Thank you for publishing Paul Moser’s open letter to U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (Dec. 6). I am sorry to see that, based on his response (Dec. 9), he does not believe the existing set of facts describing Mr. Pedroza’s actions merits his immediate recall.
The recall effort is not, as Rep. Thompson stated, based on “alleged” facts. It is based on true, verifiable facts. He may be waiting on an FPPC ruling that narrowly focuses on the conflict of interest, but much more is problematic beyond Alfredo having never mentioned the Vinedos land deal until it was brought to light. Alfredo Pedroza, for whatever reason, is highly invested in as a politician, but to what end remains a mystery to the public.
Discovering there was more than meets the eye in Mr. Pedroza’s story, particularly given the fact that more than $370,000 of his campaign contributions came from just 30 sources, I started a website called Napa County Cash in early 2020, a passion project born in quarantine because I questioned what appeared to be a political quid quo pro; but never did I imagine that on Jan. 21, 2022, I would unearth information as outrageous as what I brought to light: his purchase of land right next to Walt Ranch, perhaps the county’s most contentious vineyard development project to date, sandwiched between land holdings of two campaign donors who collectively had contributed a total of $58,100 toward his 2020 campaign.
People are also reading…
There has been a lot of talk about the recall campaign from Mr. Pedroza’s support base, addressing everything but the issues themselves. They have used buzzwords like, “small vocal minority,” “radicals,” accusing the recall effort of being riddled with personal attacks and even going so far as to bring race into the issue. I find that these cringeworthy cries from mainly affluent white people absolutely demean and obscure attempts to address actual racism.
This recall campaign is not even remotely personal, though for me there is an inescapable personal element in it.
My grandparents were also farmworkers. My grandfather came here from Jalisco and my grandmother from the reservation in New Mexico. She was known as “Pancha” and she spent nearly her entire Napa County life feeding farmworkers in Yountville, helping a lot of rich white men make more money.
Alfredo knows the family I come from. I was adopted at birth and my father, Dr. L. Kendall Nelsen, was a beloved, humble pediatrician in Napa for 40 years. He was Mr. Pedroza’s pediatrician and we invited Alfredo to my late father’s retirement party in 2013. Alfredo and I took a selfie together and he was invited to speak as the new rising star we were all very excited to support, finally having a Latinx person on our city council.
Alfredo knows my father was a good man, as does Mike Thompson, who gave my father an award, “Physician of the Year.”
My siblings and I were raised in a multi-racial, differently-abled home where respect for everyone was my parents’ number one goal. Although I was raised by parents who had access to education, I have had to work hard to achieve my own educational goals, and to heal my inherited intergenerational trauma, as well as racism I endured as a child in a mainly white Napa.
But this is not about either of our families — this is a quest for the truth, and to hold Alfredo Pedroza accountable for his actions. Although I have been politically active for many years as an advocate for immigration rights and to secure equity as an LGBTQ+ person, I came to local politics only in recent years, when the vital importance of our watersheds was brought to my attention.
I feel an enormously powerful call to serve our community and this land that made me. I think part of it is my father’s influence of giving tirelessly to this community. The call to action now includes bringing to light the full story of a fallen politician, Alfredo Pedroza.
The recall campaign is now in the process of gathering confidential signatures. We invite those who share our concern about the integrity of our local government to rise above the fear of political backlash from Alfredo and join us. Although I respect them as people, our leaders have been deafeningly silent on this issue, which is deeply disappointing.
No great change has come from waiting for others to rise. It is time to make Mr. Pedroza irrelevant in policy, but not because we dislike him for whatever decisions he has made in the past, or any personal reason, or any other claims he has made about these efforts, but solely because we believe he abused his political position to benefit himself, egregiously violating the public trust.
It is time to pave the way toward good governance.
