Voting to diversity local elected officials

Humboldt County — we have a problem. Racism. Institutionalized racism. How do we address that? Change the people who make the decisions that govern those institutions. Representation is important. I can count on my hand (not even sure if I need the hand) the number of people of color who sit on our BOS and city councils. Is it that POC have no interest in running? NO. Is it because it’s hard to navigate the bureaucratic process of filing one’s candidacy and running a campaign? YES.

There’s only one candidate for Clerk, Recorder, & Registrar of Voters who has the expertise, education, passion, and lived experience to change this. Juan Pablo Cervantes. One of his top priorities is to improve candidate services by doing outreach to Humboldt’s underrepresented and marginalized communities. Improved candidate services and outreach also addresses voter apathy. Roughly in Cervantes’ words on a recent radio program, if your neighbor is running for office, you’re more likely to be invested in the democratic process. Improved candidate services is how we can make it easier for your neighbor (or you!) to run for office to change the tide of decisions that have perpetuated racism in our county. This is just one reason to vote for Juan Pablo if you haven’t already. Our votes hold SO much power to change things, especially at the local level. A vote for Juan Pablo for Clerk, Recorder, & Registrar of Voters is a vote to tackle racism and work toward equitable representation in Humboldt County.

— Dawn Wise, Eureka