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District 2 Monterey County Supervisor

Two candidates are vying for the District 2 Monterey County Board of Supervisors seat in the June 2 primary election. District 2 covers the northernmost part of the county, including Pajaro, Aromas, Boronda, Castroville, Las Lomas, Moss Landing, Prunedale, Royal Oaks and parts of Salinas. View a map or enter your address to see if you live in District 2.

Scroll down to learn about each candidates’ positions on important local issues.

Jump to:

On the issues • Campaign donations • About the Board of Supervisors

Meet the candidates

Glenn Church (incumbent)

Age: 66.

Occupation: Incumbent Monterey County supervisor and Christmas tree farmer.

Political background: Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency board member, Transportation Agency for Monterey County board member.

Ramon Gomez

Age: 56.

Occupation: County Supervisor Analyst for Santa Cruz County.

Political background: Monterey County Planning Commissioner, Director of the North County Fire Protection District.

Candidates on the issues

Santa Cruz Local interviewed and surveyed hundreds of Santa Cruz County residents about their top local issues. The following questions are based on what we heard from voters.

What economic development or county assistance programs would you propose to improve residents’ economic outlook and ensure access to emergency financial assistance?

Church said he wants to: 

  • Continue support of the recently-formed Pajaro Business Group, a nonprofit to support Pajaro businesses and advocate for the needs of the business community. In April, Church helped secure $10,000 in county funding for the group to offer small business development programs and emergency preparedness workshops.
  • Carry out work funded through federal and state money allocated for Pajaro following devastating floods in 2023, including street improvements.
  • Continue requiring Union Pacific to maintain the area around train tracks in Pajaro and remove illegal flea markets in anticipation of a new train station expected in the early 2030s.

Gomez said he wants to:

  • Encourage apprenticeship programs for youth.
  • Do more recruiting to fill vacancies in local law enforcement and fire departments.
  • Collaborate with high schools and colleges to provide opportunities for young people to learn about local jobs in county government and private industries.
  • Streamline permitting for new businesses.
  • Provide rental assistance when there is room in the budget, and solicit funds for assistance from philanthropic foundations.

Research shows that the agriculture industry is rife with wage theft. How would you support farmworkers in your district to hold their employers accountable for fair pay?

  • Prohibit the county from contracting with companies with a history of wage theft.
  • Encourage people to contact his office, so he can connect them with state labor officials.

  • Do more outreach to farmworkers at farms about worker’s rights. Gomez said he currently conducts personal outreach in local farms alongside the District Attorney and Sheriff’s Office.
  • Hold public workshops with the state Labor Commissioner’s Office about worker rights.

How would you incentivize developers to build deeply affordable housing in your district?

  • Allow duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes on single-family lots without additional permits.
  • Update county building codes to streamline new construction.
  • Encourage the building of smaller homes, which are “affordable by design.”

  • Prioritize approval of the county’s Housing Element.
  • Consider building affordable housing on county property.
  • Streamline approval and permitting of affordable housing, particularly on school-owned land.
  • Ensure affordable housing is built not only in rural areas, but also on the Monterey Peninsula, including Marina, Carmel and Pacific Grove.

Residents said the rent is already too high. What changes to policy would you support to keep rent stable and protect renters from displacement?

  • Create a rent registry, to determine who is charging the highest rents. 
  • Find a way to “punish those people who are abusing the process and charging the highest rents, because they’re the ones that keep driving it up higher.”
  • Consider rent control if it targets landlords charging the most.

  • Do more direct outreach to ensure tenants know their rights.
  • Fund organizations such as California Rural Legal Assistance to provide tenant legal assistance, using county and philanthropic money.

What would you do to improve response times from first responders to Pajaro?

Church said he has struggled to gain enough support from other supervisors to push through changes to improve response times in Pajaro. “I’m not giving up,” he said. “We’ve been improving slowly, but I want to see it pick up that pace.”

  • Continue trying to end a 2015 settlement agreement that required the county to re-allocated Sheriff’s Office staff from patrols to the Monterey County Jail.
  • Continue pushing for more sheriff patrols in Pajaro.
  • Continue discussions about ways to improve ambulance response times. 

  • Create a cross-county agreement to allow ambulances contracted with Santa Cruz County to respond to calls from Pajaro. 
  • Create an Office of the Inspector General to oversee the Sheriff’s Office and increase transparency, in order to negotiate the end of a 2015 settlement agreement that required the county to re-allocated Sheriff’s Office staff from patrols to the Monterey County Jail.
  • Bring more sheriff patrols to Pajaro.

How would you address the urgent infrastructure needs in marginalized areas of the county and ensure equitable funding for parks, roads, and services across the county?

Over the past three years, millions of dollars have been spent on road and park upgrades in Pajaro, Church said. Those improvements have largely been paid for by federal and state recovery funds.

The Porter Vallejo Mansion is undergoing renovations with the help of state and county money. Once that work is completed, the house will include spaces for community-based organizations and county staff, he said.

  • Prioritize creation of the Pajaro Community Plan, a long-term vision for development.
  • Consider funding formulas to equitably allocate county infrastructure money.
  • Prioritize new heating at the North County Recreation Center in Castroville, which serves as an evacuation center for Pajaro residents.
  • Collaborate more closely with local special districts, such as the Pajaro/Sunny Mesa Community Services District.

Federal eligibility changes are set to remove thousands of Monterey County residents from Medi-Cal. This summer, the county is set to re-launch Esperanza Care, which provides health care to uninsured individuals. A yearlong pilot program aims to serve 500 people. How would you fund an expansion of Esperanza Care?

When the Esperanza re-launch was approved in January, Church asked county and hospital leaders to expand the program as quickly as possible. If needed, a future hotel tax hike could raise more money for large-scale expansion of Esperanza Care, he said.

Gomez said the county must ensure health care access to all residents. He said he is “open to looking at any and all options” to fund expanded access to health care, including potential tax initiatives. County leaders should explore a state-funded program for uninsured people, he said.

Campaign donations

Glenn Church — $82,605 total reported contributions for 2026, for the filing period of Jan. 1 —  April 18.

  • Total Expenditures: $37,969
  • Cash on hand: $90,538
  • Loans: none as of April 18.

Ramon Gomez — $32,427 total reported contributions for 2026, for the filing period of Jan. 1 —  April 18.

  • Total Expenditures: $16,327
  • Cash on hand: $16,099
  • Loans: $ 2,900

About the Board of Supervisors

A map shows Monterey County supervisor districts. (County of Monterey)

The Monterey County Board of Supervisors includes five members representing five districts. District 2 covers the northernmost part of the county, including Pajaro and Moss Landing.

The board creates laws for unincorporated county areas, decides how to spend county money and oversees many state functions. On some issues, especially housing development, local lawmakers are limited by the laws and funding of the state government.

The Monterey County Board of Supervisors oversees:

  • County roads.
  • County fire protection.
  • Public health.
  • County law enforcement: Sheriff’s Office, jails, probation.
  • District Attorney’s office, public defender.
  • Handles most federal and state money for the county.
  • Building and environmental services.
  • County parks.

The board typically makes policies for the unincorporated areas of the county. However, they can coordinate with cities for countywide policies, such as:

  • Homeless services.
  • Advocate and plan for parks and recreation facilities.
  • Response to emergencies.
  • Planning for new construction and land use in unincorporated county areas.
  • Housing policies including vacation rentals, affordable housing.
  • Parking permits.
Home » June 2 Election Guide » Monterey County Supervisor District 2

Election Guide

ELECTION RESULTS
Santa Cruz Mayor
Santa Cruz City Council
Santa Cruz County Supervisor D4
Monterey County Supervisor D2
Election FAQ