Santa Cruz County Supervisor

District 3 Candidates

 
 
 
 
 

Ami Chen Mills

Ami Chen Mills is a 30-year resident of Santa Cruz County, mother of two teens, author, essayist and national non-profit founder/director who launched the National Community Resiliency Project with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in multiple sites across the United States. For six years, she worked for Santa Clara County’s Health and Hospitals System–throughout multiple departments, in the county jail, juvenile hall and youth correctional ranches, and with employees and teams from across the County. She has also worked with several agencies in Santa Cruz County.

She is a global speaker and mental health educator who has engaged with thousands of individuals from all walks of life to improve individual lives, schools, and communities and to increase civic engagement. She is also a former investigative journalist, radio show and podcast host, climate and social justice activist and community organizer.

Ami won two First Place awards from the CNPA in Investigative and Environmental Journalism, while based in Santa Cruz, and has written for Inc. Magazine, Mother Jones, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Santa Cruz Sentinel and more. Her two books, for educators and youth: State of Mind in the Classroom and The Spark Inside: A Special Book for Youth are translated into several languages and are in use globally.

Dr. Justin Cummings

Dr. Justin Cummings is an environmental scientist with over 20 years of experience studying and working on issues such as climate change, habitat restoration, social and environmental justice, and environmental conservation. More recently he has transferred his skills to secure grants to create and manage non-profit STEM education and professional workforce development programs centered on promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in emerging tech and environmental conservation sectors. In 2018, he was one of two black men elected to the Santa Cruz City Council for the first time in history and in 2020 was the first Black Mayor for the City of Santa Cruz. As a City Council member, his work has focused on promoting affordable housing and protections for our most vulnerable community members, strengthening the relationship between public safety and communities of color, advocating for the expansion of non-law enforcement alternatives to emergency crisis response, environmental protection, and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in all policy decision making among many other topics. Dr. Cummings term on the City Council ends at the end of 2022 and he has decided to run for Third District County Supervisor to continue to promote policies to address diversity, equity, justice, inclusion and public health in our community. Most importantly, he wants to use his science background to help as we combat our climate crisis. Dr. Cummings is also a fluent Spanish speaker and holds a BA in Spanish and a BS in Biology from Eastern Illinois University, and a Ph.D in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with a designated emphasis in Environmental Studies from UC Santa Cruz.

 After being one of the highest signature gatherers to place rent control on the ballot in 2018, Justin decided to run for Santa Cruz City Council and in 2018 was the highest vote recipient. Justin served as Vice Mayor in 2019, and Mayor of the City of Santa Cruz in 2020, one of the most difficult and challenging years in recent history for the city, and is currently a city council member.  Justin was one of two African American men elected for the first time to the City Council in 2018 and was the first African American man to serve as Mayor of the City of Santa Cruz.  During his time on the City Council, Justin has worked towards building consensus on the council and within the community to help move the community forward in a positive and productive way.  During his time on the council Justin has served on dozens of committees, ad-hoc subcommittees, and commissions that address topics such as the city budget, city revenue, land use, environmental protection and climate change, cannabis, UCSC growth, homelessness, public safety, city schools, COVID-19 recovery, clean energy, public health and the library. 

He has also submitted and passed resolutions and policies with the majority of his colleagues in an attempt to build consensus.  The policies that he has helped champion have focused on supporting diversity, equity, justice, and inclusion, affordable housing, tenant protections, programs that assist individuals experiencing homelessness, addressing accountability, transparency, and use of force in policing, environmental protection, public health, supporting Unions, and small businesses among other topics.  As Mayor during 2020, he worked with community members and leaders, across a variety of social, business, and government sectors, to bring our community together as we confronted the many challenges faced during 2020.  This included the graduate student protests at UCSC, the Recall election, the onset of COVID-19, social unrest after the murder of George Floyd, the CZU fires, and the 2020 elections.   As Third District County Supervisor, Justin is interested in prioritizing the following issues:

 

  • Environmental protection and carbon emission reduction 

  • Creating and supporting effective programs and services that promote public health, justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion

  • Sustainable land use planning and affordable housing production

  • Rebuilding and sustaining our community and economy due to COVID-19

  • Strengthen disaster preparedness, resiliency, and recovery from Climate Change impacts


Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson

Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson currently provides professional grant writing, organizational development/strategic planning, facilitation, and program management services to agencies working in the areas of public health, education and social services. Her work has generated increased investment and funding in the community, innovative projects, and health focused local policies. Shebreh has secured over $30 millions in grant funding over the last 15 years for Santa Cruz to address a range of issues such as immigration rights, mental health and substance use, juvenile justice reform and youth homelessness. Shebreh is also the co-founder of Impact Launch, a social enterprise made up of a collective of social impact professionals committed to supporting individuals, teams and collaboratives to work more effectively for equitable and sustainable outcomes. 

Shebreh was elected to the Santa Cruz City Council in November of 2020. As a councilmember, she has:

  • Put forward an action-oriented racial equity resolution addressing acts of hate against people of color while also increasing opportunities for people of color to serve in leadership positions.

  • Co-led a ballot initiative that gets resources such as recreational scholarships to underserved youth.

  • Spearhead the Children & Youth Bill of Rights which ensures that we keep the needs of young people at the forefront of our decision making and that we have youth engaged in our decision making process

  • Pushed for a services-oriented approach to homelessness that has resulted in the City’s Homeless Response Action Plan that invests a significant amount of resources to helping those who are unhoused.

  • And supported affordable housing projects

Shebreh also serves in other leadership roles including: 

  • Commissioner for the Central California Alliance for Health Board

  • Member of Dignity Health Community Advisory Board’s Community Giving Body,

  • Board member for the Community Health Trust of Pajaro Valley

  • Board member for Community Action Board

  • Board member for the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District

  • Alternate Commissioner for the Regional Transportation Commission

  • Alternate City Council representative for the Criminal Justice Council

Shebreh received her B.A. in Psychology and French/Francophonie Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) and a Masters in Social Work from San Jose State University. Shebreh is fluent in written and conversational French and fluent in conversational Farsi and is a native of Iran. She is a mother of two boys, is married and has lived in in Santa Cruz California for over 20 years. 

Thomas Ramos

I was born in Hanford, California in 1953. We moved to south San Jose (when it was orchards) and soon after a bit further south to Morgan Hill where I was raised on a ranch. Everyday began with feeding animals and everyday ends with feeding and keeping animals.

At 16, I became an emancipated minor and lived with my 2 best friends and completed high school. I graduated 6 months early from High School traveled solo and lived in Paris for 2 years. Applied to University of California and was accepted only due to the EOP program and with a Federal Court order to integrate the UC system.

Attended from 1974-1978 Merrill College.  In a couple of years, I married my college crush. We bought a house in Bonny Doon, started a small business. Last year my bride and me celebrated 40 years.

We have 2 adult children, 3 grandchildren all living in Santa Cruz County. 

Both my children went to the Bonny Doon school district, and I was a founding member of the Bonny Doon School Foundation which raised private money to support public schools (With help from the Packard foundation). After 7 years I left, and it is still successfully raising money for public school.

Spent a few years as a session Elder of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Santa Cruz I was able to get a ramp built for many of our elder members with ambulatory problems. 

I was a founding member of the NDRN an Professional association for the Luxury Plumbing Industry and have served as president 4 years of the 39 years it has been active.

In January 2018 I gave my company to my son and after losing our sales team during COVID I am continuing to help him.

Eight years ago, I explored running for Supervisor and was advised by a political consultant (a leader in a local political party), “All Supervisors for the next 20 years have been chosen”.  I was discouraged and still very active with my company.

My Inspiration was a wise gentleman, Charley Levin.  And he reminded me “You have to give back.”  While at the peak of his career he was the first major of Clayton, CA.