Vote for Brian Roberts

From Brian Roberts/Feb. 24, 2024, 9:38 a.m.

Vote for Brian Roberts. A retired business owner.  Honesty, fairness, fiscal responsibility and no conflicts of interest while working for you.  Brian Roberts is the right choice for District 2

I am a college graduate with a degree in Political Science from the University of California Santa Barbara.  I owned several retail shops, manufactured clothes and sold them to over 1,500 stores.  I brought 400 companies together for a trade show that had 25,000 attendees in two days at the Los Angeles convention center in 2009.

I came to Humboldt County to retire in the greatest place on

earth.  My dream has temporarily been shattered.  The beauty is still here but the mystic vibe of the redwoods and culture has taken a beating over the past decade.  One thing has contributed to the downfall of our town.  Government overreach in the form of abatements.  Harassment from the planning department on pre-existing cultivation sites.  The cannabis legalization boom hasn’t hit our hometown like it should have.  Instead we are looking at the devastation of a once thriving small town.

 

We need leadership who can steer the ship in a new direction.  A direction that streamlines government departments.  Humboldt County needs to run more efficiently when it comes to services provided.  We can start with the planning department.  The senior supervisor charges $250 per hour.  That is unacceptable from a Government agency providing a needed service.  $250 per hour equates to a salary of $384,000 per year.  My cultivation permit took six years to complete.  I had set up an international company in 2003, I learned to read Dutch and sign international contracts prior to selling the company five years later in 2008.  How did the planning department fail to process an application in a timely manner?  Think about it.  It took them longer than the entire Presidential term of #45.  That is literally insane.

 

We need a strong leader who will stand up for District 2 and fight for more resources down south.  District 2 has 67% of all cannabis permits and the county took in $52 million in measure S taxes.  A strong leader will demand a % of that tax revenue be spent back in the district it came from in the form of improved roads, fire protection and schools.

 

The county is in need of balancing a budget deficit of $12 million.  There are two ways to approach this situation.  First reduce cost by reorganizing, modernizing, reducing staff while retaining critical public services.  

 

The second is to increase revenue.  Revenue can be increased by taxes.  I do not support raising any taxes at all.  No new taxes.  Let’s increase our job opportunities.  When the stores are filled and the people are out shopping the county collects taxes on every purchase.

 

Tourism is huge.  HC Visitors Bureau needs to be completely revamped and up to speed with the modern times.  Marketing is done on the internet these days at a cost of much less to reach millions of people internationally.  The HCVB could focus on events promoting Humbolt counties culture.  Food festivals, craft fairs, farmers markets and more.  The action the Board took in Dec is unacceptable.  They decided to come back to the issue in six months.  That cost us taxpayers over $100,000 in salary and rent while they wait to see what happens in June of 2024. 

 

The homeless issue always comes up.  We talk about those drug addicts destroying the environment and causing a nuisance in town yet we provide no solution.

 

Did we forget about those hard working folks who struggle everyday to pay for groceries, heating and rent.  The folks who are a blown transmission away from missing rent for a month or worse not eating that month.  There are too many people living paycheck to paycheck that may end up living in their car, rv or van.  Humboldt County has land.  The County needs to provide a safe place to park at night where there is a proper hot shower working at all times.  A community kitchen available for use to reduce the risk of forest fires from an encampment.

 

The future mandates from the State of California will affect all of us.  The Climate Action Plan has each county becoming zero emissions by 2045.  That means going fully electric to an area that already lacks electricity.  Gasoline powered cars are not going to be sold in California starting in 2030.  

 

AT&T wants to pull out all their landlines in Humboldt County.  How will our rural towns keep a post office without a landline to do business? 

Insurance companies are leaving homeowners without fire, flood or earthquake insurance.  If a homeowner can get insurance it’s not even affordable. District 2 unfortunately had the distinct honor of having two towns in the top ten for foreclosures in California. 

Our next Supervisor needs to be keen on these mandates and have a plan to deal with Sacramento. Our next Supervisor for District 2 should be Brian Roberts.