Estelle Fennell gives exit interview
After receiving praise from her colleagues, 2nd District Humboldt County Supervisor Estelle Fennell bid a fond farewell to the Board of Supervisors during her last board meeting Tuesday.
North Coast state Sen. Mike McGuire said he and State Assemblymember Jim Wood will be presenting Fennell with a Gold Resolution for her decades of service to the community and eight years on the board.
“She has dedicated her life here in Humboldt to give back to the people,” McGuire said during
Tuesday’s meeting. “Whether it’s giving back to local fire departments and planning for resources or fighting for local seniors, whether it’s focusing and delivering for the communities that she is represented and work for improving public access to public lands, securing desperately needed funding for local roads, expanding broadband access or being a champion for clean energy, Supervisor Fennell has done it all.”
On behalf of the board and county staff, 1st District Supervisor Rex Bohn presented Fennell with a watercolor painting by Hydesville artist Elaine Gredassoff to thank Fennell for her work as board chair.
“I will miss you, Irish, but I’m sure we’ll be in touch,” Bohn told Fennell, who immigrated to America from her native Ireland.
Michelle Bushnell, who defeated Fennell in the Nov. 3 election, phoned in to express her gratitude as well.
Before running for 2nd District Supervisor, Fennell worked as the news director at KMUD in Redway for more than 17 years. It was during this time she became aware of the pressing issues facing Humboldt County.
“I really felt that maybe in the position of supervisor I could be a help in that way,” Fennell told the
Times-Standard in a phone interview on Friday. “Prior to making the decision, a lot of people asked me to run. I finally said OK, I’ll do it. And I have to say I am extremely honored and proud of the work that I’ve been able to accomplish during that time. I am very honored to have had that ability to serve the community for eight years.”
From her first day as supervisor, Fennell said, she focused on representing the entirety of the second district at the county level, something her constituents felt was sorely lacking at the county level.
“I felt very strongly that our issues should have representation,” Fennell said. “There are several aspects of government at a local level, one of those is that it’s nonpartisan and the second part is, as an elected official you represent everyone. So for me, making that bridge between the second district and the other districts in the county was very, very important. Having the southern part of the second district heard at the county level was very important. I think respect is a huge part of it is, it’s about respect for each other and to work are really core ethics and values for me.”
Fennell said her accomplishments included working on the Measure Z Public Safety Advisory Committee and securing 24/7 law enforcement coverage in outlying areas of the county, along with a school resource officer for the Eel Valley area. She worked with the Humboldt County Planning and Building Department to establish a satellite office in Southern in Redway for the first time in 30 years. She worked with the Planning Department and the Southern Humboldt Community Park Board to permit the park in March 2017 after 17 years of bureaucratic hurdles.
“I’m also proud of the work we did on the General Plan update,” Fennell said. “It’s a really good foundational document.”
In 2017, following 17 years of efforts, the board voted 3-1, with 3rd District Supervisor Mike Wilson dissenting, to pass Humboldt County’s General Plan Update. Although Fennell was not present for the ultimate vote, she said she had helped to facilitate public meetings across the county to gain public input on the General Plan to ensure that rural concerns were adequately addressed.
As president of the California Cannabis Authority, Fennell worked with county governments across the state to develop a statewide data platform to help with oversight of cannabis regulations and cannabis businesses when cannabis was legalized in 2016.
“The work that went into that was gargantuan,” Fennell said. “I’m so proud of the work that we’ve done, with regard to creating local ordinances and also proud of the fact that the county is so supportive of that industry. Having such things as Project Trellis to help not only the cannabis industry but also the community as a whole.”
Fennell’s message to the board and to Bushnell is to continue moving forward and to continue with the projects currently in the works.
“I’m supervisor and chair all the way up to Jan. 4,” Fennell said. “After that, I’m going to take a little break for a little bit of private time. And then I’ll explore my options as they say. I know that there are several areas where I feel like I can be of help, a lot of areas of interest for me … . I’m going to take it easy for a while and then see where I can be of help in the future. I’ve always followed my heart and it’s led me in a pretty good direction, I think.”