A fourth generation Californian, Don Lane arrived in Santa Cruz in 1973 at the age of 17 to study politics and history at UCSC. After graduating with honors, he staffed the local election campaign of then Congressmember Leon Panetta.
Searching for a way to remain in Santa Cruz with long-term employment, he started the Saturn Café and built the restaurant into a local institution. Once the Saturn Café was on steady footing, Lane returned to community involvement, serving on the City Water Commission and the City Public Works Commission. He was also active in the local Democratic Party, serving as chair of the Santa Cruz County Democratic Party and as president of a local Democratic Club.
In 1988, while still managing the Saturn Café, Lane was elected to the Santa Cruz City Council. During his term, the Loma Prieta earthquake devastated Downtown Santa Cruz. Much of his tenure was focused on working with other city officials and community members on the successful downtown rebuilding effort. Lane also successfully championed a handful of affordable housing projects and led an effort to improve homeless services. He also served on the Board of Directors of the local Metro Transit system and on the Regional Transportation Commission. After completing a term as Mayor of Santa Cruz, Lane chose not to run for reelection...and turned his attention to new projects. He sold his majority ownership share of the Saturn Café, took a short term position as a campaign coordinator for Representative Sam Farr, and then played a key role in initiating two new nonprofit organizations. The first nonprofit was the Homeless Community Resource Center--which has now grown into the highly successful Homeless Services Center. The second nonprofit organization was Youth Opportunities, a job training program for disadvantaged teens--that was located within a downtown ice cream shop. The Youth Opportunities program trained and employed more than fifty teens during its 4 year run.
More recently, Lane has worked as an administrator with three different nonprofit organizations in Santa Cruz and he is currently employed as the administrative manager of the Appleton Foundation, as Santa Cruz-based charitable foundation. He is currently serving as a City Councilmember for the City of Santa Cruz, having been elected to the Council in 2008. He served as Vice Mayor in 2011 and Mayor in 2012. Lane represents the City to the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission, Santa Cruz County LAFCO and the Santa Cruz County Criminal Justice Council and is in line to serve another term as Mayor in 2015.
Lane lives with his wife Mary Howe, an electronics technician and union member at UCSC; and his daughter Tida Lane-Howe, an artist, barista and college student.