Over four decades ago, Watsonville made national headlines when rank-and-file workers at Watsonville Canning, who had been on strike for eighteen months, triumphantly returned to work on their own terms. Strike leader Cuca Lomeli stated, “Perhaps up ahead, we can change the future in Watsonville.”
This vision of Watsonville as a place that actually serves the people and reflects the interests of the working-class, Latino majority of this city is why Elias Gonzales, whose campaign slogan is “Securing Our Future Now,” is the most visionary and pragmatic choice for District Four supervisor.
The 1987 cannery strike victory strengthened democracy in Watsonville. We have the strike to thank for bilingual city council meetings and the election of the city’s first Latino mayor. The strike is also indirectly tied to the successful MALDEF lawsuit, Gomez v. Watsonville, that overturned a racist system of at-large voting in favor of district voting. Because of the refusal of the people of Watsonville to accept a broken and discriminatory electoral system that did not serve our interests, we have the power to choose a supervisor who genuinely centers community needs, who has worked tirelessly with our youth, and who will not trample on our future by allowing toxic lithium battery plants to be placed in our midst.
Gonzales is the change that Watsonville needs. He has known the underside of the rock and used that knowledge to advocate for community needs. Having grown up in a one-bedroom apartment above Fox Theater and temporarily experienced homelessness with his family, Gonzales went on to earn two degrees from Cabrillo College and a BA from CSU Monterey Bay where he completed a capstone research project on Chicano youth and gang involvement in Watsonville.
Guided by a commitment to give back, or as he puts it, “to pour back to my village,” Gonzales mentored local youth in his work with MILPA, an organization that cultivates next-generation leaders.
Lourdes Barraza, mother to two teenaged children who participated in MILPA’s programming, observed Gonzales’s mentorship firsthand.
“While at MILPA, Elias inspired our local teens to be leaders in their community utilizing Indigenous philosophy and practices,” she says. “He taught our community’s youth to recognize the value of their lived experiences.”
As community organizer, Celeste Gutiérrez states, “At the end of the day, he is accountable to the people. That is what sets him apart.” Community accountability is all the more urgent because district voting alone has not been sufficient to ensure that the people of Watsonville are heard.
The historical relationship of Watsonville as “an economic and political colony” of Santa Cruz has meant that the interests of Watsonville have been subordinated to moneyed interests. It has also meant that resources, including low-wage labor, flow from south to north county. Geographically situated next to Santa Cruz yet worlds apart, Watsonville has served as the shadow reality to the fantasy of Santa Cruz as a fabled place of sun, surf, and “slow coast” lifestyle. “Why can’t we build jobs here?” Gonzales asks, “Why can’t we bring resources to Watsonville? Why does it have to be a jail?”
As Gonzales points out, “Most of us are low-income field-working families that don’t have the time to come out and advocate for our needs. We have two families per household because we can’t afford it. How does a field worker who makes $30,000 live in this county? You need $150,000 to survive here.” This is why he has affordability as his top campaign priority. At a time when the cost of living is skyrocketing and working-class residents are being priced out of Watsonville, Gonzales is committed to expanding affordable housing and safeguarding and strengthening renters’ rights.
Gonzales is also the sole candidate in the District 4 field to secure the endorsement of the Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers. As former interim PVUSD superintendent Murry Schekman states, “As I observed when I worked in the school district, Elias has shown himself to be an advocate of the young and an advocate of those who aren’t represented.”
When hundreds of teachers, students, and the community turned out at school board meetings for nearly two years to fight for ethnic studies, Gonzales was there to advocate for a curriculum that reflected and honored the experiences, knowledge, and values of the Watsonville community. “We are 86% Latino yet our histories are not included,” he stated. “Our families have knowledge–educación we call it,which means values more than teachings.”
Gonzales’s two opponents have outpaced him in campaign donations. This is testament to his unimpeachable integrity–indeed, to the ethical commitments that are an explicit part of his campaign. As Gabriel Barraza, a local member of SEIU, states, “He has not taken money from wealthy people or corporations because he does not take money from sources that do not align with his values. He will not be afraid to take on the wealthy developers and big agriculture because he owes them nothing.”
Today as we cast our ballots, let’s elect a true representative of the people, Elias Gonzales.
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Pájaro Valley for Ethnic Studies and Justice (PVESJ) is a coalition of community organizers, teachers, ethnic studies practitioners, parents, and students who coalesced as a grassroots formation in the fight for ethnic studies in Pajaro Valley Unified School District.
