Schwartz. | Submitted.

Just when we’d resigned ourselves to a humdrum Humboldt County election season, a late challenger files paperwork to run for the soon-to-be-open Fifth District seat on the Board of Supervisors.

McKinleyville resident Evan Schwartz, the founder of several local businesses and a self-described “regular person,” filed his candidacy paperwork this week.

He’s running against ecologist Mary Burke, who entered the race nearly a year ago and has the endorsement of current Fifth District Supervisor Steve Madrone, who is not seeking re-election. 

In a phone conversation with the Outpost this afternoon, Schwartz said he learned about the community’s “triumphs and challenges” while he and his wife operated McKinleyville Central Market, a small natural foods grocery store that the couple founded and ran for about five years. 

“We started the store to serve the community and because I couldn’t get products I liked in town,” Schwartz said. “Over five years we made a ton of friends in the community.”

They closed the store in 2015 (after Eureka Natural Foods purchased the former Ace Hardware location) and then launched another business, Craft Beer Distribution Company, which supplied products to many local grocery stores. They wound up selling that business, as well — to Tomaso’s. Schwartz also founded and later sold the bottled water company Cause Water. 

“I’m not afraid to try stuff,” he remarked.

After growing up in the San Fernando Valley, Schwartz came to Humboldt County in 2003 to attend College of the Redwoods. He returned to the L.A. region and earned his real estate license before deciding to return to Humboldt, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing.

He and his family have lived in McKinleyville full time since 2010, he said. In recent years his family has experienced some serious health issues, so they’ve pared back a bit on their professional endeavors. Schwartz said he’s now doing “the Humboldt thing,” meaning earning an income through “a little bit of this and that,” including selling local items through Amazon, a bit of “product brokering” and renting his RV out through the website Outdoorsy.

“We’re not really working crazy, like, work work, and that’s why this is great opportunity for me to pursue this,” Schwartz said. “I’m ready to do something again, and it’s much more interesting to me than going to work for money. I’d rather be a public servant.”

Asked what specific issues motivated him and how he differs politically from Burke, Schwartz said he mostly just wants to be “a voice of people who feel marginalized or less represented as well as those who feel represented [already].” 

He added that he’s had some frustrations dealing with the Humboldt County Planning Department when trying to get answers to business-related questions. 

A registered Democrat, he said he’s heard Burke is in favor of a “road diet” plan that would reduce roughly half a mile of McKinleyville’s Central Avenue from five lanes to three. 

“It would be horrendous to reduce [the number of lanes] on Central at certain times of day,” he said. “It would encumber a number of businesses. It just wouldn’t make sense.”

As for his campaign, he said he doesn’t yet have a website and may not start one. He hopes to organize a grassroots campaign “without spending a bunch on stuff that’s unnecessary.”

“I’m just a regular person who wants to do my part to represent my community and this distinct,” he said.

Schwartz sent us the following candidate statement:

I have lived in McKinleyville since 2010. I love being part of this community. This is my home, and I am proud to raise my family here.

In 2008, I earned my business degree from Humboldt State University and decided to put what I learned into practice locally. In 2010, I started McKinleyville Central Market, a small natural foods store and café that offered wholesome grocery options to our neighbors.

Over the following years I built and sold Craft Beer Distribution Company, a regional beverage distribution business, and Cause Water, a bottled spring water brand that used aluminum bottles to reduce plastic waste. Running these businesses connected me with the community and taught me how to solve problems, navigate regulations, and work with county, state, and federal agencies to accomplish goals.

In 2025, I briefly served as a member of the McKinleyville Community Services District Park and Recreation Committee (PARC).

I believe in community engagement and working together to build a strong future we can all enjoy.

I hope to serve District 5 with thoughtful leadership and a commitment to representing the people who live here.

I would be grateful to earn your vote.