Quick Take
Incumbent Jimmy Dutra and former city councilmember Trina Coffman-Gomez are competing for the District 6 seat on the Watsonville City Council on the Nov. 5 ballot, only weeks after a jury found Dutra liable for sexual abuse of a minor in a civil lawsuit. It's the only one of three council seats up for election this cycle that's being contested.
Three of the Watsonville City Council’s seven seats are up for election Nov. 5, but only one is a contested race. District 6 incumbent Jimmy Dutra is being challenged for reelection by real estate broker and former councilmember Trina Coffman-Gomez.
Dutra was found liable for sexual abuse of a minor by a Santa Cruz County jury Sept. 17 in lawsuit that was first filed while Dutra was running unsuccessfully for county supervisor two years ago.
ELECTION DAY NOV. 5
Although he has denied the allegations, Dutra has vowed to appeal and is pressing on with his bid for reelection, he did not respond to repeated requests from Lookout to be interviewed for a story about his candidacy.
“I’m the right voice for our district. I’m responsive, transparent and a proven leader,” he said in a written candidate statement.
Coffman-Gomez currently sits on the board of the Salvation Army Watsonville Corps and Pajaro Valley Arts, and previously served as president of the Rotary Club of Freedom.
“We want to make sure we have the best representation for the community that I represent. I’ve lived in that community since the ’90s,” Coffman-Gomez said. “I grew up two blocks from that community and so I understand my neighbors really well in what their concerns are.”
Dutra is in his first term as the councilmember for District 6, and served on city council from 2014 to 2018 for District 4. Coffman-Gomez served on city council for two terms, from 2012 to 2020.
The other Watsonville City Council seats up for election this November are Districts 1 and 2, where councilmember Eduardo Montesino and Mayor Vanessa Quiroz-Carter, respectively, are up for reelection. Neither faces opposition.
Coffman-Gomez: Bringing grassroots experience to city council
In her time away from public office, Coffman-Gomez has been able to reflect on her experiences and learn new skills while working in nonprofit organizations.
“I haven’t left the community and see that the community still has that need,” she said. “I want to bring those skill sets, those experiences that I’ve had a chance to reflect on, back into going back to the policy side of things.”
Coffman-Gomez said she’s learned to look at issues with a holistic approach, making sure she has all the information before making a decision. It’s an approach she said she’d take as a member of the city council.
“We’re a body of policymakers, but we want to make sure we’re shaping the policy that’s most effective for this community,” she said.
As board president for the Salvation Army, Coffman-Gomez has had firsthand encounters with the unhoused community in Watsonville. The organization had operated a shelter, which closed in April due to lack of funding, but offers food distribution Tuesdays and Thursdays and hot meals every weekend.
Since the shelter closed its doors, Coffman-Gomez noticed how the unhoused community has become more visible, she said. If elected back to the city council, one of her top priorities is to get more resources for Watsonville’s unhoused. It would be the wrong thing not to do, Coffman-Gomez said. One of the things she wants to really emphasize, if elected, is the need to draft a chapter dedicated to homelessness prevention for Watsonville’s 2050 general plan.
“We need a chapter that addresses what our plan is going to be for those that are experiencing homelessness – they are part of what we need to do to house and what we need to do to provide services,” said Coffman-Gomez. “How are we going to go ahead and fund the resources or get what we need to do to help this out?”
She also plans to lean into her background in housing and finance when tackling Watsonville’s housing issue. Coffman-Gomez wants to help create more pathways to homeownership in the city.
It’s been 18 years since Watsonville had an adequate number of new homes – that are affordable – available to purchase, she said. There’s no sense of pride in homeownership if there hasn’t been anything available in such a long time, she added. Coffman-Gomez wants to ensure that there’s a balance between rental housing and property available to own.
Transportation is another issue Coffman-Gomez wants to tackle. She wants to improve public transportation and implement a better system for students who commute from Watsonville to Cabrillo College or UC Santa Cruz.
“I’m one to give back. I’m very grateful for being able to do that,” Coffman-Gomez said. “I’m hoping that it’s also a role model to others to know that it’s important for you to be part of the community.”
Dutra: Watsonville is first priority
Dutra did not respond to Lookout’s repeated requests for an interview about his bid for reelection, but promised in a written statement about his candidacy to “improve roads, enhance neighborhood lighting, ensure city safety, prioritize economic development, provide adequate community spaces through completing our park renovations, continue the Kmart center improvements, advocate for Blanca Lane’s Meadows Manor Mobile Home Park, deter a county homeless encampment on Freedom Boulevard, and invest in youth and mental health programs.”
Dutra is seeking his third stint on the city council. He became Watsonville’s first openly gay mayor in 2020 after being elected to his current seat.
Dutra previously served on the Watsonville City Council from 2014 to 2018; he ran for the District 4 Santa Cruz County supervisor position twice, in 2018 and 2022, losing both times.
Last month, Dutra was found liable in a civil sex-abuse case. In a statement released following the verdict, he denied the incident ever happened and alleged that the case was about “revenge and money.”
While serving as Watsonville’s mayor, Dutra helped bring COVID vaccines to South County, where they were limited, advocating for farm workers, seniors and essential workers to be among the first to receive the vaccine first.
He also helped secure $33 million in state and federal funding to revitalize Ramsay Park and the city plaza. Dutra went door-to-door sandbagging homes and distributed evacuation information during flooding, according to his candidate statement submitted to the county’s elections department.
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