Yeehaw!: A Letter Writer Celebrates a Local Institution and Protests the Humboldt County Building Department’s Attempt to Take Much of It Down

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Yeehaw and Charles

Charles Garth standing in front of one of Yeehaw’s structures and a Maypole. [Photo by William Maderas]

YeeHaw is a 12 acre village in Trinidad east of 101 and a little uphill from a one hundred year old rock quarry. It is built over the remains of the Trinidad train station. The place is fragrant with the past. There are stumps of redwoods which must measure seventeen or eighteen feet across, some with sprouts which are already large trees, and some, slowly-decaying, jaw-dropping, silencing reminders of what once was. Lining the paths through the forest, in August, are ferns, a wealth of ripe blackberries and cascades of green. The place has the commanding quiet still capable of invoking an intact redwood forest.It is a truly enchanting place to live, and many people do live there. Some have been there for a long time, like the owner, Charles Garth, who arrived 35 years ago, and Jack Nounan, an 88-year-old Korean War veteran. Charles lets practically anybody stay for three days, sometimes longer if they’re willing to bring something to the community. It is a place of healing too. One woman lived there with her family,was forced to leave for a while for lengthy cancer treatment, then returned to recover. Charles described her to me, as she sat one day in the dappled sunlight, with a rabbit on her lap: “she was transfigured, you know, so peaceful, like the Madonna”.The County is going to destroy this peaceful village if it can.I can remember a similar effort, made decades ago, to eradicate the “back-to-the-land” culture that sprang up in Humboldt, when people from more populated areas , exhausted by the ordeals of the Vietnam war, civil rights movement and other stresses of the time, resolved to live by example, bought cheap logged-over land in Humboldt and built homesteads. When the county started tagging their homes, a wave of resistance materialized, calling itself United Stand Humboldt. A public hearing packed the Muni, with eloquent many speeches and standing ovations. The tagging stopped.Yeehaw has already withstood one onslaught, in 2008. The county framed the attack as a drug raid, despite Yeehaw’s drug-free policy. However, since the code enforcers were violent, pulling guns on a woman and young children, the assault hit the headlines, causing an explosion of outrage, and…they had to back off.

This time the county’s lethal weapons are permit violations.

Charles in front of one of a schoolbus that provides shelter. [Photo by Nikki Norris]

Charles Garth in front of an old and altered schoolbus that provides shelter. [Photo by William Maderas]

There are many. Ancient vehicles, some fantastically altered, with quaint roofs, and decks with fruit trees. Almost all the houses are owner-built, or constructed by the villagers, and are works of art. Only one has a permit.There are materials which the County categorizes as solid waste, but which are actually in the community queue for building or repair materials, garden fences and other practical uses.Most of the structures on the place are made from recycled materials. One house is sided with scavenged computers cases. There is a stock of the old oaken tongue-and-groove floorboards from the Eureka train station. Some materials have become art objects, such as a collection of old toilets fancifully stacked, and a satellite disc studded with mirrors that also serves from time to time as a solar oven.Charles has accumulated penalty fines on his violations which he figures have amounted to $62,500. The Planning Department Director, John Ford, has told him he plans to seize the property in payment for the ever-mounting penalties and fines.In the era of covid, an appalling affordable -housing shortage, and the ravages of climate devastation, this attack on what is essentially a peaceful village is as much of an outrage as the waving guns of 2008. Although the County has made vague promises of temporary housing for the people whose homes it is preparing to bulldoze, in the long run many of them will find the streets. Most of them simply will not discover the kind of employment which allows them to pay the rents which “low-income” housing demands. In the streets, of course, they run vastly greater risks of sickness or misfortune than by living in this rustic, peaceful place. If they stay in the streets, their lifespan will decrease by 25 years on average, for that statistically, is the toll homelessness takes on our citizens.

At Yeehaw there is no such risk. People are dry in the winter. They help each other if there is a shortage. Sanitation is as good as in the city, and the risk of something falling on their heads as small.

The outrage is the destruction of culture. These villagers have it. It was perhaps a richer culture before the 2008 bust, the trauma of which drove many families with children away. But there have been Maypoles for thirty-five years, A couple of them are still standing. There are evening

circles with guitars and singing. There are monthly meetings. There is an eleven-sided community center, one side of which can be lowered to form a stage for theatrical performances. The center contains an assortment of instruments (Yeehaw has electricity), and while I was there a bunch of teenagers and children got together and started jazz improvising.

The interior of one of the shared spaces. [Photo by Nikki Norris] Yeehaw

The interior of one of the shared spaces contains music instruments. [Photo by Nikki Norris]

It is cultural genocide, this savage tearing into an idyllic forest refuge with a giant, relentless excavator, scooping up human dwellings and shoving the rubble into a dumpster.From houses to landfill! It connotes, on the part of the county, an obsessive-compulsive adherence to a rigid framework of complex regulations which allow the it to persecute anyone it wishes to, motivated by profit interests, sadism, and vengeance, directed toward a minimal-carbon-footprint, non-materialistic life-style. The County should treasure this community and the individuals it houses. It should, in friendly, neighborly fashion, offer help with any repairs it is truly concerned about. Many people go through periods of their lives where they need the quiet of the forest, relaxation from civic demands, sometimes just growing up. Over its thirty-five years Yeehaw has housed lawyers, teachers, artists and many other socially valuable citizens. Jack Nounan, the war veteran, spends his days walking the streets of Eureka, looking for people he can help. When I worked as a Physician Assistant at Open Door, for several decades he brought many a sick or confused person through the door for medical treatment or advice.He does nothing but good, and where it’s most needed. Charles too. The County is definitely the villain of this piece.Instead, it should celebrate the contribution Yeehaw makes to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in Humboldt.Ellen E. Taylor

 

UPDATE 8:38 a.m.: Yeehaw Holding ‘BBQ, Blockade, and Carnival’ Starting Today to Stop Demolition

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VMG
Guest
VMG
2 years ago

Being a Hippie should be allowed, somewhere or other…

There are so many worse things going on…

Steve Koch
Guest
Steve Koch
2 years ago
Reply to  VMG

Did you write this very nice letter, VMG?

Steve Koch
Guest
Steve Koch
2 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Thanks!

Alison Murphy
Guest
Alison Murphy
2 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

This post is not searchable; using your website search function, and using duck duck go, did not generate any hits. I searched for Yeehaw, opinions, and code enforcement, together and separately, and could not pull it up. Please fix! thank you.

Bushytails
Guest
Bushytails
2 years ago

For all those types always screaming about government interference and private property rights… You should object to this too. They’re doing their own thing on their own private property in a manner that’s not harmful to others. Just because they’re old hippies instead of old cattle ranchers doesn’t change a thing.

Farce
Guest
Farce
2 years ago
Reply to  Bushytails

I don’t think you have ever been there. You really should go check it out before spouting opinions. This letter is quite over the top with bullshit…but you would not know that unless you actually saw the place and knew something about Charles Garth and his history. No- it’s not just hippies doing their thing… This is exactly the kind of place that unfortunately makes government intervention necessary. And I hate government intervention more than you do!

guest
Guest
guest
2 years ago
Reply to  Farce

I was wondering about it. The letter reads like an advertisement- with the exception of a brief mention of sanitation as good as the city, no specifics are mentioned. And one of the issues is the number of people using outhous toilets. https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2021/feb/2/county-supes-approve-civil-penalties-yee-haw-commu/ has more information. There was a vote to assess these penalties with one dissenting vote. Apparently that vote was because of fear of the county being then responsible for clean up.

Bushytails
Guest
Bushytails
2 years ago
Reply to  guest

There were a couple composting toilets. No pit privies or other outhouse-style latrines where waste was improperly disposed of. Composting toilets are allowed in Humboldt – they save water, provide fertilizer (county specifies it may not be used on ground food crops, which is reasonable), and other benefits. There is also a public flush toilet, with functional septic system.

Of course, in humboldt, you need a permit to poop in a bucket. And you have to renew it every three years. For more money. And more money. And more money…

Itsbeyondme
Guest
Itsbeyondme
2 years ago
Reply to  Bushytails

For some reason, you don’t need a permit to take a cr*p in the alleys of old town Eureka. I regularly find feces along buildings or dumpsters (for sure not dog or cat), and the city says it is not their responsibility to deal with it….

Just saying
Guest
Just saying
2 years ago
Reply to  Bushytails

I totally agree with you it all boils down to gov making money anyway they can now

Cosmic Debris
Guest
Cosmic Debris
2 years ago
Reply to  Bushytails

Sounds like you know the place. Do you know the property on Bald Hills? Where TWO murders happened this year (both cases solved)?

Legallettuce
Guest
Legallettuce
2 years ago
Reply to  Cosmic Debris

Yes and both were workers of mine. I am missing your point. I have lost hundreds to the war on drugs through the many decades. It’s not the war that killed them or growing the illicit weed. It’s alchohol that has killed a majority. They heavily self medicate due to personal reasons not related to the war on drugs. Know your facts before you spew bullshit about good people I care for.

Pope
Guest
Pope
2 years ago
Reply to  Cosmic Debris

No murders happened on Garths property. It was a neighbors.

Steve Koch
Guest
Steve Koch
2 years ago
Reply to  Bushytails

composting toilets coupled with gray water systems save a huge amount of water and eliminate very expensive to build and maintain sewer lines.

Bushytails
Guest
Bushytails
2 years ago
Reply to  Steve Koch

Humboldt only allows you to have a composting toilet or a greywater system if you also have an approved, permitted, functioning septic system, thus negating those savings… or just ensuring that no one ever gets permits for anything.

Legallettuce
Guest
Legallettuce
2 years ago
Reply to  Farce

I disagree farce. Never had an issue with how yeehaw! is or anyone I had work for me who lived at yeehaw!

Thirdeye
Guest
Thirdeye
2 years ago
Reply to  Farce

I 100% agree. That place was a pit when I saw it in the mid 90s and apparently it only got worse. What Ellen Taylor’s sentimental spew and the staged photograph don’t portray is the refuse piles, accumulation of junked vehicles, firetrap dwellings, unsanitary sewage disposal, and Mickey Mouse water and electrical systems on the property. The argument about putting people on the street was also used by Floyd Squires to justify his non-compliant nuisance properties. The violations at Yeehaw! have been on the County’s radar since a complaint in 2000. The bottom line is, only the two original dwellings have been permitted and Charles Garth never followed through on agreements to expand the permit. He’s been thumbing his nose at his neighbors and the County for 20 years. Charges $250/month, obligation free, to live in a shantytown shack. What’s the total income the Floyd Squires of Trinidad takes in? Enough to try to acquire another parcel off of Stagecoach Road while failing to live up to any agreement with the County over the parcel he owns.

If Ellen Taylor thinks running a shanty village is such a great thing, she should try it on her property in Petrolia.

Legallettuce
Guest
Legallettuce
2 years ago
Reply to  Thirdeye

Dude please, nothing like a Squire property. I call bullshit on all your comments you don’t know anything about yeehaw!

Bug on a Windshield
Guest
Bug on a Windshield
2 years ago
Reply to  Thirdeye

@Thirdeye, did he get the Stagecoach Road parcel? If so, when?

Prometheus
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Prometheus
2 years ago
Reply to  Farce

It is a filthy spot to behold…

Legallettuce
Guest
Legallettuce
2 years ago
Reply to  Prometheus

You have never been there obviously.

Nichole Norris
Guest
Nichole Norris
2 years ago
Reply to  Farce

Hi farce I actually have visited several times in the past few weeks and I’ve never seen a more beautiful affordable and sustainable housing set up that i spires its residents. Yeehaw is full of enlightened and happy children and adults and all with waste free recycling construction techniques.

It’s the sort of uplifting supportive vibe you can’t find in an apartment complex or suburbs and the impact on the lives of the folks who live there is apparent. The children who grow up there are so balanced, So wise and equipped for the times we are living in. the adults have a rare opportunity to not be a wage slave and actually live, spend time with their families, homeschool/unschool, give back to their community, to grow food and raise animals too. I invite you to yeehaw to meet the double cancer survivor who lives there, the small farm owners feeding our community, the disabled folks, the 88 year old earth first activist, the redwood company mill worker, the healthcare works, teachers and children.

It’s such a unique energy, it’s straight out of Celestine prophecy. Yeehaw is the future where the people have the power and the people are empowered.

Old Hippie
Guest
Old Hippie
2 years ago
Reply to  Nichole Norris

This cracks me up. It only looks good right now because everyone finally got their butts in gear to make it look better.
“It’s such a unique energy, it’s straight out of Celestine prophecy”. Not sure what dimension you live in, but you are out of touch. The place serves a function, but it is no Utopia.

robash141
Guest
robash141
2 years ago
Reply to  Bushytails

Old Cattle Ranchers have money,.

Steve Koch
Guest
Steve Koch
2 years ago
Reply to  robash141

Trinidad land is very valuable, grabbing 12 acres for $62k is a steal.

Had to get old cowboy
Guest
Had to get old cowboy
2 years ago
Reply to  robash141

the old cattle rancher that won the lottery, when asked what he would do with the money replied ” Go back into the cattle business until I go broke again”.

Guests
Guest
Guests
2 years ago
Reply to  Bushytails

John Ford is a POS! Stealing peoples land that they property tax on! John Ford should be embarrassed of himself stealing land from elderly human beings that just want to live the way they want on land THEY own! What does ownership even mean anymore! What kind of morons vote for people like John Ford.

Nichole norris
Guest
Nichole norris
2 years ago
Reply to  Guests

The People didn’t vote for Ford, he was appointed by the board. I did suggest to him recently to survey the residents to see what sort of codes and abatement actions the majority support. It’s easy- surveymonkey

Solutions are available to us we just have to explore them. The code enforcement should reflect the culture and be democratic if you ask me.

Ex survey question for the community- do you think it is safer for these happy yeehaw residents to be homeless, or live at an ingenious intentional community offering affordable housing to wonderful people who would otherwise be on the streets or on the fringe due to disability, health, profession, gender, family status etc?

Jim’s Guest Is Someone Else’s Wife
Guest
Jim’s Guest Is Someone Else’s Wife
2 years ago
Reply to  Bushytails

We’re not fascist. Thanks for playing!

Do you think our founding fathers had to answer to a building department???

Mike
Guest
Mike
2 years ago

The Board of Supervisors declared a housing Emergency a while back allowing suspension of some rules and regulations in order to address the homeless problem, and now the enforcement arm of the county is going to make several dozen people homeless?

Steve Koch
Guest
Steve Koch
2 years ago
Reply to  Mike

Great point!

Neverlayup
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Neverlayup
2 years ago

We should set up a gofundme for this guy! Don’t let them steal that quaint homestead for 62k

Non-native
Guest
Non-native
2 years ago
Reply to  Neverlayup

I would donate! This is terrible, and the “Safe Homes Act” will spell trouble for most people living in rural Humboldt. I urge everyone to Google Safe Homes Act, go to the official website, and read the information available. This is truly just the beginning.

Wake up folks!
Guest
Wake up folks!
2 years ago
Reply to  Non-native

Please understand what is at risk Humboldt! John Ford and his Code Enforcement Henchmen are just begining. The Satellite Spy Program was just approved for another 3 years and is being utilized to scan every inch of OUR County to eradicate Unpermitted and “Unsafe” homesteads. This is an unconstitutional threat to the very liberties our Country was founded on. Stop John Ford, Stop the Safe Homes Program, Stop the unnecessary destruction of our neighbors homes, Stop the literal translation of County and State Code in the name of Human Health and Warfare at the cost of our Human Right…..we need TRUE Amnesty as victims of the failed “war on drugs” and we need it NOW!

Bug on a Windshield
Guest
Bug on a Windshield
2 years ago
Reply to  Neverlayup

gofundme!! What a joke. The Garth’s have “family” money. Big money.

Guest
Guest
Guest
2 years ago

The code enforcement wars of 2007-8 started at Yeehaw, then proceeded to the rest of the County. Is this the beginning of the ‘Safe
Homes Act’ battle, which threatens all non permitted homes in the county. And yes there are thousands of non permitted homes, belonging to all types of citizens.

Just saying
Guest
Just saying
2 years ago
Reply to  Guest

I believe that’s exactly what’s going on. A Friend of mine has some property up in the hills. Her family years before she was born built their own house has many old timers did. Her mother lived up there and just recently passed away. Now the country sent her a paper in the mail last month telling her she has to tear the house down because it wasn’t permitted. Annnnnd to tear it down it also have to be permitted and you can’t just tear it down they way she understood it is someone has to actually pay to have someone demolish it and expose of everything through the country

Dot
Guest
Dot
2 years ago

Who is the author of this piece? I am curious if they are a resident of YeeHaw or just a friend… I am surprised it has no byline.
I certainly understand the sentiment. And we certainly remember United Stand and everyone getting Red-tagged. But I am unfamiliar with YeeHaw itself.

Legallettuce
Guest
Legallettuce
2 years ago
Reply to  Dot

It is a great place provided for humans. I appreciate all the hard workers we use that reside at yeehaw! Never in all my years have I had an issue with anybody. From yeehaw!

GrandmaB
Guest
GrandmaB
2 years ago
Reply to  Dot

I’m pretty sure Ellen E. Taylor is a long-time rural Humboldt resident, physician, and environmental activist.

Doug
Guest
Doug
2 years ago

its too bad hippies are few and far in between these days…now Humboldt is filled with blue haired highly brainwashed leftists, who only care about LGBTQYZ and fetishizing trans and black people.

Pizza D'oh
Guest
Pizza D'oh
2 years ago
Reply to  Doug

And… of course… you’ve conveniently, speciously, and quite conspicuously ‘left’ out all the violent, racist, xenophobic right-wing extremist MAGAtts (mirror, mirror) of their fetid and dishonorable mention in due course of your hate-litany. How confirmation biased of you. ‘Bandwagon effect’ much? HELP ABOLISH IGNORANCE IN AMERICA. RESTORE THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE!

Country Bumpkin
Guest
Country Bumpkin
2 years ago
Reply to  Pizza D'oh

Please provide links to any violent, racist, xenophobic news stories confirmed to be perpetrated by “MAGAtts” Do you know what the fairness doctrine is? You should really get those dead sheep out of your yard, they’re making my whole country stink.

North west
Guest
North west
2 years ago

It doesn’t sound like the life of luxury but it has to be better than hunting for enough cardboard to sleep on.
Not a good time to be uprooting these folks until the streets of Eureka can be thinned out.

Flustered friend
Guest
Flustered friend
2 years ago

Come back to the real world. Fight homelessness , recycle, stay safe, respect.. Consider our God given rights. We own the government, they don’t own us.

kent sawyer
Guest
kent sawyer
2 years ago

Yeehaw is awesome and Charles has work tirelessly to provide for the community. The’ve been attacked by tweekers, cops, the building enforcement, the quarry, and called in by people who know nothing of the peaceful place it is. Leave them alone.

M Marie McVey
Guest
M Marie McVey
2 years ago

Time to vote the board out of office and put in people without the agenda to control every aspect our our lives. Impeach them if possible. THEY WORK FOR US, or should. Looks like they don’t. Remove them.

I like stars
Guest
I like stars
2 years ago
Reply to  M Marie McVey

SoHum voted out E Fennel last time around. Her replacement is M Bushnell. How’s that working out?

The problem with calls to replace elected officials is that unless there is a better person willing to step up, nothing gets better.

Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.

yesmeagain
Guest
yesmeagain
2 years ago
Reply to  M Marie McVey

And who would take their place? Would you? I’m sure you sincerely believe you could do a much better job, and you might even be right, but would you actually do it? Are the many other people who continually claim that “we own the government” etc. actually be willing to step in, run for office, and do the work required to run the county? Or even a volunteer fire dept or school board? Who’s willing to take on these jobs? That includes such things as managing (or at least overseeing the management of) a budget — numbers, lots of paperwork, boring, boring, boring — but probably the most important thing a government has to do. Instead — Sure, do away with taxes! Freedom! No budget to manage! But then how do you deal with crime, road maintenance, basic health and safety, etc.? I know I keep beating this old drum but it’s essential. Democracy relies on participation, and that means a lot more than complaining, altho complaining is a start. Why not? It’s too hard, it’s too boring, it’s too frustrating. ????

Meemaw
Guest
Meemaw
2 years ago

Once as a solo mom with no place to shelter I got to stay in the community house this was back in 2008/9
A lovely bunch of humans on the path to lifting themselves up
Some disabled folks and a good amount of beautiful art
Alcohol was an issue for several residents and this was most likely the cause of the failures in direct work being completed at that time
our area so needs intentional communities why not invest here?
We need alternate housing and safe space for families
These homes need love and more active people to build community and it’s such a vibrant place for growth so much potential before it gets land grabbed let’s seek solutions
we really could use the space for housing and vibrant living
I imagine 30+ people could be found in the next week to volunteer to help make things more safe and the county could grandfather them in ?
I’m grateful for someone anyone attempting to build community housing let’s not use Danco sawdust and glue housing as an example of sustainable development
Here’s to wisdom and come unity

onrust
Guest
onrust
2 years ago
Reply to  Meemaw

It’s like the good ol’ boys and girls in high school. Always picking on the poor and weak as the most likely to get rid of so they can make some money. 62 buildable acres, my God what a find!

Cece Reece
Guest
Cece Reece
2 years ago

Right now the County Planning Department is hounding this individual who is trying to provide a much-needed service for the otherwise un-housed in Humboldt, but they won’t go after the giant, multi-billion dollar corporation of Sun Communities just down the road in McKinleyville at the Senior village of Ocean West to enforce regulations for failure to get permits for their housing ventures, and for failing (over a period of years) to remit to the county the Measure V money they collect monthly from the seniors, many of whom are on fixed incomes. John Ford appears to be very selective in who he targets for enforcement, and appears to line up against the counter-culture and the have-nots in favor of loaded businessmen selling public shares in human misery. What about our elected representatives stepping outside the box for once to find pandemic funding (Federal and/or State) that is available for emergency housing to help upgrade this place? Our civil servants should not be allowed to create an elite level of untouchable landlords, and a lower echelon that they have deemed fair game.

North west
Guest
North west
2 years ago

Clean up homelessness in town first then you can make a whole new batch. There’s not enough cardboard to go around if you add another batch to the existing folks.

Carrie Ohn
Guest
Carrie Ohn
2 years ago

These folks have shelter, and community. I fail to see how making them homeless is if benefit to anyone. Heartless. Remind anyone of how we treated indigenous people?

For sure
Guest
For sure
2 years ago

The whole thing is a SHAMEFULL SHAM!!! GIVE JOHN FORD THE BOOT! TAR &FEATHER HIM..PILLORY HIM..HES A DISGUSTING EXCUSE FOR A HUMAN. Long live YeeHaw!

For sure
Guest
For sure
2 years ago

Why make good ppl homeless? How will this help anything? The money the county will spend to demolish, can easily be spent to help get them up to speed. The outrageousness of John Ford to do this, at this time, during the Covid surge is beyond comprehension ! Long live YeeHaw!

For sure
Guest
For sure
2 years ago

Making 20 ppl Homeless can’t be the correct, humane solution to this story. The amount of money the county will spend to demolish needs to be spent to help them get up to speed. Good solutions make for peace & security…

Sad
Guest
Sad
2 years ago

There has been a porta potty there for as long as I can remember. So the open privy comment isn’t relevant.

Snacks
Guest
Snacks
2 years ago

Dosen’t Humboldt County adhere to “Grand-fathered in” dwellings rules?

shortjohnson
Guest
shortjohnson
2 years ago

Sounds like a county landgrab. For all they pay to penalize folks they could incentivize the citizens to upgrade the properties and make things safe. Keep people happy and safe. Nope!!! too easy and profitable to grab that land and push folks into the streets. It reminds me of a ticket I recently got. Couldn’t find my insurance card although Ive had insurance for 20 years w progressive. The ticket despite being insured was $910.00. Unable to provide proof of financial something or another. screw you. Just another absurd fee from our now parasitic government. Infuriates me.

Anonymous for fear of community reprisal
Guest
Anonymous for fear of community reprisal
2 years ago

Meanwhile we have hundreds living just a few feet off the freeways around every major town and city in the area..
It’ll be interesting to see how the community reacts when abatement notices for unpermitted home start going out.

Bushytails
Guest
Bushytails
2 years ago

First they came for the hippies…

Simon Girty
Guest
Simon Girty
2 years ago
Reply to  Bushytails

Make sure to stay 6 feet away from code enforcement bulldozers. Otherwise this could turn into a super spreader event. Wash your hands thoroughly after being molested by county officials. There is nothing to fear but fear itself. And the cops, who are more afraid of getting shot at than getting Covid, and rightfully so. Better to fear reality rather than some benign bug that’s really just a wildfire smoke and Coccidioidomycosis induced respiratory ailment. Delta variant? More like Dixie variant. Cough cough. Look at the facts suckers, even Trump is pro Vax.

Ford hater
Guest
Ford hater
2 years ago

John Ford is a huge problem. His policies work against the citizens of the county. Mainly the low income homeowners. He doesn’t give a shit about public safety, he a money hungry lop. Why is still employed here. He has hurt so many people unnecessarily. And they signed on for another three years of satellites. Total invasion of privacy. We need to all push out bos reps to get John Ford out of humboldt!!

Homelessness is a county disgrace
Guest
Homelessness is a county disgrace
2 years ago

Strange gets stranger…..

The planning department is not a solution based entity!!!!

They encourage neighbors to abuse and verbally assault each other in the name of ?????? Community or improved living conditions.

Creativity and sustainability is not the language they speak. In 2005 they adopted a plan to end homelessness in 10 years. They have failed every one of us!!!

The truth is… if we stand by and watch time and time again people suffer due to the inability of the planning department and DHHS to find solutions we are contributing to the lack of compassion and generosity thereby ending the social culture Humboldt was built upon.

Green Shirt
Guest
Green Shirt
2 years ago

My friend was evicted while pregnant with her eighth child and married to a childhood sweetheart with MS.

I hate to think what would have happened to that family if Yeehaw hadn’t taken them in. I think it was 2016ish.

I wish I could have brought my strongish late-fiftyish back to help out yesterday.

Facing housing insecurity myself, beloved community, or I would have.

Please stay Humboldt.

Thank you for writing such a beautiful piece of history, Ellen, and thank you, as always, for keeping us informed, Kym.

crunchymama
Guest
crunchymama
2 years ago
Reply to  Green Shirt

That story sounds familiar I might have to lay claim to it. I was married to a Mormon with muscular dystrophy and pregnant with my 8th child in 2014. We were quite a crew, 5 boys, and my 3rd child has spina bifida and is in a wheelchair, but he took us in, the community was kind and voted us in, Sarah was born in the community house, and- county DHHS PAID CHARLES for us to live there. Yep, their homeless assistance program paid him deposit and last month’s rent on the Central house in January of 2015. DHHS thought it qualified. After Sarah’s birth, a couple days after, we had a “heath and safety check” police come out to make sure we were ok (thanks to Mad River) and we were ok, and we were not told that where we were living was unhealthy or unsafe- in the community house. We went to Yeehaw for a friends’ birthday in April and will be there as often as possible for the “give me my permit” party. Since we lived there, the entire roof on Central house has been replaced and the interior ceiling, floors and walls are all new. Yet the county now wants to red tag it. Why? Because the bathroom is outside of the house? The bathroom was outside the house when we lived there; now it has a new floor, the toilet tank is hooked up to the water supply, and the sink in the bathroom is working. The shower is working great, I did not have to get out and fiddle with the on demand heater midway through my shower like old times- and the bath house floor and exterior wall were replaced while we were living there. There was a banana slug in the bathroom- as it should be! This is Yeehaw, the outside is the most important part and we share our space with all creation. There is no excuse for evicting Terra Family Farms owners and their baby, no matter what ridiculous rules you have about people living in converted school buses. Their house is permitted, fully functional. Of course if they demolish the well, then they won’t have water. I hear people are allowed to truck water in. No excuse.

crunchymama
Guest
crunchymama
2 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Sure, please feel free to contact me. I submitted a letter already, your news folks have it. But I think the letter you printed is a better choice, a Humboldt county elder has a much better chance of being heard than an ex-Mormon homeschool mom. I know you can only print so much opinion and I am very happy to hear you have staff working on an article. I believe Rachel Bujalski called you all, she is a photographer published in the WSJ, the NYT, National Geographic, Wired, etc. She has pictures of Yeehaw circa 2016-2017 and is on assignment right now but would be happy to help support the cause when that is over. RachelBujalski.com
Yeehaw is not included in her Off-Grid documentary- the people who lived there when she was there were paranoid about conflict with code enforcement and did not want their story told.

Mendocino Mamma
Guest
Mendocino Mamma
2 years ago

Throw them.out on the streets no problem. There are spots along the freeway!!! WTF TERRIBLE. Question if the owner cleaned it fees, fines, permits and documentation of disposal, total scrutany under an electron microscope. If the county steals it do they permit and properly clean it up or just do what ever and call it a day. No one scrutinizes the scrutanizers eh…or if they do it gets swept and poo pooed under that damn lumpy rug. Hope they have a permit for that.

Smallfry
Guest
Smallfry
2 years ago

Yep.. these kind of policies have been used in the south to basically steal peoples homes. It’s discriminatory. How many redneck dwellings in town are like this.. or worse? But yet they target YEEHAW! Homeless encampments are definitely way worse of a solution!

🌬💩💩💩💩💩
Guest
🌬💩💩💩💩💩
2 years ago

This is a disgusting, shameful use of power. John Ford should be immediately removed from his POSition in the planning dept. What is wrong with these gooberment officials they need to be minding their own business.

Trevor
Guest
Trevor
2 years ago

I have not been to Yeehaw myself, but by the sound of this article and this comments section, it is one of two things: either an idyllic peaceful paradise for modern hippies that selflessly help out the community, or a disgusting dangerous hole for useless layabouts. Both ideas sound so over the top, I would guess the truth is somewhere in between. However, let’s assume for a second that it is the latter, worse option. SO WHAT? Even in the most vitriolic criticisms of this place, it sounds like the people living there aren’t a threat to anyone except maybe themselves. And even then, living on the street would be worse. Make no mistake, that IS clearly the alternative option here; it’s either Yeehaw, or homelessness on the streets. Just, let them live their lives the way they want. It’s not hard. Just say, “to each their own”, and move on with your own lives!

This is all directed at fellow people in the comments section, of course, not any government guys. John Ford is clearly just a pointlessly cruel and greedy sociopath, so trying to argue with him would be a waste of time. All that can be done about scum like him is to fire him and shame him until even similar sociopaths wouldn’t want to be associated with him.

Stan aspen
Guest
2 years ago

I live down the road from Yeehaw! Have for about six years now. They are good neighbors and should be commended for their efforts of community service. They are needed now more than ever . I also wonder why the harassment and who stands to benefit from their removal from our community ?? We should be great full they are here.