Quick Take
Jon Wizard says he knows Santa Cruz and our issues better than any other candidate. A former firefighter and public safety officer and a council member in Seaside since 2018, Wizard says he understands the Central Coast and is a champion for affordable housing.
I have lived and worked in every county of Assembly District 30.
I lived in Live Oak as a Santa Cruz 911 dispatcher, in Los Osos while I was a police officer in San Luis Obispo, and now in Seaside, where I’m a member of the city council.
Among my opponents, I have the closest ties and live in closest proximity to Santa Cruz County. I am the only one to have graduated from Cabrillo College and who has worked and had a permanent – not college – address in Santa Cruz County.
With the redistricting process splitting the Monterey Bay apart, it’s vital Santa Cruz County votes for someone who knows the challenges this community faces and is ready to solve problems on Day One.
I was raised in the Monterey Bay and understand our community’s values.
My family came to Monterey Bay 25 years ago, when my father left Coronado Island to accept a job at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey. Public service has always been part of my family’s story, from educators to civil servants to first responders.
My grandparents and parents spent a lifetime dedicated to the education of others. My grandmother was an English teacher and my grandfather was a school district superintendent; my mother worked with developmentally disabled adults in Pacific Grove. Serving the community and putting others before myself is in my DNA.
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The week I turned 18, I began my career in public safety by joining the Pacific Grove Fire Department. As a firefighter, 911 dispatcher and later a police officer and deputy sheriff, I experienced firsthand the role community colleges play in vocational training. I attended public safety academies at Monterey Peninsula College and Allan Hancock College. I completed a bachelor’s degree in public relations at San José State University in 2011. I also got a master’s in humanities in 2018 at California State University Dominguez Hills, where I am now working on a second master’s in public administration.
In 2017, I tore my ACL serving a search warrant on a methamphetamine manufacturing case, and after more than a decade as a first responder, I had to find a new way to support my family.
I decided to focus on affordable housing, one of our area’s most pressing issues and one I encountered often in public safety.
Since that injury in 2017, I have fought for housing. That includes showing up at council meetings to get more inclusionary housing in development projects, working at Habitat for Humanity on Water Street in Santa Cruz, and building homes for veterans and essential workers in Live Oak. I now work for a statewide nonprofit evaluating long-range housing plans across communities in California.
In 2017, Monterey County Supervisor Jane Parker appointed me to the Monterey County Planning Commission, and in 2018, I won a seat on the Seaside City Council.
On the council, I have proved myself a champion of tenant protections by implementing the statewide rent increase limits and writing an eviction moratorium to protect renters during the early days of the pandemic.
In the past four years, I have voted to permit more than 1,600 new homes, 300 of which are affordable housing. I have increased our water supply by voting to fund stormwater capture and water recycling projects. I also voted to support a social worker support team that responds with public safety officers to deescalate nonemergency 911 calls.
I also serve as chair of the Monterey Housing Authority, which provides thousands of homes to low-income families throughout Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties.
In my first weeks as a council member, I convened a town hall and spearheaded the creation of Casa de Noche Buena, a first-of-its-kind shelter on the Monterey Peninsula that provides housing and wraparound services for women and children experiencing homelessness.
Whether it’s building new homes, approving construction, obtaining housing grants for lower-income households or actually getting people experiencing homelessness off the street, I have a proven track record of delivering results.
I’ve dedicated my life to serving people across Assembly District 30 and ask for your vote to continue doing so. I’m endorsed by Santa Cruz County Superintendent of Schools Faris Sabbah, Cabrillo College trustee Adam Spickler, Harbor Commissioner Reed Geisreiter, retired UCSC Vice Chancellor Donna Murphy, Cradle to Career leader Allison Guevara and retired teacher Andrew Goldenkranz.
I understand your issues and will serve your needs.
Jon Wizard has been a Seaside city council member since 2018. He is a graduate of Cabrillo College and a former firefighter and public safety officer. He lives in Seaside with his fiancée, a nurse manager and school board trustee, and two stepkids, ages 12 and 17, who attend local public schools. Find his campaign site here.
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