UKIAH, CA., 9/19/25 — About a dozen people crowded the outdoor patio at Ukiah’s Black Oak Coffee Roasters on Wednesday to participate in an event billed as a “community coffee” with Assemblymember Chris Rogers, D-Santa Rosa. Rogers, who represents the 2nd Assembly District, which includes Mendocino County, fielded a wide range of topics at the 90-minute meeting.
Proposition 50, aka the redistricting proposition, was top of Rogers’ mind. The proposition, which will be on the November ballot, is the state’s response to redistricting in Texas and other states to advantage Republican congressional representatives. The California legislature advanced Prop. 50, assumed to benefit Democratic representatives, to counter the Texas efforts.
“Prop. 50 is a very simple question for Californians—we are being disenfranchised at the federal level,” Rogers said. “We see billions and billions of dollars being withheld from the federal government, from California, for our projects, for our communities, because we’re California. Do you want to fight that?”
However, while Rogers touted Prop. 50, he objects to the strategy of redrawing districts to advantage one party or another, a practice called gerrymandering.
“I think that partisan gerrymandering across the board needs to be eliminated in every state,” Rogers said. “I think that when you have a perception that politicians are picking who they’re going to represent, that it erodes the public’s trust in the institution.”
Rogers also pointed out that California had addressed this issue, and that Prop. 50 is a temporary measure.
“California is very unique in that we have an independent redistricting committee that has drawn the lines for the last two cycles to do districts that are not based on partisanship, but rather based on communities of interest and boundaries,” Rogers said.
Rogers said that with the new district lines, legislators will still look at communities of interest, and not disenfranchise voters, but will use partisan sensibility.
“If Texas is going to take away five Democratic seats, we’re going to add five Democratic seats, [then] you have an option,” Rogers said. “Do you want our existing districts? Or do you want those districts?”
Rogers mentioned three major differences between California’s Prop. 50 and how Texas’ districts were redrawn in August. First, California voters will have a choice, whereas Texans did not.
“The second is the districts that we’re putting forward do not violate any of the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA),” Rogers said. “It actually enhances minority representation and population to make sure that we aren’t taking away the good that the CVRA has done, and getting better representation for predominantly marginalized communities.”
Last, if approved by voters, the reconfigured districts would be temporary. Come the 2030 census, redistricting goes back to the independent redistricting commission.
Wildfire insurance
Crispin Hollinshead, a member of the Western Hills Firewise Community, asked about the affordability of fire insurance. Rogers gave examples of how the state is managing this issue.
“California’s insurance rates actually don’t reflect the risk for any of the communities that we’re in. So we have advanced a number of solutions this year that will help with that,” Rogers said. “One is that the insurance industry was very vocal about using a more sophisticated modeling tool to be able to assess risk, not just based on zip code, but based on conditions on the ground.”
Rogers also said that insurance companies, in addition to using better risk assessment, will have to give discounts for residents who complete home fire safety checklists.
“The insurance industry will have to give a discount for folks who do the whole checklist that we put together. If your home goes from being a risk factor to your community to being part of the deterrent, that you should be compensated for that help,” Rogers said.
Local fire safe councils are hosting a wildfire and insurance forum Oct. 9 at 5:30 p.m. at the California Conservation Corps Mendocino Center in Willits.
Equal education opportunities for rural communities
Erika Barrish, a credentialed teacher and curriculum instruction coordinator with Sequoia Grove Charter Alliance — a partnership of three non-classroom-based charter schools — voiced her concerns about bills passed in the legislature that impact charter schools and home schooling.
Barrish acknowledged that fraud occurs within the charter schools sector, which is why Barrish and her colleagues were glad that Senate Bill 414 passed. The bill expands fiscal transparency and bolsters technical help for districts with charter schools, which involves fiscal oversight training for school boards.
“We don’t like fraud. We’re all taxpayers too. So we’re very happy that SB 414 passed. But AB 84 … was a very disheartening thing for me to witness,” Barrish said.
One of the provisions in AB 84 is a minimum threshold of 10,000 students for school districts to authorize a non-classroom-based charter school. Barrish said that no districts in Mendocino, Lake, Del Norte or Trinity counties meet that threshold. Barrish expressed her support for non-classroom-based education and the need for well-supported public school options in rural communities.
“I personally support families in this area who are choosing to school their children at home. They have access to credentialed teachers through us to support a curriculum that is high quality … and so we want to make sure that we’re on your radar, because so many families in California, particularly rural California, really deserve to have these options in public education.”
“I think one thing that I can guarantee you is whether the governor signs the bill or doesn’t sign the bill, there’s going to be this continuing conversation next year,” Rogers said.
Redwood Valley Elementary Rorabaugh Center
Marvin Trotter, an emergency room physician in Ukiah, asked Rogers what could be done to help turn the closed Redwood Valley Elementary School into a northern campus for the Alex Rorabaugh Recreation Center, a youth-based multi-purpose community center that offers public meeting rooms and a gym for the wider Ukiah community, as well as a site for the Boys & Girls Club of Ukiah. Rogers said that it would be added to a list of potential projects that his office will work on to advocate for state funding.
“Whenever we have requests like this from our district, we put it on the list for opportunities to find funding. We were successful this year,” Rogers said. “For instance, the Karuk tribe up in northeast Humboldt really wanted to build a new fire resiliency training center to teach people indigenous fire practices. We were able to secure some funding for them, about $10 million.”
Nitrous oxide
Dolly Riley, chair of the Redwood Valley Municipal Advisory Council, asked what could be done to prevent nitrous oxide substance abuse, especially among minors. Rogers said that while efforts have been made, there is more that can be done. He acknowledged the efforts at the city and county level and said that the state recognizes that it needs to do more.
Rogers said that the hurdle that comes with banning the sale of nitrous oxide to prevent substance abuse is the restaurant industry, which uses nitrous oxide to make whipped cream and other foods.
“[Minors are] ordering it online, through these restaurant wholesalers, but I do think you’re going to see some increased enforcement,” Rogers said. “That doesn’t mean that the city or the county here in Mendocino can’t do more, but it means that the state’s recognizing that there’s an issue.”
Mendocino County Board of Supervisor Madeline Cline will present a resolution for a county-wide ordinance regulating the sale of nitrous oxide at the next board of supervisors meeting Tuesday.
Correction 9/19/25 – The original version of this article quoted Scott Cratty, executive director of of Mendocino County Fire Safe Council on the affordability of fire insurance. We have updated the article to reflect that the quote was from Crispin Hollinshead of the Western Hills Firewise Community.