Yesterday evening at his home with his wife, family, and a throng of supporters made up of community leaders, friends, and other members of the community, John Ferrera formally announced his intentions to run for the 4th Supervisorial Seat currently held by Mariko Yamada. Mr. Ferrera, currently the Chief of Staff to State Senator Denise Ducheny, was introduced by Supervisor Helen Thomson, Davis' other representative on the Board of Supervisors.
In addition to Supervisor Thomson, John Ferrera is endorsed locally by Mayor Pro Tem Ruth Asmundson, City Councilmember Stephen Souza, Former School Board Member Marty West, and State Senator Mike Machado. Other community leaders attending the event included Councilmember Don Saylor, Yolo County Sheriff Ed Prieto, and School Board Member Keltie Jones, among others.
In his release, Mr. Ferrera stated:
The Yolo County General Plan process will most likely spill over into 2009, when the next supervisor assumes the 4th District seat. "I plan on being completely up to speed and ready to hit the ground running if I'm elected to the Board. There's no time to waste and I believe I owe it to my constituents and the other Board members to get to work right away finishing and implementing the new General Plan."John Ferrera spoke briefly to the crowd of around 50 people.
"I've worked on the issues that we need to deal with over the next 25 years to keep Yolo County the way we love it to be. A place where we protect the environment, a place where we protect open space, a place where we respect agriculture and the people who toil in it every day like Marc Wilson who I really appreciate...John Ferrera joins Davis School Board President Jim Provenza who announced his intention to seek the 4th Supervisorial District back in March.
We can scream at each other and try to ignore the fact that we might grow a little bit. It's not something that any of us would choose but if we don't embrace those issues and deal with them intelligently and use experience on how to do things right then we will get overtaken. If we work together, then we'll do well and we'll be able to preserve what we love about our community and about our county."
Jim Provenza in a statement to the Vanguard, said:
"I am pleased to welcome John into the race. I look forward to a discussion of issues of importance to Davis and Yolo County citizens, such as the role of a county supervisor in protecting farm land, preserving the environment and assuring that seniors and young people will have the services they need to lead healthy and happy lives."The race to succeed Mariko Yamada, who is running for the 8th Assembly District, will pit the two Davis Supervisors against each other as well with Supervisor Thomson supporting John Ferrera and Supervisor Yamada supporting Jim Provenza.
Supervisor Yamada has endorsed Provenza describing him as filling the needs of Yolo County.
"Jim has the intelligence, integrity, and independence to be a great Yolo County Supervisor. He’s the right fit for the District and Yolo County."Supervisor Thomson described Ferrera as experienced with a good disposition and demeanor as well as a strong sense of humor and strong convictions all which will be needed during times of intense debate over policy issues.
John Ferrera described Yolo County as a beautiful place to live between two large and growing areas and vowed to preserve our quality of life.
"We are in the middle of two quickly growing areas, Sacramento and the Bay Area. Yolo is a beautiful place to live. The county plays a pivotal role in maintaining that quality of life by guiding our land use and local economic development. I've learned a lot in 20 years of working on these issues, and bringing together diverse groups to reach their goals. It takes leadership, creativity and vision."The Vanguard will be interviewing John Ferrera later on this week and publish that interview right here.
---Doug Paul Davis reporting
