Don Lane
Don Lane is a longtime Santa Cruz civic leader, housing and homelessness advocate, educator, and former three-time mayor whose work has spanned local government, community development, social services, and the evolution of Downtown Santa Cruz. He served twelve years on the Santa Cruz City Council, including terms as mayor in the early 1990s and again in the 2010s, giving him a front-row role in the city’s recovery and rebuilding following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
Lane’s civic work has been particularly focused on housing and homelessness. He helped establish what became the Homeless Services Center—now Housing Matters—and has spent more than three decades working on homelessness through public policy, nonprofit leadership, advocacy, and community collaborations. He has served with Housing Matters, Housing Santa Cruz County, and local homelessness initiatives, and has taught public-policy courses at UC Santa Cruz.
His work also reflects the unusually interconnected nature of civic life in Santa Cruz. Lane’s career began in part at the legendary Saturn Cafe; his later public service touched transportation, economic development, affordable housing and downtown policy. As mayor, he was also a champion of bringing the Santa Cruz Warriors to the city—an experiment in using professional sports, a temporary downtown arena, and community partnership as part of the life of the city center. Don’s Ice Cream Tour of California was Featured in Small Block #4