Four years after she left the Watsonville City Council, having served the maximum two terms, Trina Coffman-Gomez is again running for the District 6 seat.
Coffman-Gomez was a council member from 2012-2020, terming out just before she would have been mayor.
A Watsonville native, she attended Mintie White Elementary School—where her mother attended—and E.A. Hall Middle School. She graduated from Watsonville High in 1981.
“I grew up in the neighborhood where I live,” she said.
If elected, Coffman-Gomez says she would build on her previous experience on the council, and would use her time as a Salvation Army board member—which she currently chairs—to inform her actions.
She is also involved with Scouting America, the organization previously called Boy Scouts.
“I want continue the experience of having been a board member, working with a lot of the boards, resources and agencies, as well as being able to foster more relationships within the community, whether it’s with the youth, whether it’s with the arts, whether it’s the challenges we have here with homelessness,” she said.
Working with the Salvation Army, she says, has given her a clear picture of the scope of homelessness in Watsonville, which is the only jurisdiction where the unhoused population grew.
That’s according to a Point In Time study that was released on July 19.
Coffman-Gomez says that providing low-income and affordable housing is just one part of a solution to the problem.
Because most of the units built since 2006 have been rentals, that makes it difficult for anyone to achieve home ownership, she says.
Addressing that, she says, will take a change to the rules.
“We need a chapter to address this in our general plan,” she says. “Because whatever we’re doing isn’t enough.”
Another problem, Coffman-Gomez says, is that North County receives the lion’s share of the funding for homeless services, with just 25% making its way south of Live Oak, which can be ameliorated with the right representation.
“We currently don’t have any advocacy with council or the city’s resources,” she says. “We don’t have an advocate on council that says, ‘we need to do better, we need to do more, we need more funding.’”
When most housing projects come to the city, she says, they are largely a done deal.
“We have to be more proactive in the ability to say, ‘this business model is not working here,’” she says. “We need a better business model and we need more creativity.”
Coffman-Gomez also says that she would continue to build on the city’s efforts to revitalize its downtown business corridor, and advocate for opening school playgrounds for public open space.
Her work with the Scouts, she says, reflects her involvement with scouting since her son was 8, leading to experiences such as the backpack giveaway.
“I’m giving them more opportunities that they wouldn’t otherwise have,” she says. “They’re engaging the community. This is the next generation of community advocates.”
The Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture named her Woman of the Year in 2023.
“It isn’t about me, it’s about, ‘let’s make this community a better place for everyone that’s here,’” she says.
Jimmy Dutra currently holds the seat. It is not yet clear whether he plans to run. He did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
Opening school playgrounds for open space is nuts. The school district spent a lot of our taxpayer money on constructing fences around the schools to protect our kids. She supports Chamber of C which supports Trump and project 2025. C of C also is against Medicare bargaining for lower prices with drug companies which will hurt seniors. I sure won’t be voting for her. I hear she even supports housing homeless druggies and drunks on school grounds. Do think before you vote for her.