Lupe Gutierrez said she was surprised when people urged her to run for the District 3 supervisor seat.

They were adamant that it shouldn’t go unopposed, she said, which is why she’s challenging incumbent Chris Howard. She says she’s got the character to take on the job and one of her goals is to urge more youth to participate in the government process.

“I’m so disappointed when I look at the demographics and I see that they, the ages of 18 to 45, just don’t participate as much as the older people do,” Gutierrez said. “And sometimes I wonder about that and I know they’re disenchanted. I would really love to bring them back into the government so they can be effective in their own decisions because right now other people are making their decisions for them.”

Gutierrez and Howard sat down with Redwood Voice Community News youth producers Monique Camarena and Aisling Bludworth on April 23. The conversation gave the producers a chance to interview folks running for public office. 

Later in the evening, Camarena and Bludworth spoke with Congressional District 2 candidates Paul Saulsbury and Tim Geist, both of Redding, and Del Norte County resident Michael Greer, who is challenging Chris Rogers for California’s District 2 Assembly seat.

Redwood Voice also sent invitations to candidates running for the District 4 Del Norte County supervisor seat — incumbent Joey Borges and challengers Lisa Cundall and Margaret Sargent. Incumbent Assemblyman Chris Rogers’ office received an invitation as did other candidates seeking the Congressional District 2 and State Senate District 2 seats. Those candidates did not attend, however.

The questions Camarena and Bludworth put to Howard and Gutierrez last week ranged from their reasons for entering the race to the issues they want to address if elected. The two producers also asked the supervisorial candidates to opine on homelessness, low-income housing and mental health services.

“When you get into this position, you basically have four years, sometimes two, to make a difference,” Howard said. “Because you’re working with yourself and four others that make a decision on policy that affects the county. But there are a lot of things we can come to consensus on, pretty much 95% of the time we’re in agreement on the direction from the county, but there is a lot of unfinished business, and that’s really what’s driving this next step.”

Howard, who is seeking his fourth term, said he had been reluctant to seek another four years on the Board of Supervisors. His career came with a lot of sacrifices, including missing out on his children growing up, but his family made a commitment so “everybody’s children can succeed.”

For Howard, that unfinished business includes efforts to ensure Del Norte County will have access to electricity even when its utility is forced to de-energize its transmission lines. He called the Smith River Complex wildfires in 2023 a rude awakening and pointed out that Pacific Power had brought generators consuming 50,000 gallons of diesel daily to ensure residents had electricity.

Howard said he’s trying to reconnect Del Norte County’s electrical grid to Curry County’s electrical grid through a partnership between Pacific Power and Coos-Curry Electric. That feasibility work has been completed and while Pacific Power is interested, it’s an $80 million endeavor to re-establish that connection.

“We need to know how that money is going to come together,” Howard said. “How that ties in with my next important piece with the fire is we have multiple communities in District 3 — Hiouchi, Gasquet, Smith River that are right within what we call the wild-urban land interface, the WUI for short — if the winds hadn’t shifted during the August 2023 Smith River Complex we would have lost Gasquet.”

Howard said one of the items he is still working on is finding the resources to better manage public lands within Del Norte County, especially those that are near neighborhoods. This has led to the rebirth of the Del Norte Fire Safe Council as well as a partnership between the Del Norte Resource Conservation District and the U.S. Forest Service for financial resources to make it to local organizations to reduce fuels in the WUI.

In addition to wanting to get younger people participating in their government, Gutierrez said for her there are several issues she wants to focus on. Those include figuring out how the county’s strategic plans mesh with its general plan, which needs updating.

“The general plan becomes extremely important because it really lends itself to what is our land going to be used for,” she said. “We need to have economic development and when taking economic development into consideration, you have to work not only with what you have, such as tourism and the forest and the water that attracts the tourism, but you need housing and healthcare and jobs for the people who are here. You need that type of security.”

One issue both candidates addressed — especially since Howard is hoping to serve another four years on the Board — was term limits for supervisors. In June 2018, voters approved Measure A, which set three consecutive four-year term limits. At a May 9, 2017 first-reading of the ordinance, Howard and his colleague at the time, Gerry Hemmingsen, dissented.

Howard told the Redwood Voice crew last week that ballot measure allowed him to continue to seek re-election. The community has spent tax dollars and he has worked throughout his career on building relationships at the state and federal level.

“It usually takes four to five years just to get your feet wet in this job,” he said. “We manage well over a $230 million budget annually — $42 million is just in our general fund. It’s not a lot of money to play with and we have to wrestle with that with 27 departments.”

Howard argued that it’s the voters that decide whether it’s time to choose someone else to fill his seat.

Gutierrez said the ordinance Del Norte County supervisors discussed and the idea of term limits comes down to a matter of ethics. She argued that Howard is telling voters that he’s the “exception to the rule.”

“An ordinance, a law, should never be made for any exception to the rule,” she said. “I just think that’s wrong.”

Gutierrez also addressed the idea that it takes four to five years to build the relationships necessary to be a successful county supervisor.

“I have a personality that doesn’t take a long time to develop relationships. I pride myself on that,” she said. “I’m a tenacious person, I’m a dedicated person, and I think those are two qualities you need.”

Ballots will be sent out to Del Norte County voters on Monday. For more information visit the Del Norte County Elections Office here.