McFarland running as write-in candidate for State Assembly
Hello, my name is Sherman McFarland and I am running as a write-in candidate for State Assembly as a Democrat. I am a Postdoctoral Fellow working remotely for the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. I volunteer with the Cat Annex at the Yolo County Animal Shelter, with Davis Community Meals, and with Best Buddies.
I graduated from the UC-Davis School of Law in 2020. I am 30 years old, live in Davis, and would love to serve as your Assemblymember. I am running for State Assembly to fight climate change, increase investment in K-12 education, expand eligibility for Medi-Cal, CalFresh, CalWorks, and the Women, Infants & Children (WIC) program, reduce gun violence, advocate for a stronger state rent control law, and fight for a public option health insurance plan and single-payer health care in California.
I believe that children and our communities deserve to be safe from gun violence. I believe that teachers deserve to be paid a salary on which they can live. I believe that students deserve a quality education. I believe that renters deserve access to affordable housing. I believe that Californians deserve access to low-cost, quality health care. I believe that women have the right to make decisions about their reproductive health without government interference. And I believe that Californians deserve to breathe clean air and drink clean water.
It would be an honor to have you write my name in on the ballot for State Assembly. Thank you very much and remember to vote by Tuesday March 5.
—Sherman Mcfarland, Davis
Mike Thompson has not been listening to his constituents.
This is a shout out to all of the progressive voters in the 4th Congressional District which includes all of Lake County.
If you are outraged by the incomprehensible, unjustifiable and egregious military response that Israel has taken toward Palestinians in Gaza and beyond, please cast your vote for Democrat Andrew Engdahl for our representative in Congress. He is challenging the incumbent, Mike Thompson, who has NOT been listening to his constituents.
Despite what the world community now sees as a genocide meant to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza, Congressman Thompson continues to vote to give Israel billions of our tax dollars in military aid, no questions asked. Rep. Thompson seems satisfied with the status quo not just in his blind support for Israel, but also with regard to other progressive platforms like universal health care, criminal justice reform and climate action.
We need to elect a congressperson who aligns with our values on the issues that matter most to the future of our county, country and the world. Please join me and other Democrats who have met with Andrew personally and are moved by his dedication, intellect and platform. At the very least, if he gets enough votes to make the general election (the top two go forward) this will press the incumbent to take the progressive agenda more seriously and maybe even debate his challenger on these most important matters.
—Joannie Siegler, Davis
They don’t like your kind in Lake County
My husband and I discovered Kelseyville on a cold, rainy Sunday in February 2001 when we reached the top of the Hopland Grade and took a deep breath as we admired the vast expanse of Lake County. Looking down, it was hard for us to reconcile what we had just been told at an open house in Sonoma when the realtor said, “They Don’t like your kind in Lake County.”
Soon after the first visit we bought a ranch in Kelseyville which eventually became our full-time home. We found people open, accepting and willing to change long held stereotypes. We quickly became known as the “Guys on Gaddy”. We started a business in downtown Kelseyville (www.suiteonmain.com) and joined the Kelseyville Business Association. We opened our ranch up to weddings, memorials, fundraisers and community gatherings. To say that we were welcomed by the Kelseyville community would be putting it mildly.
One didn’t have to scratch too far below the surface to figure out who the town was named after. It has always been a conundrum for us. A town born at a time of so much anger and violence has healed itself and become a welcoming community, a town of festivals, strong family values, good neighbors, successful businesses, civic pride and acceptance. Myself and others took on the project of building the town’s visitor website www.visitkelseyville.com. We looked at our demographics and realized that we were not speaking to all of Kelseyville’s 3,500 residents, principally the Latino community. We set about making changes and from that exploration the “Dia de La Independencia” festival was created which now rivals any of the largest festivals in Lake County. We pride ourselves on being a community for all.
Having spent many decades in marketing in the San Francisco Bay Area and also having worked on some of Lake County’s biggest brands; Steel Wines, Visit Kelseyville and now Visit Lake County, I can say from experience that a name change from Kelseyville to Konocti would set our town and the county back several decades. While it will vindicate some well intended people, it would deliver a gut punch to the town. Truthfully, given this decision will be made by individuals who have never been here, it really is more of a sucker punch to the people of Kelseyville. Our tiny little town sits in the long shadow of a far bigger reminder of those who inhabited this land well before us – Mt. Konocti. That landmark should not be diluted into one town’s name. It would be repeating the same mistake as when The Highlands was renamed after Clear Lake. Kelseyville is not perfect but we strive to be a town that looks to building a future that is for everyone and in no way represents the beliefs and values of one of its abhorrent founders.
—Brian Fisher, Resident, Kelseyville
