Vote This Way 

Editor:

Our county government is looking more and more like an episode of House of Cards. HumCPR has taken over the Board of Supervisors and the Planning Commission. The "Gang of Four" has a clear agenda to unravel the GPU and remake it to benefit private interests. This is not trivial; this is the future of what Humboldt County will look like. Will the General Plan represent the interests of the people, or the moneyed few who stand to make a fortune?

When Virginia Bass ran against Bonnie Neely in 2010, she promised to pass the GPU. Instead, she helped grind it to a halt so that the board could stack the Planning Commission with developers and overhaul the GPU to serve its interests. It is time to take back our Board of Supervisors and the first step is to elect Chris Kerrigan on June 3.

Todd Rowe, Eureka

Editor:

It bothers me that there is so much money going into local election campaigns in our small county which can barely afford its basic infrastructure and services. Most of it seems to be from those who stand to profit from buying, selling and developing land.

But it bothers me even more that this money seems to have succeeded in gaining a 4-1 majority on the Board of Supervisors and a 5-2 majority on the Planning Commission, which seem bent on altering the General Plan update to benefit land speculating under the banner of private property rights.

We need policies that respect private property rights and reduce unnecessarily complicated and redundant regulation, but not at the expense of the natural resources that our future generations of humans and wildlife will need.

And I think we need the balance of interests on the Board of Supervisors that Sharon Latour and Chris Kerrigan would bring.

Sam King, McKinleyville

Editor:

Humboldt County's next district attorney cannot prosecute their way to public safety. That takes an efficient manager of scarce resources, someone who cuts costs, spends wisely and so deals with more criminals.

We don't elect a sheriff who shoots the straightest, or is fastest running down criminals. We look for executive ability.

Eureka did not choose for chief of police the best arresting officer in the pack. They picked the best administrator of officers, who successfully developed administrative abilities elsewhere, someone with fresh ideas and a clear vision of how to lead the department.

Similarly, we need a district attorney with experience managing teams to get results so that no efforts are wasted learning to manage personnel to provide for public safety, one with the best ideas for moving the office forward. Elan Firpo is a seasoned prosecutor with the greatest, most relevant management success — the best choice for district attorney.

Michael Evenson, Petrolia