There are two progressive candidates running for the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors in the coming election. They are both women and, if elected, they will transform the Board from a male-dominated and strongly-conservative governing body. And with the inclusion of District 3 Supervisor Chris Coursey, we will have a more liberal/progressive overall governing agency.
The two candidates are both Democrats. Joanna Paun (2nd District) and Melanie Bagby (4th District) both finished first in their respective June primary races. And both are backed by a wide progressive coalition that includes the Sonoma County Democratic Party, the North Bay Labor Council, the Sonoma County Democratic Socialists of America, Sonoma County Conservation Action and the North Bay Working Families Party and SEIU 1021.
Both Paun and Bagby support a sanctuary ordinance ending any collaboration between the Sheriff and ICE; full accountability by the Sheriff to IOLERO, the county law enforcement oversight commission; the decommissioning of two aging dams in the Potter Valley; and strengthening urban growth boundaries.
Both candidates are advocates for affordability issues, such as boosting the county living wage, stronger renter protections for mobile home park residents and prohibiting the Sheriff from collaborating with ICE.
Melanie Bagby served two terms on the Cloverdale City Council (2016 – 2024), including as Mayor in 2019. She has served as Chair of the Russian River Watershed Association and as Chair of Sonoma Clean Power. She has working experience in stopping urban sprawl and protecting existing greenbelts. She has the experience to advance local renewable energy, and champion policies that improve our quality of life by focusing on affordability of housing and defending our immigrant neighbors from surveillance.
Joanna Paun, has served as elected trustee and past president of the Petaluma School Board, and as Sonoma County’s Foster and Homeless Youth Education Coordinator. Additionally, she has pledged to end Sonoma County’s cooperation with ICE, and is endorsed by the California Democratic Party, the Sonoma County Democratic Party, and SEIU local 1021.
In response to a question about the disposition of the Sonoma Developmental Center, Paun states, “With proper planning, the SDC property can play a pivotal role in protecting our County’s ecological and recreational values for future generations. As it’s currently proposed, however, the Plan and Project will have significant impacts to the local environment, to wildlife habitat and connectivity, water resources, and increased wildfire risk – without providing a significant contribution to Sonoma County’s affordable housing goals.”
Responding to the same question, Melanie Bagby says, “SDC is state-owned public land, and it should deliver public benefit for Sonoma County. When the project comes before the Board, I’ll judge it on the record: an environmental review that answers the questions the court raised in 2024, and a full look at the community’s alternatives. I’ll weigh it against the principles I’ve always worked from: city-centered growth, and walkable neighborhoods near transit and jobs. I’ll also ask whether it delivers, to the full extent law allows, the housing we’re short of: homes for working families and lower-income households, not housing aimed mainly at upper-income buyers.”
Clearly, this Board of Supervisors election is crucial to the well-being of Sonoma County, and will transform the governing body, upending the county power structure with two staunch progressive candidates to join with Supervisor Chris Coursey, to form a progressive majority.
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