Neal Coonerty

Neal Coonerty was the Third District Supervisor for the County of Santa Cruz, California. He did two terms on the Board of Supervisors. He was elected in 1990 to the Santa Cruz City Council where his one term included a year as Mayor.[1][2]

Neal Coonerty
Born
United States
OccupationBusinessman, politician
Known forThird District Supervisor for the County of Santa Cruz,
Political partyDemocrat

Background

Personal

Coonerty was born in Santa Maria, California, but grew up in Van Nuys. In 1969, he graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, as an English literature major. He is married to Lucie who is a retired elementary school teacher. His children are politician Ryan Coonerty and Casey Coonerty Protti. Casey runs their family business, Bookshop Santa Cruz.[3]

Coonerty has been named president of the American Booksellers Association twice. He is the co-owner of Bookshop Santa Cruz. It is now considered a local curio. The shop which once had a water bed in the middle of it was already a place of interest when he and his late wife, Candy, who was pregnant at the time, took it over in the early 1970s. It has survived the 1989 earthquake and a challenge and competition from other book stores such as Crown Books and Borders bookstore.[4]

By the time he was 63 he had managed to drop his weight down from 320 pounds to 185. He had Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery at the Clovis Community Medical Center in Fresno, California.[5]

Political

From 1990 to 1994, Coonerty was a Santa Cruz city councilman. In 1993, he was the mayor of Santa Cruz. In March 2006, he announced he was running for a seat on the County Board of Supervisors. This was after Mardi Wormhoudt had made a public announcement that she intended retiring.[6] On the 6th of June, 2006, facing two challengers, Chris Krohn and Jonathan Boutelle, Coonerty won the election with 58 percent of the vote.[7] In 2010, facing Cove Britton and Doug Deitch, with more campaign cash and endorsements than either of Britton and Deitch he was picked as a favourite to win.[8] He won and was elected to another term, taking 57 percent of the votes with Britton following behind with a respectable 34 percent.[9] After two terms as supervisor, he decided not to stand for re-election in 2014. After 12 years in politics he decided it was time for a change and do other things.[10] In June 2014, his son Ryan ran for election to succeed his retiring father on the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors. He won with 76 percent of the vote.[11]

References
  1. Cove Britton, Doug Deitch challenge Neal Coonerty for Santa Cruz supervisor seat, Santa Cruz Sentinel, 05/12/2010, (http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/rss/ci_15067591)
  2. Santa Cruz Sentinel 07/09/13 Neal Coonerty won't seek third term as Santa Cruz County Supervisor By Jason Hoppin
  3. Smart Voter Full Biography for Neal Coonerty
  4. Santa Cruz Sentinel 07/09/13 Neal Coonerty won't seek third term as Santa Cruz County Supervisor By Jason Hoppin
  5. San Jose Mercury News 07/26/2009 Supervisor, bookseller Neal Coonerty sheds weight, takes on Wharf to Wharf by Kurtis Alexander
  6. American Booksellers Association Thursday, Mar 23, 2006 Coonerty in Race for Santa Cruz Supervisor --David Grogan
  7. American Booksellers Association Jun 08, 2006 Coonerty Wins Santa Cruz Supervisor Seat in Landslide --David Grogan
  8. Santa Cruz Sentinel 05/12/10 Cove Britton, Doug Deitch challenge Neal Coonerty for Santa Cruz supervisor seat By Kurtis Alexander
  9. San Jose Mercury News 06/09/2010 Neal Coonerty's re-election a validation of county policies By Kurtis Alexander
  10. Santa Cruz Sentinel 07/09/13 Neal Coonerty won't seek third term as Santa Cruz County Supervisor By Jason Hoppin
  11. Santa Cruz Sentinel 06/04/14 Ryan Coonerty cruises to win in 3rd district
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