4 Candidates, 1 Seat: The Race For Sonoma County Supervisor

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — The June race to represent District 2 on the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors will fill the seat of a departing, long-serving supervisor and will continue governance over the county's perennial push and pull between rural areas and urban growth.

District 2 covers Cotati, Petaluma, Penngrove, the county's southern farm region, and part of Rohnert Park. A candidate would need to get at least 50% of the vote in the June 2 election to avoid a November runoff between the top two finishers.

District 2 has been represented on the board by David Rabbitt for four terms, making him the county's longest-serving supervisor. Just hours before the filing deadline, he announced he would not run for re-election to the five-member board.

Running for his seat are foster and homeless youth education coordinator for the county Joanna Paun, Cotati Mayor Sylvia Lemus, pro motorcycle racer and dairy farmer Shelina Moreda, and Penngrove rancher John King.

Paun is a trustee on the Petaluma City Schools Board of Education and previously served as its president. She was the first African American to be elected to office in Petaluma and is a mother of four.

She says she wants to run for the board to "put people before politics," according to her information provided to voters by the county. She has worked as a school counselor and mentions affordability, housing, and transparency as issues she's focused on.

Paun said she would tackle homelessness with investments in mental health and prevention and she wants to make sure longtime residents aren't priced out of their own community.

She has a long list of endorsements from people like state Assemblymembers Damon Connolly and Chris Rogers, State Superintendent Tony Thurmond, and Sonoma County Superintendent Amie Carter. Four current supervisors endorse her, though not Rabbitt, and she is also supported by several councilmembers and mayors in the county.

Rabbitt has in fact endorsed a candidate for his seat, and it is Lemus, the first Latina to be mayor of Cotati. Lemus is a mother of two and has a small, family-owned wine business.

Lemus worked in the county Human Services Department and managed programs in the Human Resources Department, according to her campaign statement on the county's site. She has served in leadership positions with Sonoma Clean Power, the Sonoma County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and the Community and Local Law Enforcement Task Force. She lists her issues as housing affordability, mental health services, roads and infrastructure, climate impacts, and protecting agriculture.

"I understand how county government works and how to deliver results," she says on her campaign literature.

In addition to Rabbitt, Lemus is endorsed by outgoing Supervisor James Gore, Supervisor Rebecca Hermosillo, and Supervisor Lynda Hopkins. The Sonoma County Farm Bureau, Sonoma County Deputy Sheriffs' Association, Sheriff Eddie Engram, and the Professional Firefighters of Sonoma County endorsed her as well.

Moreda is a professional motorcycle rider and started her own animal rescue organization after the Tubbs Fire, when she saw a need for coordinated animal evacuation services.

She is also a fifth-generation dairy farmer. She's hoping both aspects of her life will appeal to voters.

"My background as a professional motorcycle racer has taught me to make critical decisions under pressure with focus and integrity," she said in campaign literature.

Her platform focuses on farming and preserving "local food sovereignty." She supports sustainable agriculture and farmworkers' rights and says she wants to bolster small businesses.

Moreda caused controversy when she gave the wrong birth date to a reporter that made her appear younger than her actual age of 44. (Moreda is the only candidate whose age isn't listed on the county's election information.) She admitted to giving the wrong age but said she did it to avoid stalkers who could search her personal information online. Moreda is a visible athlete in a male-dominated field and was brand ambassador for Cover Girl cosmetics.

King, the fourth of the supervisorial candidates, has made a bid for the board twice before. A fourth-generation farmer, King won a lawsuit in 2002 against Rohnert Park to stop excessive groundwater pumping and to protect rural land from development and to halt a planned annexation.

King wants to put an agricultural voice on the board and accused Rabbitt of focusing too much on cities.

"I am ready to listen, to lead, and work hard on behalf of every resident," said King in his campaign literature.

By Katy St. Clair, Bay City News
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