By Jondi Gumz
During closed session of the May 8 City Council meeting, Capitola Vice Mayor Alexander Pedersen resigned, according to Mayor Joe Clarke, who provided no further information.
Pedersen’s departure left a seat on the dais open, and Council Member Margaux Morgan moved into that chair next to the mayor.
Alex Pedersen
Pedersen also represented Capitola on the 11-member Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission, which has been pushing an ambitious and not fully funded countywide Rail Trail project requiring demolition of Capitola’s historic Trestle.
The resignation came as Capitola-Soquel Times was investigating a claim by Concerned Citizens of Capitola that Pedersen had purchased a single-family home in Santa Cruz in February and was living there with his wife.
Gayle Ortiz, Michael Termini, Ed Bottorff, Kirby Nicol, Jacques Bertrand, Stephanie Harlan, Bruce Arthur, Michael Routh and Carin Hanna—all former mayors—along with former city clerk Pam Greeninger and former city treasurer Christine McBroom — had written to Santa Cruz County District Attorney Jeff Rosell on May 5 urging a thorough investigation into whether Pedersen met residency requirements to hold elective office.
The Capitola Municipal Code does not include a residency requirement, but state law requires city council members to be registered voters of the city:
A person is not eligible to hold office as council member, city clerk, or city treasurer unless he or she is at the time of assuming the office an elector of the city, and was a registered voter of the city at the time nomination papers are issued to the candidate as provided for in Section 10227 of the Elections Code.
If, during his or her term of office, he or she moves his or her place of residence outside of the city limits or ceases to be an elector of the city, his or her office shall immediately become vacant.
The morning of the council meeting, Capitola Soquel-Times emailed Pedersen citing public records asking if he is registered to vote in Capitola and questioning his eligibility to continue to serve.
He did not respond to that email.
County records show he and his wife bought a single-family home advertised as a fixer upper in Santa Cruz for $900,000 on Feb. 7, 2025.
This was two weeks after then-Capitola Council member Yvette Brooks landed the job as Santa Cruz County United Way CEO. Her appointment was effective Feb. 3 and she chose to resign from her part-time elected position to focus on her new responsibilities.
The Pedersen deed states this home has to be his primary residence for at least one year unless noted — and there were no exemptions.
County Assessor records say “Yes” under Homeowner Exemption, giving a $7,000 tax break for a primary residence.
Concerned Capitola residents said they took photos of his car at the Santa Cruz home between 5 and 6 a.m. as proof of residency.
Previously Concerned Citizens had filed a notice in January of intent to circulate petitions to recall Pedersen citing a three-year city community grant his nonprofit, Blue Circle received before he was elected in November 2022. Pedersen said Blue Circle returned the grant money to the city, eliminating any conflict of interest.
Concerned Citizens also contended Pedersen had not supported the voter-approved addition to city code 8.72 to protect the historic but unsafe Trestle, which residents want to see repurposed into a trail for people on foot and bicycle. The RTC, which owns the Trestle, estimated the cost at $7 million in 2021, and a group of Capitola residents is looking at next steps forward and how to work with the RTC.
On April 24, during public comment of the council meeting, TJ Welch of Concerned Citizens of Capitola said Pedersen’s seat “must be vacated immediately.”
He noted a former Santa Ana city council member pleaded guilty to election fraud, lying about his home address when running for city council, to make him eligible, and paying a $578,000 restitution.
Welch said a formal complaint was filed against Pedersen with the Capitola city clerk, and he asked Pedersen to resign.
In response, Pedersen said, “My primary residence is in Capitola.”
Later, after he resigned, Pedersen told the Santa Cruz Sentinel about a “campaign of legal harassment and intimidation” and that he had “a responsibility to ensure the security and emotional well-being of my family.”
On May 8, Capitola resident Heidy Kellison addressed the City Council, asking what mechanism does the city have to confirm that all council members maintain a primary residence in Capitola.
She noted District Attorney Rosell had referred the complaint to the Attorney General.
“There needs to be a more immediate step, measurable, specific and enforceable,” she said as the audience applauded.
Capitola resident Meghan Morrissey called Pedersen a complete distraction, adding, “he should have resigned 3 months ago.”
Capitola resident Leslie Nielsen said information on residency is hard to find in the city code.
“We need to clarify and document the policy,” she said.
Now the City Council, which opted to call for candidates when Brooks resigned and eventually chose to re-seat Margaux Morgan, must decide how to replace Pedersen.
That will be the topic of a future agenda, likely May 22.
According to former mayor Mick Routh, Capitola has seen a total of 4 mid-term resignations from the council including two this year.
In 2000, Margaret Fabrizio resigned and walked out of a council meeting, frustrated by then City Treasurer Glenn Hanna, who discovered irregularities in the city Redevelopment Agency finances and repeatedly warned about city overspending. Her resignation came after she reimbursed the city $68.70 for lunches with City Manager Dan Pincetich on the city’s tab. A year later, Pincetich took a job elsewhere.
The first mid-term resignation was Phil Walker in ‘72 or 73 after Mick Routh was sworn in and a majority of the council was conservationist.
Walker “didn’t like the anti-development direction of the new council majority,” according to Routh.
At the time, Walker was quoted as saying he didn’t reflect the will of the majority and resigning was the gentlemanly thing to do.
When Walker took office two years prior, he had to work with politically hostile committee heads, which was tiring.
