Buffey Wright Bourassa, a Willits resident and member of the Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians, is planning to run for the District 3 seat on the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors.
District 3 covers the region including Covelo, Laytonville, and Willits. The current District 3 Supervisor, John Haschak, will not be seeking re-election.
Bourassa is not the only candidate in the race. Willits residents Eric Hart and Clay Romero have also announced a bid for the seat.
Bourassa, born in Ukiah and raised both in the city and on the Pinoleville Pomo Nation reservation, said she has a deep love for the 3rd District and enjoys spending time with her children and grandchildren, taking them hiking and camping in the area.
She currently lives in the Willits area on the Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians reservation, located on Sherwood Hill Drive. Bourassa is also a descendant of the Pinoleville Pomo Nation.
The interview with Bourassa, conducted on Thursday, was on her birthday.
“I was born and raised in Ukiah, on January 22,” Bourassa stated. “I grew up on the Pinoleville Reservation and in town. My mom’s non-Native, my dad’s Native. I grew up very diverse.”
Bourassa has a long history of supporting local initiatives in Mendocino County and working to help the community. To Bourassa, there’s no shortage of work to be done in the region. Since June 2023, Bourassa has been the restorative justice program manager at the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, where her role is a mixture of counseling, social work, and community engagement.
“This work has shaped how I lead: with fairness, structure, and a commitment to solutions that actually work,” Bourassa shared in a recent Facebook post. “Restorative justice is about repairing harm, strengthening families, and preventing future victimization.”
A few other topics Bourassa is most passionate about include substance abuse and addiction, environmental issues, and tribal representation.
Bourassa also said that she is in addiction recovery herself and is well-versed on the programs available for people struggling with substance abuse. Before her current job, she spent many years at the county’s public health department, where much of her work involved traveling across the county and helping spread the word about substance abuse and prevention.
“I traveled around the county going to schools and talking to kids and providing education and preventative events,” Bourassa added. “I was actually on the Safe RX Opioid Coalition. I would set up tables and started running that program and contracting with nonprofits and a couple of tribes to provide prevention education.”
Bourassa has a large family with members living in different locations throughout the county and is excited about economic development and increasing job opportunities for young people. This desire was largely fueled by seeing her own family struggle with finding well-paying jobs.
“How do we have jobs for our young people that are going to be sustainable for them to be able to stay here? I have three kids that are leaving this county to go and work in different areas so that they can pay rent just to be here,” she explained. “We need electricians, plumbers, construction, because all those folks are aging out. And what do tech and AI jobs look like here?”
Near the end of the interview, Bourassa spoke about what she likes to do in Willits in her free time. She said that while she loves all of the local businesses, there are a few spots that she finds herself frequenting the most.
“Willits is a beautiful area. I’ll come to town a lot and we walk, go to Brickhouse Coffee or JD Redhouse, or get my nails done at First Nails,” Bourassa said.
Although Bourassa is running for the District 3 supervisor seat, she said real change comes from local community members, not just politicians. She is excited to continue engaging with the community.
“Change has to come from the community. That’s how we make things different,” she said.
The election that could decide the District 3 supervisor seat will be held on June 2, during California’s statewide primary. If no candidate gets a majority of the vote, the two top candidates would advance to the general election in November.
This story originally appeared in The Mendocino Voice.