To the Editor:

I am truly humbled and excited that my community has chosen me to serve as our next 2nd District supervisor. It is a great honor and believe me, I am very aware that it is also a great responsibility. I take that responsibility very seriously. I promise that I will be a hard-working and involved supervisor and I will always put the 2nd District first.

But first, I want to celebrate and express my deepest gratitude to those who helped me achieve this important victory for our community. With a grassroots campaign of this magnitude, I will not be able to thank you all by name but I want to mention some outstanding individuals who gave so much of their talent and passion to this race.

Jim Ferguson was my chief campaign advisor. He worked tirelessly to ensure that my message got out to the voters of the entire district and he helped keep us on an even keel through some of the minor squalls we had to endure; Joan Courtois was our treasurer and she gave generously of her time and her excellent and precise accounting skills to ensure that all donations were logged properly and all bills paid on time; John Angus added his creative genius to the mix in all of our printed campaign materials from billboards, yard signs and T-shirts to pamphlets, fliers and both newspaper and TV advertising; Andra Stringer was our very talented photographer and our Fortuna office manager and coordinator; Bobbi Wisby was our dedicated and patient web master; and last, but not least, Kathleen Creager was our central coordinator who dealt with every facet and component of the campaign in one way or another day in and day out of every day of this long campaign. I extend my deepest gratitude to you all.

This was a team effort and was comprised of two core groups; one in Southern Humboldt and one in the Fortuna/Rio Dell area.

There were those who helped with campaign fundraisers and events, who have already been thanked in these pages so I won’t mention them by name again. There was my Fortuna “women’s group” of strategists who came through in a magnificent way. And there were those who walked door-to- door with me as I sought to meet with as many voters as possible in the run-up to the election.

Throughout these many months we forged lifelong friendships, bridged political differences, shared laughs and challenges aplenty and created many wonderful memories. But most of all, we shared a common goal; an empowered and revitalized 2nd District with strong representation at the county level and beyond. Now that our efforts have been successful, I will work every day to live up to your trust in me to accomplish those goals.

I will take office in January 2013 but in the intervening months I will already begin my work by meeting with community groups and individuals to hear your concerns and ideas for our future. And I will continue monitoring the General Plan Update (GPU) as well as working for solutions to improve our local economy through “Prosperity 2012.”

My first plan, however, is to thank the community as a whole, by celebrating with you. We will announce plans for a couple of victory parties in the near future. I hope you will join me for some fun and reflection.

Thanks to all who voted in this election. Please call me with any questions, concerns or comments. My number is (707) 923 1013 or you can e-mail me: contact@estellefennell.org.

Estelle Fennell

Redway