John Chiv: Looks like Rexy has at least one challenger

Aug 30, 2023

Looks like Rexy has at least one challenger

Form

Looks like First District Supervisor Rex Bohn has a local filmmaker running against him. I followed up with elections about Rex and Gordon Clatworthy's 501 forms. Unlike Rex's Form 501 copy, the potential opponent's formhas one with initials. Rexy's treasurer is John Fullerton, just as I mentioned in my post last week about Rex soliciting donations without filing the appropriate form. Rex's form was filed in record time today. Will be interesting to know when although it is obvious it was a last minute rush filing.

I checked with Humboldt Elections Administrative Analyst Christina Strevey, "We will be posting the redacted version of Rex Bohn’s 501 on our website. Until then, I can confirm that he filed a 501 Candidate Intention Statement with our office. That particular form does not note what time the candidate come in, but it was mid afternoon."

"Gordon Clatworthy also came into our office yesterday morning asking questions about the candidate process and filed a 501 with our office. That form in redacted version will also be uploaded to our website for viewing. He has filed no other paperwork with our office."

On his personal Facebook page, Clatworthy has two posts about his positions.

Text of Clatworthy's post:

TLDR: Clean roads, clean streets, clean energy, less gentrification, more representation and be kind to each other.

For those wondering, I have filed a 501 statement to run for 1st district supervisor against Rex Bohn.

I just want to talk about the problems and solutions.

As people suffer some of the worst inflation it begins to hit the lower and middle classes hardest. Many people are suffering in this county, people able to be in compliance with grows are found needing to build roads in places the county couldn't and this is going to cause livelihoods that are already stretched thin to quickly be at odds with law enforcement if compliance doesn't happen. For a supervisor that has almost 13.1M sq ft of permitted grows in his district this seems odd as the county doesn't want to give exemptions or draw back the HCRI- A plan that changes fundamentally the general plan of Humboldt County instead pushing forward with limiting licenses so that eventually only the wealthy few can be allowed to grow here. I stand with the Humboldt County Growers Alliance in saying that the HCRI is terrible for the established growers that are here now, that are our neighbors, that are our family, and that are members of the community that bring tax money to our county that helps provide the roads we drive on and the building of much needed housing.

This is also exasperating the homelessness crisis of which there are as of 2022 1,309 unsheltered people including Veterans like myself, Students, and people with addiction and mental health needs. By the census there are also almost 1 in 5 people in Humboldt county living below the poverty line. Those people aren't getting heard with the current supervisor. Most of the issues we face can treated with the building of low income housing, something that The Humboldt County Housing Trust Fund and Homelessness Committee have made clear in multiple studies and of the buildings the county has put forward funds toward less than 5% of the needed low income housing has been allocated to be built, and even that is threatened with initiatives masqueraded as housing, one can blame it on being a problem for Eureka voters but the number of housing units that could be built won't be enough to help even half of the population that needs it. It shouldn't be decided by voters in more and more contested areas, we need housing now! It is an emergency and it is being ignored. I will do whatever it takes to help solve this crisis that will only get worse as people come here to take refuge from climate change.

When people are able to get homes they should be allowed to use their home as they see fit, using the power of the county supervisor position to limit the people who may be able to scrape by and begin setting up limited rentals, people including teachers and people housing parents of students that come for a week to see their child graduate or help them move during a time when most hotels are crowded or being used to house those who have lost their homes in fires. The people have a right to use their own homes without requiring paying the county for licensing their home as a business. We don't require month to month renters to do so, and if it is such a problem in one neighborhood they should just start an HOA, the government doesn't need to micromanage every aspect of people's lives. Research shows that Air BnB and other short term rental agencies are dwindling, people are choosing to use other ways to stay in an area. We don't need to litigate people's rights to property.

That brings me to wind. There is an energy company attempting to build windmills offshore, this is better than when they tried to build on sacred grounds. Wind and other renewable energy sources are a big part of fixing the damage caused by climate change, according to a recent study sulfur rich fuel used by very large shipping vessels have been helping negate some effects of the climate change by seeding clouds over the ocean and reflecting back the sun's rays. Renewable energy is great! It's wonderful that California requires all new buildings to have at least some solar installed. However, driving down the price of renewables is what happens when there's parts of the day that get more power than others. What Humboldt County needs is a power storage plant that can sell energy back during peak times when solar and wind aren't producing. That's the best way forward without compromising our bay.

As our bay needs so much work, shipping from overseas costs the same as shipping something just one mile by truck. When San Francisco and Los Angeles had so many boats backed up trying to deliver cargo premiums were getting paid, money this county couldn't receive due to our own dilapidated docks and inability to attract shipping. Our bay is the jewel of our county but it is being treated like the eyesore it is. Let's work together to make it work for us, it can create jobs, bring cheaper prices for goods, and revitalize our economy! (plus who wouldn't want to sell some weed from a boat in LA? Why can't we make that happen?)

I know technology is advancing, yet somehow we still have people in the county using paper time sheets? We definitely need to find ways to make the Auditor-Controller's Office work more efficiently as a supervisor should but no one seemed to step up when the county lost more than 2.3 million dollars during an audit. Say what you will but we needed supervisors to come in and help work together to solve this issue. Healthcare is another underdeveloped area that could use tax dollars to help beef up the nonprofit sector and get help for the people who love here so they don't have to drive hours for a basic checkup or wait in overcrowded urgent care or emergency rooms.

This brings me to Rex, it seems like everyday there's some more news about some embarrassing thing he's done or said, some apology about disparaging remarks made toward members of our community. As a comedian myself I know the importance of punching up, not down. As a supervisor you need to understand that how you act towards others reflects on how people see their government working for them. Public service is a public trust and that is something I don't believe he feels when he interacts with the public, so I fear how he must act when he is outside the purview of the Humboldt County voter.

Now I want to say that though you may not agree with me on every issue, if you show me a study that would refute my findings I will keep an open mind. I can change my mind, I can work as a team. I was a logistics officer in the Coast Guard, I've had training with both leadership and management, and I've lived by the motto that public service is a public trust and that we should elect fair people that we can believe in. In the coming months I am going to reach out more to others in the district who may need help and want to talk to someone who will listen. My E-mail address is clatworthy.gordon@gmail.com please reach out if you feel that you need to, I will try and post responses here as I can.

Thank you for taking the time to read over this,

-Gordon Clatworthy running for 1st district supervisor, Humboldt County California

Once again, I have included deadlines for the 2024 election.

The Statewide Direct Primary Election will be held on March 5, 2024. The 2024 California elections will take place on November 5, 2024. .

Regular candidate filing period for all candidates is November 13 – December 8, 2023.

Judicial Declaration of Intention period is October 30 – November 8, 2023.

Signature in Lieu of Filing Fee period is September 14 – November 8, 2023.

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2023/08/rex-encouraged-people-to-donate-to-his.html?m=1