Fred Keeley (born May 9, 1950) is a politician in California, U.S. and serves as the current Mayor of Santa Cruz, CA. Due to recent amendments to the cities' charter he is the first directly elected mayor with a four year term, as the mayoral role was traditionally a one year term selected by other council members. Keeley was a member of the California State Assembly, representing District 27 which included parts of Santa Cruz County and Monterey County from 1996 to 2002. He retired in January 2015 after 10 years as the Treasurer of Santa Cruz County. Early life and career Keeley was born in Sacramento, California. He is the second son of Harry and Elizabeth Keeley. He was raised in San Jose. He attended and graduated from Cupertino High School in 1969. He attended DeAnza College in the early 1970s and took film classes from Professor Robert Scott. In 1974, Keeley graduated with honors from San Jose State University, School of Social Sciences. After working for Law Enforcement Training and Research Associates, he was selected by Santa Cruz County Supervisor Joe Cucchaira to be Cucchaira's policy director. Keeley served in that capacity until March 1984 when then-Assembly Member Sam Farr (D-Carmel) hired Keeley to be his chief of staff. Keeley served in that capacity for nearly five years. Keeley served for eight years as a member of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, prior to his election to the California Assembly. Assembly member 1996 Assembly race Moderate Republican Bruce McPherson's decision to run for California Senate District 15 made California Assembly District 27 an open seat. In March 1996, Keeley ran for the Democratic nomination for the 27th Assembly District against Karin Kauffman. Keeley won over 55% of the party's Democratic voters, and 33% of all votes cast. In the November general election, Keeley won about 57% of all votes cast against Republican Jim Davis. First term During his first term in the Assembly, Keeley chaired the Budget Subcommittee on Resources, where he advanced legislation, known as the Marine Life Management Act of 1998. Also in 1998, Keeley was selected by Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa to be Speaker pro Tempore. This is the highest-ranking member of the Speaker's leadership team and, as such, Keeley was responsible for the development of the majority party's important policy initiatives. Keeley also investigated the actions of then-Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush. As