Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of articles consisting of interviews with the Lake County-based candidates for county, state and federal elections in 2020.
LAKE COUNTY — In the 2020 election, two Lake County residents have announced their candidacies for positions in the state and national governments.
Below are the Record-Bee’s interviews with them.
John Tyler
Tyler is a candidate for U.S. Representative for California’s 5th congressional district.
R-B: What town do you live in, and how long have you been in Lake County?
Tyler: I’ve have been here seven years. I moved from Sutter County; I was born in Yuba City. I live in Kelseyville, in the Riviera.
Where can voters look to learn more about your campaign?
Website: johntylerforcongress.org.
Twitter: @JWTyler4USRep
Facebook: John Wesley Tyler
What are your current occupation and primary profession?
I am the Automotive Technologies Instructor at Lower Lake High School.
What relevant outside experience will you bring to your position, through your career or otherwise?
I used to be in politics and government for a long time. And then I left that to be a teacher. And so now it’s situation of going back to the politics and government side. I’ve been teaching since 1999. I got my credential in 2012, in science and general subjects, and I started teaching sixth grade math and science at Burns Valley in Clearlake. I taught for five years at West Hills Community College in Lemoore. I taught at Fresno State as a graduate student, and was the debate coach there.
When I graduated, I had a degree in communication and philosophy. I was scheduled to have an internship with Cal Dooley. Then 9/11 happened, and their office shut down. So I was stranded with no internship. I scrambled, and found the City of Lemoore, and the city manager hired me as a paid intern. I did that for the semester, and was hired as a full time city analyst. I ran the (human resources) department, I hired all of the police, I managed all the healthcare for the whole city. It was a lot of fun. It was a great job. Every two weeks, I was on the floor of the city council meetings, giving presentations.
If you talk about experience—what it takes to have the experience to be an elected official—if you’re first the staff that does all the groundwork: writing the actual legislation, putting in place the players that need to build a project, etcetera. Bringing all that together, I do have that experience.
What public offices have you held, if any?
None, but I ran for an elected position (in Lemoore). I ran for city council. Three seats were up, six people were running. I got 17 percent of the vote. I didn’t really expect to win. I was more of a rebel candidate, a Bernie Sanders type. Pushing against the aristocracy, pushing against the establishment. And I haven’t changed: that’s still me.
What attitude will you bring to the House of Representatives?
I am a Bernie Sanders-type candidate in that the biggest problem, I think, in Washington is corruption. And I am a loud voice for anti-corruption. Anti-dirty dealings…on both sides. It’s not just about the Republicans being this or that. Both parties have huge flaws that come along with greed. What they are doing is taking money from big corporate donors that pay for everything. In my mind, that’s corrupt. They’re not going to call it corrupt. Citizens United (the 2010 Supreme Court Decision) should be overturned just for that reason.
I go (to Washington) as a voice of anti-corruption and change, and progressive values, and inclusion of all people. Changing the status quo.
What’s the number one issue facing the nation as a whole that you hope to do something about if elected, and how will you achieve that goal?
We have poor body and mind. Our people are tired and out of energy, and run down, and sick, and not able to go to the doctor, and sad, and depressed, and suicidal. And except for a small group of the richest people, that is our biggest problem. So many of the things that we need, and that I as a candidate would advocate for, fall into that group: like Medicare for all. A living wage of $15. Not that that’s the biggest thing on my list, but it adds to the problem of poverty in general.
The fact that climate change is getting worse and worse, and it seems more and more dire, that’s the priority. Climate change, and our need to solve it or turn it back, has to take first priority over everything, because with an unlivable planet, nothing else you work on matters.
These things all fall under making the people feel good, body and mind. Reforming the education system is a huge part of that. We have factory schools that were designed during the industrial revolution. The purpose was then, and it doesn’t work anymore.
The Green New Deal: it’s jobs for people. It’s energy that doesn’t come from dirty sources. It’s cleaning up our air and water. Those things are all leading to people not feeling well. We have glyphosate—Roundup—in our food and water.
The national issue is that we’re not healthy. And all of these things are the reasons. We’re not being cared for by our government.
What’s the biggest local issue that you want to address from a federal-level position?
Locally, the problem is the lake. That’s my number one issue: Clear Lake is unhealthy. It’s mismanaged, it’s being polluted in.
The lake is dammed up—it’s not in its natural state. It’s been dammed up so that we can ship the water off to Yolo County for the farmers. If you’re an ag-centered politician, historically you have agreed with the Yolo County water agreement. But that water agreement with Yolo County has to change. We have to let the water flow like it naturally did in Clear Lake. Do I have a pipe dream that it’s going to happen overnight? No. But we need to start the process now of restoring Clear Lake back to its original condition.
There are small projects now that are starting to work on that. I think what I would do as a new representative would be to put more focus on the whole lake.
What role would you play as an officer of the federal government to address the effects of repeated, destructive wildfires in Lake County?
Part of the problem is the underbrush. I don’t think you can solve the problem that there’s not enough water raining down on the land, but I think there have to be ways to manage the forests, to clear away in places closer to population densities.
I’m suggesting, on a large scale, that we have funding from the federal government to pay firefighters to go in and take care of the land. So I think it just comes down to a matter of money.
What will you do to increase federal support for Lake County?
There’s not enough federal support for our school systems. Where and when the funding left, I couldn’t pinpoint. But over time it’s gone away. If you have more funding coming from the federal government, you can alleviate the local people’s burden. We need to bump up the funding for our schools: that’s not just for the teachers, that’s including all the programs for the children. Things like auto shop and music and band and sports, and cooking class, and welding, and Future Farmers of America: all of those things need to be enhanced.
Where do you get all the money? We have a lot of money spent on defense, we have no taxes paid by corporations. So those two things, for me, balance the books.
What other issues do you want to take action on?
I have been a Bernie Sanders support the whole time. That’s the kind of candidate that I am as well. An Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez candidate. Government is not just for rich people, it’s for everybody.
Included in that are our dealings with Russia and China right now. We need to get rid of forever-war. Focus our attention at home on the programs we need for our people.
We need to get rid of fossil fuels. We need to legalize cannabis.
The war on drugs: It affected, disproportionately, people of color. You have Native American genocide…and then slavery…and then the war on drugs. We need to make up for that a little bit. If you’re going to legalize cannabis and allow the businesses to use the banking laws like every other business, we have to be careful not to give the industry away to big tobacco and large corporations, and instead try to rebuild some of the damage that was done by the drug war. So you’d have things like minority-owned business bumps or grant programs that would benefit people of color in communities that were disproportionately affected by the drug war.
Matt Nelson
Nelson is a candidate for California’s Assembly District 4.
R-B: What town do you live in, and how long have you been in Lake County?
Nelson: I live in Lower Lake and have lived in Lake County for five years.
Where can voters look to learn more about your campaign?
Website: electmattnelson.com.
Facebook: Matt Nelson for District 4 California State Assembly.
What are your current occupation and primary profession?
My current occupation is in the petroleum industry primarily in serving the public.
What public offices have you held, if any?
I have never held a public office.
What relevant outside experience will you bring to the state assembly, through your career or otherwise?
Leadership, unity, bipartisan agreement to achieve positive results for California, with many years of experience in public service dating back to my youth, my training and experience in public safety serving in peace time and disasters, identifying the needs for human and animal life to sustain a positive, prosperous, healthy outcome, studying history to prevent future disasters such as fire, flood, phrasal homelessness, crime, poverty…and applying that commonsense knowledge which California is in desperate need of at a state legislative level.
I have so many different views that can relate to both sides. Which I think is essential to California at this point, because we’re so divided.
I started as a police cadet for Ukiah Police Department back in 1993, starting in my first year of high school. From there, I went to Mendocino College and Santa Rosa Junior College, taking law enforcement classes. I got involved with the Hopland tribal police, and learned appreciation for our regional area as a whole. Learned about Bloody Island, and all the different things that took place here. How Kelseyville got its name. I worked for American Linen as a teamster from about 2003 to 2006.
That’s when I applied (at the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Corrections Department). I learned a lot (there). I enjoyed the job. I also despised the job. I realized that law enforcement was something that my dad chose, and that my stepdad chose, and that I was striving to be something that wasn’t truly me.
What attitude will you bring to the state government?
Bipartisanship is the essential check and balance from which our country and the idea of democracy that our democratic country was founded upon. Having that in mind and in heart I will strive to work in a bipartisan manner the state of California has not seen in years. Being a true representative of all people, I pledge to bring all voices in our district to Sacramento. I want to learn about what your ideas are, because that’s how we’re going to change for the good.
What’s the number one issue facing California as a whole that you hope to do something about if elected, and how will you achieve that goal?
There is no simple answer to that question, the answer encompasses many issues which has led us to the modern-day California without checks and balances of the one party-controlled legislature. The one party-controlled system in this state has allowed for devastating regulations, laws underfunding corruption, mismanagement, over-taxation without representation, and thousands of deadly and devastating wildfires caused by humans. I would like to bring back a true bipartisanship by reaching across the party lines to work together for the people of California.
We have such a division, not only in the state but across the country right now. Running as a moderate Republican, I am surprised and tickled by how many Democrats and non-party preference folks are actually following my progress.
What’s the biggest local issue in Lake County that you want to address from a state-level position?
Lake County has always been the step-kid for the assembly district, or for the state for that matter. What better way to make sure that the county gets what it needs than by having a state representative actually living here?
Here in Lake County we are facing many issues. From homelessness, the lack of business, to the lake itself. With homelessness we need to identify them and classify what category (of homelessness) they fall in. Once that happens then work with the city and the county to make sure they get the help they need. We have the largest freshwater lake in California that is known for bass and catfish. Why do we not have a bass pro shop or a Cabela’s? We have many people who like to eat more natural foods, why don’t we have a Whole Foods? We as a county need to reach out to these businesses and recruit them to Lake County. That would bring jobs, boost sales tax money to the city and the county. Then look at the lake, we need to clean it up. Work with the state to fix the leach lines that flow into the lake. Fix the sewer systems around the county that leak into the lake when we flood. By cleaning the lake, it would boost tourism which again would bring back jobs and bring in lost sales tax.
What role would you play as an officer of the state government to address the effects of repeated, destructive wildfires in Lake County?
Since 2015 people have come to me for accurate information during the fires. I have always been a strong supporter making sure properties are cleared and free of fire fuels. As an officer of the state I would hold neglectful property owners accountable for not cleaning up their property. I would work with private companies to log dead and dying trees, make use of the tools such as forest rakes to clear forest ground level of dead leaves and weeds. I would introduce legislation that would allow county district attorneys to charge arsonists such as the 2016 Clayton Fire arsonist Damin Pashilk with life in prison. With Pashilk’s history with fires and his release date in roughly 14 years, we as a community are not safe.
What will you do to increase state funding opportunities for Lake County?
With Lake County being one of the poorest counties in the nation and ranked number one poorest in the state. Being the only state elected officer living in the county I will ensure that we work with both city and county governments to make sure they are receiving information about different grants that are at the state level, to bring in more funding for different programs. I will also work with the federal government to find grants at the level for Lake County.
(On Clear Lake): Everything about this county revolves around that lake. From the state level, we can get grants—we can have a setup (wherein) the county can apply for more grants to help with education (about the lake).
The state gives the county some money to help with Clear Lake and other things, but it’s not enough.
What other issues do you want to take action on?
The Sites Dam Reservoir: that was a bipartisan thing that was agreed to about 20 years ago, and they just put it on hold. That would be perfect for flood control for the Sacramento Valley, and for water storage.
Sanctuary cities and counties: I’m very pro-law enforcement, and the sanctuary city stuff with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, not allowing law enforcement to communicate with ICE—I am absolutely against Senate Bill 54, and I would like to see that overturned. Because we are letting dangerous people back out, free, in our county and across the state. That’s a huge liability, and makes it more dangerous for law enforcement to do their jobs.
DACA: I’m actually very pro-Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Those kids were brought here not by their own doing, but this is their home. Common sense: get the bad guys out, keep the good guys here. DACA kids need to be protected.
Drugs: The drug epidemic: that’s border protection again. Because Fentanyl is being made in China, being transported to Mexico. We can stop that at the border.
Taxes: The taxes are ridiculous around here. The whole state is miffed.
Department of Motor Vehicles issues: If you’re going to have DMV voting registration, do it the way the voters want it to be done.
Gas tax: That’s a big thing. That needs to be dropped by at least 80 cents, to be a little more level with the federal (taxes).
California Air Resource Board laws: That’s another thing that’s going to end up killing the California economy. I actually think that between CARB and Assembly Bill 5—the independent contractor bill—it’s going to put California into a recession within five years.
