Berkowitz.

In an email to his colleagues at Lost Coast Communications earlier today — full disclosure: that includes the staff at your Lost Coast Outpost — deejay Cliff Berkowitz, a founder of the company and a longtime morning host on radio station KHUM-FM, announced that he will challenge incumbent First District Supervisor Rex Bohn in the upcoming March election.

Berkowitz said in the email that he would officially announce his candidacy in the next couple of weeks — likely at a public rally, he later clarified by telephone — and will be stepping down from KHUM in November, when the filing deadline for the race arrives.

“It’s something I’ve been thinking about for quite a while,” Berkowitz tells the Outpost. “The way I see it, it’s sort of an outgrowth of what I’ve been doing for the community for the past 23 years. My whole philosophy of what I’ve been doing is being of use to the community, and this is sort of a natural outgrowth of that.”

In a brief conversation with the Outpost about his platform, Berkowitz mentioned a number of issues in which he believed he could better represent the First District. They included climate change preparation, affordable housing and land use decisions made with our “rivers, air and water” in mind.

“I think I need to do all I can do as supervisor to protect the unique
character of Humboldt County,” he said.

The Federal Communications Commission’s equal time rule means that Berkowitz will be unable to serve as deejay while an official, active candidate for office. In his email to colleagues, Berkowitz says that he will not mention political issues or his candidacy before officially submitting his papers with the elections office and resigning from his job.

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