Front SC LLC, Lawlor Land Use (developer Owen Lawlor's company) and Nielsen Studios, Architecture & Design.

201 Front Street SC LLC is a company led by developer Owen Lawlor that is planning to build an eight-story apartment building at 201 Front Street, as well as the associated development of an eight-story apartment building to replace the Neptune Apartments at 407 Pacific Avenue.

Lawlor has spearheaded a number of controversial projects in the city, including Anton-Pacific and the Cruz Hotel. Owen Lawlor is also among the contributors to Coonerty's campaign, as well as an endorser.

Coonerty reported receiving income from The Danco Group, a development, construction and property management company based in Arcata, CA. The Danco Group is planning to build a seven-story apartment building at 1320 Pacific Avenue, the current site of Dell Williams Jewelers, which is owned by Coonerty's wife, Emily Bernard Coonerty, and her mother Cindy Williams Bernard. Additionally, Coonerty reported receiving rental income from 1320 Pacific Avenue.

Coonerty reported receiving income from one other out of area business: Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, a real estate investment company based in Bethesda, MD that acquires and invests in hotel and resort properties, and whose portfolio includes local property Chaminade Resort & Spa.