As part of his responsibilities as mayor, Coonerty served as the lead city negotiator in an agreement with the University of California Santa Cruz related to their Long Range Development Plan. The agreement ended half a dozen lawsuits. The agreement was adopted unanimously by the City Council, County Board of Supervisors, and a citizen group. For this effort, he was profiled as a "Santa Cruz Sentinel" Newsmaker of the Year in 2008. He also coauthored the Clean Oceans, Rivers and Beaches initiative which passed as an initiative in the November 2008 election.