The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors (from left): Natalie Arroyo, Mike Wilson, Rex Bohn, Steve Madrone and Michelle Bushnell. | Screenshot.

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The Yee Haw communal living property near Trinidad was back before the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors at today’s meeting as the county’s environmental health director, Mario Kalson, reported that a recent inspection of the 10-acre property revealed conditions that pose “urgent risks to the residents, to public health and to the environment.”

Specifically, Kalson reported unglued pipe fittings where sewage was being discharged to the ground; a pile of human waste covered by a tarp; more human waste accumulated in drums; vault privies where waste is leaching through the attached vaults; and a poorly maintained well that may not have an adequate surface seal. These code violations have the potential to expose the property’s roughly 33 residents to contaminants and pathogens while impacting the Trinidad-Westhaven watershed.

Kalson said his department “recommends immediate action to mitigate impacts to public health and the environment,” including requiring Yee Haw property owner Charles Garth to remove the vault privies, provide proper disposal of accumulated waste and bring in two portable toilets and a hand-washing station. 

Humboldt County Health Officer Candy Stockton acknowledged the tradition of building homes from scavenged materials, and like other county officials she acknowledged the ongoing housing crisis and the importance of providing people with a home.

But she said she also carries the traditions of our public health institutions, saying that while people have a right to choose their own living situations, “they also have a right to be protected from other people profiting off of the risk to them.”

The place Garth is providing “is placing those individuals at an unsafe risk of sewage contamination, of food-borne and fecal-contaminated illnesses [and] of a number of other public health risks,” Stockton said.

The board and the public then embarked on another hours-long debate that touched on such matters as the merits and risks of this property, the resources and shortcomings of Garth, the comparative values of western civilization and this particular hippie community and more.

Back in September the county established a 39-week timeline for Garth to either bring his parcel up to code or face code enforcement action, including tenant eviction and abatement measures such as environmental cleanup the possible demolition and removal of un-permitted structures. Garth and many of the residents hope to get the property qualified as an emergency shelter village, an allowable use (under certain conditions) during the county’s current housing crisis.

First District Supervisor and Board Chair Rex Bohn took a hard line with Garth, saying, “There’s been a lot of money taken [in rent] over the last 30 years with no, none, zero improvements.”

Fifth District Supervisor Steve Madrone, meanwhile, sought ways to compromise, particularly on the matter of composting toilets, a technology for which he has long advocated.

“This particular situation is far more sanitary and safe than any [homeless] encampment I’ve ever run into,” Madrone said. He later asked, “How do we partner with people, rather than fine and charge fees and all this other kinds of stuff, right?”

Just yesterday Garth submitted an application to have his own privies permitted, but Kalson said that’s simply not possible given the conditions onsite.

Yee Haw property owner and landlord Charles Garth addresses the board. | Screenshot.

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Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell took a no-nonsense approach, at one point grilling Garth on what actions he would actually commit to. She instructed him to get his well tested, put a seal on it and bring in the required port-a-potty and hand-washing station.

Planning and Building Director John Ford said he and his staff recognize that people’s lives are bound to be affected by any enforcement actions at Yee Haw.

“It is painful to confront this tension that exists between disrupting people, as Dr Stockton mentioned, and trying to bring a site into compliance,” he said. “And we’re trying to find a fine line there.”

Garth addressed the board directly, defending the conditions on his property and saying it has served as a village since “the beginning of the railroad days.” He insisted that a sewage dispersal field on his property converts human waste into perfectly good soil.

“I’ve got a bucket of it right now I’m taking to go get tested. It’s fine,” he said. “It doesn’t stink at all. It’s got great … you could put it on your garden. I don’t, right? [But] you could. Lots of people do.”

When pressed on whether he has the financial resources to make the changes being required of him, Garth cupped his hand around the microphone in a conspiratorial manner and confided, sotto voce, “Most of ‘em don’t pay me rent.”

He later suggested an easy solution: “A public nuisance is something that doesn’t have a permit. Give me a permit, I’m not a nuisance.”

Multiple residents of the property spoke passionately in defense of both Garth and the community they maintain on his land. One woman compared the residents to Ewoks, the Na’vi from Avatar or the magical creatures in the Dark Crystal. Other described it in similarly idyllic terms.

A male resident called on John Ford to resign, alleging that “he has endangered the lives of vulnerable women and children by photographing and publicly reporting photos of their homes.”

When the matter came back to the board, Third District Supervisor Mike Wilson questioned Garth’s capacity to address the issues on the property. 

Late in the discussion, Bushnell urged Garth to step up.

“Charles, you have a whole room full of people that love your property and want to stay there, and I hope that we can come to a solution,” she said.

The board unanimously accepted the report and directed staff to move forward with its inspection and remediation measures. They also directed Garth to comply with the environmental health measures and refrain from inviting in any new tenants or creating any new structures on the property.

Committee appointments

Board discord! The first wave of disagreement washed over the board fairly quickly, with any acrimony remaining mostly below the surface. It came as the board was being asked to consider appointments to the board of directors for the nonprofit Headwaters Fund, a revolving investment account that finances economic development projects.

The existing board had recommended reappointing current members Walter Geist and Brian Papstein to three-year terms, and a subcommittee had recommended appointing Rusty Hicks and Walter Gray III to two-year terms, with Serah Blackstone-Fredericks recommended as the alternate. 

Typically, such appointments are a matter of routine, but Papstein, the owner and general manager of Eureka Broadcasting Co. (KINS, KEKA radio), was unceremoniously booted.

No reason was given. Fourth District Supervisor Natalie Arroyo simply made a motion to appoint Geist, Hicks, Gray and Blackstone-Fredericks to the four vacant seats and leave the alternate position open until next year.

Wilson seconded the motion, but after a moment of (perhaps stunned) silence, Bohn said he would be going along with staff’s recommendation. 

“I also will not be voting [for] that motion,” Bushnell said. 

Nonetheless, the board voted 3-2, with Bohn and Bushnell dissenting, to approve the motion, effectively ousting Papstein from the Headwaters Fund board. 

The discord on the next appointment was more pronounced, and it involved Bohn directly. He’s the county’s current delegate on the board of the Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) and two affiliated bodies: the Golden State Connect Authority (a joint-powers authority formed by multiple counties) and the Golden State Finance Authority.

This hodgepodge of regional agencies have formed yet another — Golden State Natural Resources — through which they are pursuing a controversial project to manufacture and export up to 1 million tons of wood pellets to global markets for use as biofuel. 

Humboldt County supervisors discussed this initiative at last week’s meeting and heard from a variety of concerned public speakers. The board didn’t take a position on the project yet but instead approved a letter asking the GSFA to extend the public comment period so the public can have additional opportunities to weigh in.

Today, Bohn said he’d like to continue to serve on the RCRC board and as one of five representatives on the Golden State Natural Resources board. But his fellow supervisors had some concerns. Arroyo said the wood pellet project — and Bohn’s advocacy for it — were “the elephant in the room.”

“I think it’s safe to say that there’s concerns about that project, and based on our code of conduct around advocacy … I think my request would be to not represent support for this project [from] Humboldt County on an ongoing basis — and if you’re going to support the project, to do so as an individual,” Arroyo said to Bohn.

Bohn bristled against this suggestion, describing it as a carrot being dangled in front of him as a precondition to his reappointment. He spoke in defense of the wood pellet project and argued that plenty of people in the county likely support it. But reluctantly, he acquiesced.

“I will do that if that’s what would make you sleep easier,” he said.

Arroyo clarified that she was asking for Bohn to recuse himself from any votes on the wood pellet project until the county decides what position it will take.

Wilson noted that the whole purpose of Golden State Natural Resources is to pursue this wood pellet initiative, adding, “If [Bohn] is to remain on that particular nonprofit, then I don’t know how he couldn’t advocate for the project.”

Wilson also brought up a controversy from last year, when Bohn, as Humboldt’s RCRC representative, included a handgun in a charity auction basket after being told that firearms were not allowed.

During the public comment period, several people said that asking Bohn to recuse himself on decisions related to the wood pellet export project was a reasonable compromise for his reappointment.

Ultimately, Bohn said he’s willing to recuse himself on such votes, and he was reappointed unanimously.