July 4, 2002

Keith Sugar won’t run again; Mayor Krohn considering re-election bid

By DAN WHITE
Sentinel staff writer

SANTA CRUZ — Keith Sugar, the most outspoken member of the Santa Cruz City Council, will call it quits in November. The father of two young children cited family commitments.

"I’m wearing a bunch of hats," said Sugar, an environmental lawyer. During his four years on the council, he taught land-use and planning law at San Jose State University and handled a small case load at his law practice.

"Something’s gotta give," he said. "I want to do justice to all these masters."

The council seats of Tim Fitzmaurice, Mayor Christopher Krohn and Sugar are up for re-election in November. The trio, labeled "The Three Musketeers" by their late campaign organizer Doug Rand, ran in 1998 on a slate with the backing of the Santa Cruz Action Network, a grassroots political group.

Krohn said he is leaning toward running again, while Fitzmaurice has yet to announce his intentions.

Others who have expressed interest in the seats are former council members Cynthia Mathews and Mike Rotkin.

It’s been a tense year for city leaders, with the council facing complaints about social problems downtown, more than $2 million in city budget cuts and a battle over the city’s utility tax.

But Sugar, 41, said none of that was part of his decision.

He said being a city councilman simply takes long hours.

"If you average it out, it is a good 20 hours a week, but a lot of times more," he said. "I don’t find the job overwhelming at all, but I’ve got all these other irons in the fire."

Krohn called Sugar "a great debater" who drew strength from his legal background. He said one of Sugar’s many achievements was helping to convince the city to buy the Del Mar Theatre, which reopened this spring as part of a private-public partnership with developers Barry Swenson and George Ow and theater operators Chuck Volwiler and Jim Schwenterley.

Sugar was not afraid to be blunt.

As mayor in 1999, he shut down the microphone if speakers flouted the rules.

Sometimes he rubbed constituents the wrong way. When Santa Cruz High School alumni lobbied to preserve an unsightly liquor store that was once a popular diner — in a spot slated for a new natural history museum — Sugar said the museum struck him as more important than "Mel’s Diner."

Sugar fought against what he called "monster homes," and rallied for a controversial "anti-box store ordinance" when Borders books came to town three years ago. It was alternately hailed as a way to save the city’s soul, and derided as an unsuccessful 11th-hour scheme to keep Borders out.

Among his "less glamorous moments" was rallying behind a "safe sleeping zone" in the spring of 2000 for homeless vehicles to park in industrial areas. It led to an inundation of campers, neighborhood criticism and embarrassing publicity.

"It turned out to be a bad idea," he said. "I think there is no shame in trying, and we tried."

Contact Dan White at dwhite@santa-cruz.com.