Opinion: The Democratic Party has abandoned Mendocino County’s working class

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When I first registered to vote, I registered as a Democrat. I was young, and I cared deeply about people and the world around me. I saw the Democratic Party as the one that stood up for the underdog — minorities, low-income families, women, children and the environment.

I’ve always known that programs like food stamps and subsidized housing have been misused by some. But I believed — and still do — that we shouldn’t dismantle programs that serve a vital purpose just because of a few bad actors. Eliminating these resources only punishes the children and families who truly need them.

I admired powerful women who broke barriers, most of whom were Democrats — women fighting for gender equality and civil rights. And as I’ve gotten older, those core values remain important to me. But I now see things with more perspective.

In my younger years, I was idealistic. I didn’t have children. I didn’t understand how complex economics, government spending, interest rates and inflation really are. Now, as a woman, a mother, a wife and a working professional, I’ve grown — and I’ve watched the Democratic Party change, too.

They still claim to fight for the underdog, but in practice, that no longer seems true. I live in Mendocino County, one of the most impoverished counties in California. We face high rates of poverty, child abuse, drug addiction and declining job opportunities. And yet, the very party that claims to care about people continues to push policies that hurt our communities.

Of course, I want a better future for my kids. Of course, I want to protect the environment. But there is no future without water. There is no future without jobs. There is no future without affordable housing — not just for low-income families, but for teachers, police officers, nurses and others essential to a healthy community.

Yet the Democratic Party supports removing two dams that provide critical water through local reservoirs (Lake Pillsbury and Lake Mendocino) — all in the name of environmental protection. This decision risks creating more water scarcity, displacing farmers and deepening poverty. Generations of families stand to lose their land and livelihoods.

Why? Why is this being allowed to happen? Why can’t there be a balanced solution — one that respects both environmental conservation and the immediate needs of the people who live here?

Yes, restoring steelhead populations is important. But so is protecting the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people. People must come first. The fish can wait — especially since it’s been over a hundred years, and a new ecosystem has already been established in Lake Pillsbury that would be destroyed by dam removal. A fish ladder could be built instead, providing a compromise that supports both ecological and human needs.

Instead of creating more water scarcity, driving down home values due to lack of water, and pushing more families toward homelessness, maybe the Democratic Party should reconsider its priorities — and put blue-collar working people first. Maybe they’ll recognize that what’s happening here is simply wrong.

But I’ve lost hope.

I’ve followed the Potter Valley Project and the proposed dam removals closely. The current plan for pumping water to Lake Mendocino is, at best, haphazard. Even in wet years, projections show the lake will run dry eight out of every ten years. That is not a solution.

At this point, federal intervention — through eminent domain — is the only real option left. I can only hope that Secretary Brooke Rollins, Secretary Doug Burgum, and President Donald Trump step in and fight for our water, because the Democrats clearly will not.

They have made their choice: they care more about fish than about people. They have abandoned the people of California.

In the last couple of years, I have re-registered as a Republican. I feel abandoned by the Democratic Party. They no longer care about the working-class people who simply want a stable, decent life — and who work hard for what little they have.