Meet the Candidate: Brian Roberts Running for Second District Supervisor
In partnership with KMUD News, Redheaded Blackbelt is publishing a Meet the Candidate interview series with the candidates and incumbents running for Board of Supervisor in the First, Second, and Third Districts of Humboldt County. Each candidate, interviewed by the KMUD News Department, was asked the same series of questions. None were given the questions in advance, and each were allotted 15 minutes to answer all five questions and provide their closing statement.
KMUD aired the candidates’ answers in rotating alphabetical order by district. We will be featuring one candidate per day, and in the name of fairness, in reverse alphabetical order. Today we are featuring Second District Board of Supervisors candidate, Brian Roberts.
Second District Board of Supervisor candidate, Brian Roberts.
KMUD News: Introduce yourself and share a little overview and background on who you are as a person and who you would like to be as a candidate.
Hi, I’m Brian Roberts. First, I believe I was the first to trademark a cannabis trademark in the United States in 1996. I registered THC. I had retail stores in America, in Holland, and distributed clothes to over 1500 stores worldwide, several of them were here in Humboldt County–-Richard at Tsunami Surf, Nick at Paradise Pacific in Arcata. I also was one of the first to host a cannabis trade show in North America. You could Google THC Expo, Los Angeles Times 2009. And there I did business with other people in Humboldt County such as Chip from Royal Gold, Roy, who is running for District Three, and Advanced Nutrients. I met Tommy back in Amsterdam in my shop in 2005.
My skills from the past are branding, marketing and leadership. And I think they would provide [an] excellent opportunity for Humboldt County to brand our name, and also just deal with the problems we’re facing in our community as a whole.
KMUD News: What inspired you to run for the Second District’s Board of Supervisors position?
What inspired me was… I’m really a businessman and I was about to retire. I came up to Humboldt because of the nature, and the peace, and the relaxation. …I trademarked THC back in 96, I’m very innovative in what’s …going on, and in the business world and stuff. And …in 2016, after legalization, I noticed a drastic change in our county. I tried to see what would happen in 2020, …I actually believed in Michelle Bushnell. I thought she was going to help out the small farmer and really get this industry up and running.
We’re [in] the …bottom 10 as far as the poorest counties in California, and yet you look at Napa County, and they’re in the top 10. So their differences, they have wine, we have cannabis. So, …I had to do this for one reason, we were ruining the chance to see our county succeed and actually make it, economically, in the future. And it was all because of the way our Board of Supervisors… pretty much when they changed the Measure S back in the time–-we had to sue them first—and then after that, …I did a thing called an all Public Records Act. I did it with someone else–I don’t want to mention who did it with me–-but we have a thing of all [the] cannabis applications in Humboldt County. And we noticed one very big trend – large, new cultivations were being fast tracked through the system, while legacy cannabis farmers were struggling [for] six years to get permitted. And the cause of that is… well, we have Measure A today, and that’s a direct result. Measure A is because we have too many large cannabis farms that were permitted. I’m not against large cannabis farms, but there should be a limit on the size. And we didn’t do a limit on the size. So, we allowed these large farms to come in. This is not a corporate area, we are a very Mom and Pop thing. And I think we need to change how we approach our system from the old ‘good ole boys’ to ‘first-come, first-serve’ and who [has] actually done all their requirements for these ordinances. So that’s actually why I’m running.
KMUD News: What do you think are the top five issues facing Humboldt County? And how are you hoping to address them if elected?
The top issue right now is Measure A; We’re about to cripple our cannabis industry and pretty much write it into extinction. So that would be one of the top [issues].
The second top would be [that] we need money; We’re $17 million in debt. We’ve done stuff on Measure S taxes. We changed it… Mike Wilson, two years ago, once said, we should look into it and see how to tax them, not just every cultivator because there’s a difference between indoor, mixed light, and outdoor cultivation. So, we really need to look into who can pay the tax and who can’t.
And then we have to look at the Humboldt County Visitors Bureau. In order to get people to Humboldt County we really need to advertise and market our beaches, our rivers, our hiking trails, and, …unfortunately, I saw last week, we delayed it six months. Before we decide what to do with the Humboldt County Visitors Bureau…that’s another $100,000 wasted…we don’t have that. They pay, in rent, $50,000 a year. That’s $4,000 plus a month. We need to look into …some of these …in our budget. The most important thing [for] a supervisor is budgeting. I think there’s a $550 million budget and a lot of it’s already earmarked where we don’t have any say in it. It’s already scheduled to be paid. What we do have a say is one hundred and, I believe, seven some million dollars. And that’s where, as a supervisor, your most important job is budgeting, finding out where to spend the money.
We want to help [the] homeless but yet the Humboldt County Drug Task Force has only budgeted $200,000 a year. One of the biggest problems with homeless[ness] is drugs. And we don’t go after these hard drugs. And …it is just crippling our community, … the tourists don’t like to see them, we don’t like to see it, but we need to help them. We have to have compassion. They are our friends, they’re families, they’re relatives, you can’t turn a blind eye to them. So those are two of them.
The other one is upgrading the departments. [On] January 10, I believe, the Planning Department is going… [digital], you’re allowed to fill out your applications online. The problem with Southern Humboldt, though, is we have a lot of people that are off grid. They’re not online 24/7. They use their cell phones for online. So how are they going to apply for applications? But then if you look at the Assessor’s Office, I went in there two months ago, filled out a form to have my property taxes assessed, I’ve never been contacted back in two months. Now, that was a form I could have filled out online. So, there are ways to simplify how we do business with [the] government. And that’s one of the biggest things.
And then the fifth and final, most important thing, which will never change, is we have to maintain roads [and] we have to fund emergency services. We live in very remote places–I’m an hour and a half to a city. So, when an emergency happens, we need to make sure our roads are safe, so the fire trucks can come, ambulances can come, [and] emergency personnel can help us when we need it.
And we need to watch out for [the] environment. We live in very remote areas – fire protection is huge and protecting the environment is more important than anything. You can’t have cannabis farms, if you’re gonna ruin the environment, that’s the number one thing. So, I would like to end it on that one.
KMUD News: Can you share an overview on how you plan to engage with the community if elected?
Well, first, I would leave an email and an open phone number. Engaging with the community is the most important thing. When you call your supervisor, you should get a response immediately. …The supervisor has about 16[00] to 1800 documents that pass through their …desk each year. You’re not going to be an expert on every single subject, so what you need to be able to do is open up the communication lines, ask your community. …An example – District Two Nordic Farms, the $650 million project for Eureka, and it doesn’t really affect District Two, but District Two can use some leeway by saying, ‘Hey, we’re not into that because… you use it as a bargaining chip, you open up the communication, for the people. And then you use certain things as a bargaining chip and say, ‘Hey, Eureka cut off the Humboldt County Visitors Bureau of funding this year’, if they want. And that’s how you do [it], but you really …ask the public. You can only be an expert in so many situations, and when you’re not an expert, you ask the people in your constituency what [they] would like to see done.
KMUD News: What makes you the ideal candidate for this job? And do you believe you would do a better job than the other candidates?
As a whole, yes, I think I can do better than the incumbent, …that’s why I’m running for Supervisor [of the] Second District.
I think leadership is the most important thing. You need to lead by example. And when I say lead by example, you have to have respect for everyone. When someone calls in because they have a problem, you respect the wealthiest person to the lowest person. You can’t judge someone based on friendship. You can’t base someone based on the fact that you know [them], a friend of a friend of someone, you have to treat everyone [the same.]. There’re several incidents I can bring up, but most of my instances right now… What I’d look at would be in all cannabis applications. …We have a neighbor of ours who, unfortunately, had a meeting with the supervisor, and she didn’t show up because she said it wasn’t scheduled by a planner at the planning department. That’s not possible because they don’t schedule our planning. So, I would be all focusing and encompassing, on everybody.
If you have a problem, you call me, you write an email, and we handle the situation. With me, I have a cannabis farm myself. …Thankfully the state of California is allowing us to shutter our farms for a year or two just to save, because of the way the economy is in the cannabis industry. But for my four years, if elected, I would shutter my farm all four years. I would not be having a conflict of interest with anything regarding cannabis… When it comes to all other aspects …of governing, I would be more open. I’d …be more open–I am open–and I listened to everyone.
I have no objective to financially gain …anything, except for the fact that I want to see Humboldt County succeed. If I succeed, and the rest of the county doesn’t succeed, it’s no fun living here, if everyone succeeds, we all have a good time, and society gets better. So the thing would be to encompass as many people as possible, get them involved in the system, and have them participate—Not with government–-but participate in doing their own business and not having government affect them by doing their business. …The most important part of government is to leave people alone and let them enjoy and pursue their own business and happiness in life.
KMUD News: With your remaining time would you like to share additional information about yourself or any closing remarks?
Well, the main thing is I support what the people say. Rolling Meadow Ranch, we had 1900 signatures to go against that, unfortunately, it was approved by all supervisors. I think Measure A was a problem that came about because the supervisors weren’t tackling the problems that were being addressed to them. They ignored most of our problems. When I drive down Alderpoint Road, back in the day there were 15,000 grows, we didn’t see any of them. They were hidden. They were behind gates, they were locked. Today, when you drive up Alderpoint, there’s one of the most hideous things you see going right up the [road], I think two miles up from Garberville. You’ll see 18 water tanks and five massive greenhouses. When you get out to Blocksburg and you’re heading towards Fortuna, again, …it was beautiful–It’s the most amazing drive you’ll ever see–except bam, there’s five greenhouses and a bunch of water tanks. And so what happened? We had cannabis in the back hills, and it was fine. Now that it’s legalized, we’re trying to bring it out and invite everyone into the game, and I think we did it wrong. We did it wrong with Estelle, and then we voted to get a new person in there who would help the small farm. …I think we continue to do the same process [we did] with Estelle, we helped friends and family, not the general public. And I think that was the biggest problem.
So, moving forward, if we want to see Humboldt County get out of the bottom 10, of the poorest counties in California, we need to allow the people to go to work. We need to allow the people, if they want, to build something, not to be burdened by permits. The permit process is great until you have to deal with 15 people on one permit instead of dealing with a team of four people and having accountability. So I think government, as it gets bigger, loses accountability. And that’s the biggest problem we’re seeing right now is, it’s getting harder to start. I spent so much money with the county instead of spending it on my business. So you can’t succeed if the county doesn’t allow you to move forward in business. So that’s the biggest problem I see, as we’re blocking …our people from moving forward in the county.
Because of the situation, we have the Board of Supervisors, and several other departments… what I would like to see is fresh leadership in the supervisors. …[W]e have three incumbents running, or three people challenging incumbents, it’d be great to change that over. People say, ‘Oh, you need experience to do this job.’ You need to be able to read, you need to …have dedication, and you need to be open minded to listening to other people. This isn’t rocket science. What we’re doing is budgeting and we’re allocating resources that everyone chips in on. So, we’re not here to benefit a few. We’re here to benefit all of Humboldt County. And that’s what I think is the most important thing that we need to look at for who we are …going to vote for [as our] supervisors: Who’s going to benefit all Humboldt County, and not just friends and family?
Candidate answers were transcribed from an audio interview, and lightly edited for reading clarification where noted.
For more information on Brian Roberts’ campaign visit the Brian D Roberts, District 2 Supervisor Candidate, or contact Roberts at [email protected]
For additional election coverage, Live Candidate Forums will be aired on KMUD News:
During the fourth and fifth weeks of January, KMUD News will be hosting live candidate forums for the upcoming elections that have a direct impact on Humboldt County residents. Tune in to special editions of KMUD Local News from January 23rd to January 30th.
The schedule for the forums is as follows:
- Superior Court Judge: Tuesday, January 23rd, from 6 to 7 pm.
- First Supervisorial District: Wednesday, January 24th, from 5 to 7 pm.
- Second Supervisorial District: Thursday, January 25th, from 5 pm to 7 pm.
- Third Supervisorial District: Friday, January 26th, from 6 to 7 pm (Please note that candidate Roy Gomez has declined to participate).
- Measure A: Monday, January 29th, from 5 to 6:30 pm. Gain insights from both proponents and opponents.
- Assembly District 2: Tuesday, January 30th, from 6 to 8 pm.
To stay informed, tune in to listen kmud.org, watch live on the @KMUDNews Facebook page, or on the @LaurenSchmittreports YouTube channel. We encourage voters to submit their questions in advance to [email protected]. Your active participation ensures a robust democratic process.
Humboldt County Meet the Candidate Forums:
1st District Candidates:
- Meet the Candidate: Jerry McGuire
- Meet the Candidate: Gordon Clatworthy
- Meet the Candidate: Rex Bohn
2nd District Candidates:
- Meet the Candidate: Brian Roberts
- Meet the Candidate: Jeana McClendon
- Meet the Candidate: Michelle Bushnell
3rd District Candidates:
- Meet the Candidate: Mike Wilson
- *Note: 3rd District Candidate, Roy Gomez, declined to participate in the KMUD Meet the Candidate forums.
Superior Court Judge:
- Meet the Superior Court Judge Candidate: Gregory Kreis
- Meet the Superior Court Judge Candidate: April Van Dyke
Join the discussion! For rules visit: https://kymkemp.com/commenting-rules
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weed, my weed and more weed. dream is over bro’.
I had not known there was a third candidate running for 2nd district supervisor. Good to hear his strong points expressed. May the debate and dialogue be shared widely!
He sounds good. Has been in business for himself. Too bad it involved weed. But what is his net worth and is he a Republican or a progressive?
His stance on the Ceasefire protests is that it “sucks to be terrorists and get their ass kicked” so, if you imagine the most racist a person can get while calling other people racist; He’s that.
Finally.
Get Mrs Bushnell out of there…
Good luck!
Be careful what you wish for This guys so much worse
Explain why?
We haven’t heard much about him. What’s your Intel?
He’s all about his ego, he mentioned his copyright of thc multiple times in this interview. He says he’s for cannabis but he specifically called out a 10,000 sq ft farm with rainwater catchment as a water source as being a blight just because it’s visible. He wants to push farms back into the woods where they’re invisible. He also thinks that fallowing his own farm while continuing to own it will allow him to vote on cannabis issues even though that’s a conflict of interest. He said on his own page that mixed light grows are the same as indoor and people are getting 4-6 runs a year and that they should be taxed as such, which is totally inaccurate. Also said that light deprivation is mixed light. He is uninformed, and in my opinion doesn’t offer much for solutions. Check out his page, he has photos of himself posing with Willy Nelson, Danny Glover and even Ronald Regan.
Darn! You make some decent points. Can’t somebody reasonable knock out Bushnell??!!
Well you knew nothing about this candidate a month ago. He established his longevity in the cannabis industry which started prior to prop 64.
Those photos are him at cannabis events he hosted. Did you read the article in LA times back in 2009 on his page?
This is the person who can help get Humboldt Cannabis brands known worldwide. The history is already there but Humboldt needs that person that knows how to market and bring people together.
I know a lot! [edit] you don’t t even post under your real name and you want information on yourself while not posting as yourself, I know the reason why you had your own permit pulled, you just post issues and not any way you would solve them, you are supposedly a permit holder or want to be one again so you wouldn’t be able to vote on any cannabis issues in your district anyways, but you bag on people with permits you see from the road yet know nothing about you are a transplant [edit] and a terrible person to run for supervisor!
My permit was never pulled. It’s been active since day one.
Second you can suspend your cultivation permit without losing it. It is a new rule starting March 2024.
In fact any farm wanting to go dark a year or two can do it without losing your license.
It may help until national legalization.
I don’t bag on people with permits. In fact I help people retain their permits when fighting with the planning department.
I am not happy with New Cultivation that skipped the line in permits.
Maybe that is you?
Are you a new cultivation sites?
Because the county played favorites and that’s why we have measure A today.
Have you seen all the applications for a cannabis permit?
It’s available online.
You can see for yourself.
Two permits applied for the same week. One gets permits within 12 months while the other takes over 66 months.
That’s why Garberville is in the top ten for foreclosures.
I wouldn’t have initiated a new measure to cap the cannabis permits at today’s level unlike Michelle. By capping the permits on cultivation it increases the value for those with a permit.
It’s that a conflict of interest?
She wanted to cap permit numbers and she has four permits within her family.
And you think I could be worse?
Fallowing your farm on the state level will not affect your county permit in any way. You will still own it. You will notarize a cultivation reduction form with the county each year that it’s fallowed, but you will still own the farm. Your Metrc account will still be active, you will still be allowed to sell your product. You will have to continue to pay your wastewater discharge, your surety bond, you will still have to maintain compliance with CDFW and all of the other agencies. What does all that mean? You still own a farm and it’s still a conflict of interest. You’re uninformed, and uneducated on the reality of it. Plus you’re here in the comments arguing with people that make valid points against you and that’s not cute at all.
Have you looked into those two permits that you’re comparing? Obviously the person that was approved in 12 months had all their ducks in a row, renewable power source, rain catchment, all of their other agency permits in order and a parcel that had adequate space outside a stream side management area to develop a cultivation site. The permit that took 66 months likely did not have any of those things set when they applied. Lots of reasons that some permits take others, and sometimes it’s the responsiveness or lack thereof of the applicant that makes a permit take much longer to process. Again, uneducated and uninformed.
I can prove you wrong but what does that solve.
You are 100% about the permit. Waste discharge, siretu bond and a few others are still required.
Measure S can not be changed except by reducing the amount owed.
If I have no financial gain that year, then I am not in a conflict of interest.
Every year measure S tax rate will come up to the board.
While I am in office I will fight for the small outdoor farmer. They are Humboldt’s legacy and should be treated that way.
And yes I would defend myself 24/7/365 if you call that arguing then I am sorry.
False allegations is what I have been dealing with for seven years with the planning department.
Do you want the APN #’ a do do you own investigation?
Aren’t you him?
Of course
I am trying to be objective and let the conversation continue
I am not here to argue
When announcing a job such as supervisor you are guaranteed that a few will dislike you no matter what you say.
I just want to keep the dialogue open for discussion and not rant about myself
I am an open book.
You could ask me anything.
I have nothing to hide.
Iv been a southern humboldt resident for 20 yrs, I’m sure I’m not alone in my frustration of watching our smalls towns die a slow and painful death. Alot of us feel like all the money go’s north and stays there . What would you propose to get money back to southern humboldt? I would be very interested in things that have to do with funding our schools. Southfork is a joke at this piont while schools up north have better everything I understand we have less students but there should be some type of money Allocated to our schools because they have less students and therefore get less state money There are no jobs for young ppl, kids here don’t get that experience of making a little of their own money with a part time job because literally older ppl have had to come back into the workforce and take what very few jobs are available. How do we get business back up and running what policies can be made that help ppl afford to live here ? How do we change Existing policies that have crippled the cannabis industry with high taxes ? Are there policies that can be made that take cannabis money and put it back in the communities it’s coming from? At this point, even if we wanted to do tourism, the town is so dilapidated and disgusting Nobody would want to stay here. Garberville’s crime rate is 17% higher than the national average. All of us are down here know the police are not doing anything about
Most of the crime, they’re more concerned with pulling people over and getting people Who can afford to pay They bring rookies down here to tran and will literally pull over 60 people in a weekend. Southern Humboldt is sick and tired of Soaring cost of goods and housing With no jobs. Little to no competition for services The few companies that provide them can charge whatever they want. I’ve seen
Cannabis Distribution businesses fire all of their employees and move all production out of the county. The majority of people that live here Cannot afford to go out to eat to buy clothes or Do anything exta they can barely afford their bills. what types of policies can be made to change What is happening here? While people were losing their livelihoods and businesses were closing left and right. We saw the supervisors give themselves a raise. What a slap in the face that was
Wow
You are speaking the truth.
I am right next to you on all of those beliefs.
There are two types of Supervisors. 1) proactive
A supervisor that stays on top of Sacramento and new legislation.
So we know about the $650 million California is granting to counties and cities for homeless.
2) Reactionary
A supervisor who waits for staff reports and gives their opinion on the subject.
I am proactive.
There are so many ideas and if we don’t talk about them they will never happen.
So Hum has 67% of cultivation permits in Humboldt.
$52 million was paid into Measure S taxes. So Hum didn’t see anything from that but empty store fronts.
Not sure if this is feasible but I will look into it. If we placed a % of that money from one year into an escrow account. Then used the interest to allow Southern Humboldt businesses apply for a small loan at an extremely low rate. All money would have to be used for improvement or employees in our district.
So many many ideas to lost right now. Please stay in contact because you hit it on the nail why I am running.
Thanks
I’m curious about what you said about your neighbor on the original ROTR site and how they spent $12K trying to get permits. Who is the neighbor you referenced?
It’s a little weird seeing you speak about yourself in the third person under a pseudonym.
I’m not in your district but I work in it, I don’t think an active legal cannabis farmer is a good fit for the supervisor job due to the difficulty in engaging with cannabis regulation.
Good luck in your campaign
Maybe commenting with your real name is appropriate on the thread of the interview with you. Especially the Explain why, what’s your intel, haven’t heard much about him comment. Reminds me of when trump would call up and pretend he was his publicist.
I signed up 8 years ago and used the name B Honest because the planning department wasn’t being honest.
I have made many remarks and criticized how biased the permitting process is.
My friend and I did a Public Records act on all cannabis permits in Humboldt County and I was proved right.
Large scale farms got permitted much faster than legacy farms.
New cultivation was approved and started growing prior to many of my friends getting temporary permits in HC.
So yeah while I was getting permitted and speaking up all the time I feared more retribution towards my permit for speaking out.
June 28,2022 go look up the Board of Supervisors agenda.
You will see an appeal.
Watch at the 4:00 hr mark and you will see what our supervisor are all about when it comes to fairness
So? What does that have to do with my comment? How would you implement anything you are talking about? Are you just blowing smoke?
Great question.
Measure S tax. Would have to be argued in front of the other four board members.
HCVB
Need to have action taken and not postponed for six months. They pay $50,000 per year on rent.
We have buildings in Garberville for sale under $400k
Why are wasting tax dollars.
Marketing Humboldt can be achieved in many ways.
Do you have anything specific things that have not been addressed,that you would like to see the county do?
A supervisor is responsible for allocating the money we all pay to taxes. That is the main function and responsibility of a Supervisor.
My question was what is your plan to do anything about the issues, not list issues.
A supervisor doesn’t work alone.
There are five Supervisors and you debate and public policy.
One Supervisor alone can’t change a thing.
The first thing to do is budget the county our if debt. I would look into Department waste.
Our CalPERS payments each year keep rising. Our pension plans for county employees cost us $17 million per year.
Modernization of each Department needs to take place. An efficient workforce can be more productive with less work time.
The planning department shouldn’t be charging $185 per hour for a supervisor planner to work on your project. That is a $384,000 dollar salary @ $185 per hour. The planning department does not provide that type of professional.
It’s true what he said about Measure S- the reason Measure S gained traction is because the supervisors did not do their job on cannabis permitting. And he is correct about Estelle and Michelle – both did not help the mom n pops, quite the opposite. I hope he wins…
Maybe you’re talking about measure A. I was a compliance consultant involved in the transition going to legal (don’t hold that against me please). I wouldn’t blame Bushnell for the county permitting. I absolutely agree Estelle was a snake and worked hand in hand with John Ford and others to extort the growers. By the time Bushnell was voted in, the rules had been firmly established and the landscape surrounding the collapse of the cannabis industry was well under way. I think she has done what she can to support some of those with issues with the county planning department, not just big corporate grows. She has worked hard to support the southern Humboldt community she grew up and is a business owner and has been responsive the one time I reached out to her. I have no other reason to talk her up other than she has earned my respect and should not be voted out.
You are correct Estelle started the issues and left us a mess.
Michelle picked up right after her.
Rolling Meadow Ranch?
1900 signatures asking to vote no on the 8 acre project but she voted yes regardless of all of us being against it.
She also motioned to deny a 10,000 sq ft permit because she didn’t like the attitude of the cultivator even though all requirements had been meet.
Limited experience running government agencies or protecting our natural surroundings.
Advanced Deadrients. Soil over Oil, please….
We dont need a ex drug entrepreneur for a supervisor
No
Why hasn’t this guy put his plan of saving the county into action yet? It dont sound like he needs to be on the board to build a good rep for Soum. I’ve never met this guy, heard of him, nor went to school with any of his kids, or know anybody who is employed by him. Michelle on the other hand has driven me to school on a school bus, been a member of the school board, owns a local busines that employs local people, supports our local 4H club and much more. I see her at community events and supporting its members. Shes still my vote! Good luck Michelle!
Brian, I’m not putting you down by any means. I’d suggest more community out reach to let people know you. I am a little biased though.
I appreciate the comment.
You are 100% correct.
I owned business in Los Angeles and Amsterdam.
I did business for 15 years with multiple Humboldt county business owners whom I still call friends
I could easily stay my course and be very very happy with my situation.
Or I could try and save a majority of our legacy farms before it is to late.
We are getting regulated into extinction and taxes prior to planting a seed in the ground.
We can stick with the status quo of today or we could make a change.
So, I’ve been on both sides of the market, as many of us Humboldt natives have . I don’t believe the cannabis market will ever be what it once was financially. The reason … oversupply! Humboldt needs another answer, it’s not cannabis any longer .What are so alternative thoughts you have to stimulate our economy ? .
I disagree. California is oversupplied for sure. We created a vertical monopoly in the retail market.
California market value in 2022 was $2.2 billion.
Humboldt will have it’s day again and the world is waiting.
New Directions:
how many dogs do you see in cars with people around town?
Humboldt loves dogs.
Dog shows for agility and show attract a wealthy RV crowd who travel around the United States doing shows.
Humboldt county sponsored events and festivals. Garberville is only 4.5 hrs away from the Bay Area. There are so many to name
Tourism is huge. It helps out so many people within a community
It’s hard to have tourism with a homeless crisis. Yes we are on a borderline crisis from petty crime to hard drugs. Somehow we need to get a handle on this and help out those willing to take the help.
Some of your thoughts on potential income other than cannabis are great! We live in a beautiful area, and the awesome weather is a plus as well , something to play up . Wind mills? Yes or no ?
This person makes good sense….
We need a supervisor who recognizes pot is over
Bla bla bla, tell us one thing YOU can do to change anything you said above? The homeless drug addicts? what will YOU do? The permits? The county pay roll? What exactly are you proposing? How will you make humboldt like Napa!? I see a bunch of bullshit word salad
I would be happy to engage in more conversation.
First can you clarify your past statement.
He is so much worse.
If you can explain why I am so much worse than I’ll continue.
I have tons of ideas to help Humboldt County, you can tune in tomorrow on kmud and listen to all three candidates.
No one can magically go puff and make Humboldt like Napa unless you have magic dust. Unfortunately I don’t believe in magic dust.
In order for Humboldt to succeed it is not on the shoulders of a Supervisor.
You must be mistaken that each President actually changes your life every four years.
Each of us living here in Humboldt needs to help find a small way to chip in and make Humboldt better.
It starts with hauling your trash to a dumpster instead of dumping it on the side of the road.
Explain how today’s Supervisor makes life in Humboldt better?
What policies have improved your life here in Humboldt in the past four years?
I responded see above I guess it took awhile
I adore and appreciate you Brian! It’s a tough year to kick Bushnell out, but I think it’s important to keep these debates alive, I so appreciate that. I know you’d make a great supervisor who could take HUMBOLDT’s famed industry into the global future and hopefully local economic sustainability.
Nothing at all about nurturing small manufacturing. Just weed.
Humboldt County is not a manufacturing hub for corporations.
This is the lost coast, access to our remote community is very limited and it gets worse during the winter storms.
Humboldt County is a mom and pops type of community. The Agriculture department should do seminars on how to get a cottage industry license.
Fresh baked pies, jams, tortillas and so many yummy snacks is what I see from our community.
Multiple outdoor events highlighting our robust farming industry should take place. Like a massive cook off for the best ……….
Eco tourism is a huge way to help struggling businesses.
There are so many ideas and it’s not like the Supervisor will be able to set up a chili cook off. That is up to our community. Knowing that there are grants available to help kick off an event is what the Supervisor should know about.
Yes. More common sense solutions. The forest or the trees. Here, both work.
Right on. This guy makes the most logical sense from a potential supervisor I have heard in decades. Hope he wins. We need more business oriented folks in these positions versus activists with no clue about the real world.
Napa has grapes, we have cannabis…the difference is napa has grapes because it’s the ideal environment to grow grapes. We had cannabis because we were remote and you could get away with it. No actual environmental or efficient reason to grow it here and now that it’s legal, even less.
Do you have a cultivation license?
I do. It is amazing region for growing organic. We have hot dry summer days and really cool nights and an occasional fog that rolls in.
The fog and cold.nights are what makes this stuff amazing.
Humboldt became know around the world for the best on the world not because of remote mountains.
Heck California has many remote regions. Ocean fog, cold nights and warm sunny mornings is what makes Humboldt an amazing growing region for cannabis.
Brian,
What about rent control??
We desperately need rent control throughout the county.
We also need In Home Support Services for the many seniors and disabled.
Our Social Services is not providing workers.
There are many people in this county receiving Cal Fresh and other benefits who are not working.
They should be enrolled in training classes, mandatory, for becoming In Home Support Services Personnel.
The large percentage of our population is older, because of the 1946-1965 baby boom.
Those people desperately need help.
What will you do for those of us who need affordable housing and in home support?
Senior living centers with community activities are very popular in other counties.
Cal fresh and other agencies provide a much needed help to families in need of food.
I like your idea of training classes in exchange for services.
I am planning several meet and greet events for February, i would never ask for a donation for my campaign but i would ask for anyone coming to bring canned food that we can pass along to calfresh or another organization.
The other one is to have a meet and greet and bring an old jacket not in use. Their are people in Humboldt who are cold at night.
Sharing is caring and Humboldt has a great history of that.
I am in town right now but I will get back to this with a proper answer.
Thanks
One thing i like about you is that rather than just being a familiar face cause you drove a local school bus you have owned a business in a country far more proactive about social supports than our own. What did you learn about their culture while working in Amsterdam and what if any approaches do you think are exportable to our county?
You statements illustrate a focus on the future of Humboldt and how to gain revenue that is diverse, locally specific and globally relevant rather than on one industry or the good old days or boys/gal’s club.
Also, being retired you have more time than the other candidates to dedicate to the job and related activities.
As for mandatory training classes that is rather condenscending by the commenter to ASSume that those recieving benefits from CALfresh can work and can work at jobs available here and have transportation etc. Mandatory IHSS worker? I know no senior disabled person who wants help from someone mandated to do that job, scary. Also assuming those recieiving benefits are not “Trained” nor educated when in fact they are both which is how they managed to pay into the system for over half a century. Many are disabled and elderly and can barely get through the day, don’t eat enough nor have support services (IHSS is not a job many can afford to do due to lack of consistent hours and benefits and is stressful given those same reasons and having to transport one’s self to many short and changing shifts and so while IHSS pays for and authorizes assistance in practice finding a worker is near impossible). Suicide rates are high among elderly and have risen recently. 25% of completed suicides according to records complied and analized by a epidemiologist in Washington County or State , I forget where but West Coast, were by people who had eviction notices in last month. Another large percentage had just taken their beloved pet to a shelter. Think of how many didn’t have notices and knew homelessness was coming. How many couldn’t be proved as suicides so weren’t even among the counted? Many recieving benefits could train others given their education and experience IF they had supports sufficient to manage their health and well being and housing stability. A senior citizen living on $1300 per month and who pays rent gets 90$ a month from CALfresh (a program which BTW supports local farmers who provide a product we all need, food). There are no handouts. If you living in senior low-income housing and disabled and have worked ful-time your whole life prior you still have have to reapply every year (doesn’t feel stable and secure) and give 6 months of your checking account statements to two different entities and their employees who at least with Danco come and go and also live in Danco apartments so they are beholding to Danco no matter the landlord AND bosses wrong doings. How would you like a bunch of young local employees seeing what you purchase and where you donate etc. 6months of every year? The paperwork alone for benefits is a part time job.
Protestors = Terrorists. This guy thinks free speech is for people who agree with him and Palestinians aren’t people. I shudder to think what other dehumanization he’s willing to encourage in government, whereas I could say “good afternoon, Michelle, have you heard of “Strongwater”? or “what about that transit line”?