100% Humboldt

#42. Virginia Bass's Odyssey: From Humboldt Politics to Heartfelt Legacies and Local Delights

May 11, 2024 scott hammond
#42. Virginia Bass's Odyssey: From Humboldt Politics to Heartfelt Legacies and Local Delights
100% Humboldt
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100% Humboldt
#42. Virginia Bass's Odyssey: From Humboldt Politics to Heartfelt Legacies and Local Delights
May 11, 2024
scott hammond

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Have you ever wondered what it's like to transition from the world of shaping a community through politics to savoring its delights as a private citizen? Virginia Bass joins us to share her intimate journey from the chambers of public office back to the heart of Humboldt County's cherished local haunts. Listen as we unravel stories of Virginia's father, OH Bass, and his indelible mark on the local restaurant scene, revealing a tapestry of personal history and culinary legacy that has flavored our community since the 1950s.

Picture this: a small-town airport where planes would delay takeoff for latecomers and celebrities mix with the locals. Our episode takes off with a trove of tales from Humboldt County's airport, painting a portrait of the past where punctuality and kindness ruled the runway. Join us for a flight of anecdotes that capture the shared laughter, occasional TSA scares, and the genuine connections that emerge amidst the comings and goings of our unique transport hub. It's a reminder that when it comes to community spirit, we're all on the same journey.

But that's not all—tune in as Virginia and I chew over the current state of Humboldt County politics, affordable housing, and the challenges of keeping friendships afloat amidst political differences. Cap off the conversation with a quiz on the best local eats and a heartfelt discussion on the legacies we hope to leave behind. Stick with us for an episode that's as rich and satisfying as the food scene we celebrate, underscored by a commitment to bring you tales that resonate with the soul of Humboldt County.

Find us on Facebook at 100% Humboldt.

Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

Send us a Text Message.

Have you ever wondered what it's like to transition from the world of shaping a community through politics to savoring its delights as a private citizen? Virginia Bass joins us to share her intimate journey from the chambers of public office back to the heart of Humboldt County's cherished local haunts. Listen as we unravel stories of Virginia's father, OH Bass, and his indelible mark on the local restaurant scene, revealing a tapestry of personal history and culinary legacy that has flavored our community since the 1950s.

Picture this: a small-town airport where planes would delay takeoff for latecomers and celebrities mix with the locals. Our episode takes off with a trove of tales from Humboldt County's airport, painting a portrait of the past where punctuality and kindness ruled the runway. Join us for a flight of anecdotes that capture the shared laughter, occasional TSA scares, and the genuine connections that emerge amidst the comings and goings of our unique transport hub. It's a reminder that when it comes to community spirit, we're all on the same journey.

But that's not all—tune in as Virginia and I chew over the current state of Humboldt County politics, affordable housing, and the challenges of keeping friendships afloat amidst political differences. Cap off the conversation with a quiz on the best local eats and a heartfelt discussion on the legacies we hope to leave behind. Stick with us for an episode that's as rich and satisfying as the food scene we celebrate, underscored by a commitment to bring you tales that resonate with the soul of Humboldt County.

Find us on Facebook at 100% Humboldt.

Speaker 1:

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to 100% Humboldt Podcast with my new best friend, virginia Bass. Hi Virginia.

Speaker 2:

Hi, how are you? It's nice to be here.

Speaker 1:

It's nice to be here, yeah, with our main man, Nick. I was going to call him my protege, I'm his protege. I see he has two million podcasts to my. You'll be number 42 or something.

Speaker 2:

Wow, he's my hero.

Speaker 1:

You know I was going to say this is the first thing I've done public since I left office, Right, I mean, this is kind of like public you know it's kind of public.

Speaker 2:

How long has it been since you left office? I don't know if the days counted, but it's like a little over a year and a quarter. Okay.

Speaker 1:

Do you miss it?

Speaker 2:

I do. I miss parts of it. I miss the people. I have to admit I don't miss some of the crazy times in drama. I mean I do, but I don't, and they're going through some rough times right now and it's a lot of hard work, but they've got some fun things happening too. I think I miss the fun, the excitement of new things happening.

Speaker 1:

Right, you can observe them from somewhere else now, yeah, pretty much I have not watched from somewhere else now?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, pretty much. I have not watched a board meeting either.

Speaker 1:

Oh, really Okay.

Speaker 2:

I won't let myself.

Speaker 1:

So your political career? You were city council and then mayor and then supervisor board of supervisor. How many terms in each.

Speaker 2:

I did six years as city council, four years as mayor, so one term as a mayor and then had the opportunity to run for supervisor and did three there. And you know people say why did you stop? And there's a couple different things. I think sometimes political people stay too long. You know, it's like the milk in the back of your refrigerator that kind of goes bad after a while. And so you know I wanted to be able to choose the time I left, and my mother had recently passed away back then too, so there's a lot on my plate. Would I do the same thing now? I don't know, but it's been an interesting reentry type experience.

Speaker 1:

I guess Right, so back into non-public life Non-public, I know. Although this is kind of public. So tell us the Virginia Bass story. How did you get here? I know you are 100% humble.

Speaker 2:

I am.

Speaker 1:

Went to Eureka High and born in Eureka.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I actually grew up in Myrtle Town. Okay, so not too far from where we are today, right town, so not too far from where we are today. Did you go to Worthington school? No, I went to Lafayette. Oh hey, you know, it's funny. The kids just a few houses down, you know, went to Worthington. I had no idea who they were until we all went to junior high. It's like that's a strange way they have things, it's not?

Speaker 1:

that far away.

Speaker 2:

No, it's not, and it's a great neighborhood. There's a lot of really good people who I still am in contact with. But you know it was a nice I guess you'd say quiet neighborhood.

Speaker 1:

Oh it's great over here.

Speaker 2:

Well, there didn't used to be houses over a lot of the area.

Speaker 1:

I also want to interview Nick over here and go hey, did you grow up in this neighborhood too? No, no, okay, no but Eureka. But you're in Eureka, we're in, yeah, the studio's in Myrtle Town. So there's the connection.

Speaker 2:

So I've moved. You know I started in Myrtle Town, kind of went up to Cutton for a while, a couple different places in Eureka, but I've never gone more than probably five miles away from here.

Speaker 1:

So junior high, was that Lafayette, or was there a-?

Speaker 2:

Zane.

Speaker 1:

Zane, okay, right.

Speaker 2:

I was a.

Speaker 1:

Falcon. Oh, the Zane Fal, come on. And then the Yuriko Logger, the loggers, yeah Go, loggers.

Speaker 2:

So yeah, it's definitely. You know, I've never really thought about leaving, seriously, uh-huh.

Speaker 1:

So what class did you graduate in?

Speaker 2:

1980.

Speaker 1:

80. Okay, so so 78.

Speaker 2:

Which? Where'd you go to school?

Speaker 1:

Sweetwater High School in National City, california. It's right over here on oh wait, it's not even on this map. It goes San Diego, national City, chula Vista, imperial Beach, san Ysidro, tijuana, so 15 minutes from the border. Real mixed race, lower middle income, feral hippie child, although not much of the hippie left up here.

Speaker 2:

I was going to say it's mostly in here now I was going to say it's mostly in here now. I was going to say really.

Speaker 1:

Okay, the joke is it's no joke. I was voted most beautiful hair. Yeah, you can see it now. Anyway, not about me, this is about you.

Speaker 2:

It happens. It happens how many. 40 some years later.

Speaker 1:

So did you go right from Eureka High to Cal Poly. I, years later, so did you go right from. Eureka High to Cal Poly I did, also known as Humboldt State Right.

Speaker 2:

I stayed here, well, one, because my boyfriend was here. You know, you think later it's like I'm not sure if that was the best reason to stay. And the family business was here, the restaurant that I was in for 30 some years.

Speaker 1:

Wow, you want to talk about that, and OH for a minute? Yeah, then we'll go to Humboldt and then you can. Sounds good, all right. So OH Bass, he was legendary right?

Speaker 2:

Well, I think so, and a lot of people. It's funny, people still remember his name. We, how do I put it? He started, he had restaurants that went back to the 50s I've got some old pictures and so he had multiple different places, and I remember in 1966 is when they built the one that I remember as five, you know, and that's where we were for I don't know 40 years, maybe almost 50, before we closed it. And I still have fundraisers based on OH's night. In fact, I've got one coming up in June. I saw that, yeah, so it's, it's it's. People still remember it, which is, which is really nice when you think about it.

Speaker 2:

Cause a lot of restaurants wouldn't have that. I mean, you have a few. There's a few that people still follow, and I won't say who, but there's somebody that has this idea of trying to get someone to open a restaurant that features some of the old time papers of the different places.

Speaker 1:

So like Roy's or whatever, maybe, maybe we're not saying.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, but I'm going. You know, I don't think running a restaurant right now.

Speaker 1:

I'd run the other direction. It's too hard. So can I take a shot at recounting what OHS Townhouse was? Sure, so long-term legacy restaurant where you go and you could pick your steak right? Yep, you could pick your meat. Which is who does that anymore. And so we were in college Joni and I went, so we were really broke so we had to go on some sort of a coupon or something. But I remember we had a couple of really nice meals there and the meat was delicious.

Speaker 2:

I probably waited on you, you could have. Yeah, you just didn't remember me. Yeah, I probably waited on you Could have. Yeah, you just didn't remember me. Yeah, how many years did you work there? 30, over 30, 31-ish, something like that. I mean when you start, when you're like 15 or 14 and in the family business. That is it. It sold in 2008. We closed it. Oh yeah, we closed it on leap year day, 2008. Wow, so it's really only been closed. Closed it on leap year day 2008.

Speaker 2:

Wow, so it's really only been closed four years. If you think about it that way, what did you say Instead of 16.?

Speaker 1:

Instead of 16. So it was kind of one of those landmark for sure places that everybody go to.

Speaker 2:

And it was really basic and simple on the outside and simple on the inside, but the food is what counted and I'd like to think I still have a lot of customers and former employees that we keep in touch with, and it's a family.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, small town, great restaurant.

Speaker 2:

And I don't know if you you probably knew my dad was on the board of supervisors too. I did know that he was nuts. I don't know what he thought. I remember being in I was in like sixth grade when all this happened and I thought it was the stupidest job anybody could want. Look what happened.

Speaker 1:

Right, right, and I thought insurance was for chumps like my dad. Dumb insurance job who would do that? Sell life insurance? That's crazy. And 10 years as a state farm agent on Labor Day.

Speaker 2:

Wow.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, got a later start, but that's okay.

Speaker 2:

I know the feeling about later starts. Yeah, it's okay.

Speaker 1:

It's okay to have restarts and later starts and that kind of thing. So did you actually manage the store or did you only yeah, no, I pretty much.

Speaker 2:

at the time, my husband, who was my boyfriend in high school, we had both worked there for years, Even after we were no longer married. We worked together 18 years. So, yeah, I did everything other than I did not cook steaks. You did not want me to cook a steak, but I could do pretty much everything else waitressing, the bookkeeping, bartending, janitorial, whatever you know. That's what happens in a small family business. You do it all.

Speaker 1:

Was it a dinner house only or did lunches?

Speaker 2:

I used to do lunches, but not after, I mean when I was younger. I mean really young, yeah, no, mostly you know dinner house banquets, yeah, stuff like that.

Speaker 1:

You know it's funny stuff like that. You know it's funny where I'm from in Nashville city you had Cafe El Juan, which is famous Mexican food and they're gone. And he had all these John Bull, which was an English restaurant. You had all these places that were landmark places that you grew up around. So it's funny how food and restaurants become kind of part of the idea. So Larapin Cafe up in Trinidad oh, by the way, I have a map that's up here, Larapin. It's really good. It's far away, but it's killer food.

Speaker 2:

Well, and you know, but, and you remember it, I went driving up there. There used to be where Larapin was used to be I believe it used to be Colonial Inn, correct, and I think I went to a prom there, you know, and I went driving around there. Now that I spend a lot of time in McKinleyville, I you know, every once in a while I'll go driving and look at remind myself of how beautiful parts of this county are that I just don't see on a regular basis.

Speaker 1:

We got to get reminded during COVID. We'd go on our date night, go from Dow's Prairie up to Huda Point or Camel Rock and throw up in the van, and here comes the picnic and here's the sunset, and it's oh, that's right. Humboldt County is magical. It definitely can be Literally five minutes from McKinleyville, and it's like what Were. We wanted to move to Redding. Are you kidding?

Speaker 2:

Who would?

Speaker 1:

go.

Speaker 2:

I love you, Redding. I shouldn't have crinkled my nose, but yeah, it's too hot.

Speaker 1:

I want to go to Chico, where it's 187 degrees in the shade. No, thank you Pass.

Speaker 2:

You see these freckles and you see the very light skin.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I burn and I yeah, hot weather was Humboldt's perfect. It was 75 in Santa Rosa Monday on the dry back. That was plenty. That felt like just about the right amount of heat.

Speaker 2:

It's almost too warm here today.

Speaker 1:

Right, by the way, just for the record, today is let's just look, we'll look. I think it's 73. What do?

Speaker 2:

you think, nick, it was 77 earlier.

Speaker 1:

Was it Okay.

Speaker 2:

Depends where you are.

Speaker 1:

Right now in blue like it's 76. 70, whoa, 71. That's a total heat wave here which people go. That makes no sense at all. Come on, scott, that's crazy, but yeah, once you sit out in that.

Speaker 2:

And the humidity.

Speaker 1:

Yeah right.

Speaker 2:

Sounds good.

Speaker 1:

I mean McKinleyville, 68, 69 is like perfect. We live up in Dow's Prairie, Right? So you told me you work at the airport.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I started working for SkyWest and it's quite the experience. I do just about everything. You know it's kind of a it says agent, but in Humboldt County it's so small, everybody's they say cross-utilized, so you work in all the different positions and it's been quite the learning experience. I'd like to tell people there's a reason not to pack too much. I've had to lift things that are like I'm not kidding when I say 90 pounds. They get the dark purple tag, you know.

Speaker 1:

Right, the heavy ones, it's. What do people?

Speaker 2:

put in there Rice Bricks, it just sounds really bad. Bodies, I don't know, you know. I mean, there's some, you can smell it.

Speaker 1:

And.

Speaker 2:

I'm going what is that doing? Isn't this like a facility? Yeah, I must just be too law-abiding.

Speaker 1:

I would think that TSA would smell weed and have to break it open and take your weed.

Speaker 2:

I have no idea, but it's been a great learning experience. Good people working out there, a lot of. But it's different. You know, it's getting up and doing in the morning some days and and I think the latest I was there was 3.30 AM whena light came in. Yeah, really ultra late. So you know, but I I've learned so much. I mean I was a traveler before and now it's like I've kind of reconsider. It's like, oh wait, I don't need to pack all that, you know, and just looking at things differently and how they track baggage and how they really, I mean there's a system and so it's been very enlightening and a really great exercise program. I don't have to join a gym.

Speaker 1:

Right, because you're lifting.

Speaker 2:

I'm lifting, I'm exercising. It's like I'm trying to look at it that way.

Speaker 1:

So top three travel tips for us Mild travelers.

Speaker 2:

Oh, my goodness.

Speaker 1:

So pack light.

Speaker 2:

Pack light. You know I realize that I pack way too much. I'd say when it tells you to, when it says be at the airport 45 minutes prior, it's a serious. That's how I put this 35 for us. No, it's 45. That's easy, right I mean it should be Well, you'd think, and people run in in 10 minutes. Yeah, because back in the day, how long have you lived in Humboldt County?

Speaker 1:

43 years.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so back in the day, you know how the airport was. I mean, if a plane was leaving and you got here, if you showed up late, they would stop. You know. And there's times I know one person who I won't use their name on the air, but you know just the stories, you know. And yes, we are a small community, but it's not just. You know, these are the rules. There's a real reason for it, because people don't understand how those bags you know they don't magically get to the plane, let me just tell you that and they don't get loaded by themselves.

Speaker 2:

Oh yeah, and and so you know people do come in late. I think we've done our best to make sure they still get it, but I would. That was the one of the tips. It's like I know it seems really, you know, like we shouldn't have to because we're a small place. It's really important. If there's one thing I'd say, it's like be kind to the people who work there, and that's the other thing too is people I can understand. I've gotten upset more times than I can count over things going sideways with flights and the people who are working there are literally just trying to do their best and sometimes their hands are tied. But it's been very interesting because no day is the same. Not many days go exactly as planned.

Speaker 1:

Who have you seen? Anybody, any rock and roll stars? Yeah, you know, there was that one rapper guy.

Speaker 2:

This is how I am. It's the rapper guy who was through. There was that one rapper guy. This is how I am. I'm just a rapper guy.

Speaker 1:

He was here like last month. Nick probably knows the rapper guy I think it was Chuck Mellon.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that was it. Was he nice, was he cool, yeah, he was nice, but you know, so there's, and I'm sure there's more. I've realized that I don't see people come and go as often. So now I'm, you know, I like to see. Everyone looks at me. They can't figure it. They look at me like I know you.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, wait, what are you doing here? You're the president of Humboldt County, yeah, something like that. That's good. I love it, do what you love, so be there early A good hour for our airport.

Speaker 2:

I mean, just be kind.

Speaker 1:

Pack light and be nice.

Speaker 2:

And I think it'd be nice to try to be understanding, I think, some of the things. I think you probably heard about the TSA scare last week. Yeah, tell us about that. That was interesting. What happened? Well, that's a really good question.

Speaker 2:

We're out of town and I, yeah, I think you know what happens is you know TSA not only looks at your hand, you know your stuff, you carry on, they go. You know there's everything goes through detecting equipment. Right, the timing was just kind of weird on this one because we had to bring a plane back because there was this, you know, kind of a concern over something that was seen, you know. Then.

Speaker 1:

So the plane was already in the air.

Speaker 2:

No, it was. But you know, you push it out and it's getting ready to take off. Oh, and then they pulled it in and so it's. You know, it makes sense. I mean it's just being safe, right. And then the pilot he was great.

Speaker 2:

He actually had flown 11 years in Afghanistan and just moved to the United States, like three years ago. You know he wanted to be ultra careful also. So you know he ended up having to offload people and you've got another plane that was down and I was unloading luggage and all of a sudden I hear they're evacuating and I'm going. What's happening? And so you know it was interesting. Like for three-plus hours we were all over, sequestered, kind of passed by the parking lot. It was interesting because towards the end you saw people talking with each other. It's kind of like being marooned on an island or something and you start making your friends and talking. But it was, you know, in the end it was just something that looked suspicious. But you know, when you see something you know they have to take precautions?

Speaker 1:

Was the residue on a computer or a laptop or something?

Speaker 2:

Yeah something and you have wires show you. It's like you'd be amazed at the bad things people do and the things you know, like say, what you have to do for the safety of an airplane. It's like every plane, at the end of the day, is absolutely, totally searched. Safety of an airplane. It's like every plane, at the end of the day is absolutely totally searched.

Speaker 2:

I mean pull up the seats, everything to make it more to make sure that there's no issues. So you know there's a lot of careful thought. Maybe yeah, but it's interesting. It was the plane. You know the people who were on the plane I ended up. One of the guys used to work for me at the restaurants, so we got caught up. Ryan Sundberg was there, sure.

Speaker 2:

Small world he told me to text him when the plane took off. It's like, okay, I'll take care of that, and so it was interesting. But it was one of those things you couldn't plan for Right, and some people were not happy, which I can understand.

Speaker 1:

Well, that disrupted travel, but better than 9-11.

Speaker 2:

Well and yeah, and then the flight. You know the pilot was great. He's like we're still going to go. I actually had a friend on there that you know. They had a wonderful time on their cruise. They went to. It all worked out fine. It just was kind of a—.

Speaker 1:

Delayed.

Speaker 2:

Kind of delayed, yeah, but I mean things like that are—I haven't had a boring day there.

Speaker 1:

They say that TSA—I think I've read this or somebody was telling me that you'd be surprised what people try to run through the TSA stuff like in their bags. Here's a knife, some guy had a gun. It's like what have you been thinking, man? What do you do with that 45 in there?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you do kind of wonder. And you know back where I'm at right now I'm still. I'm mostly just with like luggage and I'm not like where I'm checking in people and seeing all this stuff. You're the rookie, I am the rookie, that's good, but you got to start somewhere.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you do.

Speaker 2:

I'm also, I think I'm like some people's. I'm at the age of how to say this. Some of my coworkers are, probably could be, my grandchildren. It's like I think about it, it's like, oh Wait.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, this is weird.

Speaker 2:

That's all right, yeah, that's great, it's fun. It's definitely different than I've ever done before.

Speaker 1:

I imagine every day would be different and that tension level and people half asleep.

Speaker 2:

I mean coming in at you know five and you can't see straight and all that. Yeah it's, but yeah. So it wasn't something I expected to do, but I had some friends who've retired elsewhere that did that, and so it's a and there's some benefits to it, sure.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, we had a couple friends work up there, so Eureka High and then you went to Humboldt State Direct. Did you take a break?

Speaker 2:

No, I went direct. I actually my father-in-law at the time was a professor out there. I went as an English major, oh, and then I switched to business because it was faster. Good call, yeah. But you know, even as the business, it didn't really translate to the restaurant business. But yeah, I went through, and I mean it took me six years because I got married, I had my first child. How many kids I have? Two Nice, two sons, 40 and 37. Right.

Speaker 1:

We have a 40 all the way down to a 20, which is wild stuff. As you know, we have nine kids. Oops, that's 10, nine. Wow, 40 to 20.

Speaker 2:

Well, my life was easy, comparatively speaking. Yeah, right.

Speaker 1:

We just found out we have grandbaby number 11 on the way for Christmas.

Speaker 2:

Oh my.

Speaker 1:

A little Christmas present in Boise, Idaho.

Speaker 2:

I was born on Christmas.

Speaker 1:

Really Merry Christmas and happy birthday.

Speaker 2:

Yes, and always remember to wrap that baby's birthday present or the child as he grows up. Wrap the birthday present in birthday paper. Do not wrap it in Christmas paper.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I relate. My birthday is January 2nd, which is kind of the second worst day because everybody the party's over. New Year's is over, new Year's Eve is over, new Year's Day is over.

Speaker 2:

Right.

Speaker 1:

And here's your Christmas and your birthday present and you're going wait what, yeah? So anyway, what a horrible trial I have in my birthday. So you studied business, Business, great program up there.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, no, and the teachers were great. I enjoyed myself. I was not the typical student that got to go out and stuff. I kept working and I was married, so I didn't have what some might consider the typical college experience.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, let's talk about the protest up there for a bit. I don't think there's a protest.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, no.

Speaker 1:

No, I'm not sure if there's any win in going there, but I was looking today. They got a lot of the spray paint off.

Speaker 2:

That's good. I think, you know, without going too far into protest stuff, I think the vandalism and was just like that there's some things and I was like, hey, it didn't have to be going to that, you know when you vandalize Columbia University from where I sit in Eureka or McKinleyville, I'm going.

Speaker 1:

That sucks, that's just, that's too bad, yeah. But when it's your alma mater and hometown and they close down everybody and everything, and then there's a hundred cops from all over the world and then there's no graduation for a really good friend, Tina, who we love, and she's got a, they got a. They almost didn't do a graduation, it's like. So I guess we're going there. So enough said so.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, I know it's. It's just, you know you can't guess how things are going to play out or that something's going to start happening, and you know. I think all the people can do is do the best they can as things unfold and try to be prepared. But you can try to be prepared for everything and there's still going to be something that comes along.

Speaker 1:

It's called life. Yeah, sadly so. I was prepared to be an oceanography major and I became a liberal arts major because that feral hippie child thing didn't play well with science. So, hey, recreation administration, dad, did you major in recess? Well, kind of smart aleck.

Speaker 2:

So did you. Now I'm going to ask you so did you teach or what did you do with LW? No, I thank you for asking yes.

Speaker 1:

I actually worked at St Mary's School first year half time and Dallas Prairie School half time as a rec leader with kids, and the Catholic school was really God's training for Scott to become a dad, because they had K through 12. I'm sorry, k through 8. And turns out that teenagers are quite evil, they're nefarious. I have a bunch of names for them and I probably won't repeat them all. But it taught me to be patient and to you know, don't give everybody an F, which I did.

Speaker 1:

And parents, yeah, ds and Fs, man, screw with me. I'm right out of college, I know everything. And so the Catholic parents and then the private school parents, so a lot of private people with money that sent their kids because they didn't want them to go to Arcata High or wherever, sent them to school there, and so they just didn't appreciate that because that's going to ruin your GPA when you get to Riverside, cal State, whatever, fullerton. So it was a source of bitterness that I had to learn through it and it was good training to go. Oh, you could probably not be everybody's friend and you don't have to give everybody a D either.

Speaker 2:

You know, if you want to try to not be everybody's friend, you can go into politics.

Speaker 1:

That really works well. I've seen that.

Speaker 2:

Everyone likes you. When you have a restaurant, by the way, right, that's kind of a connection. But then when you mix the two, it's kind of like.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and it's interesting. We talked to Steve Madrone here and I find him delightful. I don't necessarily agree with him on a lot, but that's okay.

Speaker 1:

And that's the cool thing and that's one of the threads. The first one is the joke it's called Cal Poly Humboldt. Everybody corrects that. The other is there is a feeling of separation out on the earth right now, of people dividing up and being nasty and continuing in that practice. People dividing up and being nasty and continuing in that practice, and a couple of people that have come on have really enlightened me and said hey, dennis, rail from Las Bagels, different ones. Hey, it's okay, I can totally differ with this rancher I'm on the board with, but we're also connected and we can find common ground all the time.

Speaker 2:

Well, and I think that's an important thing and unfortunately in politics, at times it's not so much the people that are doing it, but it's the people around them. It's like you can't be friends with that person or you can't.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, because I mean, steve and I have our own. You know, let's just say that we are doing this a lot. I mean because we had a history that went back a long time where he used to come and was not always really happy to, or nice to the board. That was a long time ago and you know what ended up is. You know, we just have different approaches to things and one day we kind of had a discussion just the two of us, and it was really a frank discussion and I was maybe too, maybe too abrupt, um, but I think it was good because, you know, open I, I became more aware of who he is as just his individual person.

Speaker 2:

I may not agree with his decisions, I may not always agree with how he approaches something, but, uh, it was one of those where, you know, you try to establish a relationship when you think there's just no way, but it still works, you know. And so I don't think there's anybody that I can think of off the top of my head that well, maybe one, but they don't live here anymore, but that I would, you know, just would not be able to sit down and talk with and not feel comfortable. It's like that's one of the things I loved about the job is being able to meet with people who perceive me as being one way, but after they get to know you, they're like, oh okay, you're not.

Speaker 1:

You're a human being, you're not bad. Yeah, yeah, I like that I. You're a human being, you're not bad. Yeah, yeah, I like that. I wish we had more of that out there. So let's talk about the county for a minute. What do you see? Let's just do a past, present, future. So what do you see as our kind of looking in the rearview mirror behind us, issues going into the present Not necessarily that we've overcome, but maybe things that are still persistent.

Speaker 2:

Boy. You know, I don't know which way to even go with this. I mean, I think part of what's happened is, you know, we had things that were great, ideas that maybe didn't work out the way we had planned, say, cannabis and how everyone is. We were all trying to figure out how to do the right thing and then, of course, we've seen the challenges and issues, and that's part of the financial problems, right.

Speaker 2:

Boom and bust on that and you know, same with, like the tax, that which one was it? No-transcript. It's like looking in the rearview mirror. It's like, well, could have done it differently. I wouldn't be able to. I wouldn't know how I'm trying to think. You know, I've been missing for a while. As far as not paying a lot of I shouldn't say this I haven't been paying a lot of attention to all the little intricacies of what's happening.

Speaker 1:

You don't have to anymore. No.

Speaker 2:

Every once in a while I'll follow an issue, you know. I mean there's some things that are still out there and impossible to tackle, like where they talk homelessness and housing is still an issue, and healthcare issue and healthcare.

Speaker 1:

Oh, healthcare. Steve brought up the three H's yeah.

Speaker 2:

I never thought of it that year.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, the healthcare issue.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's a. I still hear from people now I mean it's not because they're talking to me because of I have anything to do with government. It's more like I'm talking to people about my age and we're all getting older and needing to go places to get things done.

Speaker 1:

Right, nick, I have to go somewhere right now and get something done. Yeah Well, I had two new hips at Stanford 10 years ago oh cool, same day it was pretty rad.

Speaker 2:

You were the hippest guy around.

Speaker 1:

I was very hip for a minute and then my kids go Dad, you used to be cool, huh. I go yeah, then you guys came along and ruined me, so that kind of family joke, yeah. So yeah, cannabis boom and bust and everybody's trying to make nice and try to figure out the right way to tax it and get everybody legal. And now it's kind of like weird, weird. It's like.

Speaker 2:

I look back and I keep thinking about when we first, when we first did I think Mark Lovelace was Mark Lovelace was still on the board, I mean it was it seemed like a huge moment, you know, when we actually were moving forward and with a lot of good intentions, not, but, I think, not realizing you know part of what happened. I, I think, not realizing you know part of what happened, I think, is the state had maybe did some things that we thought they weren't going to like, allowing the very large grows down south.

Speaker 2:

And those, basically the mega grows.

Speaker 1:

Supply and demand, yeah, direct all that, yeah. So when are those In the valley?

Speaker 2:

Santa Barbara area.

Speaker 1:

So they're just giant barns full of weed.

Speaker 2:

Not just barns, I mean just open fields. Open fields and my nephew's a firefighter down there and you know. I mean it's like if people think it smells bad you know, in certain places here it sounds like it's pretty bad there, but yeah, so it's kind of like what's the next?

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

You know and right now there's some exciting things happening, though there's on the peninsula- you know whether it's. Nordic or. I'm sad I'm not there now for the fun stuff that's finally starting to happen. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

They got that permit okayed or whatever that is to bring in seawater. Yeah for Nordic.

Speaker 2:

They got that permit okayed or whatever that is to bring in seawater. Yeah for Nordic. Yeah, that was exciting. That's cool. It's the Coastal Commission. That's a big step right, I think so. Yeah, you know, eating and the fact that the Coastal Commission staff was in favor of it was a good thing. It's a plus.

Speaker 2:

So that's hopefully good, and then, of course, all the wind energy and there's a lot of. I think there's so many unknowns and just little flags, red flags that come up or red, you know issues, and so it'll be. It's interesting watching.

Speaker 1:

It's funny how things look good on paper. We talk about that at home, that idea, that conversation, that looked great on paper, and then the execution. I mean that's just. It must have a name. That's just the life lesson that sometimes. You know the Edsel was a really cool car and then it was crap. You know, it's just like it didn't go well and who knows why. You know, ham's Beer was a really killer ad campaign and it didn't. Or Oli, it was Olympia Beer.

Speaker 2:

Okay.

Speaker 1:

It's lousy beer, but I don't know that. I don't have any idea, but it was clever and it never sold anything. Alka-seltzer plop, plop, fizz, fizz.

Speaker 2:

A little relief it is yeah.

Speaker 1:

Didn't sell Alka-Seltzer. It didn't Go figure yeah, local seltzer, it didn't Go figure. Yeah, it's memorable, but it didn't move product. So it's kind of funny. Life's funny in such ways. So question for you, maybe a little bit more direct what do you think your top three contributions were politically in terms of things that maybe you collaborated on or that you were spearheading that? You look back and hey, you collaborated on, or that you were spearheading that you. You look back and hey, I did three cool things that I really liked.

Speaker 2:

I think the one that stands out the most. And then when I explain it to people, it's, it's, it's, it's total. I guess you'd say geek language, you know, because no one else would think it's exciting in this whole world except me. But one of the things you know, trying to get housing built is a really challenge, you know, especially the affordable housing. And if you're an affordable I can't even say it affordable housing developer, the state has you go through just so many different processes and every year something changes. So, like, when you're trying to get these different, not loans, but programs, the rules would just keep changing. And so there was this was in regards to Samoa, the Samoa townhomes over there, which actually this also helped the veterans housing that was built on Fifth Street.

Speaker 2:

But what had happened is there was a change in the rules of the state and you know, instead of a cash match, it was this. That's why I said this sounds so geeky, but instead of a cash match places, other places were using vouchers, housing vouchers, as a cash match, and our housing vouchers in Humboldt County were people-based. So we, I said, how have we changed this process? That was quite a. I had to lock two people in a room to have a conversation for about a day and we said, okay, we can do this Anyhow, ended up going through the process to change that whole, the way that voucher system worked in Humboldt County, which allowed them to then use that value as a cash match, and ended up making those two projects go over the finish line. And to me, to me, those were the. You know, those are hard to explain and people are probably trying to go. What did?

Speaker 1:

she just say but I got it done.

Speaker 2:

But you know it did and it's one of those things that was small, I think. One of the other things I did that you know you do something, that you step in something and you have to fix it. No-transcript would like to think, an open ears and a comfortable person for people to talk to, and I don't think I've I don't think anyone ever felt very, you know, threatened by me. I feel like people could come to me and talk to me, but yeah, so mine are down in those little really nerdy details, but that's cool I. But yeah, so mine are down in those little really nerdy details. That's cool, I like it.

Speaker 1:

I think Joni would want me to ask the next question what was?

Speaker 2:

it like to be a woman in politics. You know, I didn't notice it being a problem. Maybe during campaigning I think there was a little bit more judgmental views of women, because women are seen as, as seen, as you know, harsh, and when we, when we say something, you know, people use different words.

Speaker 1:

For you know, if you I don't well, I'm not going to say it on there but you know the guy's cranky they say one thing and when a woman is a whole different thing, he's a jerk and she's not a jerk, yeah, yeah, a little more strong than that.

Speaker 2:

But even at the state level, when I was with the State Association of Counties and I was president there, I never felt as a woman that there is I think because there are so many women nowadays, right I never felt that I was at a disadvantage and I never felt I had an unfair advantage either.

Speaker 1:

Okay, yeah, fair, we have a female pastor. We love Bethany and Jason, they're great, yeah, and that's a whole different deal too. That's kind of pioneer territory still, strangely, not totally, but just different and great.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you know, things are constantly changing Hi.

Speaker 1:

Bethany, hi Jason. So yeah, I love it. So, hi Bethany, hi Jason, so yeah, I love it. So let's talk about your legacy. Yeah, I guess we sort of just did, but what? Um, actually, before we do that and we wrap, I'd like to do a little quiz. So we have a quiz and there's a small prize available for you. Ladies and gentlemen, I should have like a graph. Do we have a graphic that can come up there? It is, it's audio, okay. So Virginia Bass, your favorite, and we're just going to go food because you're, would you necessarily consider yourself a foodie after I?

Speaker 1:

you know probably, I mean I'm, I love food and I guess I mean, and you're not in politics, so you could kind of pick out your favorite place, so best salad bar in town.

Speaker 2:

My house, your house.

Speaker 1:

okay, Good answer.

Speaker 2:

Salad bar. I don't get. You know, this is sad. I don't get out much. Okay, this is so sad A lot of people since COVID took.

Speaker 1:

How about meat? Who's got the best meat in town? You can't say your house.

Speaker 2:

Well, actually, though, can I tell you Well, okay, I won't say what I was going to say I almost never order a steak out or meat out, because I'm usually disappointed, because I do like what I do better at home. However, you know, AA seems to be a lot of people's favorites, and they have a big burger.

Speaker 1:

Okay, how about a good one? How about a donut Happy donuts, happy. Okay, they about a good one. How about a donut?

Speaker 2:

Happy donuts Happy. Okay, they were closed the other day though.

Speaker 1:

Were they that's, she's never closed.

Speaker 2:

I know Kind of worries me. No, those apple fritters I could just there's a tie for oh man. And heat them up.

Speaker 1:

yeah, and they're good for you. It's really weird.

Speaker 2:

They're good for me Okay.

Speaker 1:

They're diet food. I lose weight. What? How about a coffee house?

Speaker 2:

Ramones Harrison. I have a seat there with my name on it.

Speaker 1:

Really Almost. Oh, they're great. What's Barrett's last name? The owner.

Speaker 2:

Meyer. I think, meyer. Thank you, I think so. I mean, they were in business back when oh, they've been around. When we were back in the Restaurant Association Sure. And I think they had the Raleigh Boutique. I mean the restaurant.

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah.

Speaker 2:

I don't know, it was still in high school.

Speaker 1:

You know, I mean they're just timeless though. Oh, they make a thing called a mochaccino. That was really good.

Speaker 2:

They named, kind of, their own drink and it was pshh. It was a beautiful—I had my Facebook reminded me. I did a picture last year, eight years ago Pretty nerdy it is. But she did this beautiful heart and then she made a face in it. I've never seen that. Bared herself no one of their staff. That's cool. They were like an artist. I'll show you. Okay, yes, ramones, you're holding up. I like to go other places occasionally, but Ramones is my go-to.

Speaker 1:

Delicious. Okay, how about dessert? Who has good pies or dessert out there? Oh my, we don't really have a dessert place per se, do we? We used to have Bombonieres when we were growing up?

Speaker 2:

No, and I haven't been down. Yeah, you know I'm stumped. I make a great rum cake. Okay, rum cake's good. How about Chinese? Well, it's not Chinese. I really like to go to Curry Leaf, and I don't know what Curry Leaf is. It's a little bit of everything.

Speaker 1:

It is. It's kind of fusion. Yeah, have you been to the new rooftop sushi joint?

Speaker 2:

No, I haven't yet.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, crashed it the other night. It was great. Don't tell anybody, but here's what happened.

Speaker 2:

You went into the.

Speaker 1:

Jody and I were there and we're in line and the guy he's got a list and he's going. Well, are you on the list? I said I don't know Scott Hammond and check it out. He goes. You don't appear to be here and I go could you look again?

Speaker 2:

I don't know. And now you're in Vegas.

Speaker 1:

And he goes, just go, just go up there. And so it was the Adams Construction party, the initial party, and it was fun, had a little bit of champagne and hung out and saw a bunch of friends, saw Greg Foster and everybody.

Speaker 2:

You know they're doing some great work. They're everywhere. I don't even know who these guys are, the Adams Construction but they're everywhere, oh yeah.

Speaker 1:

I'm really impressed. It's beautiful and the view up there is just unbelievable. So well, cool, let's talk about your tombstone for a minute and your legacy.

Speaker 2:

Excuse me what I'm not quite ready for that.

Speaker 1:

What are you hoping? I don't think anybody is. What do you want to be remembered for? Sure.

Speaker 2:

I'm really boring, I guess, but I think I'd like to be remembered as somebody who basically was kind and worked to try to move people forward. I mean, I'm not a person that's really into conflicts, so politics was a strange place for me.

Speaker 2:

So you're a peace speaker yeah, you know I like to believe and I try that I'm not always successful, but but you know I'm a big believer, like I said, even the story with Supervisor Madrona and myself, you know, I think I think there's something to be said for not being angry and being able to find the commonalities you know and have those bind you together versus the differences, especially politics. Politics, I would think yeah.

Speaker 2:

And you know it's, but yeah, I know that sounds really boring. I just kind of try to make the path easier for everybody in life.

Speaker 1:

I'm so boring, and you're a mom and a grandma too, right I am. How many grandkids?

Speaker 2:

I have three. I have an almost 13-year-old grandson Wow, I have two. I have an almost 13-year-old grandson Wow. And I have two grandsons here. One is four. Nice, that's. I got Branson and Cooper that are here. Nice, t-ball Playing T-ball now.

Speaker 1:

T-ball's big, pretty boring to be a part of.

Speaker 2:

It's so funny watching the kids lay on the ground and play with the dirt.

Speaker 1:

Stand up, it's first base.

Speaker 2:

I know Don't run that way.

Speaker 1:

And then soccer is the next thing where they just run in a pack. Yeah, and they do the pack thing.

Speaker 2:

And it's fun. One of my sons, jared, lives here. I don't know if anyone. Are you familiar with RMI?

Speaker 1:

Construction.

Speaker 2:

No, redwood Marine. Oh yeah, absolutely so. My son is. He's one of the red bearded guys there, but he's really into hunting and you know he's a part owner of the indoor shooting range Works for the main guy, whose name is Dan Dan yeah. Yeah, and the indoor shooting range. I shouldn't be probably saying that, but it is super cool and it's a safe place to go.

Speaker 1:

Sure, do they provide guns too?

Speaker 2:

They do. That'd be fun and you know you have to. There's the appropriate. You know safeguards put into place. Yeah, my son took me one day.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Quite interesting.

Speaker 1:

It's fun to shoot. We went up to Medford and to their. They have a range up by the stock car races and gosh, we about 10 of us. So we did about gosh 10,000 rounds. Yeah, it was like amazing and everybody brought every gun and it was like here, dad, try this one.

Speaker 2:

It's kind of cool because there's this indoors too, it's more controlled. Yeah and it's yeah, so. So it's nice that I have at least one of my kids living, living here, you know.

Speaker 1:

Nice.

Speaker 2:

Brittany's, his wife, his wife. She works with Caltrans. She's a wonderful, she's one of those. I don't know how they do it. These days they not only work, and you know, I mean obviously we work, but it's a different level now and the number of things you take your kids to and the different you know, I just don't know how they do it.

Speaker 1:

It's amazing. I watched my daughter drag three little guys around and come in with a diaper bag and bagels and she goes. I don't know how mom did it with nine kids. And I go do you have your other arm with you, Because you need it for this thing? And I go let me help you with those bagels. Nine kids I'm still yeah, At nine kids. You have other kids helping, so there's built in stuff. Do we want to talk about Matthew in the middle at all, is that?

Speaker 2:

We can Do. You want to? I mean just want to honor, yeah, actually, if we have to. No, it's really interesting because it was kind of a bone of contention often, especially when I was running for office and stuff. So you know, now that I have been able to kind of back away, I'm mostly a proofreader, you're part of the operation, I'm mostly a proofreader, you're part of the operation, I'm part of it. But you know, and every once in a while I will comment and you know I will say you know, he gets a lot of feedback and people are from out of, you know, out of the area even. But yeah, no, we don't always.

Speaker 2:

I don't always necessarily agree or I don't necessarily agree with, maybe, how something is said, but I think he does tons of research and the one he did, you know, was going too far a couple of weeks ago on the protest, the work he put into that, I mean the facts and everything that he had put in there. It's really interesting that he's getting a lot of really positive feedback, but it's both I don't want to say from both sides, but it is, you know, from from people who I won't use their name, but one person wrote to me said I never, I never agree with you. I agree with you on this one. You did a good job right. So so it's, you know, every once in a while victory. But yeah, it's like I'm. I'm a person that likes to smooth things over, and he might be a little bit more of an agitator.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's okay. So Matt Owen's a writer. Matthew in the Middle Is it on Loco and Time Standard it used?

Speaker 2:

to be Loco, but he's not on Loco anymore. But Time Standard. And then he puts it on Facebook. But then people send it to other people oh yeah, standard, and then he puts it on Facebook.

Speaker 1:

But then people send it to other people, oh yeah, and share it. Yeah, now he's been time standard for a long time. That's our daily paper, eureka. It's 150 years old. Blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, remember newspapers folks.

Speaker 2:

Hey, I still get it every morning. It's only 500 bucks a year. It's crazy.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's wild to mail us one a day late and charge us because you're so used to like it was 60 bucks a year and now it's like 360, and you get. Anyway, I don't want to complain. I'm glad that there's a newspaper.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, but yeah, it's a.

Speaker 1:

We're talking about the Eureka Reporter today. It's so funny, what a great paper, that was.

Speaker 2:

Well, they had a really good. They had a lot of. I remember when they do like the what's going on in town section. Really nice and they had the collage with all the different pictures and different events. Oh, they did a great job and that was fun. That was. Was it Judy Palasi?

Speaker 1:

Oh, judy ran that for Rob and so we had two daily papers at one time, which was amazing. And for those who like that, I remember my boss came. I was at cable TV, he came in from Texas. I remember my boss came, I was at cable TV, he came in from Texas, he goes. I've seen a lot of newspaper. This is an amazing local paper. Everything's quality about it, and so a non-sustainable model for two. The most media per capita in the United States, one of the top most infiltrated per capita radio TV print, and still is in America.

Speaker 2:

So anyway, so how did you get into this?

Speaker 1:

Well, that guy there, he interviewed me about Humboldt Heroes. So you know, we do the veterans. We honor a vet once a month at Scott Hammond State Farm, and so we've done it for seven years. Every one of them is magical and different and wonderful and you know, sometimes we get people in the nick of time before they pass.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and we get to honor them. It's really special and we don't. It's just very modest. And you know I was interviewed by Nick but before he, this guy, he goes. Well, you want to go national or statewide, I go nope and wreck it. Why would you do that? That would be the modestness in this would take the special part of it.

Speaker 2:

I remember being on the sidewalk. We do it all the time.

Speaker 1:

We've done it one time and two times indoors. Now I started to brag about hey, it's never been rained out, and of course this winter it rained, so anyway. So Nick had me on and he suggested hey, you know, my daughter does a podcast in Medford. And I said hey, why don't we do this? And my friend Peter Stark calls me an archivist. So there you are, with Mary Keene and Officer Brian Stevens and Dennis Rael.

Speaker 2:

All good people. Oh, great, wes Chesbrough, I saw he was on.

Speaker 1:

Twitter. Wes did a killer job and you know, and people that are making a really good difference, and so I think you're a super good company. So what does it say on your tombstone? What would you like it to say?

Speaker 2:

Man, these are deep questions. I you know, I haven't thought that far, okay, okay.

Speaker 1:

So far, Hi, you know and I don't know.

Speaker 2:

Sit on that for a minute because I have two other easier questions. Thank you, I was like what's the?

Speaker 1:

meaning of life. What do you want? I want world peace. I would like to ask who is Virginia Bass?

Speaker 2:

I don't know if that's easier. Who is Virginia Bass? I don't even know how to answer that. I feel like I'm failing my test You're doing great. You know, I'm just somebody who enjoys people and likes to be with people and seem to put myself in situations where that's what I'm doing, and I had a year of being very bored and out of my mind, not working, and so I decided to find a place that I could.

Speaker 1:

Got to become a pilot for United.

Speaker 2:

No, don't think so. You know, my sister was a pilot, though. Oh See, she's more exciting than me. She flew 777s for FedEx. She was a pilot. Yeah, no, seriously, that's right, I told you she's a lot more exciting than me, so more exciting than me. So she's a pilot, pilot, pilot, pilot, yeah, still Now she retired a couple of years ago.

Speaker 1:

Wow, was she military prior to that? Nope.

Speaker 2:

No, okay, the secret is, when she graduated, she got the credit card from my parents, went to UC Santa Barbara I hope she's not listening and let's just say she took her. I think she'd know I would say this she took her flight. I mean, she did everything and you know why, not Right? And then let's just say that by the time I graduated, I did not get a credit card.

Speaker 1:

Okay.

Speaker 2:

Sorry, no, but she the pilot got it? No, it's okay, no, she does. She's done amazing things. She actually flew helicopters also and, yeah, she was one of the first female pilots with FedEx when they started really expanding their. Wow, okay, yeah, so, yeah. So she's a you know.

Speaker 1:

Big time. She is Seven, seven, sevens, yeah, so the other question, that's quite easy who are you?

Speaker 2:

I still haven't answered who I am.

Speaker 1:

So Jody's father was. Tom was an amazing guy, so a lot of AA people and alcoholics have these pithy things. Like you know, your mind is a terrible place. Never go there alone. Who are you? So he said, the two hardest questions in life who are you and what do you want? So what would you like, what would you want for Humboldt If you could have your?

Speaker 2:

way. What would you want for Humboldt? What would you want Other than you know? What do you want? You know we could actually there'd be money to do the things that would make life better, whether it's the housing, as simple as the roads. Roads really impact people, but I think it also. I'd like to see less division and instead of seeing less, I think we're seeing more, and to me, if anything, that I am would be like a peacekeeper or somebody who. That's what I prefer, and maybe I just don't like conflict.

Speaker 2:

But I mean, I was in the world where that's what I got a lot of. But you know, I wish that we could get back to a place where maybe we're never there but we're just didn't feel so angry and divided. But the entire country is going through similar things. But I thought, I thought of us as being we've always been different, right, and it's like we should be able to weather it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah and um, you know, I I feel sad when, when I I see the divisions and I just know it's normal, but it's like I want to fix it, but I don't know how, especially anymore. Like I said, I've removed myself from that place of the world. So how do I do it now from where I am? I don't know.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think it's the question for all of us what do you want out there? What are you going to do to functionally contribute to the solution, not the problem?

Speaker 2:

Maybe I can come back next year and I'll think about these other questions. No, no, but it'd be interesting. It's like is it going to be different? Is it going to be worse? I hope not.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think what I've always enjoyed about you. If I may pay a compliment, Sure go ahead as public figure and kind of knowing you lightly in other circles, always approachable, always lovely and always kind. Thank you, just kind of the real you. And hey hi, and Joni likes you and that's a good test when Joni likes me, yeah good.

Speaker 2:

Sometimes. Hi, joni, love you. I think I have to say being in customer service and being a waitress, those are skills you know. Julie Fulkerson Sure, I love Julie, she's such a she's been on the show. Yeah, and you know we were talking. She started as a waitress also, and we both believe that it is the best training ground for almost any job you can have, whether even in politics. So you know, I've gotten to know her quite well and I really really enjoy her. Yeah, but when she said that it's like, yeah, it is.

Speaker 1:

She's great. Good to see her, good to see you. Thanks for being on the show.

Speaker 2:

Well, thanks, and you know, maybe I'll come back again sometime. I'll fill you in on what it's really like to be hard.

Speaker 1:

What the tombstone's going to say.

Speaker 2:

And if I survive, maybe you know let you know more what it's like being in the pit of a plane. You know?

Speaker 1:

Absolutely yeah, yeah, yeah, well, thanks for being here, tell Matt. I said hi.

Speaker 2:

I will, I will.

Speaker 1:

Probably see you at the Carter house.

Speaker 2:

I will.

Speaker 1:

I hope so. Yeah, kind of our haunt, especially when Jeff's playing. When Jeff's playing Friday nights, jeff Smaller folks, from like 435 o'clock to whatever.

Speaker 2:

And he doesn't play too loud. He's just perfect background music. No.

Speaker 1:

Jeff Smaller at jeffsmallercom. Anything, you want to plug your event?

Speaker 2:

You know, actually I do have there you go.

Speaker 2:

I haven't had an OHS night events for different fundraisers and I've done a couple for Salvation Army. There's actually one that's coming up on June 8th. It's a little bit different. It is actually Brian Papstein Sure, talk to him. Rural town area too, but I'm I've agreed to help with a fundraiser for the roof that's leaking like a sieve at sacred heart church. So so part of that is, um, it's a little bit different because normally I'll pick a different cause, but since he asked and and uh, known him a long time is he catholic I would.

Speaker 2:

Maybe he goes there so I don't ask a lot yeah, I don't ask a lot of questions, but you know he was looking for his and he's also. You know we talk about the restaurant and different restaurants, the old restaurants and so yeah, so that's coming up, but it's you know, it's open to the public and hopefully we'll have. We usually have about 100 people.

Speaker 1:

I think Brian would be a great podcast guest because he's the first. He's the pioneer Humboldt podcaster from 200 years ago. I mean he's.

Speaker 2:

And he looks great for his age right 200. Yeah, he's got my same haircut. We were actually at Humboldt together.

Speaker 1:

Oh really, yeah, he played basketball 100 years ago, and so I think he's a couple of years old.

Speaker 2:

A hundred years ago, and so I think he's a couple of years old, he was a couple of years older than me.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I'm sorry, cal Poly Anyway.

Speaker 2:

You know I've been told you can still call it Humboldt I think you can call it.

Speaker 1:

You know what you're talking about, so I went to Humboldt. Okay, cool. Well, thanks for being on the show. Well thanks for the opportunity.

Humboldt County Political Legacy and Restaurants
Airport Stories and Life Anecdotes
Discussing Issues in County Politics
Navigating Challenges in Affordable Housing
Legacy and Favorite Food Quiz
Exploring Identity and Community Impact
Fundraiser for Sacred Heart Church