Staying the "Course-y"? 3rd District incumbent supervisor runs for re-election

Chris Coursey, current 3rd District Supervisor, was first elected to the seat in 2020, ousting then Supervisor Shirlee Zane.

photo credit: County of Sonoma

Two seats on Sonoma County's Board of Supervisors are on the ballot now in front of voters.

For the 3rd District, incumbent Supervisor Chris Coursey is facing off against Santa Rosa City Schools board member Omar Medina.

Coursey served on Santa Rosa's City Council and was a longtime reporter and columnist at the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

He was first elected to the board in 2020.

Coursey spoke with KRCB’s Noah Abrams about his re-election campaign and what he sees as major issues in Sonoma County.

You can read the transcript from their conversation below or listen to the left.

Noah Abrams : "You're the incumbent in this seat. Why do you think folks should stay the course?"

Chris Coursey : "I think people should stay the course because I've been doing the work for the last three years, now, four years by the time I'm done with this term. And the work is not finished, I've focused on issues such as homelessness, affordable housing, addressing some of the cost of living inequities that we have throughout the county. Climate action projects. None of these are issues that can be solved in four years. I came to the board with the experience of being Mayor of Santa Rosa prior to this job. I think it's important to have a good relationship between the cities and the County, and I work on that every day too."

NA : "Speaking of homelessness, you know, is that what you'd put as sort of the number one challenge, housing and homelessness facing your district?"

CC : "Yes, because it's connected to so many other issues, including mental health, substance abuse, cost of living, inequities. Homelessness and housing are the most difficult issues that we face. They're not issues where I get to go around spiking the football and saying, 'solved that one. Bring on the next one.' It's hard work that has to get done every day."

NA : "Obviously there will be some turnover on the board with Supervisor Gorin retiring. What do you think about what that'll hold for the future?"

CC : "Well, I think that's to be determined. Rebecca Hermosillo, I believe is going to win in the first district. Look forward to working with her. She has my endorsement in that race. The Board of Supervisors doesn't have a whole lot of turnover, but I think it's healthy that it does. Part of the reason I ran in 2020."

NA : "Thinking back to then, I'm sure there was one or two things that you kind of picked out as major goals for you when you ran and things that you wanted to address, is there anything that's changed?"

CC : "Well, so much has changed since early March of 2020. I think it was about a week after I was elected that the pandemic started. The change in our life started just a week after I was elected. That pretty much changed the agenda for me...when I came to the board in January of 2021. [The] County was in the depth, the hardest part of the pandemic. We were doing a lot of equity work to make sure that the response to the pandemic was throughout our entire community. No matter where you lived, you got the benefit of the good things that we were doing. By the end of 2021, my district changed with the redistricting process that we went through, and that the county goes through every 10 years. When I was elected, I did not represent Southwest Santa Rosa. Now I do, that's about 40% of my district. There are a lot of needs there. It's the district with the lowest median income, the highest number of immigrants, the highest number of Spanish speaking people, the youngest population. So my focus had to change with that and it has changed. I'm happy to represent a part of the county that needs the services that the County has to offer on a daily basis. I didn't get into this job because I wanted to maintain status quo. I want to serve the needs that have been unmet for way too long."

NA : "You, having been on the board, what are some things you would show to people as achievements or victories that you've had in the past four years there?"

CC : "Well, I'll start with our homeless count from last year. Homelessness was down 22% in Sonoma County. A lot of people don't believe that because it doesn't look like that when you look out on the streets. But we have fewer families who are homeless, fewer veterans who are homeless. The folks that we see on the street are some of the hardest people to help out of homelessness and that's why I want to keep going is to continue our work on that. Another big accomplishment is the funding of the Roseland Village project. It's a housing project. It's a affordable housing project. It's a central plaza in the middle of Roseland. That has been something that the County has promised that neighborhood for more than 10 years and I expect it to break ground in May of this year. But again, as I told you, my priorities are some of the hardest things to work on. I can't declare that I've solved the affordable housing situation. I can't declare that the cost of living is not a serious problem for a lot of people; a lot of wage earners in Sonoma County. I want to continue to work on those issues."