Welcome to the Campaign Page for Ami Chen Mills for Santa Cruz Mayor!
All Voices Heard
Traducción al español próximamente
My campaign is about:
Increased dialogue, listening, transparency and democracy.
Taking back local control over development, while understanding—and not minimizing—the gravity of the housing crisis.
Prioritizing affordable and work force housing and tenants’ rights.
Community preparation and resilience in the face of federal and natural disasters.
Protecting the vulnerable.
Taxing wealth and not the working class.
Supporting local businesses, a revitalized downtown and all city commercial corridors.
Labor power.
Protecting our privacy and the Constitutional rights of all residents. No to ICE. No to mass surveillance and no to no-cash systems. No to the Tech/MAGA oligarchy.
Yes to protecting biodiversity, water, trees, and all life.
See more, below, on the issues. Also: Ami’s Story.
“Ami in the News!”
Make an Impact Today
Donations are needed for mailers, yard signs, literature of all kinds and more. We are not accepting corporate donations, nor donations from the real estate industry.
Our opposition will be funded by real estate interests and landlords. We are a grassroots campaign and need your support, in any amount!
Checks and credit or debit card donations are welcome now! Scroll down for mailing address and how to donate by check, or to reach out by email or phone. Plus, much more on all the issues, and “Ami’s Story” below.
Contact the Campaign:
NOTE: Gmail has suspended our AmiChenMillsforMayor account temporarily.
Please use amichenmills@gmail.com until we resolve this error.
Correspondence/checks/donations to:
849 Almar Ave., Ste. C, Box 428
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Checks should be made out to:
“Ami Chen Mills for Mayor 2026.”
Please also include your occupation, employer and address on your check, or with your check.
Maximum individual contribution: $450.
All amounts welcome! Please donate what you can.
Phone: (831) 431-6721
Ami’s stance on Issues
Community Resiliency & Preparation: NO MASS SURVEILLANCE
I am founder of the Get the Flock Out campaign. Together, we successfully lobbied the Santa Cruz City Council to cancel its Flock automatic license plate reader (ALPR) contract. I am also an investigative journalist and deeply concerned citizen and resident of the United States…. Read More
We Must Build Community
As Mayor, I will use my platform to encourage building community in every neighborhood in Santa Cruz. We must start now to prepare for any emergency that comes our way, including natural disasters, like our own CZU fires, and threatening, unlawful federal incursions.
This means micro-grids, independent power stations, alternative and disaster-proof communications tools and more.…. Read More
Dialogue, Transparency and Mutual Respect
As Mayor, I will meet with the public ahead of council meetings to review the council agenda. I will educate the general public on an ongoing basis about the issues we face and seek your input. Transparency, community dialogue and mutual respect are very important to me.…. Read More
Housing & Ecology
My priorities will be affordable housing first, housing stabilization, tenant protections and considering the livability of all our neighborhoods as we grapple with state mandates to build, and a very real housing crisis.…. Read More
Homelessness
We need to listen more to those who are unhoused and create solutions that work with people rather than for people, who may not want those solutions. I have worked extensively with unhoused folks–at many levels, including incarcerated folks and youth in group homes–and with service providers. .…. Read More
Environmental
I have been a climate activist for many years. We must protect heritage trees, biodiversity and crucial ecosystems. I have successfully worked for Land Back efforts in the city, and support the Rights of Nature movement, locally..…. Read More
Ami’s Story
Ami is the daughter of an immigrant, Chinese mother and an Anglo father. She started working at the age of 14 to help her single-parenting father pay the rent. She continued to work, non-stop, to pay her way through college at Northwestern University, and out of college–as a cafeteria manager, a waitress, an SAT and LSAT teacher, a caterer and house cleaner.
After moving to California, Ami was hired to create the first Teen Program for the City of Los Altos, including Mountain View schools. She moved to Santa Cruz County in the early 1990s, just after the Loma Prieta earthquake.
Once in Santa Cruz, where she lived as a renter for many years in all sorts of “situations,” she became the first Master Composter Trainer for Ecology Action of Santa Cruz and was one of the first staff writers for Metro Santa Cruz, later leaving for Metro San Jose to become an award-winning investigative journalist. Ami also completed the Conflict Resolution Center (CRC) mediation training and became a CRC board member. She later moved to San Francisco to pursue a freelance writing career. … Read More