Jeff Smith chairs the Humboldt County Planning Commission, which is currently in the process of making decisions on the Humboldt County General Plan, which will guide infrastructure development and land use in the county. A lifelong Humboldt County resident, Jeff Smith is the Chief Financial Officer of the Danco Group in Arcata. In addition to his public service as Planning Commissioner, Jeff has volunteered for the Eureka Redevelopment Agency for 20 years, including serving on the Housing Advisory Board, and currently serving on the Redevelopment Advisory board.

Aaron Antrim, a Green Wheels volunteer, caught up with Jeff Smith by email to ask him about growing up in Humboldt County, serving as Planning Commissioner, his vision for the transportation future in Humboldt, and advice for citizens interested in participating in the General Plan process.

Aaron: Like me, you grew up in Humboldt County. Tell us about growing up here, and why you decided to stay here.

Jeff: I grew up in a house on an acre of land near Redwood Acres on the outskirts of Eureka. As a child I enjoyed our large backyard. I walked across the street to Worthington Elementary School, and then as I got older I rode my bike to Zane Jr. High. The school bus for Zane stopped near my house, but I usually rode my bike because I had a job at Burre Center that I did every day before school for a couple years. I spent a lot of time on my bike as a kid. Later I attended and graduated from St. Bernard’s High School, and then graduated from Humboldt State four years later.

Many of my friends from High School moved away after high school or college to find work. I was fortunate that I had an opportunity to step into a business that my father had started 25 years earlier, otherwise I probably would have moved away as well.

I have never had a strong desire to live anywhere else but Humboldt County. My family is here and my family is very important to me.

Aaron: At Planning Commission hearings, I’ve heard you talk about your memories of a transit system for Eureka that sounds somewhat different from what we have today. Could you talk more about this?

Jeff: The Bishop family had a private transit bus service in Eureka that they operated in the early seventies or thereabouts. I remember that about the time that I was an early teenager, the Eureka Transit System (ETS) was formed and the Bishops were displaced. The Bishops received a contract to maintain the City’s buses. I remember this because the Bishop’s shop was only a block from the house that I grew up in.

ETS, when I used it as a young person, was pretty good. There were enough buses to keep intervals between service at a particular stop down to 15 minutes or so.

Aaron: The history of transit in Eureka is quite interesting. Readers can look forward to a feature article on the topic in the upcoming fall issue of the Community Wheel. Moving forward from the past now, what do you think the future holds for transportation in Humboldt County?

Jeff: I think that it can be whatever we are willing to pay for. In my view it is going to have to be a system that meets the needs of a variety of people. Given that much of our county is rural, a good road system is imperative. That coupled with good pedestrian opportunities and bike paths and trails will improve our system for both cars and other modes of transportation.

I see a real opportunity for alternative transportation advocates to work with real estate developers toward increasing alternative mode opportunities. Developers are being financially crushed by the cost of mitigating traffic and parking impacts resulting from their developments. In the past, traffic mitigations have been focused almost exclusively on improving automobile access. If developers were able to mitigate potential automobile traffic impacts by enhancing opportunities for alternate modes, I think that they would be very open to the alternative. It’s a concept that puts developers and alternative transportation advocates on the same team working toward common goals.

Aaron: What advice do you have for citizens to participate effectively in the Humboldt County General Plan process?

Jeff: If I could offer only one piece of advice, it would be to recommend that input to the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors be offered as constructive input. I observe some people make the mistake of viewing transportation policy-making as a zero-sum game when in fact that is seldom the case. Cars vs. bikes or cars vs. buses, etc. Those that view it that way say things that often create adversaries to their agenda that they are trying to promote. Instead, I believe that agendas are more easily advanced when the promoters look for common ground with those that they might otherwise believe are their natural adversary.

For example, if a person wants to promote bicycle travel because they believe that bicycle travel is better for the planet or the community’s health than automobile travel, then instead of trying to create a transportation model that is hostile to cars and those who depend on them, work to incorporate bicycle friendly transportation system design into the system so that both can co-exist. That way, bicycle transportation will be a viable choice for people to take advantage of at the time when they are ready to make that choice. Having choices is important and it’s important that we are not judgmental about how others choose to move about. That judgmental tone is polarizing and often impairs making real progress in a public hearing.

Share your perspective on the Humboldt County General Plan with Jeff and the six other commissioners at a Planning Commission meeting. The Planning Commission meets on the first and third Thursday of every month between 6:00 P.M. and 9:30 P.M. in the Supervisors Chambers at the County Courthouse. More information is available at co.humboldt.ca.us/planning/commission.

“If developers were able to mitigate potential automobile traffic impacts by enhancing opportunities for alternate modes, I think that they would be very open to the alternative. It’s a concept that puts developers and alternative transportation advocates on the same team working toward common goals.”