Neal Coonerty, who has been a fixture in local politics for 12 years and a businessman here for 40, won't seek re-election in 2015, he said Tuesday.
"I think it's time to relax a bit," he said, adding that he's been considering his political future for the past three months. "I'll finish my term in January 2015 and there's a lot of work to be done until then. Then, I'm going to let it go. It's important to have fresh voices in political bodies and it's a good time to step down."
Coonerty owned Bookshop Santa Cruz for 40 years, one of the first stores in the country to allow book browsers to sit down and read in the store.
"Before that, stores had signs up saying that this isn't a library," he said. "We found that while they may read in the store and not buy a book then, they come back at Christmas and buy 15 books, so it worked out."
Coonerty served on the Santa Cruz City Council in 1990-1994, and was mayor in 1993 before being elected to the County Supervisors. Read his county bio here.
His son, Ryan, has been mayor of Santa Cruz and a city councilman. His daughter, Casey, owns Bookshop Santa Cruz.
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