Sonoma County Legal Aid Acting Executive Director Sunny Noh said during Trump’s first term, Legal Aid had a guardianship program that helped immigrant families develop a safety plan for dependent minors if the parents were detained or deported. Similar programs could be revived.

“I think everyone right now is still in turmoil,” Noh said. “We want to give people room to process, and as soon as we can get our bearings, we’ll start strategizing and get down to business.”

Johanna O’Kelley, chairwoman of the Napa Valley Democrats, said the result was “heartbreaking for us”.

“There is a sense that fear and hatred have overcome joy and hope,” O’Kelley said. “But we’re not hurt.”

“I think the Democratic Party has maybe moved too fast for a lot of people and not brought everyone together in this multicultural, more inclusive, equality-oriented America. Things are changing very quickly and I think it’s unsettling for a lot of people. I think this is something that the Democratic Party needs to look at and reevaluate and reflect on how best to move forward. But we will occupy, organize and mobilize again because we will fight for democracy. We are really fighting for a fairer democracy. Not just for us, but for the world. because we have an important role to play in the world.”

Sonoma County Board of Supervisors Chairman David Rabbitt attributed Trump’s victory to inflation, the cost of living and the high cost of housing as key factors in the election. “There’s no question the economy had a lot to do with the outcome,” he said.

He expects state and federal programs, including President Biden’s infrastructure bill passed in 2021, to help the county and state through any future “chaos.”

“I don’t want to fall in (thinking) the sky is falling,” said Rabbitt, who expressed disgust at Trump’s divisive rhetoric and treatment of others.

“It’s a nationwide reset and it’s a big country with a lot of people looking at things in different ways and very divided in what people think,” he added. “We’re still lucky in California that we have our own values ​​from the state and the county.”

Rabbitt added that doesn’t mean he expects California and the nation to be unaffected by Trump’s presidency.

“It is what it is and we’re going to have to persevere and keep going,” he said.

Davida Sotelo Escobedo of North Bay Jobs With Justice said, “While powerful people want us to go down the path of despair, the most important question now is: What do we have the power to do together now?” she said via email. “There will always be things over which we have no control, but what we do have control over is our collective ability to act – to come together in solidarity, to organize, to build grassroots power in our neighborhoods and workplaces, to to fight for the transformative vision that speaks to the needs of our communities.”

Longtime Santa Rosa City Council member Chris Rogers, who on Tuesday night declared victory in his bid for a seat in the California Assembly, said state leaders will continue to fight for reproductive rights, climate action and protections for immigrant and LGBTQ communities, which he described as “non-negotiable values” for Californians and Democrats. .

“None of this has changed because the presidential election didn’t go the right way,” he said. “It just means we have to keep working hard.”

Trump’s election was not entirely surprising, he said, adding that it gave him a sense of being “in the fray” rather than on the sidelines.

“In the next four years, we will have to continue to be the tip of the spear to ensure that our country does not fall into a fascist regime,” he added.

Ellie Cohen, executive director of The Climate Center, headquartered in Santa Rosa, called Trump’s election “a blow to our community’s hopes for accelerated and equitable action on climate change.”

Trump is expected to reverse policies aimed at weaning Americans off fossil fuels and reducing greenhouse gases, even as the world gets warmer by the year and extreme weather causes more, more and more cataclysmic effects on the climate and natural disasters.

On the campaign trail, Trump pledged to increase the rate of oil extraction — already at peak levels under Biden — to reduce support for electrification and sideline the United States when it comes to international climate efforts.

Cohen said California still has the ability and drive to lead the nation and the world in “fair action on climate change commensurate with the scale of the crisis we face.” She noted, in part, the passage of a $10 billion climate bond approved by state voters on Tuesday.

“Our core belief at The Climate Center still holds true,” Cohen wrote. “As California is, so is the world. What we do here in California significantly impacts other states, the nation and the world.”

Sonoma County Supervisor Chris Coursey acknowledged that many people, including women, people of color and the undocumented, may fear what lies ahead. He said he feels his job now is to take protective measures.

“We need to focus on the things we can control locally, be more inclusive, look after the people who are most vulnerable. More than ever we need to protect and support these people in their everyday lives.”

He said it was time to “redouble” efforts to “uplift people from disadvantaged communities”.

Chase Overholt, Director of Development at Positive Imagessaid she woke up to an outpouring of messages of support from allies in the community, as well as questions from members of the queer community about what Trump’s win means locally.

The Santa Rosa nonprofit, which supports and advocates for the LGBTQ community in the North Bay, extended hours at its community center Wednesday to provide a safe place for people to gather, Overholt said.

He said the organization’s leaders have since discussed how to combat a potential increase in anti-LGTBQ rhetoric and discrimination. The group is exploring partnerships with other local groups to expand legal and other services to meet new demands in a new reality, he said.

“I want to be very clear that while we are discouraged by this, it does not mean that the work stops,” Overholt said. “Our sleeves were already rolled up and we are rolling them up further. We are ready to do the work to ensure our county continues to be a place where queer people belong.”