The following is a letter to the editor submitted by Mendocino County District 3 Supervisor John Haschak, published here as a column, in which he updates his constituents. We encourage the other supervisors to submit letters — we will happily publish them. You can see Haschak’s previous letters to his constituents here. The opinions expressed in this letter are the author’s, not those of The Mendocino Voice.
There is so much going on this summer such as Frontier Days, the Sherwood Valley Big Time, and Art Walks. Laytonville just celebrated the opening of a playground in Harwood Park. It was great to see people walking the closed-off streets of Willits for Hometown Celebration. There was a real sense of community, commerce, music and performances, informational booths, face painting, and good vibes in abundance. Much gratitude to those who made it all happen. In August, not to be missed fun will be had at the Blackberry Festival in Covelo.
The Board took steps to reduce the barriers in housing. Inclusionary housing (requiring a minimum of 25% low income housing in new housing developments) has stifled housing development in Mendocino County. If the County can align more with the State’s 10% requirement, developers might be able to create much needed housing stock.
The Board of Supervisors put $2 million dollars of the PG&E settlement funds into a carbon reduction fund. $500,000 has been spent on grant matches for electric vehicle charging stations and solar panels. I have been working with Supervisor Gjerde and Janelle Rau, Director of General Services, to come up with a plan to convert the County’s fleet of cars to electric vehicles and improve energy efficiency in County buildings. The plan will be presented to the Board on July 25. We are doing as much as possible with limited funds.
The Economic Development Standing Committee met for the first time. It is composed of Supervisor McGourty and myself. I will be the Chair. Our goal is to bring industry leaders, city representatives, Chambers of Commerce, housing advocates, environmental, educational and labor leaders together to explore opportunities and challenges to create a more vibrant, diversified economy in our County. We had a presentation on workforce trends in the County. It is clear that we have a need for better alignment of the current workforce with local job openings. We also need to attract and retain skilled talent and investments into Mendocino County.
Please stay fire safe as the dry, hot days of summer are here. My monthly table talk is on Thursday, July 13, at 10:00 at the Brickhouse Coffee in Willits. I am available at [email protected] or 707-972-4214.
John
