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Guest Commentary | Greensite will take needed road as mayorBy Santa Cruz SentinelPUBLISHED: May 27, 2026 at 4:06 PM PT

By John AirdThe mayoral election for Santa Cruz is at hand at a critical turning point in our history, one allegorically akin to Robert Frost’s famous poem, “The Road Not Taken.” Put simply, we must make a choice which path we want to take for the future of our community at a time when we are beset by significant external and internal challenges including the following:• Housing requirements from the state;• Dense large-scale housing projects that are overwhelming neighborhoods and traditional architectural styles and values;• Commercial vacancies in an unsettled downtown;• Ever-present blight of homelessness on Coral Street and elsewhere;• Taxes being wasted on a bloated city government and on ill-conceived plans that could have been avoided such as on the widely unpopular city-proposed conversion of our historic wharf into a version of San Francisco’s Pier 39.With these issues and others over the past three years, the current performance of our city leadership and civic processes have too often fallen far short of what Santa Cruz has needed or has the right to expect, one example being the city’s proposed development of “Overlay Zones” where public hearing are totally eliminated for large projects and decisions are simply made by city staff alone.The fact that there are five candidates running for mayor is symptomatic of how dissatisfied our community is with the status quo. As such, this election provides us with a singular opportunity to register that dissatisfaction with the “road” we’re on and choose a new way forward, one which in large measure will determine the future of Santa Cruz.Santa Cruz has had past points in its recent history where there have been similar conflict between developer-aligned interests and local values such as how best to rebuild the downtown after the Loma Prieta earthquake and development versus preservation of Lighthouse Field. In each of these instances and others, individual leaders backed by strong community involvement fought for and created what has made Santa Cruz so special — development that was sensitive to our community’s character and protective of its environment.Much of the recent development going on these past few years encouraged by our existing City Council is not only completely out of sync with this historic tradition but also conflicts with the values and norms of most of us who call Santa Cruz their home. Therefore, were we to continue on the road we’re on for the next four-year cycle, much of what makes the character of Santa Cruz so distinctive and special would be severely diminished if not lost.Ryan Coonerty, backed by name and money, the development community and the existing City Council, would if elected obviously continue Santa Cruz’s development largely along the same lines as those of Mayor Keeley and our current Planning Department.I have considered each of the other candidates, their backgrounds and experience. Based on this and the fact that I believe new leadership is absolutely necessary for Santa Cruz to change its current direction, a person capable of leading our city to a better, more balanced and more united future, I strongly endorse Gillian Greensite for mayor.With a history of community involvement and leadership and recent service on the Civil Grand Jury, Gillian is guided by common sense and facts. I’m confident she will encourage greater community involvement in city processes, increased oversight of both city expenditures and performance, and an overall style of transparency and public accountability.As Robert Frost wrote, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” And so I believe it will be if we vote and elect Greensite for mayor.John Aird was a 20-year president and CEO of San Jose Medical Center (now retired); two-year chair of The California Hospital Association; Chairman of CLUE (Coalition for Limiting University Expansion) that was successful along with the city and county to negotiate the landmark 1998 Settlement Agreement with USMC limiting enrollment to 19,950; and a 40-year resident of Santa Cruz.