In April 2020, Alejandra Guerra, 23, started working at Amazon while finishing her associate degree in criminal justice at Sacramento City College. Working nights and weekends at the warehouse near the Sacramento airport, she earned $18.70 an hour, nearly five dollars more than she had been making prior to the pandemic as a secretary.

The hours were grueling: She finished her last warehouse shift of the week at 5:30 a.m. on Monday and started class, online, at 8 a.m. “I have very bad ADHD, so it’s very hard for me to concentrate when I’m sitting in front of a laptop, especially when I just worked a 10-and-a-half-hour shift,” she said. “I’m just thinking about sleep.”

She dropped out of school in May 2020 with about seven classes left to graduate. More than three years later, she still hasn’t returned, making her part of an emerging trend among community college students ages 20 to 30. While other age groups are returning to college following a drop during the COVID-19 pandemic, these twenty-somethings are the last holdouts.

At its lowest point following the start of the pandemic, the California Community Colleges system had lost just over 417,000 students, an 18.5% drop compared to the 2018-19 academic year. That was a 30-year low. The decline means colleges risk losing state funds in the near future, since their funding is pegged in part to enrollment. In the long-term, it means employers may grapple with a less educated or less skilled workforce.

“We’re seeing increased wages in occupations that don’t require a bachelor’s or an associate degree.”
— Don Miller, vice president of academic affairs at Rio Hondo College

Enrollment numbers grew by about 5% in the 2022-23 school year, according to data provided by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office. It’s the most recent data available, though numbers are not yet official. Early estimates from various community college districts show enrollment gains continuing into this fall, too.

But that rebound is uneven: it stems largely from high school students who are taking college classes, and to a lesser extent, from adults over 30 who are returning to college after leaving at record rates during the pandemic. Meanwhile, students in their 20s, like Guerra, continued to leave college. The state’s 116 community colleges lost more than 13,000 students between the ages of 20 and 30 last year, about a 2% decline in that population compared to the previous year.

The result is a demographic shift across the community college system. For over a decade, it was students between 20 and 30 years old who made up the plurality of students on campus. Last year, it was students under 20 who represented the largest group. These youth, particularly those in high school, have become central to the strategy of California Community College Chancellor Sonya Christian, who has said she wants to require every ninth-grader in California to enroll in a community college course.

Low unemployment means low enrollment for some colleges

Administrators say there is no single explanation as to why this generation of twenty-somethings is lagging behind the rest. For one, the age group isn’t monolithic, and students with different racial or ethnic backgrounds showed differing trends. The population of Asian and Filipino students in their 20s declined by 6 and 12%, respectively, while the number of African-American and Native students in the same age group increased by a few percentage points compared to the previous year. Another possible explanation comes from a recent survey of the state’s community college students, which found that roughly one-third of students between the ages of 21 and 30 had experienced homelessness in the past year — a higher rate than any other age group.

But most college administrators agree that the economy is often a leading factor. Historically, college enrollment fluctuates with the economy. A good economy and ample job opportunities mean students often choose work over school.

“We’re seeing increased wages in occupations that don’t require a bachelor’s or an associate degree,” said Don Miller, vice president of academic affairs at Rio Hondo College, located near Whittier in eastern Los Angeles County. He cited rising wages in the service industry, such as at Starbucks, as well as for entry-level openings at logistics companies, such as Amazon or UPS.

Logistics in particular has seen a boost in hiring and wages since the start of the pandemic as more people shifted to online shopping. New shipping warehouses opened in the Inland Empire, making Amazon the largest private employer in the region, and some Central Valley cities are close behind.

Amazon SMF1 facility in Sacramento on Sept. 25, 2023. Photo by Rahul Lal for CalMatters

At East Los Angeles College, logistics and technology professor Leo Medina said his classes, which prepare students to work at places like Amazon and UPS, used to enroll more than 800 students a year before the pandemic. He lost about a quarter of his students in 2020 but said some are starting to return, often with encouragement or financial incentives from their employers.

“You hit the ceiling if you don’t have a certain amount of education or skill,” he said.

Guerra started out in an entry-level position at Amazon, but after a year working the night shift, she got promoted. First, she became a data analyst and then an operations supervisor, where she made about $22 an hour.

For years, her managers at Amazon encouraged her to go back to school. While the company covers tuition, books, and fees for many of its employees, Guerra said she was unsure whether she wanted to go back to school or instead try to advance internally through more promotions. Her mentality changed this spring, when she lost her job and had to search for a new one.

“I have all these skills that I’ve learned, but there’s all these jobs that don’t want to hire me because I don’t have a degree,” she said. She found a position as a receptionist at a property management company in Sacramento and plans to enroll in college at some point next year.

Losing the ‘drive’ for community college

Community colleges have collectively spent millions of dollars, much of it part of COVID relief funds, to draw back students like Guerra. They run recruitment events at churches, community centers and rodeos. They’ve set up call centers to reach out to students and are plastering billboards with eye-catching puns along highways and on buses. The Sacramento-area community college district flew a drone display in the image of a cap and gown to woo spectators at a professional soccer match. The efficacy of those marketing efforts is up for debate.

But research has found a few clear trends in college recruitment. Only 13% of students who drop out of college re-enroll in school within five years, according to a 2019 analysis by the National Student Clearinghouse. Once students leave high school and put off going to college, it becomes harder to convince them to enroll, too.

Hunter Garcia, 22, enrolled at Butte College near Chico in the fall of 2019 after seeing a flier that advertised the school. He dropped out in the midst of the pandemic after starting his third semester and soon began working the night shift at a nearby Walmart warehouse. He didn’t feel safe at night near his apartment, and since he didn’t have a car, he walked to work each day around sunset, waiting until 10 p.m. to start his nine-hour shift. After six months, he quit. But by then, he said he felt too isolated and exhausted to restart an online education. “I just lost the drive,” he said.

Only 13% of students who drop out of college re-enroll in school within five years, according to a 2019 analysis by the National Student Clearinghouse.

Many colleges are rethinking the structure of college: trying to fit school around the student, instead of the traditional model, which asks students to schedule their lives around school. In one of the most innovative approaches, eight community colleges in California have opted into a pilot program that aims to redesign part of their curricula so students can gain a degree without ever attending class.

Most colleges are making simpler changes, such as offering more flexible hours, more online classes and new courses that are more easily applicable in the workforce. One school is offering higher wages for student tutors in an effort to keep them on campus and keep them from seeking higher-paying jobs elsewhere.

Garcia has no intentions of going back to school in the near future, though he hasn’t ruled it out entirely. He works as a carpenter now, making around $25 an hour, but it’s not much easier than his previous job at WalMart, he said. “My body won’t be able to keep up with this forever,” he said.

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Erica Yee contributed to this reporting.

Adam Echelman covers California’s community colleges in partnership with Open Campus, a nonprofit newsroom focused on higher education.

CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

Jeffrey J. Krohn was born in Milwaukee on July 22, 1952; He passed over at the age of 70 on July 5, 2023, in Eureka.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Dorothy Krohn, and father, Jim Krohn. He is survived by his brother, Gary Krohn; nephew, Garrison Krohn; niece, Shayna Krohn; and his former wife, Kathleen Krohn.

As a young boy, Jeff was very adventurous; he loved the outdoors, crabbing, fishing, swimming, canoeing and snow-fort building. He attended Camp Sidney Cohen, participating in multiple canoe trips down the Wisconsin River from Boscobel, ending at Prairie Du Chien. He was a fun-loving, free spirit.

He attended high school at Norris Farms Boys Academy. He moved from Milwaukee to Eureka in 1990, where he lived at the Lighthouse Ranch. Then he became a born-again believer of the Judeo-Christian faith. His love for God’s Word, recalling and reciting scripture was an encouraging gift.

Jeff was an accomplished finishing carpenter, house painter, and interior decorator consultant. He loved animals and had a special intuitive language when he would speak to them, especially his cat, Jackson. He cherished fine antiques and many original paintings by local artists and friends such as David Hodes and John Wesa, which furnished his apartment he called his castle.

If you were with Jeff walking in any given city, small or large, when you turned around, he was gone. You would find him at the thrift store, Boys and Girls Club clothing, or Goodwill seeking out treasured vintage clothes.

He amassed a collection of vintage clothes of over 1,000 pieces, Birkenstock shoes, Doc Martin, western shirts, Carhartt, Gunne Sax Dresses, Pendleton, costume hats, and fedoras. You might’ve called him a master technician for discovering vintage clothing with value. He sold his collection in 2022 to a company in San Francisco.

Jeff was all about wit and humor. He always had these great one-liners and comebacks in playful conversation. His love for comedy in the movies was insightful. He would share whole comic sketches and dialogue guiding you to the movies and episode that made him laugh the most.

His knowledge of sports and sports athletes was captivating. He could recite most of the MVP players for most professional sports except golf and hockey. The Green Bay Packers and the Milwaukee Bucks were his favorites.

He loved to play basketball and would challenge you to a game of 21. If you weren’t up for a game of 21, he’d gladly shoot a round of eight-ball pool.

Jeff was a connoisseur of musical songwriters and entertainers. One of his true loves and God-gifted talents was writing lyrics and music. He composed over 20 songs. His collection of guitars was tremendous. Jeff recorded his first two songs in a small studio in Eureka in February 2016.

###

Written and composed by Jeffrey James Krohn:

He Finds Me

“Maker of the land Keeper of the sea, You are the answer to questions that some don’t believe.

As pure of the heart that ever will beat, You are the sweet, enduring fragrance I was born to breathe.

For all that I have done, the things I have done, He still loves me, the King of the world, Creator of all. He loves me.

He’s taking me on as a son and holding me in my lap in His palm, no matter how far I run, He finds me”.

In this world, Jeffrey will truly be missed with deep sadness by all his family and friends. We now celebrate his past life and his new life with his Heavenly Father who is welcoming Jeff to write music for the heavenly choir.

###

Jeffrey Krohn’s Memorial Celebration & Musical Concert

Honoring Jeffrey and his love of music

Eureka Theater

612 F Street, Eureka, California

Saturday November 18, 2023, show 6:30 /doors open 5:30 pm

Come and experience this exceptional dedication of these great musicians and bands as they honor Jeffrey’s memory with a tremendous musical gathering.

Featuring

Huckleberry Flint

The Lighthouse Band Reunion

Garrison & musical guests

In lieu of flowers

All donations and ticket admissions

are being accepted in advance to defer the Memorial Celebration cost. All remaining proceeds will be donated to Redwood Adult & Teen Challenge.

This Memorial Celebration and Musical concert is a tribute to Jeffrey. His God-given talent to write and compose music was a significant part of his life and our purpose for this musical celebration.

His home at Redwood Adult & Teen Challenge for the last 12 months of his life inspired so many. Jeffrey’s family & friends are happy to celebrate Jeffrey’s life by donating to their cause.

Please help us with your donations go to: GoFundMe https://gofund.me/44b57e18

For concert ticketing go to: Eventbrite http://bit.ly/46fh4HG

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for donating to this Memorial Celebration and Musical Concert. Jeff’s spirit transcended this realm with his musical talents. We will rejoice with him, like a choir of Angels.

The Krohn Family & Friends

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Jeff Krohn’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.

Emergency personnel have closed Broadway near its intersection with Vigo Street while they deal with the aftermath of a serious collision involving a vehicle and a pedestrian. 

Avoid the area if you are traveling through Eureka. 

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During today’s regular meeting, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors voted to revoke a Coastal Development Permit for a residential property in Fields Landing following nearly two decades of neighborhood complaints and numerous building violations.

One of the structures on the Fields Landing property. Image: Humboldt County Code Enforcement

The county’s Code Enforcement Unit issued its first “substandard housing notice and order” at Gerald McGuire’s Fields Landing property in 2004, following numerous complaints from neighbors regarding the construction of an unpermitted structure and “junk being left on the property,” the staff report states. Since 2013, code enforcement has issued numerous notices against the property for construction violations, including working without a valid/current permit and violation of the county’s building, plumbing and electrical codes.

In November 2021, McGuire obtained a Coastal Development Permit to clean up the property and resolve ongoing issues with the county’s Code Enforcement Unit. The permit allowed for the demolition of an existing unpermitted 1,700-square-foot house and the construction of a 788-square-foot, two-story garage with a one-bedroom accessory dwelling unit on its second floor.

A few months after demolition was completed in April of 2022, the county received several complaints about the condition of the property, including the “accumulation of junk, solid waste, scrap, miscellaneous items and debris,” according to the timeline of events compiled by code enforcement. 

Over one year later, the property is still a mess. Planning and Building Director John Ford shared a few dozen pictures of the property – taken between February and July of this year – during today’s meeting. The pictures show piles of lumber, tarps and other building materials strewn throughout the property, much of which can be seen from the street.

Ford | Screenshot

“The reason we’re requesting the revocation of the Coastal Development Permit is because, at this point, the applicant has been unable to bring the site into a condition that is clean and tidy,” Ford said. “When it comes to requesting a revocation, that’s not something that we take lightly in the Planning Department. It really is something that comes about as a last-ditch effort. … In this particular case, the reason that we’re requesting the revocation of [the Coastal Development Permit] is because [it] is not being used for the intended purpose.”

McGuire argued that the pictures were not current and said, “Everything’s cleaned up.” He added that the site would have been cleaned up years ago if it weren’t for code enforcement preventing him from doing so.

“Code enforcement came down and specifically told the [Planning and] Building Department, after my pre-site inspection, to stop working on that property. A year went by … [and] I couldn’t even pick up anything on that property,” he said. “Yeah, it looks like a mess, but it’s not like that anymore. … There’s no trucks, there’s no equipment, there’s no vehicles down there; it’s all been taken away.”

McGuire added that he had obtained three building permits through the county. Ford pushed back on his claim, noting, “That building was never permitted.”

McGuire | Screenshot

First District Supervisor Rex Bohn asked whether McGuire had copies of the building permits. McGuire said he did, but he wasn’t sure if he had them with him. He noted that he had stamped copies at home.

“There’s a stamp when they receive it, that’s not an approval,” Bohn said. “The problem I’m having right now is I’ve got a Planning and Building Director that says you don’t have permits, and you’re saying you have a permit somewhere.”

“You can call the building department and they’ll tell you I have permits,” McGuire said.

“I got him right here,” Bohn said, referring to Ford.

“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” McGuire said.

Third District Supervisor Mike Wilson interjected to note that “even if [the building] permit exists somewhere out there” it is not related to the matter at hand.

“This is the revocation of a Coastal Development Permit, and it’s separate from whatever those entitlements may or may not be,” he said. “I really don’t think that that’s germane to this discussion, whether or not those permits exist or don’t exist.”

Speaking during public comment, one of McGuire’s neighbors, a woman who identified herself only as Cristy, said the property has been a mess for the last 14 years and asked the board to revoke the permit.

“I feel a responsibility for the community of people down here that are hardworking individuals that are just fed up and tired,” she said. “We’ve had years and years of sympathy and understanding for him and, you know, I realize that everybody falls on hard times. It’s not in any way a personal vendetta, but at some point, we ask that the supervisors put themselves in [the] shoes of the individuals that have to live next to him and deal with this every day.”

McGuire’s attorney Michael Acosta argued that revoking the permit would cause “further stagnation of this problem.”

“At this point, [he’s] cleaned that portion up that is clearly a public nuisance,” Acosta said. “Beyond that, what’s happening on the property is that Mr. McGuire has been frustrated in his endeavor by the building department’s lack of accommodation of his plans.”

Following public comment, Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell asked Ford to explain the next steps of the process and whether McGuire would have the opportunity to apply for another building permit once the property is cleaned up.

“Just to be clear, the Notice of Abatement has been served. The Notice of Violation has been served so [the next step]  would actually be abating the property,” Ford said. “Either he would clean up the property or the county’s in a position where it will.”

After a bit of additional discussion, Wilson made a motion to approve staff’s recommendation to revoke the Coastal Development Permit. Bohn seconded the action.

The motion passed in a 4-0 vote, with Fifth District Supervisor and Board Chair Steve Madrone absent due to jury duty obligations.

Before adjourning to closed session, Bohn suggested Ford and McGuire meet outside board chambers to discuss the next steps “since everybody’s on premises.”

PREVIOUSLY:

• Officer-Involved Shooting in Hoopa Leaves Suspect Dead; HCSO and DA’s Office Investigating
• Sheriff’s Office Releases More Info on Sunday’s Officer-Involved Shooting in Hoopa

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Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023, an officer involved shooting occurred in Hoopa involving the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The California Department of Justice (DOJ) is leading this investigation pursuant to California Assembly Bill 1506.

This incident update (#3) is to provide additional information regarding this investigation. In alignment with the Humboldt County Critical Incident Response Team’s (CIRT) transparency protocol, this update provides the name of the California Highway Patrol officer involved, the name of the decedent and autopsy result.  

California Highway Patrol Officer: Neil Johnson, Willow Creek Resident Post Officer

Decedent: William Burrell Nelson, age 43, of Hoopa, CA. Cause of death: Gunshot wound to the chest.

Upon completion of the investigation, the CA DOJ will submit its findings to Attorney General Rob Bonta for a determination. To protect the integrity of this investigation, no additional information will be released until this has been completed. For questions related to this investigation, please contact the California Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs at 202-514-2007.

PREVIOUSLY: A Rex Challenger Emerges: Gordon Clatworthy Announces Candidacy for Humboldt County Board of Supervisors’ First District Seat

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As Rex Bohn seeks his fourth term representing the First District on the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors, he has yet to face a serious challenge at the ballot box — judging by the results, anyway.

When first elected in 2012 he defeated his nearest rival, former Wiyot tribal chair Cheryl Seidner, by a margin of more than two-to-one. Four years later Bohn ran unopposed, garnering more than 92 percent of the vote.

Last time around, in 2020, would-be challenger Allen McCloskey abandoned his campaign in the wake of an Outpost investigation into allegations of fraud, perjury and embezzlement. Stepping into the ensuing void was former KHUM DJ (and ex-colleague of mine) Cliff Berkowitz, but his campaign faltered, thanks in part to an unfortunate gaffe before the Times-Standard‘s editorial board, and he lost to Bohn in another landslide.

Enter Gordon Clatworthy.

Bohn’s latest challenger, a 40-year-old former Coast Guardsman, is a filmmaker, the founder and executive producer at Weird Howard, a production company focused on “Lovecraftian horror films,” of which it has produced one short, 2017’s Lovecraftia: Crafting Lovecraft, with another project listed in pre-production, with a scheduled release in 2025.

Clatworthy also co-hosts a recurring local event called Paranormal Open Mic, which resembles a live comedy podcast, of sorts, with audience interaction and rambling conversations about the mythos and lore of Bigfoot, ghosts, Lovecraftian monsters and the like. 

The Outpost’s first interview with Clatworthy, conducted on Sept. 1, was a bit of a mess, by his own admission. He hadn’t slept well the night before and, after we’d finished, said he felt like he was “screwing this up.” Shortly thereafter, he offered this declaration:

“I’m also the first gay reptilian running for office.”

Huh?

“You know,” he said, deadpan, “the reptilian alien people that control the world. No, I’m just kidding.”

A couple weeks later, when I asked him for a campaign photo, he expressed interest in trying the interview again.

The second interview, conducted yesterday, ended when Clatworthy left in the midst of an awkward impasse as I tried (and mostly failed) to extract specifics about some insinuations and secondhand allegations he’d voiced regarding Bohn’s alleged corruption and criminality.

Both interviews, presented chronologically below, have been edited a bit for length.

###

Clatworthy: I had to [run]. I had to do it. 

Lost Coast Outpost: Tell me why.

I couldn’t run last time because I was dealing with cancer. That’s actually how I got out of the Coast Guard. I had cancer so had to retire early. 

Wow. Are you comfortable saying what kind of cancer?

Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. … It’s in remission. It’s something that I’m probably never going to be fully cured of, but, you know, it is what it is. … I seem to be in the clear right now, so I’m going to take this opportunity and do what I can for the community.

Where did you grow up?

Well, my mom was in the Navy, so I’m kind of a military brat. But my dad was also a merchant marine, so I grew up around boats, around the ocean. … I’ve been all over the world.

I joined the Coast Guard because I knew I wanted to help people but I wasn’t sure how. I guess I could have been a paramedic or a firefighter or a police officer, but luckily I got to do all three in the Coast Guard. 

I served for about 14 and a half years, and I also did some reserve time as well. … I was really proud of the work that I did. I’ve saved lives. I’ve pulled people out of the water. I’ve stopped fires on boats. I helped feed and clothe migrants who were leaving their countries because of the corruption. And I did a lot of good, and I feel good about the work that I did. … 

As soon as I moved out here [to Humboldt County], I was like, “This is where it’s at. These are my people.” … I wanted to just stay in this area. I bought my house through the VA housing loan. I knew I wanted to put roots down here. …

What do you like about here?

I love the people. … There are a lot of people that really care and are really passionate. And there’s a lot of acceptance and love here.

So you are a filmmaker? Tell me about that.

While I was stationed here I also volunteered for the [Humboldt-Del Norte] Film Commission. I used to do short films and stuff on the East Coast. When I moved here, I wanted to take it a little bit more professionally. … Up here I’ve worked on a bunch of different films and television stuff. I host a paranormal show. We host it live at the Crisp Lounge [in Eureka]. 

Does filmmaking pay the bills?

It helps.

Do you have any other side gigs?

Um, I’m a writer. I’m not going to go into detail. [Pause.] Yeah, I do side gigs and stuff. Some ghost writing. 

Aside from not wanting [Bohn] to run unopposed, why did you choose to run?

The Coast Guard has to cross-train [its members]. Everybody has to wear different hats. So I was a food service officer; I was a purchasing agent; I managed millions of dollars worth of funds; and there is stringent oversight with any funding for a unit. And looking through the county’s audits that we’ve had, it seems that there’s not a lot of oversight. … 

The county runs on different trust funds. And the [outside] auditors have all said the same thing, that we need to combine the trust funds so that there’s more oversight and we can get a higher return on the money that’s in these funds.  …

When you have wire transfers going out where we don’t know where that money is going, we don’t know who’s spending it, we don’t know anything about that — that should cause many red flags. … 

I think one estimate was that there was over $55 million missing from our funds. That can pay for housing. … That goes to pay people like the in-home health care people, and they haven’t had a raise in years, and the raises are put forward by the Board of Supervisors. … [Note: Baseline wages for IHSS workers are funded by state and federal sources, though the county sometimes approves supplemental payments, which can come from the General Fund.]

Some of the stuff you’re talking about is controlled by the auditor-controller, who is independently elected.

One of the things that came up in the studies was that the county supervisors actually do have access to those funds and help with the audits and help with the financial institutions there. So, like, you have people elected that take care of it, but if you have other people that have access that aren’t accounting for where this money is going, then there’s no control over it. … You’re spending tax dollars, and we are not getting representation for where those tax dollars are going. So that is literally taxation without representation, and we fought a war about that, I’m pretty sure.

“That is literally taxation without representation, and we fought a war about that, I’m pretty sure.”

So are you advocating for supervisors to have more control over [county finances]? Because I think a lot of the delineation of duties is established in the state constitution.

I think what we need to do first is definitely get our finances in order. And that requires hiring more accountants. We should probably have a forensic accountant go through and try to find where the $55 million went. 

Do you have a reference or a link to that study?

I will try to find it. 

[Clatworthy later texted to say his source was a comment that County Administrative Officer Elishia Hayes made in June of 2022. Her exact quote was, “We don’t know if we have $30 million in the bank or if we’re negative $30 million in the bank.” This remark, addressed to county supervisors during a meeting, was made in the context of delinquent fiscal reporting by then-Auditor-Controller Karen Paz Dominguez. It was a description of flying blind, financially, rather than an assertion that tens of millions of dollars had gone missing. Current Auditor-Controller Cheryl Dillingham tells the Outpost that the county’s fiscal reporting was two years in arrears at the time, whereas now, “most of FY 2022-23 is posted, providing more clarity.”]

Can you tell me about your own experience handling budgets and managing people?

I was the food service officer [in the Coast Guard], and we have control over our inventory management — I was a purchasing agent for, at one point, almost four units. … So there’s a lot of oversight when it comes to that. Every purchase that you make has to be approved. … 

So, yeah, we need to hire more accountants. We need to put funds together to get rid of paper timecards. How are we still doing that? It’s the 21st Century. Are you kidding me? … We need to really reevaluate our spending countywide before we can move forward with any kind of project. …

Regarding the [Humboldt Cannabis Reform Initiative a citizen-initiated measure slated to appear on next year’s primary election ballot] you said [online] “replace or repeal … .” 

Yeah, um, look. It’s up to voters to vote on repealing the HCRI.

It hasn’t even passed yet, though.

It hasn’t even passed yet. And it’s a terrible piece of legislation. And it’s costing taxpayers money for enforcement. … 

So, back to how the Coast Guard works, right? There are 40,000 Coast Guardsmen, which is less than the NYPD. We have a huge area of responsibility, and we have the smallest military budget. So what we have to do is we have to kind of pick and choose our battles. …

So you have the Sheriff’s Office, which, they have to work on enforcement from all these out-of-compliance businesses. But when I say out-of-compliance businesses, I’m really talking about weed. We have a mom and pop [grocery] store that, you know, forgets to renew their seller’s license. We don’t have the police knock down the door, hold everybody hostage while they take all the milk and dump it all out, right? But we’re doing that to our weed growers. It’s bad optics, because any damage to the property done by the police is the responsibility of the property owners. Any pets or animals that they deem out of control … .

I think the vast majority of cannabis [enforcement] happens in the Planning and Building department. The Sheriff’s Office primarily handles illegal grows. Are you referring to legal or illegal cannabis?

Look, what becomes illegal? If somebody loses their license or they don’t renew it in time or they’re trying to pass their business down to their kid and we limit the number of licenses available, then they become illegal grows. And then you’re taking resources away from where the sheriff should be, which is helping to eliminate crime, helping do patrols and helping to be the Andy Griffith that they want to be.

But, again, I think the permitting issues are mostly handled by the Planning and Building Department, not the Sheriff’s Office.

But the supervisors put forward what laws are going to be — I mean, because they’re both executive and legislative branches of the county government. So, you know, if we can use our influence to say, “Let’s stay away from private property and maybe work on just all the problems that we have with crime,” we don’t have to worry about raising the police budget because that’s, like — there are two ways to fight crime, right? You can keep increasing the police budget over and over until we have tanks on the streets and drones in the sky, or you can take away some of the enforcement that they’re doing now, so that they can focus on things that they need to do.

What would you take away?

I would take away their enforcement of grows. Like 70 percent of all the grows in Humboldt County are permitted, they are in compliance with any rules that are coming or will come. 

Where’s that stat from?

That stat is from the HCRI website. [Note: We didn’t find it there.] So they’re telling us right on the site that, “Hey, most people are in compliance.” Like, you might have 30 percent that don’t have the proper road? Like, you have to have a Class Four road to have a valid permit? But is the county going to go out and repave all the roads to make them in compliance? Is the county going to spend the money? No, they’re asking the families to spend the money to build their own roads.

I think the argument for that is that cannabis farms … should be built where infrastructure already exists. 

Are the smaller grows going to be like — they’re not constantly bringing new weed to market. Some of these places, if they’re big enough, they’re gonna build their own road. But, you know, you have these grows up in the hills, these mom and pop grows that have very limited ways to even get things out. …That’s really who this is affecting most, is the small farmer.

So are you saying you would loosen the current regulations —

Yeah!

… to allow —

Yeah! We don’t need helicopters coming down. We don’t need the police driving $3,000 weed eaters into the road to knock on somebody’s door and pull up plants….

You wrote [in the comments section of] our site, “Repeal or heavily pull back on the disastrous HCRI.” But since it’s a citizens initiative, if it passes it can only be repealed or modified by the voters.

Yeah, get out and vote and repeal it.

You mean not pass it?

Yeah, not pass it. Thank you. Sorry. I was working on like two hours of sleep. I didn’t realize that as soon as I posted my 501 everybody was — my phone hasn’t even stopped going off with people … everybody has reached out but they’re like, “We do not want to Bohn in office. Whatever you do, just stop him.” 

You touched a little bit on homelessness. What would you do as a county supervisor to address that issue?

Well, first we have to get our finances under order. We have to figure out where we stand as a county. Is there a surplus? Is there a deficit? You know, we’ve already put forward votes in 2012 … Measure Q? Or, I can’t remember. The point-five —

Oh, Measure Z?

Measure Z, yes. We’ve already put that forward. We’ve already increased taxes. We don’t need to increase more taxes. We need to understand what we have — fundamentally understand where we’re at. … Then we can see what we could do. 

Cal Poly Humboldt said they’re shutting down their student housing. There was a big — they have to do … . you know, the “Cal Poly Homeless”? 

Yeah, they weren’t shutting down housing. They need more housing.

They do need more housing, but they have to build more and they don’t have enough. So they were originally going to put, they were originally going to put students on housing barges.

They did consider a barge.

Yeah, so doing some research, you can buy or you can get barges that hold 120 people with full kitchens, recreation rooms. We have the space on the bay for it. If we have homeless people, they need to be able to access help. They need to have access to resources in the county. So homeless people pile up in places [where] there are resources that they need to go to. And if we want them moved they’re going to have to have better transportation, which means helping buses.

So are you saying that you think a barge might be a place to house the homeless? 

It’s great for temporary housing. It can last for a while, but it’s not a permanent solution. In 2018 the supervisors passed the Housing Trust Fund and Homelessness Solutions Committee. And the study said that they needed like 200 to 600 low-income houses built … and we’ve built like six since then. What we have concentrated on is high-income and middle-income housing. … So we’re obviously caring more about the richest people in the county instead of the poorest people.

That’s driven largely by market forces, right?

Well, yeah, it’s certainly market forces, but our tax dollars are going in to help drive investment in those sections. We are completely ignoring the biggest problems, and I think it’s because some of the elected officials don’t believe in the potential of the unhoused.

“We are completely ignoring the biggest problems, and I think it’s because some of the elected officials don’t believe in the potential of the unhoused.”

So what would you do as a county supervisor to address that?

We need to invest in Section Eight housing. We need to invest in rent control … .

Section Eight, I think that’s a federal program.

It is a federal program but Yerba County —

Yuba?

Yuba County works together with federal, state and local jurisdictions and they all came together to try to help build housing. It’s called the 14Forward Program. It works if you get other agencies involved. So we need to get other agencies when we need to communicate because we’re all in this together. And it doesn’t just affect you know, the most rural parts of Humboldt County. It affects the cities of Eureka, Arcata, McKinleyville, Fortuna, Ferndale. Everybody has to deal with homelessness, and it’s impacting everybody. And we need to find solutions and we need to work together to get housing built fast, even if it’s just temporary housing. …

And the more agencies we can get working on this the faster we can turn this county around. Because what we’re doing is tantamount to gentrification. If we’re just investing in the most lucrative markets without taking care of the average citizens — one in five people in Humboldt County live at or below the poverty line. One in five! That’s people’s moms, it’s people’s grandmas. 

Turning to port development real quickly: [In your introductory statement posted to Facebook] it sounded like you are interested in making Humboldt more of a shipping destination.

No, we have cruise ships that are coming here. They’re coming to our docks that are completely empty. The people getting off the ships have to walk how far to shopping?

So would you look to develop more cruise ship traffic here?

I think that would be the best. I think people need to come here. I think the tourism industry would do really well here. I mean, we’ve already established that we’re going to have windmills off the coast. Can we build those with wave breaks? Can we make it easier for people to get into Humboldt County so we can get cruise ships in here? Because, you know, anything north of Cape Mendocino, you’re gonna get really choppy water. And you’re getting water that comes down from the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.

Oh, is choppy water preventing cruise ships from coming here?

It gets pretty choppy out there. I’ve served in the Coast Guard. It’s pretty rough. I’ve only gotten seasick in two places. One was off the coast of Florida during a hurricane, and here. So, yeah, it’s rough here. …

But we do need to look at the future of shipping, which is, like, wind powered or, um, more green ships, shipping coming in? And they’re not going to be able to carry the giant cargo and that the big ships can, but they’re going to be more carbon friendly. And if we could design ports for smaller, carbon-friendly vessels to bring goods directly into Humboldt then we don’t have to worry about tearing up Richardson Grove to get trucks in here.

But that’s a wish, and right now the biggest thing is the finance issues. 

Just one last question: You said health care could use more tax dollars. How would you accomplish that as a supervisor?

There was another county that did an investment in their not-for-profit health care agencies. So we have a few here, like Open Door Clinic. If we could invest so that we could have more services available to local residents? Because right now, I had to drive six hours to go to San Francisco for dental. That’s ridiculous.

We need investment in health care and we have an aging population. The supervisors are in charge of, like, raising hourly wages on a lot of different health care-related groups already. … We need to invest more into it, and we need to start paying health care workers a living wage.

###

When I interviewed Clatworthy again yesterday, he brought notecards, which he referred to periodically, and he reiterated his desire to help people, particularly by addressing the county’s affordable housing needs. We asked how he’d address that as supervisor.

Clatworthy: I guess the best way to go about doing it would be to follow some of the examples of some other counties that have had success utilizing certificates of participation [a type of financing that local governments sometimes use to acquire real property]. 

So if we use county assets as equity to build housing and we combine that equity with match funding grants …

Lost Coast Outpost: So the county would build its own housing to sell?

No, I think it should be county-owned. … Because when private firms build housing, they only have to use 30 percent of that to be low-income or medium-low-income housing, where if it was county owned, or it was managed by a new county organization, we would be able to keep it 100 percent rent-controlled, low income housing.

Would the county then act as property manager on those units?

Yeah. The county would have to hire its own people to run the county assets. … Some counties I’ve heard of had some success with [this approach]. … It happens all over the world. … It happens in counties across California. …

[Humboldt County] can work with the City of Eureka, the City of Arcata. We could put things in McKinleyville, Fortuna, Garberville, Ferndale, and it could be co-managed by the county or by the cities. But it has to be government-owned. That’s the only way that we can actually get 100 percent of the housing that we will be building to be rent controlled.

Going back to cannabis, I got the impression last time we talked that you want to change the current regulations.

I think we could probably go a little lax on some of them. But, you know, I have to talk more to some of the local farmers, and they’ve already been screwed over enough by the county that they don’t want to even talk to anybody running [for office].

[He transitioned to addressing phone and internet connectivity issues in Southern Humboldt.]

The best thing that [SoHum residents] could probably do is start their own cooperative, community-owned broadband network, and as a county supervisor I would do as much as I could to support that — you know, find grants and help with that, because it’s a mess down there. 

You said maybe go a bit lax on some of the [cannabis] regulations. Would you want to repeal parts of the existing regulations?

Right now, cost is one of the big factors for a lot of farmers. As I said before, one in five people in Humboldt County is living below the poverty line, and a good portion of those people live or work on those farms. And these are people that are struggling since legalization to choose between getting gas in their car or buying milk.

Isn’t that largely because of issues beyond Humboldt County, in the statewide marketplace?

It is statewide marketplace, but here’s the thing: [If the federal government changes cannabis’s status] from Schedule I to [a] Schedule III [substance], Humboldt County would be allowed to export all through the United States … and if we formed our own Humboldt County community co-op and all the permanent farms were allowed to sell under the Humboldt County brand, it would bring an influx of money, because Humboldt County is known worldwide.

But, again, any part of the current regulations that you would want to change?

Oh, I know they’re having issues with PG&E, and I know that there’s a limit to how many generators they can run. … I think we need to work with farmers to find out exactly the issues that they’re having. 

We talked last time about port development, and the initial statement that you posted to your Facebook page gave me the impression that you wanted to work on developing Humboldt Bay into more of a shipping port.

When people say shipping port, they normally think giant tankers coming in, like, loaded up with with all kinds of crazy ins and outs. No. … We have a cruise ship coming in later this week. What does the port there look like? Is it friendly to cruise ships? Like, we do Friday Night Markets here. Why not move the markets there when the cruise ships come in, so that people can come off, buy local, get kind of a taste of what Humboldt is like and not have to travel all over the place to, you know, like, let’s let’s be more welcoming.

Okay, so you weren’t talking necessarily about infrastructure development so much as hospitality.

Yeah, hospitality. Let’s go with hospitality.

Okay. Are there any specific votes that [Bohn] has made that you disagreed with or that you would have done differently?

Oh, I don’t want to get into his voting record. There are a lot of things Rex has done that I would disagree with.

Such as?

I’m not gonna get into that. 

Well, you’re running to replace him. Why don’t you want to talk about where you disagree with him?

Because — alright. Um, how do I put this in a very delicate way?

[He sat with his hands folded, index fingers pressed against his lips, for about 15 seconds.] 

I just believe he hasn’t done — I gotta be very careful.

Careful about what?

I think Rex has the best intentions for the community without the best focus on the community. I’ll leave it at that.

Okay. Do you have any examples?

Nope. 

Okay, um …

The investigation is ongoing. 

Oh, what’s the investigation?

Don’t worry about it.

“Don’t worry about it.”

Yeah. [He waved his arm as if swatting away a pesky fly.] I’m just, I think there are a lot of things that go on in the county that probably need some more oversight.

Such as?

I’m not gonna — no comment.

What are you doing here, man? I don’t understand what this is.

Like, I don’t want … . [Sigh.]

I assume you’re serious.

I am serious. I’m very serious.

And you want to run for this position. 

I do want to run for this position.

Why are you being so cagey?

Because there are things that are going on … that … there should probably be … . Give me a second. Let me think about this.

[He stood up and walked toward an office window. After a few seconds, he continued.]

There are things that I don’t want … . But, I’m looking into some things that are happening. 

You’re investigating.

I’m investigating some things. 

Okay …

And [long pause]. Okay. Alright. Lemme … . While I was collecting signatures, which I have gotten more than enough to get on the ballot … I’ve gotten a lot of support from people in the county that have told me things that … warrant … getting looked at.

Okay …

So I am doing a Freedom of Information [Act] request right now through the county site. I want to believe that everything is on the up and up, that things are being done with the best interests of the county … um, in mind. But, you’ve got to trust but you also have to verify. So I’m doing my own little verification. 

Some of the things I’ve heard … from people … are … pretty bad … maybe illegal. And … I don’t know …

Are these things to do with Rex?

Yeah, it’s things to do with … yeah, they, they’ve mentioned Supervisor Rex multiple times and given me multiple instances, uh, sent me articles, sent me news clippings, sent me emails from, from people that have specifically talked about things that he has done.

I’m just … I’m trying to look at this the way our readers are going to look at it, and this sounds like you’re making dark insinuations about possible illegal activity. That’s why —

I’m trying to, like … I don’t want to come out and [sigh] yeah. That’s why, that’s why I’m being cagey. Cuz I don’t want to come out and make insinuations about what the county has or hasn’t been doing correctly,

But you have.

But I guess I have. 

###

We went around in this circle for a bit longer. While Clatworthy granted that rumors and accusations can be blown out of proportion and insisted that he wants to give everybody the benefit of the doubt, he again alleged that there is “possible corruption going on.”

He’d shown up to our interview more than 20 minutes before our scheduled time, explaining that he may need to leave earlier than expected. As I pressed him for the specifics of his investigation, he pulled out his cell phone and tapped at it a couple times.

“Anyway,” he remarked, “like I said, I had another thing to do. I wish I could go [into] more detail. I will have more detail and I will reach out to you when things become more transparent.”

We later asked him if he would share what he’d asked for in his Public Records Act requests and he replied that he will, but only after they’ve been fulfilled. However, since such requests are themselves public record, we submitted our own PRA. Here’s a screenshot of Clatworthy’s requests, both of which were submitted early last week:

Before our second interview wrapped up, Clatworthy took one more lap around the rhetorical mud pit, saying he didn’t want to imply that anyone was corrupt until he could come forward with evidence to say, “‘Hey, right here, this is a sign of corruption’ or ‘This is a sign of money laundering’ or ‘embezzlement.’”

Money laundering? Embezzlement?

“Yeah,” he said. “All kinds of people have said things to me about this stuff, and I don’t  … I don’t feel like it’s appropriate … .”

I pointed out that he was, at present, bringing those insinuations up during an interview with a reporter. 

“Yeah, do with that … do with that what you will,” he said, “but, personally, I don’t have anything substantial to … to bring anything up with that. Alright? That’s it. That’s all I can say. Unfortunately, I do have to go.”

And he did.

Press release from the National Parks Service:

Redwood National and State Parks plans to conduct a series of prescribed burns this fall in the prairies and oak woodlands of the Bald Hills east of Orick, California.  The prescribed fire season in the parks begins in early October as weather conditions permit. 

This year fire will be used as a management tool in eight specific burn units in the Bald Hills: Eastside, Upper Dolason, Lower Dolason, Child’s Hill, Lower Elk Camp, Pigpen, Tick Prairie, and South Boundary.  The eight units combined are approximately 1,422 acres. 

For thousands of years, Yurok, Tolowa, Chilula, and Hupa people managed prairies, oak woodlands, and some coastal areas that are now within the parks with periodic fire to keep them cleared.  Intentional burning provided grazing and hunting areas for elk and deer, maintained important resources like tanoak trees and various basket weaving materials, kept trail and travel corridors open, and lessened the prevalence of parasites like ticks in the prairies.  Early European Americans who later ranched these same lands continued the practice of broadcast burning until it was outlawed by the state in the 1930s.  Since then, many of the prairies and oak woodlands have become encroached with Douglas fir and other conifers which can eventually eliminate these important plant communities. 

The park’s 2021 Fire Management Plan provides for the use of fire to restore natural and cultural processes, manage exotic plants and conifers encroaching into prairie and oak woodland plant communities, and to educate the public about the role of fire in the parks.  The parks have successfully used prescribed fires to achieve these objectives since the early 1980s. 

If you are in the parks over the next couple of months, there will likely be additional activity and equipment on and near Bald Hills Road.  Smoke may linger on the roadways and traffic control may be in place.  Please be cautious for your safety as well as the safety of the fire crews working on the prescribed burns. 

For further information, please contact Bryan Boatman at (707) 496-0258.