Candidates for District 2 Share Views at Forum

Last week the League of Women Voters hosted an online candidate forum for the District 2 supervisor race ahead of the June 2 primary.

District 2 includes the cities of Petaluma and Cotati and a portion of Rohnert Park, as well as the unincorporated communities of Penngrove, Two Rock, and Bloomfield, plus an area south of Sebastopol.

The 90-minute event on April 8 over Zoom featured candidates Joanna Paun, 47; John King, 69; Sylvia Lemus, 60; and Shelina Moreda, 44, who are vying for the seat long held by David Rabbitt, who is not seeking re-election. It was moderated by League of Women Voters member Karen Weeks.

Candidates gave timed opening and closing statements and answered 12 questions on their approach to the position. Several themes arose from the candidates’ comments, all of whom are running on non-partisan platforms.

King, a lifelong Penngrove resident who outlined experience in accounting, finance, water issues, and railroads, expressed concerns about the overuse of groundwater and lack of enforcement of the 2008 General Plan. He shared concerns about an over-reliance on sewage treatment services provided by the City of Petaluma as Penngrove continues to be developed, which he said flies in the face of the community's rural character.

With regard to the county budget and services offered to residents, he commented, “I think there’s things the county spends money on that it can’t afford to spend money on. It’s pretty reckless.” 

Paun currently serves on the Petaluma City Schools District Board of Education and works as a foster and youth education coordinator at the Sonoma County Office of Education. She repeatedly mentioned housing.

“We need housing to be affordable and within reach for all people and not really looking at a one-size-fits-all approach,” Paun said. “That's not going to work for our whole county. And so I would want to look at expanding affordable housing, workforce housing, strengthening emergency and transitional housing, especially for our young people.” 

When it came to the county budget, she listed various ways to capture more funds. Using Rohnert Park as an example, she pointed to increased housing – some alongside transit infrastructure – as a driver behind its economic hubs and a way to capture more property taxes.

Though voters already approved Measure I in 2024, additional funding from the sales tax for childcare and early child services, she said, would provide more stability for working parents.  

Motorcycle racer and dairy farmer Moreda kept her focus on agricultural communities who, she said, have largely gone unheard at a county level. She said she views herself as a credible representative and noted a need to support and protect agricultural businesses and bolster farmworker housing. 

In regard to the budget, Moreda said the county should “be more efficient,” and described herself as a candidate who would “look outside the box” to find creative solutions. She pointed to people being “exhausted from more taxes” and referred to ongoing government inefficiency.

Lemus, a longtime county employee and a member of the Cotati City Council, highlighted her decades of experience within local government as a reason for voters’ support. She said she was “open to communication” and that residents can contact her or her team to “engage them” in conversation. She added that she’d like her staff to “be aware” of rural leaders to meet on an ongoing basis, and that she’d take the time to listen.

Lemus called for developing policies to help streamline county services and suggested assessing “tension points” like unfunded liabilities in her approach toward the county’s budget. She also referenced fiscal policies she, alongside other Cotati leaders, approved that “help us to guide and maintain a sound fiscal condition.”

The entire forum can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/QZ8m93FNTrY?si=iravHSqgz3QItUtl.

Another candidate forum will be hosted by Sonoma County Latinx leadership organization Los Cien on Thursday, April 29, at 5:30 p.m. at the Petaluma Health Center (1179 N. McDowell Blvd.). If you have information about other upcoming District 2 forums you’d like added, please email news@petalumavoice.org.

Supervisor candidate websites:

Joanna Paun https://www.electjoannapaun.com/ 

John King https://electjohnking.com/ 

Shelina Moreda https://www.supervisormoreda.com/ 

Sylvia Lemus https://www.votelemus.com/