Editor,
I attended the Humboldt County Planning Commission meeting on the Housing Element Thursday evening, March 13, and it was a real eye opener to what happens when private agendas drive a public process. The Humboldt Association of Realtors, for instance, has the willing ear of the majority of the commissioners and is urging ordinances that would allow second units as a right on all parcels in the unincorporated areas without the need to notify neighboring parcels and with reduced permit requirements.
HAR also recommends doing away with provisions that protect the rights of residents of mobile home parks and elimination of solar shading provisions. In the absence of public participation, the special interests of realtors and builders are becoming an adjunct of the commission itself.
As they did with the GPU, the commission wandered all over the map in discussing Housing Opportunity Zones and pushed for turning the entire county into an HOZ. Twice, county counsel advised them that what they were proposing would violate the law and open the county to legal action but Chair Robert Morris and Commissioner Lee Ulansey ignored her and seemed to feel they knew better. It seems unlikely that this commission will be able to complete the Housing Element any more than they were able to do the job requested of them on the GPU.
Anyone concerned about the future of housing in the county should be watching these meetings or, even better, showing up in person to see for themselves what happens when private agenda missionaries take over a legislative body.
Mary Ella Anderson, Arcata
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The GPU
This article appears in Renewal.
“…for instance, has the willing ear of the majority of the commissioners and is urging ordinances that would allow second units as a right on all parcels in the unincorporated areas without the need to notify neighboring parcels and with reduced permit requirements.”
Oh, this is horrible! A homeowner shouldn’t be allowed to build a mother-in-law unit without a PUBLIC HEARING of all the neighborhood.
Mary, your bias is so transparent as to be a joke. Of course CAR as a special interest group will lobby for what benefits homeowners, that’s where their bread and butter comes. You don’t think Baykeeper or EPIC is lobbying for their bread and butter salaries? Get a clue! We don’t need phony social war being pushed by Prog community war-mongers writing hit pieces, letters and blog comments when we all need to be working together for a better Humboldt County community. All of it, no one left out, no one branded and targeted for political attack and personal smears as this rag so often engages in to divide the County into warring camps. It sells papers as Yellow Journalists discovered in the 1800’s but it’s chicken-shiite bad news for our community in 2014.
Dear Stephen, the consensus you claim to be anxious to build won’t get built by bullying others into not voicing their opinions. Mary Ella Anderson expressed her concerns but advocated only for public participation in the processes of public agencies and committees and commissions. She didn’t call anyone or their ideas chicken shit, or shiite, which is what? ‘cleverly’ disguised anti-islamic petty-hate speech?
Yes, these folks (Humboldt Association of Realtors and large builders and developers) get paid to attend these meetings. It is their job. The rest of us ordinary citizens have to give up time and energy to attend and voice our opinion. As soon as we are not there, the special interests take over. Apparently our elected officials have no control over this committee. Or maybe those new appointments by the new board members are doing the job they were appointed for…to keep special interests in control. It is a crime or should be.
Monte, it wasn’t me mounting a needless smear of CAR by Ms. Anderson whose trying to say a homeowner can’t build a mother-in-law unit without a public hearing which is totally absurd and constitutes Bullying, intimidation by mob rule. That’s what you Proggies specialize at GPU meetings, any meetings where Proggies use bullying through intimidation by mob rule. Our Planning Dept. job is to oversee such homeowner issues which CAR only reinforces while you politicos seeking any little thing you can turn into a weapon against regular Humboldt County people who don’t live in Arcata or SoHum and aren’t members of the Yuppie elites living off the HSU dole and pot trying their best to keep working class Humboldt County people economically oppressed.
at least some of you’ll are willing to openly bicker.down here in corrupt, punk Texas the people are afraid, step out of line the man comes and takes you away. miss all the fun of a good group talk it out. see you’ll for Halloween. keep up the good work. peace and plesent dreams.
Hi Stephen,
I don’t know if you realize how you come across in these posts….but your tone definitely does not convey that of someone who is interested in “working together for a better Humboldt County community. All of it, no one left out, no one branded and targeted for political attack and personal smears….etc.”. Instead it sounds like somebody who is at war and has clearly decided who is us and who is them. I realize that you are probably frustrated with this process, as are many other people. But the inflammatory communication style may not be furthering your cause.
The fact that the, “county counsel advised them, (the realty association,) that what they were proposing would violate the law and open the county to legal action…” does not seem to carry much weight in this conversation. Why is that? Are we not law abiding citizens?
Margaret, wanna go for more smearing of anyone who speaks up against Progressive bullying using mob rule at important County meetings to try to get things their way? Which invariably now means job losses for Humboldt County workers and political economic attack of any economic development in Humboldt County that isn’t Yuppie corporations and non-profits benefiting a rather small minority elite who’s incomes (not students) are quite a bit higher than the working class people Progs try to stop from being able to earn a living here or live here. No housing for middle-class because workers can’t afford it in Humboldt’s stagnate working class economy, inadequate housing for low-income people who Proggies want to stuff into tiny boxes for “homes”. Meanwhile, the Proggie Elite, using pot economy and HSU student body tit sucking, does great.
You just want everyone to lay down and keep quiet who disagrees with Proggies who don’t care about Humboldt County as a whole community. You may take my personal opinions about this anyway you want but I’m not about to shut up because you don’t like the “tone” of criticism. Tough. You do bad community work, you get criticized for it. Progressive community war-mongering is bad community work and we don’t need it in Humboldt County. We need people with vision who care about the WHOLE COMMUNITY. Not political war parties promoting mob rule at general County meetings when they don’t get their way. Your political “enemies” don’t engage in public attack on people they don’t like. You people do because you don’t care about others who don’t share your particular politics. You can smear my name all over the place, enviros and Proggies have tried to do this for 2 decades and here I am, more influential in Humboldt County than ever before so actually, thanks, Proggies, keep those smear jobs coming. I might just make CEO of Humboldt County’s biggest economic and land use project ever in even shorter time..:)
Speaking of which, you all notice that Judy Hodgson is running from doing a report on our Heartlands Lifeline Inter-Tribal Lottery Project, something she’s done now for years, her playing petty god with community news. It stinks and I report the stench of political manipulation of community information that makes community decision-making all that much more difficult when the public isn’t given information because some people don’t want them to know. I will always speak up against such tyranny over community relationships put at risk by political manipulation of community news. My God, just look at the newsmagazines and blogs in Humboldt County to see that a political attack mentality dominates Progressives whose political careers rise and fall in Progressive circles depending on their loyalty to fanatical political war against “enemies” created by lack of empathy for regular folks, the majority in any community.
Heartlands Lifeline Inter-Tribal Lottery Project with four tribes now becoming involved: Bear River, Oglala Lakota, waiting for the completed business plan, Table Bluff Wiyots and Seminole Tribe of Florida opening up dialogue. Our Project was restarted over a year ago and none of you NCJ readers know anything about this amazing inter-tribal economic development project that will save human lives. Judy doesn’t want you to know. Think about it. About how your Humboldt community news is being handled and processed for your consumption just like Fox News does for American TV audiences..