WATSONVILLE — As the June election season ramps up, noted activist Dolores Huerta came to Watsonville on May 25 to stump for California Assembly candidate Robert Rivas, and, perhaps more importantly, to convince young people to vote.
A well-known community activist, Huerta is best known for creating the Agricultural Workers Association (AWA) in 1960 and with Cesar Chavez co-founded what would become the United Farm Workers union.
She gave a brief speech in the grassy plaza adjacent to the Petroutsas Building at 347 Main St.
Her message to young potential voters was simple.
“Please vote,” she said. “You can march all you want. You can protest all you want. But it’s not going to change anything unless we elect good leaders.”
The California primary election is Tuesday.
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Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, District 4
In what is possibly the most closely watched race in Santa Cruz County, four people are lined up in an attempt to replace Santa Cruz County Fourth District Supervisor Greg Caput, who has held the seat since 2010.
Caput has pulled off two significant upsets during his time in office, unseating longtime Supervisor Tony Campos in 2010, and holding onto the seat in 2014 despite a challenge from former Watsonville Police Chief Terry Medina, Jimmy Dutra and Dana Sales.
The pool of candidates this time around could be his biggest challenge yet, with four seasoned and well-respected politicians and a community leader hoping to beat the incumbent.
Nancy Bilicich has sat on the Watsonville City Council since 2009, and has served as director of Watsonville/Aptos/Santa Cruz Adult Education since 2008.
Bilicich has a career in education that began in 1975, and includes positions such as guidance and academic counselor, principal and assistant principal.
Jimmy Dutra was elected to the Watsonville City Council in 2014.
In addition to sitting on the city council, Dutra serves on the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District Board of Directors.
Dutra also serves as president for the Pajaro Valley Shelter Services Board of Directors.
Dutra graduated from Watsonville High School in 1993. He earned a degree in political science from Santa Clara University, and recently his master’s degree in executive leadership from USC Sol Price School of Public Policy.
Felipe Hernandez has served on the Watsonville City Council since he was elected in 2012. He served as mayor in 2016.
He graduated from Watsonville High School before enlisting in the U.S. Army as a combat medic. He served in the Persian Gulf War, and upon his return attended Cabrillo College before continuing to UC Santa Cruz.
Leticia Mendoza is executive director for the Watsonville YWCA.
She has a BA in Economics from UC Santa Cruz, a Master’s in Public Administration and a Master’s in Philosophy in the doctoral program in Urban Planning from Columbia University.
She has worked as a policy analyst in New York City’s Office of Management and Budget, and as a teaching fellow with the Program on Fiscal Decentralization and Local Government Financial Management at Duke University.
She served on the Watsonville Board Redevelopment Oversight Committee, County Child Care Planning Council and the Diversity Center Advisory Board. She currently serves as a trustee at Cabrillo College.
The Fourth District ranges from Hazel Dell and Mount Madonna roads in the north, the Pajaro River to the south and Green Valley Road to the west.
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Watsonville City Council, District 2
Two challengers are vying for the vacant Watsonville City Council District 2 seat, left open when Oscar Rios resigned from his post in March.
Aurelio Gonzalez and Jenni Veitch-Olson are facing off to represent the district that covers Watsonville High School, parts of downtown and streets surrounding Palm Avenue to the northeast.
Gonzalez, a Watsonville High School graduate, served in the Army National Guard for 12 years, and currently works in the construction trade.
He has also served on a number of boards over the last 30 years, including the Watsonville Planning Commission, Santa Cruz County Housing Authority, Pajaro Valley Unified School District Budget Committee and others.
Veitch-Olson and her husband Robby moved to Watsonville in 2013, when Robby Olson became pastor of United Presbyterian Church.
Since then, Veitch-Olson has been active in a number of boards and community groups, including serving on the CASA of Santa Cruz County Board of Directors and as chair of the Watsonville Parks and Recreation Commission. She’s also served on the South County Homelessness Steering Committee and the Mayor’s Youth Violence Prevention Task Force. She was also recently appointed to the Watsonville Planning Commission.
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State Assembly, District 30
Five candidates are running for the District 30 seat on the California State Assembly, which covers Watsonville, Southern Monterey County, San Benito County, Gilroy and Morgan Hill.
Republican Neil G. Kitchens and Democrats Trina Coffman-Gomez, Peter Leroe-Muñoz, Bill Lipe and Robert Rivas are facing off in the busy race.
Coffman-Gomez is the only candidate from Watsonville in the race. First elected to the Watsonville City Council in 2012 after serving on the city’s planning commission, Coffman-Gomez is a member of Freedom Rotary, Monterey Bay Community Power, Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments, the Santa Cruz Local Agency Formation Commission and more.
A graduate of Watsonville High School in 1981 and California State University in 2000, she has been a business owner in Watsonville for 14 years as a real estate and finance broker.
Kitchens, described as a fourth generation farmer, moved to Monterey County from the southern United States at age 19, and currently lives in Prunedale. He graduated from Hartnell College, and obtained his paralegal certificate from CSU Monterey Bay and a Juris Doctorate Degree from Monterey College of Law. Kitchens currently runs a property management business.
Leroe-Muñoz, who has served on the Gilroy City Council since 2010, is a graduate of Harvard Law School. He served as Deputy District Attorney in San Benito County and as president of the Gilroy Gang Task Force. He is currently the vice president of technology and innovation policy for the Silicon Valley Leadership Group.
Lipe, described as a policy and government manager, is a native of Salinas. He has served as director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau, as well as on the Resource Conservation District of Monterey County and the Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency, along with being the chair of the Monterey County Agricultural Advisory Committee.
Rivas has served on the San Benito County Board of Supervisors since 2010. A graduate of San Benito High School and CSU Sacramento, later earning a master’s in public administration from San Jose State University, Rivas has worked as a lecturer at Gavilan College, a firefighter in Hollister, and in staff positions for Assemblymembers Simon Salinas and Anna Caballero.
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Monterey County Supervisor, District 2
Incumbent John Phillips is seeking re-election for the District 2 seat on the Monterey County Board of Supervisors.
He is up against Regina Gage for the seat that covers North Monterey County, including Pajaro, Royal Oaks, Moss Landing and parts of Aromas.
Phillips has served as District 2 supervisor since being elected in 2014. Prior to that he served as Assistant District Attorney, Superior Court Judge, and founder and president of Rancho Cielo, a program offering youth alternatives to violence. He serves on a variety of boards, including the Fort Ord Reuse Authority, Mental Health Commission, Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District, Monterey One Water and the Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority.
Gage is the executive director of Meals on Wheels of Salinas Valley. A graduate of Monterey College of Law, she previously worked as a legal advocate for victims of domestic violence at a Salinas-based nonprofit. She is a member of the Salinas Steinbeck Rotary Club and the Community Alliance for Safety and Peace.
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U.S. Congress, District 20
Two people are vying for the 20th District Congressional seat currently occupied by Jimmy Panetta. Candidates Ronald Kabat and Douglas Deitch spoke briefly with the Pajaronian about their campaign, and about what they would focus on if elected.
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Ronald Kabat, who declares no party preference in official campaign statements, said his first priority would be to reverse Senate Bill 54, which took effect on Jan. 1.
Also known as the Sanctuary State bill, the law prohibits state and local law enforcement from investigating or arresting people for purposes of immigration enforcement.
That law, Kabat said, creates a “privileged class” of people in the U.S. illegally. He said that many people are angered by the law, a group Kabat describes as a “silent majority.”
SB 54 also creates a disconnect between state and federal laws, and endangers communities by allowing criminals to be released, Kabat said.
“We’ve created friction between the federal government and the state government,” he said. “That friction has somehow got to be relieved, and I think it will be relieved when the people who are against SB 54 stand up and vote.”
Kabat, a Vietnam veteran, also wants to set aside 100 square miles of habitable federal land to create housing for homeless and injured vets, and provide services and transportation.
A certified public accountant, Kabat said that the country’s Social Security Retirement system is 15 years away from becoming insolvent. The Social Security Disability Fund, he said, is on “life support,” with three years to insolvency.
“I have been complaining about social security for over 20 years now,” he said.
Kabat also said that the country should curb its spending and work to reduce its national debt.
Kabat said he is not taking money from political action committees, and that he is limiting personal contributions to $99 per person.
“I can truly say I owe no allegiance to any political party,” he said. “That’s why you should vote for me.”
Kabat is a member of the National Association of Professional Taxpayers, the Monterey County Tea Party Patriots, the Monterey County NAACP and the National Rifle Association.
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Douglas Deitch is a longtime Aptos resident who describes himself as a “law-and-order liberal.”
Deitch cites water quality and groundwater conservation as his chief platform, and says that public officials are not following their oath of office in allowing groundwater overdraft to illegally continue.
He first ran for office in 1998, and has since run for Santa Cruz County Supervisor five times, California State Assembly and now the State Senate.
“I have run to heighten awareness of the problem and get elected officials to follow their oath and stop the overdraft,” he said.
Deitch says the problem can be allayed by acquiring 9,000 acres of farmland on the ocean side of Highway 1 between Manresa Beach and Elkhorn Slough.
“That is what is causing the overdraft,” he said. “All pumping has to stop there.”
If that were to come to pass, it could be paid for by using money from Proposition 68, he said, proposed legislation that would raise money for water projects by selling general obligation bonds. Voters will decide the issue on the June 5 election.
Deitch estimates the proposal would save 27,000 acre-feet of water annually, and would stop all future saltwater intrusion.
Deitch is also in favor if immigration reform, particularly when it comes to legislation such as Senate Bill 54, also known as the Sanctuary State bill.
According to Deitch, the policy of releasing criminals into the community under sanctuary policies requires U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to look for them in neighborhoods.
When they do, innocent people are often arrested too, which Deitch calls “collateral damage.”
“I am concerned with the rights of people,” he said. “Sanctuary states do not make us safer.”
Deitch is executive director of the Monterey Bay Conservancy, which he describes as an “environmental conservation organization” and “water policy think tank.” He is also CEO and a broker at Santa Cruz Real Estate, Inc.
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Ballot propositions
Proposition 68 — General obligation bond for water, parks projects
Would authorize the state to sell $4 billion in general obligation bonds, which would fund projects that protect water supplies and quality, repair and upgrade parks and protect natural resources. The money would also be used for flood protection.
Supporters say the proposition is needed to help the state as it faces drought and wildfires, and would help clean contaminated drinking water.
Supporters include the Nature Conservancy, Peninsula Open Space Trust and the Wildlands Conservancy, who have donated more than $6.2 million.
California State Senator Lance Christensen, who is listed as the proposition’s sole opponent, says he does not disagree with the need to protect water and natural resources. Instead, he says that paying for them would add to California’s already overburdened debt.
Websites
For: www.YES68CA.com
Against: None listed
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Proposition 69 — Gas tax requirements
This proposition would require revenue from the recently enacted gas tax known as Senate Bill 1, and increased vehicle registration fees to be used solely on transportation improvement projects.
The rules would protect about 38 percent of the $5.2 billion raised annually by the tax, and would apply to the 4 percent sales tax on diesel fuel and the new vehicle registration fee that ranges from $25 to $175.
The remainder is a 12-cent per gallon tax on regular gas and a 20-cent increase on diesel.
The legislation would not raise taxes.
Santa Cruz County has received its first share of the revenue, a $476,000 award that will be used for pavement repairs and upgrades along Granite Creek Road and Branciforte Drive.
If this measure passes, it will not be the last voters hear about the gas tax. It will return to the ballot in November for a Republican-led repeal effort.
Prop. 69 has garnered support from the League of Women Voters California, California Chamber of Commerce, California NAACP and Congress of California Seniors. Supporters have raised more than $7 million.
Opponents have not reported any contributions.
Websites
For: YesProp69.com
Against: None listed
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Proposition 70 — Cap and trade
Cap and trade rules set limits on emissions from industries that emit greenhouse gasses, and allow them to purchase credits to emit them. If those industries come in under their limit, they can sell their credits to industries that have a harder time doing so. The rules were created as an incentive for industries to reduce their emissions.
Prop. 70 would require a two-thirds majority vote in 2020 to reauthorize how the money is spent.
California’s cap and trade program took effect in 2012.
The state’s portion of the cap and trade proceeds is deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. This has paid for projects such as reducing emissions in the agriculture industry and watershed and wetlands restoration.
The fund has also supplied some $930 million to the high-speed rail project.
The Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments, which comprise Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito counties, have received $29.3 million from the program, according to the California Air Resources Board.
Some 35 environmental groups oppose the legislation, as does the California League of Women Voters. Opponents have raised more than $35,000 in campaign contributions, and say that the rules would benefit polluting industries by increasing legislative gridlock.
Supporters say that the rules would assure that revenue raised would be spent as intended by the original legislation.
Websites
For: www.YesOnProposition70.com
Against: www.stopprop70.org
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Proposition 71 — Effective dates for future propositions
If passed, this legislation would make future propositions and ballot initiatives effective after the statewide vote has been counted and certified, typically about six weeks. Currently, such legislation takes effect the day after the election, unless otherwise indicated.
Supporters say it would set a standard for all new pieces of legislation.
Opponents claim that the law would delay new rules from taking effect, some of which were intended to be applied as soon as possible.
Neither side, however, has reported any campaign contributions, and neither has reported any endorsements.
Websites
None listed
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Proposition 72
This legislation would allow property owners to build rainwater capture systems without a property tax reassessment.
Supporters have reported more than $62,000 in contributions. Opponents, if there are any, have neither raised money nor submitted an opposing argument.
Websites
For: SaveCaWater.org
Against: None listed
