Gordon Clatworthy
About myself
As this may be people’s first time reading anything about me, my name is Gordon Clatworthy, and I am running for the first district supervisor position. I have visited this county several times, staying at campgrounds with friends as far back as 1996. When I had the opportunity to move here while being stationed in the Coast Guard I jumped at the chance, having Humboldt County be my number one choice for my station and enjoying working at the Air Station, the Small Boat station, and working on the 87’ cutters at Woodley Island and Crescent City.
I enjoy the fresh food, from the wonderful grass-fed steak and the many talented farmers that work here to make farm to table an option for the people of Humboldt County and that provide resources for some of the most award-winning food, cheeses, and beer I’ve ever had the opportunity to enjoy! Growing up in 4-H I know the work it takes for farmers to do the magic they do.
One of the reasons it took so long to fully move here is due to the lack of housing I noticed all the way back in 2007 when I finally got stationed here and only had about 10 days to find a place to live. It took 3 weeks. When I was finally able to purchase my first home in 2014 the only option that was available and affordable was one that had been abandoned and required a lot of work to make it habitable.
Having friends in the area fall into homelessness due to the housing shortage, and finally fall out of contact worried me to no end. Seeing how difficult it was for me to get adequate healthcare when I battled cancer, having to drive down to San Francisco just to be seen by someone when there was no local option cemented my desire to make sure these problems didn’t go unfixed.
My solutions to the Issues of housing include building rent controlled low income housing built with county equity in the form of Certificates of Participation and using match grant housing funds from state and federal programs to begin to create affordable options for the people of Humboldt County.
Healthcare is of vital importance to the county, with limited resources and overworked and underpaid staffing and more than 50% of county finances going toward healthcare costs we need to find solutions. One of the main costs comes from unhoused persons. Things that my housing solutions would begin to fix allowing for savings that can be reinvested into local non-profit organizations that provide healthcare for our communities.
Farming poses it’s own challenges with regulations preventing everything from the sale of raw milk, to rangeland being converted to both timber production or replaced with poorer farmland that requires more energy and costs for transportation, fertilization, and irrigation. Not to mention the legalization of cannabis and the regulations making it harder for farmers to convert harvests into more profitable products.
The Platform
Real Housing Solutions
My goal is to house the homeless; create short-term housing and long-term housing for low income and medium income families; things that have been ignored for over 12 years!
Support Our Farmers and Businesses
The 1st District has over 13 million sq ft of permitted grows, but the people who run them are forced to pay for things the County hasn't. Increased restrictions and threats of law enforcement have pushed families too far and threaten to collapse an industry on the brink.
Show That Love Wins
Discrimination and hate has no place in government. I support all members of my community, and will do my best to keep Humboldt a place we can all have pride in.
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