NEVADA COUNTY, Calif. February 26, 2024 – A retired law enforcement officer with a lifetime involvement in politics, Michael Gomez is working as a Nevada County Vote Center manager this election season because he believes in public service.
“I have a love for this country, and I have a love for my neighbors,” he said. “Public service to me is life long.”
Gomez, who has lived in Nevada County 16 years, is one of 80 temporary workers hired to help with the March 5, 2024 Presidential Primary Election. You will find him working at the Vote Center at the Gold Miner’s Inn in Grass Valley this Saturday, March 2 through Election Day.
Gomez grew up in Yellowstone County in Montana and served in the U.S. Marines during the Vietnam War. For a time, he was assigned to Presidential Security Detail for President Nixon at the “Western White House” in San Clemente. It gave him a special appreciation for what America is.
“The American democratic experience is ours to maintain,” he said. “It doesn’t belong to anybody else but the people of this country.”
Gomez attended UC Davis, where he advocated for student self-governance rights and met then Gov. Jerry Brown, who urged the students to not just complain but get involved in the government process.
Gomez went on to work as a law enforcement officer in both San Diego and Sacramento and to serve as a consultant to a state senate committee that oversaw health care laws. He also was an appointee of Gov. Brown in the state Department of Consumer Affairs, where he was in charge of peace officers investigating medical doctors.
Gomez has worked on political campaigns and served as vice mayor of Dixon from 2006-2008.
This is his second time working as a Vote Center manager for Nevada County. “I work in the polls because I get to meet my neighbors,” he said. “I get to be the face of the election so you can trust the process.”
Nevada County’s Vote Centers at the Rood Center in Nevada City and Truckee Town Hall are open now. Six more Vote Centers open Saturday, March 2. For locations and hours and other election information, see www.NevadaCounty.gov/Elections.