Jenni moved to Cathey's Valley when she was 8 years old in 1986. Her father Bob Stark, Mother Cynthia Stark and later, her Step Mother Tammie Guenthart raised her on a 250 acre cattle ranch off of School House Road. She participated in 4H and FFA until she graduted from High school a year and a half early in1995.

Jenni's priorities include public safety, creating economic opportunity, community collaboration and stewardship and impacting positivity and trust between our County leadership and community members.

She is also eager to begin the work of collaborative problem solving methods which focus on issues and not personalities. She values individual input but remains focused on the issue at hand. 

The best way to support Jenni's campaign is to vote for her, volunteer, and spread the word about her candidacy! Jenni is funding her own campaign and only asks that you share experiences you've had with her. She has chosen to fund her own campaign because her platform is about trust. With the unfortunate breakdown in trust in our community, she prefers to not have people feel as if those funding her campaign somehow means she is obligated to them. She has worked hard and has her own funds. She is doing this because her loyalty is to the community of Mariposa as a whole

For those who have questions, please get in touch with Gail Neal, Retired Chief of Probation, and acting Committee Treasurer. 

Jenni is eager to meet with anyone on any subject and wants ideas!

Jenni's School Board seat will end at the same time the BOS seat begins, January 2025. She will have fulfilled her full term as a succesful School Board Member with one term as President.

If Jenni is elected she will fully submerge herself in the needs of the position and the community. Jeff Shaw is fully supportive of Jenni's candidacy, despite the loss to his office. Feel free to reach out to Jeff with any questions. 

A.A. in Psychology, Merced Junior College.

Jenni started the Merced College Psychology Club. When she graduated from Merced College she was awarded both Merced College's Psychology Student of the Year and Overall Student of the Year. She also graduated with honors.

B.A. in Psychology, UC Merced

Jenni had always dreamt of attending a UC. When UC Merced was developed she jumped on the opportunity. She graduated from UC Merced on the Chancelors list with highest honors. 

M.A. Peacemaking and Conflict Studies, Certificate in Restorative Justive, Fresno Pacific University

After attending Law School via Abraham Lincoln University in Los Angelas, Jenni realized she was someone who embraced conversation and negotiation more than choosing a side.  She realized she wanted to empower people to solve their own problems and help them achieve such a goal. She opted to finish her first year of Law School and move into the realm of mediation. Fresno Pacific University offered a campus that allowed religious freedom and believed in peoples ability to find a middle ground. The program entailed a great amount of personal accountability on the part of those working to solve solutions. She admired the staff and program available so she opted to complete her Masters Degree at FPU. She graduated with highest honors on the Chancelor's list. 

1. Mariposa County/District School Board Member since 2020. 

Jenni, in the height of Covid-19, while struggling to maintain her own business, opted to work in the realm of the School Board. She has successfully worked with the School Board on a number of contentious and dynamic issues, and continues to this day. She has proven herslef to be innovative, direct, a clear communicator and an advocate for the community. Despite conflict Jenni values all members of the community and the admin team and sees people for their strengths. 

2. Local Business Owner

Jenni and her husband Pete own and operate two successful small businesses in Mariposa County - Mountain Fitness and Mariposa Mechanical Service. Jenni purchased Mountain Fitness in October 2015. It was in need of rejuvenation. She had been working there for a number of years and was eager to make the purchase so she could bring her dreams for the place to life. She reinvented the wheel and created a safe space for community members to enjoy a variety of fitness opportunities. During her journey she embraced and supported other fitness businesses in town, even creating partnerships. Jenni did this because she believed in the health of Mariposa, both mentally and physically. 

Her business is evidence of her hard work and dedication. Her business supports every sport in the community along with a variety of other causes. Her business runs itself which shows she is capable of growing strong relationships and building people up. 

3. Relevant Work Experience

Licensed Insurance Agent/Broker - Farmers Insurance - Jeff Shaw

HR Director - Arbor Works

Court Investigator - Guardianships and Conservatorships - Gail Neal

Legal Advocate - Mountain Crisis Services

Legal Aid - Merced Law Firm

Office Manager - Dr. Richard Rowan

Real Estate Agent - Coldwell Banker

Computer Networking Engineer - Oracle

Jenni is a registered Republican. This is a non-partisan position and Jenni has proven time and time again as a school board representative that she focuses on issues related to the topic and makes decisions that are in the best interests of all involved. 

Jenni is fiscally and accountably aligned with the Republican Party. She believes in personal accountability and hard work to achieve one's dreams. She values personal accountability, while also recognizing that people sometimes need assistance with a plan to move forward with it. She enjoys seeing people succeed because of their hard work and dedication to their success. She encourages ownership of people's outcomes. 

While Jenni values capitalism, she also deeply feels for human beings. She is non-judgmental and does not take a stance on the way people should live their lives. She believes each individual knows what is best for themselves. She believes in this great nation's true definition of freedom, which allows people to live their lives in any way they see fit within the law. She also believes in stewardship and asking community members to participate in the well-being of their neighbors and the community at large. She wants to see people come together in Mariposa so stewardship becomes a priority once again. 

Jenni chose to answer this question for the purposes of honesty. This is a non-partisan position and she is committed to this community as a whole and not a party. Jenni values the input of all community members, regardless of political affiliation. 

The KOA and/or Terramor project is only in pre-application stage. Without having a full picture of what this corporation is proposing it is not reasonable to take a stance. She recognizes the community's concerns regarding the project's potential safety issues, water issues, setback issues, road issues etc. and shares the same concerns. All the while, without having a full picture of what this project wants to ultimately propose, it is too early to make a decision. If the corporation is able to meet the needs of the community and find a way to fit here, she would be supportive, but ultimately that is up to the community. This particular project will likely come to fruition long after Jenni's term in office but she would love to support collaborative conversations between the corporation and both its opponents and supporters. 

Jenni understands this is a multifaceted and complicated issue. Each County across the State is dealing with the requirements placed upon them via the Martin vs. Boise ruling which held that cities cannot enforce anti-camping ordinances if they do not have enough shelter beds available for their homeless population. Our County is currently working to finalize our homeless shelter, Connections. Once the shelter has enough space, the encampment can be closed. All of the processes related to this issue are funded directly through HHSA state funding and do not impact our general fund. 

Jenni recognizes the safety issue for all citizens. She is interested in understanding the laws and requirements on the subject to better create understanding, and guidance and develop creative solutions that will serve the County and its residents well. 

Jenni is awaiting the results and recommendations of the survey. These should be presented to the board in November. This particular issue will likely be resolved before she takes office in January 2025.

From there, depending on the outcome, and in the event we don't find a permanent or temporary resolution, Jenni would like to see more than one community forum on the issue. People need time to process each meeting knowing they will have another opportunity to speak and collaborate after hearing from the board and other community members. Psychologically, we are not equipped to make large decisions in one meeting, and with only five people, nor are we told to do this in life. We are told to take our time and process, to bounce things off of others to gain insight and information, so why do we only offer one Q&A session in each area for a large session? These topics require multiple sessions. Everyone will learn something in each session and will be able to come back with more information and ideas than if they were only offered one opportunity, with the sole objective of that one opportunity being to WIN their argument.

Included on Jenni's webpage is a link to the Vision of Mariposa County. To simplify this, strategic plans, vision, and mission statements, along with goals are key for each department having direction in the overall County's purpose. Without goals and proper direction, each department will not be able to properly prioritize.