A Quick Summary of Southern Humboldt’s Town Hall on Monday

Monday, July 19, Supervisor Michelle Bushnell and other members of the local government held a town hall in Redway School’s gymnasium.

“The town hall focused on the houseless community in our area and the recent fires in Redway that are believed to be associated with the camps,” said KMUD’s Lauren Schmitt in a summary of the event below.

“Some highlights of the town hall included the DHHS announcing that there are approximately 240 houseless members of our community based on the last census count,” Schmitt says. She added that “Sheriff Honsal has now changed his mind and supports free legal camping for the houseless community at a designated site which would subsequently allow for stricter enforcement on others who choose not to use it. Due to the lack of a designated site, it is illegal for the Sheriff’s Office to enforce removing campsites from state parks land or even the RV from the side of Redwood Drive.”

Schmitt said that the group, Southern Humboldt Housing Opportunities, announced that they have secured a property for safe camping near Garberville but did not release further details.

Below Schmitt talks to members of the community about their take away from the town hall.

She interviewed Humboldt County Sheriff’s Lt. Jesse Taylor who urged community members to make calls requesting assistance. He explained,

Making those calls is critical. We’re a data driven agency. I drove through town about an hour before the meeting. I saw 12 or 15 calls for service that never even reached my computer in my car. So I think people are a little bit conditioned and a little bit just used to the way things are but, without those calls for service, in a way it appears it is not even happening. So I would encourage the community to keep calling but don’t expect an immediate response all the time….I think you would be surprised on how we can reallocate resources once we have that data in place.”