Why I'm Running for the Nevada Irrigation District Board, Division 1

Jesse White, candidate for Nevada Irrigation District (NID)

My family has called Nevada County home for four generations. My wife, Katherine, and I have been married for twenty-one years, and together we are raising seven children who are proud fourth-generation residents of this community. When I look at them, I think about the water that will come out of their taps decades from now, the rates their families will pay, and whether the district that manages our most important resource will be run with the same care and honesty we expect of ourselves. That is why I am running for the Nevada Irrigation District Board of Directors in Division 1.

Water is not a partisan issue. It does not matter which party you belong to when the reservoir is low, when a rate increase lands in your mailbox, or when a dry, windy September has everyone in the foothills watching the hills. Every one of us, farmer and family, senior and student, depends on NID getting the fundamentals right. I am running because I believe we can do better on those fundamentals, and because I think this district should answer to the ratepayers who fund it, not to politics.

I have spent my career in a profession where there is no room for cutting corners. As Chief Pilot at Pacific Jet Charter and a certified flight instructor, I have built everything I do on safety, discipline, and accountability. In aviation, every decision has to be measured, transparent, and right the first time, because people are counting on you to bring them home. I hold a Bachelor's degree in Professional Aeronautics with a minor in Aviation Safety, and I have carried that same standard into everything else I have done. I have also owned and operated businesses across the automotive, recycling, and property management industries. I have met payroll, managed budgets, maintained expensive infrastructure, and felt firsthand what rising costs do to a small operation and to the working families and farms that make up our community. Those are exactly the skills a water district needs at the table.

NID is far more than pipes and paperwork. It is a network of reservoirs, treated and untreated water for homes and agriculture, hydroelectric power, and the lakes and trails where our families spend their weekends. Protecting all of it for the next generation is at the heart of why I am running. I want a district that plans responsibly for dry years and wildfire seasons, that keeps our water dependable, and that treats every rate increase as a last resort rather than a first reflex. Too often, ratepayers feel that decisions are made for them rather than with them. Seniors on fixed incomes and family farms operating on thin margins cannot absorb unnecessary increases, and they deserve board members who start from that reality.

On the board, I will fight for three things. First, fiscal responsibility: fund what genuinely matters, question what does not, and protect ratepayers from increases that have not been fully justified and clearly explained. Second, honest management: open budgets, straight answers, and real public input before decisions are made, not after they are final. Third, long-term stewardship: safeguarding our reservoirs, our water quality, our hydroelectric resources, and our recreation so the district we hand to our children is stronger than the one we inherited. I do not believe those goals are in conflict. Run well, a water district can be both careful with a dollar and serious about the future.

Service to this community is already part of who I am. As a 4-H adult volunteer leader, I have spent years investing in local kids and families, and I have seen what people here can accomplish when they work together and keep their word. That is the spirit I want to bring to the board: practical, grounded, and focused on results rather than noise. I am not interested in scoring points. I am interested in a district that works, and that earns back the confidence of the people it serves.

I am not running to make a political statement. I am running because I love this place, because my family's future is tied to it, and because I believe the Nevada Irrigation District can restore the trust, accountability, and value that ratepayers deserve. Reliable water and responsible rates are not slogans to me. They are the standard I will hold this district to every single day.

I respectfully ask for your vote on November 3, 2026, and I would be honored to earn your support. To learn more, share a concern, or get involved, visit jesseforNID.com or reach me directly at info@jessefornid.com. Let us get the fundamentals right, together.