Quick Take
Current District 4 Santa Cruz County Supervisor Felipe Hernandez spoke with Lookout about his first term, and responded to criticism from constituents over his stance on a battery storage facility proposed for outside Watsonville.
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During his first few days as county supervisor, Felipe Hernandez said he vividly remembers shoveling and making sandbags for residents to help protect their homes from flooding.
“I felt like I was in the Army again, shoveling so many sandbags,” Hernandez said. “That was my first day. I had water up to my knees on my first day.”
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Santa Cruz County was beginning to get hit with a series of storms, leading to flooding throughout the area — including Watsonville — and the evacuation of hundreds of residents.
“I had to be out there with my constituents that had been flooded, and that’s where I spent the majority of my first year [as supervisor],” Hernandez said of 2023. He told Lookout that a major lesson he learned from responding to that emergency was how to be a strong advocate for his community.
Now, three years later, Hernandez is seeking to defend his District 4 seat, which represents most of the Pajaro Valley, Watsonville and Interlaken. His opponents in the June 2 primary are political newcomers Elias Gonzales and Tony Nuñez.
Because there are more than two candidates, the Nov. 3 general election will serve as a run-off between the top two vote-getters, unless one candidate wins a majority of the primary vote.
Hernandez continues to face scrutiny from his constituents as the county continues to develop an ordinance meant to regulate battery storage plants. Some residents are taking issue with Hernandez’s not-so-clear stance on a battery project being proposed by Massachusetts-based developers New Leaf Energy, and for not attending any of the community-led meetings about the proposal.
Hernandez told Lookout that had he attended the series of community-organized meetings, he would have been “pushed into making a judgement call” on how he’ll vote on the project. “That’s what they want me there for, not just to listen,” he said. “They want me to make an opinion.”
Taking a stance on the project before it came before the board of supervisors could exclude him from making a vote, Hernandez said. He wants to ensure that he can take a vote on the 90 Minto Rd. project, if it does end up in the hands of the county, he said.
It’s unclear if there is a regulation that prohibits local officials from openly taking a stance on a project they could be voting on. In the past, Hernandez has cited the Brown Act as a reason why he could not openly state his stance on the New Leaf project. That piece of legislation – California’s open-meetings law – regulates how government meetings are conducted, however.
But now that New Leaf has expressed its interest in seeking project approval through the California Energy Commission, Hernandez said he’s “going to be more open” about his thoughts.
“I’m against the project, especially with [New Leaf] going with the state,” Hernandez said. “It really is a slap in the face after all the work we did with the ordinance.”
New Leaf previously told Lookout that the company is still exploring whether it will take the state or the county route for approval. Hernandez, on the other hand, said that following a meeting with the state energy commission, the company and county staff in early April, signs are leaning toward the state route.
Hernandez said he’s concerned that few projects have been denied at the state level. He said he’ll push for the state energy commission to include Santa Cruz County in its decision and use the county’s ordinance (which is currently at a standstill) as reference for safety standards.
Community members organizing against the New Leaf project believe the state process will be more rigorous and will more readily take the public’s concerns into account.
A spokesperson for the state energy commission previously told Lookout that local input, which also includes local government agencies, is part of the permitting process.
Another issue Hernandez has tried to face head-on in his district is the ongoing immigration fears during President Donald Trump’s second administration. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have visited Watsonville at least 23 times since January 2025; nine of those visits occurred within the first two months of 2026.
Hernandez currently co-leads a subcommittee to help prepare for possible impacts of immigration operations on county residents. He said he’s starting to investigate whether the county can invest more money into legal defense, Last year, the county set aside $100,000 to provide legal services for undocumented residents.
“It’s important to protect those people. They’re human,” he said. “On top of being human, they provide food for our county and the rest of the United States. How can we turn our backs on them, it’d be inhumane to do that.”
Hernandez said that he wants to develop “more creative ordinances,” but did not elaborate on what kinds he might propose. Last month, the county adopted an ordinance barring immigration officials from using its facilities for enforcement purposes.
Should Hernandez be elected to a second term, he said he wants to continue investing in roads and more social services in South County. He credits his eight years on the Watsonville City Council for his constituent advocacy. His goal is to bring more projects into the community, he said.
At Lookout’s candidate forum April 15, Hernandez said the county has invested nearly $800 million in the community during his first term as supervisor. Some of those projects included opening a county office on Westridge Drive in Watsonville, starting repairs to the Pajaro River levee and fixing roads, he said.
The facility on Westridge Drive was purchased by the county in 2021, according to a report by Santa Cruz Local. The effort to secure federal funding for the Pajaro River levee repairs was primarily led by Hernandez’s former colleague on the board, Zach Friend.
Hernandez also said he wants to bring more parks into unincorporated areas of South County, which aligns with his vision of bringing more investments into the community.
“District 4 only has two county parks, and it’s been 63 years since they’ve done [repairs] to Mesa Village Park,” he said.
He also hopes to develop more spaces for young people in his district. He said it’s one of the things that has always been important to him.
“Young people need things to do in Watsonville,” Hernandez said. “We have the highest concentration in the county, and there aren’t many things for them to do.”
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