Longtime community leader, former journalist Tony Nuñez announces bid for District 4 supervisor seat

➤ Para leer el artículo en español, haga clic aquí.

Longtime community leader and former journalist Tony Nuñez is throwing his hat into the ring for the seat on the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors representing District 4. 

“We need someone that matches the type of mentality that a lot of Watsonville and South County residents have, which is ‘I’m going to work really, really hard,’” Nuñez said. “This seat is so important for the forward progress of our community. I think that the person in this seat should be the hardest-working person in our community.”

Born in Mexico and raised in Watsonville, Nuñez, 33, will face off against incumbent Felipe Hernandez, who announced last month that he’ll be seeking reelection in District 4 — which includes much of the city of Watsonville and the Pajaro Valley — and community advocate Elias Gonzales, who announced his bid on Jan. 27. 

Nuñez is currently board chair of the Pajaro Valley Health Care District, which operates Watsonville Community Hospital, after putting much effort to make the health care facility public-owned after it survived bankruptcy in 2023. He is also the current marketing and communications manager for nonprofit Community Bridges. Prior to taking that role, Nuñez spent more than 10 years as a journalist covering the Pajaro Valley for The Pajaronian. 

For a long time, Watsonville has been a community that’s been defined by what it’s lacking, Nuñez told Lookout, adding that the people who really love the community see past that and understand its strengths and “what we bring to the table.” 

“Those strengths are something that should be emphasized, not only through this seat, but also at the county and regional level,” he said. The South County community is hard-working, resilient and shows up to help one another in times of need because of how tight-knit its residents are, Nuñez said.

Nuñez said his decision to run for the District 4 supervisor seat comes from what he sees happening in the community and talking to the residents seeking resources at both the hospital and Community Bridges. “This community has done a lot for me. It’s done a ton for my family, and I want to give back,” he said. “That’s what drove me to make this decision.”  

Nuñez wants to address the impact a high cost of living has on families in Santa Cruz County and which drive them away from planting roots here. “I think we need to start looking at what are the everyday costs that are impacting young people, that are impacting seniors, and that are impacting families that are not allowing them to stay here,” he said. 

Better child care services, he says, will help address the county’s affordability issue. He told Lookout that community members and even friends of his have cited the high cost of child care as one of the reasons they’ve had to leave Watsonville. Nuñez wants to create a pilot program that would ensure residents in South County have access to low-cost child care up until transitional kindergarten. 

“My hope and goal would be to ensure that everybody who wants to be part of the workforce, who wants to be employed, can find a good-paying job and does not have to worry about whether or not they should start a family if they want to,” he said. 

Nuñez thinks that local governments, in general, can do a better job of clearly stating what their goals are and giving consistent updates to the community on its progress. In his role with Watsonville Community Hospital, he cited transparency as a key value, one that he said he would bring to the county board. 

The county’s ongoing battery storage issue is a topic Nuñez believes should have been explained a bit more thoroughly with residents, especially to those in South County, where a facility is being proposed. He said a reason why community members probably feel frustrated is because there was no universal understanding as to why such a system might be good or what the drawbacks could be. 

“Whoever is in this seat should be able to talk through the issues with constituents and let them know, ‘here’s why we’re doing it’,” he said. 

Anxiety around immigration enforcement remains high in South County. Nearly a month ago, residents in Watsonville were on high alert after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained a resident in the Rodriguez Street neighborhood. Nuñez said the county needs to continue to stand in solidarity with and support the immigrant community, and listen to the organizations that are working directly with these individuals daily. 

However, beyond that, Nuñez said the county needs to have more conversations around becoming a leader in advocating for comprehensive immigration reform. A large part of his role at Community Bridges, he said, is to help families through the challenges they’re facing as a result of ongoing immigration enforcement around the country. 

“When we get through this, and we will get through this, what are we going to do as a county to start or continue conversations that are happening right now about how fragile and how vulnerable our immigrant populations are?” he said. 

The primary election is on June 2. Since there are more than two candidates for the District 4 seat, the Nov. 3 general election will serve as a runoff between the top two vote-getters, unless one candidate wins a majority of the primary vote.

Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.