Joy Schendledecker was shocked to learn how expensive Santa Cruz could be after moving from London just over 10 years ago. Knowing that the people who are essential to the city’s economy cannot afford to live where they work gave her the drive to pursue local politics.
Schendledecker said persistent issues surrounding community safety and care motivated her return to politics following her 2022 mayoral and 2024 City Council District 3 campaigns.
She is running against candidates Gillian Greensite, Chris Krohn, Ryan Coonerty and Ami Chen Mills. The primary election will take place June 2.
Community Involvement
Schendledecker is no stranger to the local political sphere. Not only does she oversee local unhoused shelter programs, she also serves as an alternate on the Third Supervisorial District’s Democratic Central Committee. Co-founder of Santa Cruz Cares and Sanitation for the People, two grassroots mutual aid groups with the mission of providing waste management and basic services for residents in need through local support systems.
“The thing that got me more into electoral politics in 2020-2021 was moving from doing community and political organizing outside of the system to going to more city council meetings to contest anti-homeless ordinances,” she said. “All the issues are tied together, but I get most passionate because lives are at stake and people die due to bad policies and cuts to services.”
Schendledecker recognizes the city-wide economic inequality and aims to shrink, and hopefully reverse its effects through progressive taxation, as opposed to the city’s current strategy of sales taxes. They would like to see developers contribute towards affordable housing and community benefits, considering how much they profit off the populace.
“A community land trust would be a good idea. We should be buying buildings and land to hold in common as affordable housing,” Schendledecker continued. “We live under capitalism, so wherever we can claw some of our ownership back.”
In recognition of the growing number of commuters to Santa Cruz from over the hill, Schendledecker believes they should be able to afford a home in their city of employment.
“I want [workers] to have fully staffed departments — fully funded departments and good wages so that they can afford to live here,” Schendledecker said.
She is notably endorsed by the Service Employees International Union Local 521, which represents most of the city’s frontline workers. 
Joy Schendledecker sits in her backyard during her interview with City on a Hill Press.
Strategic Ambitions for the City
Schendledecker is disinterested in being boxed in as a single-issue candidate. A proponent of the Mobile Emergency Response Team, she seeks to prioritize working alongside county officials to advocate for the funds necessary in order to expand such community-led initiatives.
“Policing people does not increase our actual safety. What increases our safety is for people to be taken care of, housed and fed, to have access to counseling and education,” Schendledecker said.
If elected, she aims to establish precinct-based assemblies on top of the existing six districts. Doing so would allow for enhanced communication of ideas and concerns among residents and local government officials, as opposed to the conventional consultant-driven, top-down model.
“Metro buses are county, but [mayors] get a seat on the Metro Board [of Directors] and the RTC [Regional Transportation Commission], so we can participate and advocate for fast, free and frequent bus service,” Schendledecker said.
Schendledecker acknowledges that Santa Cruz stands on the unceded territory of the Awaswas-speaking Uypi Tribe, and is passionate about strengthening the relationship with the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band through “opportunities to build our climate and ecological resiliency, partner with traditional land stewards, and learn and practice more of these skills ourselves.”
Maintaining these connections are vital in ensuring the natural beauty Santa Cruz is known for can be enjoyed for generations to come.
On the Campus Front
Over two academic quarters at UCSC in 2023, Schendledecker garnered skills as a community organizer through assisting for the course “Introduction to Community Activism.” The class seeks to distinguish between organizing centered on changing the system versus reinforcing existing systems. In that same vein, Schendledecker strives to hold city and campus authorities accountable.
“I’m no fan of the UC regents. The way that they treat students, staff and faculty; it’s just constant austerity measures,” Schendledecker continued. “The city can sue the regents. We can push back and I think it would be really interesting to test the limits of that.”
Such administrative decisions cited with pushback include the university’s purchase and ownership over housing structures on and off campus. A prime example of this being the Hilltop Apartments, a university-owned apartment complex off campus.
“[UC] bought the Hilltop Apartments for $117 million. They didn’t have to pay any progressive property taxes to the city. They’re holding it as an investment,” Schendledecker said.
Schendledecker looks forward to facilitating conversations between residents and the greater academic community, sympathetic toward neighborhood as well as campus concerns for the city residents call home.
“Having more affordable housing options for students in the city, as well as a cultural shift towards more integration between students and the town,” Schendledecker said. “Recognizing how good we are for each other, and how great it is to have a young, excited, educated, public transportation-taking and creative bunch of people living with us.”
