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Though he has big ideas for Del Norte County and District 5, Kevin Hendrick says he’s cautious about making promises he can’t keep.

It’s a lesson Hendrick says he has taken from his opponent, incumbent Bob Berkowitz, who is seeking a second term on the Board of Supervisors.

“When my opponent ran, he promised Last Chance Grade would be fixed in five years,” Hendrick told the Wild Rivers Outpost and KFUG Community Radio during an on-air interview Feb. 14. “I don’t know if people remember that, but they should. I don’t know if he thought it was true at the time, but it wasn’t. It was never possible. It was never a real thing. But it made people happy to hear it.”

Hendrick is coming to the District 5 race as the current chair of the Del Norte Democratic Central Committee. He was the director of the Del Norte Solid Waste Management Authority for about 20 years and is now a consultant managing grant programs in Washington State.

Hendrick said not only does he want to give back to a community that provided him with an excellent job, he thinks people deserve a choice when they head to the polls on March 3. He’s “providing an alternative to Bob.”

As he’s knocked on doors, though, Hendrick has realized that the district he wants to represent is as diverse as it is geographically large.

Starting at the Humboldt-Del Norte county line, District 5 includes Klamath, Klamath Glen and Requa in the south and the Bertsch Tract and Parkway Drive in the north. Last Chance Grade — the slide-prone area of U.S. 101 south of Crescent City — is in District 5 as is Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park and the Crescent City Harbor.

Elections are about listening, hearing what people say and not over promising, Hendrick told the Outpost and KFUG. But, he said, some residents in the district he hopes to represent, particularly in Klamath, feel underserved.

“I made a point of meeting with the president of the Klamath Chamber of Commerce. I learned a lot from him, including the fact that the Klamath Chamber of Commerce is fairly small, fairly low funded,” Hendrick said. “He would love to see, and I think it would be appropriate to see, more collaboration between the Crescent City-Del Norte Chamber of Commerce.”

The Crescent City-Del Norte County Chamber of Commerce has a large budget and a massive outreach program, Hendrick said.

Hendrick drew a comparison with some residents in Klamath feeling left out of the conversation at the county level with what he learned as chairman of the Keep It California campaign that helped defeat the State of Jefferson movement in 2014.

The State of Jefferson movement came about because many Del Norte County residents felt alienated from population centers in Sacramento and Southern California. Hendrick said since defeating the effort to form a new state comprised of California’s northernmost counties, he’s reached out to urban legislators to clue them in about rural issues.

“The Jeffersons were saying, ‘Those people in LA hate us,’ and I said, ‘Honestly, they don’t even think about we’re here,’” Hendrick said. “You can’t blame people for not knowing if you’re not willing to step up and say, ‘Here are our issues,’… but say, ‘here are the solutions I’d suggest and can we work on that?’ It’s the same with Klamath.”

Collaboration between the Klamath and Del Norte chambers of commerce is just one of Hendrick’s priorities when it comes to the southernmost community in the county. Reliable high speed Internet is another.

“If you have a business how could you operate without the Internet?” Hendrick asked. “I can only think of a couple days when Internet hasn’t been on (in Crescent City), but in Klamath, it’s way more spotty.”

Though he says he’s been careful about making promises he can’t keep, Hendrick said he’s learned from Klamath residents that programs ranging from senior services to recreation aren’t as well-funded as in the northern part of District 5.

“I’m running for the Board of Supervisors, so I focus on what supervisors can do,” he said. “One of those things is I think the county can work well with the tribes, not only in Klamath with the Yurok Tribe, but also earlier this week, I had a meeting with the Elk Valley Rancheria. The opportunities are there to collaborate.”

Hendrick noted that the local tribes in his district, which also include the Resighini Rancheria, have access to funding Del Norte County doesn’t have, and vice versa.

As he’s exploring the district he hopes to represent, Hendrick said there seems to be a general feeling that political conversations have disrupted progress on the Board of Supervisors. These are conversations that don’t provide improvements or services to Del Norte residents, he said.

Hendrick said he’s put together a list of issues he thinks should be priorities and, so far, he’s gotten positive feedback. One issue, he said, is affordable housing and homelessness.

One solution to the affordable housing crisis, Hendrick said, could be making it easier for property owners to build auxiliary housing units, or “granny flats.” These backyard cottages could tap into an existing water and sewer system serving a larger house.

Hendrick noted that California is researching new laws that would relax the burden to property owners to manage those units. Some communities have even settled on architectural plans that are pre-approved to streamline the permitting process.

“You’re not coming to the planning counter with something that’s not defined,” Hendrick said. “Let’s just say for example, you have three pre-approved plans (and you) want to build plan A. They’d know what it looks like — the plumbing, electricity, the whole design is set up. They could stamp it and move on.”

Living simply is a practical option for those who are low income, youth who need housing and seniors, Hendrick said. To this end, he suggested looking at the progress a home share program that pairs up younger seniors with older seniors the Area 1 Agency on Aging is piloting in Humboldt County.

This program helps homeowners in their 70s or 80s screen potential tenants who can provide help to the elder senior while having a place to live, Hendrick said.

“I think there’s no reason that type of program couldn’t work across the board,” he said. “There’s no reason why a 20-something couldn’t live with a 40-something — it’s not age-specific.”

When it comes to homelessness, Hendrick said he supports the housing first model — finding shelter for those in need and helping them tap into services such as mental health and substance abuse disorder treatment. Once that individual is stabilized, these programs would transition them into long-term housing, Hendrick said.

Hendrick said he supported efforts of True North Organizing Network to see if a tiny house village short-term housing model would work in Del Norte County. He also supports Del Norte Mission Possible’s efforts to transition Our Daily Bread from an emergency shelter open during inclement weather to a 24-hour rescue mission.

“You need to have an emergency shelter just to help people survive,” Hendrick said.

Another priority Hendrick wants to address as a county supervisor is affordable quality health care. He noted that Del Norte County is fortunate to have Sutter Coast Hospital because other rural communities don’t have healthcare centers or ambulance services. Improved medical transportation is necessary, he said, especially for those in Klamath.

“If you need mental health services in Klamath, you have to come to Crescent City,” Hendrick said, noting that the same is true for grocery shopping in that community.

“People do not have access to good food and then transportation becomes the solution — helping people in Klamath get to Crescent City for mental health services; helping people in general in the county get to specialists and back.”
Hendrick said it’s important for county staff to aggressively pursue state and federal dollars at every level.

For those state and federal dollars to continue to benefit Del Norte’s economy, however, Hendrick said local agencies should hire local contractors whenever possible. Those folks live in Del Norte, pay local taxes and buy locally, he said.

Hendrick also advocates for a living wage, stating that if everyone was paid a $15 minimum wage, though individual businesses would be impacted, everyone would benefit.

“If you’re a restaurant there would be more people that would afford to go out to eat,” Hendrick said. “That’s the investment in the community that raises the economy. Instead of constantly trying to cut back and saving pennies where we can, (we) raise everybody up if we just start approaching it that way.”

Hendrick noted that his campaign has been endorsed by several local labor unions who represent hundreds of workers. His largest donations include $1,500 from the Building & Construction Trades Council of Humboldt and Del Norte counties and another $1,500 from the Central Labor Council of Humboldt and Del Norte counties, according to campaign finance reports filed as of Jan. 18, 2020.

The Del Norte County Democratic Central Committee donated $500 to Hendrick’s campaign and State Sen. Mike McGuire contributed $200.

In addition to using $200 of his own money, which he listed as a campaign loan, Hendrick’s campaign took in a total of $12,075 between Nov. 12, 2019 and Jan. 18, 2020. This includes $1,405 in non-monetary donations.

In contrast, Berkowitz received $2,444 in monetary contributions between Sept. 12, 2019 and Jan. 18, 2020. Berkowitz loaned $4,000 of his own money to his campaign, according to his report.
Candidates are required to turn their campaign finance reports by Feb. 20 for the March 3 primary.

Hendrick noted that in addition to McGuire, Congressman Jared Huffman is also endorsing him. Both lawmakers, Hendrick said, along with Jim Wood, Del Norte County’s representative in the state assembly, are able to work with people on both sides of the political spectrum. The District 5 supervisor candidate said that will be the case for him too.

“Mike McGuire works really hard to work with Republican senators because other rural areas have Republican senators,” Hendrick said. “We live in a mixed county-district. We need to all work together. I can work with Democrats (and) Republicans.”

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