#59. Juan Pablo Cervantes: How Humboldt Is Redefining Civic Engagement and Election Innovation

Scott Hammond: Ladies and gentlemen, friends and neighbors, my new best friend, Juan Pablo Cervantes. Hi, Juan.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Hi. How's it going?

Scott Hammond: It's going good. Thanks for coming on the show.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh, thanks for having me.

Scott Hammond: 100% Humboldt. Are you 100% Humboldt? Were you born here?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I wasn't.

Scott Hammond: Tell us your-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I wasn't, yeah

Scott Hammond: … your Juan Pablo story.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: So, um, like, like you said, my name's Juan Pablo Cervantes. I'm, uh, the clerk recorder and registrar of voters for the county. It's a title so long it's got punctuation in there.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Uh-

Scott Hammond: I like that

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … and I'm from a, I'm from a little town near Sacramento called Woodland,

Juan Pablo Cervantes: California.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: We grow a ton of tomatoes.

Scott Hammond: Woodland's cool.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Is there a In-N-Out Burger in Woodland as you're going north?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh, that's how, that's how we knew we made it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: When we got that In-N-Out and we got a Costco and…

Scott Hammond: And, and a Dutch Bros.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: We've had Dutch Bros. for a bit.

Scott Hammond: A long time, yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, we were early adopters with Dutch Bros. I think when I was in high school we got our first Dutch Bros., and that was a while

Juan Pablo Cervantes: ago.

Scott Hammond: So how was it growing up in Woodland, California?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: It was good. Small town-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … uh, but near big towns. You know, we were only like an hour and 45 from San

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Francisco, 20-minute drive to Sacramento, so you get all the benefits of growing up in a small

Juan Pablo Cervantes: town with-

Scott Hammond: Right

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … the perks of, uh, the big cities.

Scott Hammond: You got an IKEA in West, West Sacramento, which is kinda cool.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. I didn't get to go to my IKEA until, uh, later in life. Uh, I'm, uh, I'm the child of, uh, immigrants.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Uh, you know, folks that came up, uh, pretty poor, and so, uh, IKEA's a, a, a thing we think of as budget, but-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … our version of budget was secondhand stores.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: IKEA furniture isn't quite made up to snuff for secondhand stores.

Scott Hammond: That's that's a great c- connection. It, it never quite makes to secondhand store.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I know, nope.

Scott Hammond: We have a couple of IKEA. They, they have these poong chairs. We love 'em. They're, they're really cool, so, um, high school in Woodland, and then you graduated and went to college?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Uh, no, no, no, I went off into the world, uh, you know, explored things, uh, ended up in fine dining for a bit, and then I, uh, I realized that I, uh… That's a rough life

Scott Hammond: Oh, man.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Very hard on the body, uh, and so I, um, I came back home. I, uh, signed up for community college, and then I did that for a minute.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Um, that's kind of the entry into politics for me-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … was community college.

Scott Hammond: What's the JC over there?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Uh, Woodland Community College.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Part of the Yuba Community College District.

Scott Hammond: Ah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: So I was going to Yuba at the time, uh, as a non-traditional student-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … which is a fancy way of saying I had to have a full-time job while going to

Juan Pablo Cervantes: school.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I didn't… Yeah. Um, and so I'd, I'd go to campus, and it'd be 5:00 or 6:00 when I went to campus. It'd be later in the day.

Scott Hammond: Wow. Wow.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Around dinner time. In the course catalog it said that dining services would be provided when school was in session, and there wasn't any dining services. So I'd be, you know, I'd be in school for like three or four hours-

Scott Hammond: PowerBar

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … surviving on. No food. It was kind of a food desert in that there's like no food

Juan Pablo Cervantes: nearby.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: At community colleges they tend to build them out in the bo- boonies. And so I complained to a, a history professor at the time. David Rubiales was his name. Is his name. Um, and he said, "Do something about it. You know, the, the board of trustees meets in such and such place every Wednesday-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … from this time to that time. You should go do this thing called public comment." So I went, you know, I did my, my spiel, talked about how this was promised and-

Scott Hammond: There's no food here.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, there's no food here.

Scott Hammond: And I'm hungry right now.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, and you, you promised it, and you're expecting us to learn and, and do well in classes while we're hungry?

Scott Hammond: Ooh.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I'm not even wanting you to give me the food. I just want the opportunity to buy the food, you know?

Scott Hammond: That's irresistible argument.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, and, um, they, they, you know, treated me nicely, and then, uh, you know, I was on my way, and nothing changed.

Scott Hammond: Threw you a peanut butter sandwich and said-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Not even.

Scott Hammond: PowerBar, get out of here.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Right? And so I came back and I complained to the professor about it, and he was like, "Well, that's an elected position. You should, uh-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … and they're up for election, uh, next year. You should run."

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And so I ran for the board of trustees for my community college and won.

Scott Hammond: And won.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, and so, uh, to this day they have dining services when class is in session. I check-

Scott Hammond: That's cool

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … every once in a while.

Scott Hammond: You just-

Scott Hammond: … thought I'd trust and verify.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, and so that was, that was kinda the beginning. That's where I kinda started seeing, um, government as a thing that's not separate

Juan Pablo Cervantes: from us.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: We're government. You're government.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And, uh, if you figure out how to use the right magic words and, you know, sign the right magic documents, you can make things happen in the real world.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm, I like that-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … a lot. So in that inter- interim time, going back, so fine dining, did you travel the world? Did you go to Europe? What did you-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh, no, no, I, so I ended up, uh, you know, I, I, I worked my way up from like Denny's to, um, to El Tovar at the Grand Canyon. I don't know if you're familiar with that.

Scott Hammond: El Tovar.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, that's the big, uh-

Scott Hammond: It's on the rim?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, it's the big resort on the rim. That's, that's fine dining, you know?

Scott Hammond: That'd be pretty fun.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, and so I ended up there. I was there for a bit, and that's kinda where I, where I made that discovery of wanting to do something different-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … and something more. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So what, you just JC'd general ed?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: So JC with the idea that I was gonna be a psychologist at some point. I don't know where I got the idea that I wanted to be a psychologist, but I-

Scott Hammond: Aren't we, aren't we all?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, right. Uh, I've been decent with people my whole life, so I thought maybe

Juan Pablo Cervantes: that-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … that made sense.

Scott Hammond: Yes.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Um, and so I finished that. I got an internship with the Forest Service because that was the only internship I could finagle at that time, and that internship turned into a job.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And so the gap between community college and, uh, the CSU was a big one-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … 'cause I ended up working for the Forest Service doing, uh, GIS, so doing mapping and surveying-

Scott Hammond: Really?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … and, uh, dealing with deeds and easements and-

Scott Hammond: Oh, man.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: You're, you're serving me up my favorite joke. Are you ready?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh, let's hear it.

Scott Hammond: Did you ever hear the one about the cartographer that couldn't get a job 'cause he had no sense of Yuma?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Nice.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: That's a good one.

Scott Hammond: People scratch their head. They go, "Where's Yuma? What's, what's a Yuma?" Anyway, sorry, ba-dum-bump.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I like it. I like it.

Scott Hammond: So then you went to university after that?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, so I did that for a while, and, uh, this was, uh, let me remember. I wanna say this was 2011, 2012.It was right around, um,

Juan Pablo Cervantes: the, uh, state couldn't get a budget together. Or no, not the state, it was the-

Scott Hammond: Which-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … the federal budget-

Scott Hammond: Which-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … couldn't get a budget together

Scott Hammond: … which time?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And, uh, uh, you know, the, the 2010s-ish time, and, um, and the Forest Service had to do some layoffs, and my boss was like, "Look, I could fight for your job if you want me to, but, uh, you've been doing the school thing, and it sounds like maybe you should, you should go back to it. I'll, I'll keep you around if you really want me to, but, uh…"

Scott Hammond: Wow, that's kinda cool.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, and I was like, "Okay," I took the hint.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And so I ended up, uh, getting laid off, and then I went to s- to Cal Poly Humboldt.

Scott Hammond: Cal Poly Humboldt.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I came up, uh, I came up because it had a really good philosophy program, and I was starting to get into that.

Scott Hammond: Was Ellen Fletcher still there?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Mm-mm.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, he was there when I was at Humboldt State University.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Humboldt State.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: It was-

Scott Hammond: Did you go to the Beach Boys last weekend?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I didn't, no, it's-

Scott Hammond: Oh, it was killer. They were great

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … I don't have weekends.

Scott Hammond: Oh, they were so good.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Nice. Yeah, we're, we're in the, we're in the state of Wednesdays in election.

Scott Hammond: Oh, that's right.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Every day is Wednesday.

Scott Hammond: Every day is Wednesday.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: 'Cause it's the day after Tuesday.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And the day before Thursday.

Scott Hammond: So it's all crazy.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: It's all-

Scott Hammond: How, when does it get un-crazy, after… Hopefully, there's no re- re- recounts?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. It'll, it'll calm down maybe the Sunday after election day, and then it'll still get, keep going, but we probably won't have to work Sundays after that. We'll just be working Saturdays and the rest of the, the week.

Scott Hammond: Wow. That's hardcore.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: We're gonna get into all that. By the way, good timing being here, 'cause it's like, what is today, 24th

Scott Hammond: of October?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So we're t- we're a week, two weeks out.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. We have, uh-

Scott Hammond: Crazy

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … two, two, uh, vote centers opening on Saturday.

Scott Hammond: Wow. Oh, early.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Where are those?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Arcata, uh, at the Arcata Community Center.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And Fortuna, at Fortuna Vets.

Scott Hammond: Fortuna Vets? Oh, cool.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So what'd you study at Humboldt, before we move forward into voter world?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: So I started, uh, philosophy, psychology, and I finished with just a philosophy degree and a minor in, uh, psychology.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I had intro to philosophy at, and just did so poorly as a, as a- … 18-year-old. If you could believe it, I had really long hair down to my ankles.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh, I could see that.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, no, I was that guy in high school.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I could see that.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I was that, and then I got to Humboldt, and I, I just wasn't a public speaker. It's hard to believe, but I just couldn't debate and, and with the juniors and seniors, and they'd talk about Socrates and-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … and Aristotle, and it's like, I don't have any idea what I'm talking about.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh, as a, you know, and this is a dig more at myself than anybody that's currently a philosophy major, but you wanna talk to people that are pretentious in arguments, it's us, uh, undergraduate philosophy majors-

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … can come in hard.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Pretentious, great word.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Anyway, so hey, uh, it's voter season. Uh, tell us, tell us what you do, uh, nuts and bolts, prior to… And then we'll talk about election and, and kind of how that dynamic happens. But what's your job when it's, uh, I don't know, next March? What, what are you doing typically in terms of your, your

Scott Hammond: day-to-day?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: So historically, there'd be, there'd be no election next year. Uh, for the past three or four years, we've, we've always had an election that we're working towards or finishing up. Uh, whether those are special elections like, uh, Garberville Fire Protection District doing an annexation last

Juan Pablo Cervantes: year-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … uh, Salmon Creek Fire turning into, uh, a fire protection district, or the, um, the gubernatorial recall election, we've just had elections nonstop here for a minute. Otherwise, it's, it's gearing up for, you know, re- recalibrating and updating your processes, maintaining voter registration forms. Um, people think of an election as only happening over, like, two or three

Juan Pablo Cervantes: months.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: But it, you know, it takes place way before that when we're managing our voting

Juan Pablo Cervantes: rolls.

Scott Hammond: It's like the good parties.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, exactly.

Scott Hammond: It's-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I'm, I'm the biggest party planner in the county.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, gotta get the bands lined up.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Absolutely.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Candidate services is a big part of the job, too, and so prepping for that, and

Juan Pablo Cervantes: so…

Scott Hammond: What does that mean?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: So, uh, when you wanna run for office, have you thought about running for office?

Scott Hammond: I have never, nope.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: So maybe, maybe the future, you know.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: You'll come in my office and see firsthand.

Scott Hammond: Fifth district supervisor, Scott Hammond.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: There you go.

Scott Hammond: Watch out, Steve. I'm- … coming for you, Madrone.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Well, that's, that's, you know, that's, that's a step, for sure.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Um-

Scott Hammond: V- Yeah, no

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … a lot of paperwork associated with it, and so the goal in my office right now is to figure out how to make that more accessible to folks.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Um, our, our tagline is, "We'll be the bureaucrat so you don't have to be."

Scott Hammond: Nice. I like that. So on the off season, you're setting up, pre-setting up the party, and so for this election, what, what… How is this one different?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: It's, um-

Scott Hammond: It's a little different, I think, out there for some re- It's, I, I have the sense.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: They're all pretty different. So, um, with the primary, we're having to deal with the party primary.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: That was back in March, where, uh, every ballot has multiple versions of it because every party has their own component of the

Juan Pablo Cervantes: ballot.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: So it complicates things on that front. Uh, depending on what your party is, you get a different version of it. Um, during the general, um, it's a simpler process in terms of the creation of the ballot, but then you have additional races on there. Like, you've got your city council races. You've got your fire protection district school boards.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: On that-

Scott Hammond: MCST.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Whatever, McKinleyville.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Exactly.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, another, another thing you could run for.

Scott Hammond: I shouldn't say whatever, McKinleyville. We love McKinleyville. People go, "Do you live in McKinleyville?" No, I live in Dows Prairie.

Scott Hammond: Whatever.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh.

Scott Hammond: It's still McKinleyville.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Anyway.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Um-

Scott Hammond: They do a great job, by the way.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Uh-

Scott Hammond: MCST.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh, yeah, absolutely.

Scott Hammond: Those are great guys.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Huge, huge community service district. Like, the, their scope is incredible.

Scott Hammond: They're pretty big, right, for what they do?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Absolutely.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So, uh, what do you see coming up for this, uh,

Scott Hammond: not, not for

Scott Hammond: … Can you predict the election? Can, what do you see in terms of the process that's different for this one?

Scott Hammond: Is this-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: We're seeing incredible early voter turnout.

Scott Hammond: Oh, good, okay.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: It's just unprecedented. When I left my office this morning, we still had a lot of new ballots that we wereStarting to kind of

Juan Pablo Cervantes: intake.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And we were at about- … 12,000 ballots so far.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: You know, we have-

Scott Hammond: You don't count quite yet, right? You-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: We process, we do everything except the math.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: So we can check signatures, we can start scanning ballots, we can do everything except for hitting that equals sign, which we're, we're not able to do until after, after 8:00 PM on election night.

Scott Hammond: Wow, okay, so that's locked down till-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … that point.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So my ballot looks, um… I like my ballot this year, by the way. I wanted to compliment you.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Thank you.

Scott Hammond: Kind of simpler, easier to read. I didn't have to think deeply, and I could just check boxes and do my thing. So that all goes to y'all, and then you scan it?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, that's correct.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: We scan it. Uh, if it needs any kind of adjudication, if, uh, let's say you, uh, you mark two… You make a mistake on your vote by mail ballot, and you mark two boxes, one of them you wanted, the other one you didn't. So you circle the one you want, put an X across the one you didn't want, we'll adjudicate that, but there's, there's that kind of processing. If your signature doesn't match, we have to, we have to reach out to you and cure that as well.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: We do all that kind of stuff at this point.

Scott Hammond: So bigger, bigger national question, so all, all the, um, the doubt about, uh, counting and, and voting and, uh, the, all the, all the press for the last, what, uh, probably 50 years, but at least for the last eight, what, um… Is, is our voting system pretty solid

Scott Hammond: nationally?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, and I think it's, that's an empirical question, right?

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Like, that isn't a, a subjective-

Scott Hammond: It's a-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … one

Scott Hammond: … it's a philosophy major question.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Well, no, no.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I think that's, that's just a, a, a statistician. That's a, that's a common sense question. If you look at the data-

Scott Hammond: You could answer it, yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, if you look at where all the, all the court cases landed-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … you know, it's, it's a pretty solid system.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Um-

Scott Hammond: Joni said about 60 cases that were just dismissed, right?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That were challenged last time.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: It's incredible, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. The, um, the big question we're getting asked right now- … is related to non-citizens voting.

Scott Hammond: Oh, okay.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: People are, people are of the belief that a lot of non-citizens are voting-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … which is not the case.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Um- Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So I'm still getting, getting ballots for kids that have moved. So we, we have several children that are grown, adults, that are living in, in Medford. Um, I should probably let you know.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. Oh, that'd be great.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I'd appreciate that.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: It'd save me some money in sending them ballots-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … that they don't need.

Scott Hammond: I was gonna insert some humor here, but it wouldn't be that funny. So yeah, just to let you know.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. That's it. Uh, re- when they re-register, that's one of the mechanisms. If you get mail that doesn't belong to you-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … put, uh, you know, "Does not live here anymore" on it and stick it back in the

Juan Pablo Cervantes: mailbox.

Scott Hammond: I could do that.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: That'd be great.

Scott Hammond: That's pretty easily done.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Uh, when I hear stories like this, 9 times out of 10, that's kinda what's going

Juan Pablo Cervantes: on.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Scott Hammond: Makes sense.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: The other case is, uh, that they end up… that their kids re-register and use their residential address as their home address for-

Scott Hammond: Right

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … for, uh, vehicle registration reasons or, or-

Scott Hammond: Right

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … this or that.

Scott Hammond: In- insurance reasons.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I, I, I don't know about that. That's weird.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: That's a good… Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That happens?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So tell us about what you've accomplished in the office. Uh, you were elected when, and how much more time do you have?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: So I've got, uh, I'm in a four-year term.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I, I'm at a year and 10 months.

Scott Hammond: Say the title again. It's kinda long.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Clerk, Recorder, and Registrar of Voters.

Scott Hammond: Whoa.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. It's a, it's a very long title. It has, uh, two offices, physical offices.

Scott Hammond: Who, who pre- preceded you?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Um, Kelly Sanders was the Clerk, Recorder-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … Registrar before me.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And then Carolyn, Carolyn Cernich before her.

Scott Hammond: She'd been there a while, right?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Carolyn.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, absolutely.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I still call her. I still talk to her.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. But-

Scott Hammond: How long was she in the office?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I don't know. I mean-

Scott Hammond: Quite a while, right?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I don't know that off, off the top of my head.

Scott Hammond: I think she was there k- kind of le- legend-ish.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Absolutely. She was a, she was the clerk, uh, recorder p- prior to the offices being merged.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. So there was a bit there where we had kind of, like, an elections manager.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And then, then it, then it got merged with the clerk recorder's office around her time.

Scott Hammond: So what are some of your victories, some of your, your wins, some of the stuff that you've initiated and proud of, uh, since you've been, been there?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I think outreach is the biggest thing. I think, um, we've always been a solid office when it comes to process. You know, we have incredible security. We have great controls. Um, we're, we're diligent about all of that. We get the job done really well, but we haven't had, uh, a presence outside of our doors-

Scott Hammond: Ah

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … you know, other than polling places.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And so under my… I think under, under me, um, we've done way more outreach. Y- wherever… We're meeting you where you're at, whether that's at the county fair-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … Sovereign Days in Hoopa, um, WEOT Day. Um, just anywhere, anywhere that, that there is outreach to be done, we're there. Um, you're gonna start seeing advertisements on Instagram and Facebook telling you to-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … register and vote and where you can do that.

Scott Hammond: Mar- marketing budget, way to go.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: All that kind of stuff is, is kind of my deal.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Uh-

Scott Hammond: Nice

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … earned media is another thing that I've been pretty-

Scott Hammond: What's that?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … keen on about. This is earned media.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And so this is where I get to talk to a bunch of people without paying you any advertising dollars, and-

Scott Hammond: I haven't seen any money from you. Not a penny. Nick, have you seen any money? No. He's saying no.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: But that's the idea, the idea that, uh, that, uh, I'll do interviews with anybody that'll have me so I can talk about elections.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Uh, the biggest gap we have in California isn't voter registration. Uh, everyone talks about registering people to vote, and that's the big goal that people have when it comes to elections.

Scott Hammond: What's the gap?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: 10%, less than 10%. If you look at census data, for citizens 18 and over in Humboldt County-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … our gap is about 10%.

Scott Hammond: The gap for what?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: For registering folks to vote. So about 10% of people that would be eligible to register are not

Juan Pablo Cervantes: eligible.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: 10%, that's a tiny gap. That's a difficult gap to overcome. That is very high-hanging fruit. And so, uh, but when you look at, um, voter turnout data, it's a very different picture. We had less than 50% of registered voters vote in the primary.

Scott Hammond: So that's terrible.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: That's absolutely terrible.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And we're working on that by making it more accessible. We mail everyone that's registered to vote-Actively a ballot

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Juan Pablo Cervantes: You can go to any vote center across the county and vote for multiple days. Um, and so the next, like, the biggest issue, the biggest barrier for voters is not knowing, not knowing. Um, and so whether it's the issues or how to vote or what the process is, shows like yours, you know, any, any interview show that, that, that I'm able to do, that starts bridging that gap.

Scott Hammond: Like it.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So you have to be a good communicator.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: That's the goal, you know?

Scott Hammond: At least.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: An okay enough one.

Scott Hammond: Okay enough. Steve Martin had a line, "Some people have a way with words, and others no

Scott Hammond: have way."

Juan Pablo Cervantes: No have way.

Scott Hammond: That's, that's an old movie line from somewhere. Uh, any awards or recognitions that innovative approaches to voter registration? You just covered that. So, so getting people registered is one thing. Getting them to turn out, turns out, is a whole other-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: That's the project we're undertaking.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And so one of the ways, like I said, is just getting out in front of folks and getting people used to us so that they have a relationship with the office beyond just go register and vote. The other is, um, when, um, when your neighbor runs for office, you suddenly become interested in what's going on. If you have a cousin-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … a nephew, a dad, somebody that's running, like, all of a sudden it matters to you. And, uh, in our county, we have over, uh, 90 special districts.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: These are special districts that keep, keep things going in rural Humboldt. Everything from school districts, fire protection districts, uh, water districts. The basic, you know, elements of a civilization are run by these volunteers.

Scott Hammond: That's a lot.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: It's tough to fill these boards, too.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Very important boards, and so we're doing more outreach in terms of letting folks know what they do and how to get involved.

Scott Hammond: Is that a school board, too? Or that's-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, all those boards.

Scott Hammond: You count, you count all those boards?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, volunteer boards.

Scott Hammond: Manila-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … water board, whatever.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Absolutely. Peninsula, Peninsula Community Service District.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: You know?

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So you get out there, you must meet a lot of people.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, that's the, the, that's the goal, yeah.

Scott Hammond: What do you like about that part?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Um, that's an interesting question. I mean, I love talking about elections.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: That's probably obvious at this point, and so it's an opportunity to do so.

Scott Hammond: Hasn't come up yet.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. Um, just the whole enfranchment- enfranchisement process. It was such a big deal for me to have that door opened and to

Juan Pablo Cervantes: see how, how connected we are as, as citizens to the government that works around us. It took that curtain down, and so that was huge for me.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Very empowering.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And so to be able to, to start somebody else down that path is-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … is rewarding.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, it's funny, just you mentioning, "Hey, what are you… Why don't you run for something?" I'm going, "No, I could never do that. That's terrible." I, I… It's not terrible, I'm just, I don't feel like I'd be worthy or what, whatever, that I could make a difference, and yet, yeah, it turns out.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And, and the possibility of running, winning. I mean, look at all the guys running for city council.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Eureka and elsewhere.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. I, uh, I love Kim. I think she's doing a great job.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: She ran unopposed.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: The mayor of the biggest city in our county, uh, ran unopposed. That's just amazing to me.

Scott Hammond: Go figure, yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: So Scott Hammond for mayor, is that, is that happening? I guess McKinleyville. You live in McKinleyville.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: So that's gonna be tough.

Scott Hammond: We're not incorporated quite yet.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, you got a whole big step before you can run for mayor of McKinleyville.

Scott Hammond: MCST, here we come.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. There you go.

Scott Hammond: With my friend Scott, Scott Bender.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Oh, they're, they're great guys. They're so cool. So, uh, let's talk about you and Humboldt for a minute. What do you, what do you like about living here?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Um, so l- let me tell you how I stayed.

Scott Hammond: Please.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: You know, there's so many of us Cal Poly folks that swing by and then, and then peace out.

Scott Hammond: And gone.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, so I, I came, uh, I came to school, I met a girl, and this is home, is, is, is the, the short, the short answer.

Scott Hammond: But that was, that was your girl at, uh, Dick Taylor.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, yeah, yeah, my wife now.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Okay. We should tell that story.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, yeah. So, um-

Scott Hammond: But, uh, go ahead with your story, then we'll talk about…

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh, they're connected, you know? Uh, l- the life that I have with my wife is, is the best part about Humboldt County, whether that's walking the McKay Track-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … you know, doing some of the outdoor hiking, all of the community-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … that's in Humboldt County. Like, it is unlike any other place I've lived.

Scott Hammond: I understand you're a weightlifter.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, I, I, I-

Scott Hammond: You really pump the iron

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … I've been known to, to pump the iron. I've, I've been slack lately with the election going on.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: But I've, I've been known to lift heavy things and set them down.

Scott Hammond: Get back in the gym, man. What are you doing?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I, I gotta. I gotta.

Scott Hammond: There goes all the gains.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: You're right. They're gone. They're gone. Do I even lift?

Scott Hammond: The ga- The gains are gone.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I only know that 'cause my son's a lifter.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Nice.

Scott Hammond: Actually, Joni's starting to lift a lot.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh, yeah? You gotta, you gotta, you gotta stay with it.

Scott Hammond: She's getting some gains, too.

Scott Hammond: Hi, hi, hon.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Um, so how long have you guys been married?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Uh, we got married a year and some change ago. July 1st of… Not, not this July 1st.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: The year before that.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. You're supposed to know that right off the bat, by the way. Just a little quicker next time.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Time dilates-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … during elections.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: It's, it's like the time warp.

Scott Hammond: It dilates.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I like that. I like that. I, I heard a good term yesterday. It was, we were in a, a, a home group and they said, uh, this guy had invasive energy.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Invasive energy.

Scott Hammond: This person was just at me all the time with this invasive energy. I go, "That describes something."

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Mm.

Scott Hammond: Not necessarily related to any of this, but I thought there's a term that is really good, so.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: It's like the Mike Tyson of talking.

Scott Hammond: Right. Just like, in your, in your…

Scott Hammond: So invasive.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So, uh, we met you guys at Dick Taylor. We were having, um, what was it? S'more night.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: S'more night, yeah. It was great.

Scott Hammond: It was really good. It was really, uh, quite humorous. Nick, you should have seen this. So you actually get to play with fire.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So describe it.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Very hot fire. These were… I don't remember. Do, do you know what those things were called?

Scott Hammond: The, uh, marshmallows?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: No, the, um, the little, like, there were these little vats of some kind of

Juan Pablo Cervantes: green paste.

Scott Hammond: Oh, the Sterno. Are those Sterno, Sterno, uh, little cups?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, these Sterno cups that created really, really hot flames. Like, this wasn't a candle-

Scott Hammond: Dude

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … in front of you. Like-

Scott Hammond: They get hot

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … I think all of us had some hair singed off of our arms.

Scott Hammond: It's a little bit scary.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. And so, but amazing chocolate, and then incredible, like, homemade marshmallows. And-

Scott Hammond: Oh, man

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … we had a table of four or five of us, six of us.

Scott Hammond: And the, and the graham cracker was, you know, th- these guys don't do anything

Scott Hammond: half way.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: No, no.

Scott Hammond: It's like, it was all gourmet.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh, absolutely. Really delicious.

Scott Hammond: Fine, fine dining.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Great company.

Scott Hammond: Great company. That was fun to get to know you guys.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And so it's f- it's funny because you'll attest to this 'cause you have a longer beard than I, but I remember you g- like as soon as you get into the marshmallow, I mean, a campfire's hard enough.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And those are contained, but this is like really sugary, like good marshmallows.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: And it became like liquid goo. It's… Here we, here we go with like green whatever that stuff is that kids play

Scott Hammond: with.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. It was a… Yeah, I, I was very careful about that experience. I waited until I saw how everyone went about it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: By the time I toasted my marshmallows-

Scott Hammond: You still-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … cut them in half.

Scott Hammond: And you still made a mess.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh, yeah, we all did.

Scott Hammond: Part of the fun.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Delicious though. Delicious-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … marshmallows.

Scott Hammond: Those guys do a great job.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Anyway, hi, Dustin. Hi, Adam. Um, so tell me, tell me more about what you like about Humboldt. So you liked meeting your w- you love your wife-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … being here.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: We came up, the community. So we, we came up, uh… We both came up for school.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: She's from Anaheim. I'm from, from Woodland, like I said.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Um, she was, uh, studying environmental, uh, science and planning and, uh, I was studying philosophy. I, I went the student government route, so I was doing a lot of student advocacy at the time. She was doing some advocacy around, um, you know, um, climate change and, you know, becoming more, more environmentally sound as a university. And so we met as kind of two, two folks trying to make the world a better

Juan Pablo Cervantes: place.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So it should be.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Which… So you're an… Is it AS, associated student, or-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I was, I was the AS president.

Scott Hammond: Yes, you were.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Unforgettable.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Was it a good year? W- is it a one-year term?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: It's a one-year term. It's a very long year though. It's a very long year.

Scott Hammond: It's a lot of meetings?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: It's a lot of meetings. Um, it's a ton of meetings. So in, uh, in California, we have this thing called shared governance, uh, when it comes to the CSU and the UC. That means that, uh, students take an active role in the administration of their university.

Scott Hammond: Oh, right.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And I took that-

Scott Hammond: You have a seat

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … seriously.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, and so a seat at the table just like the unions do, an equal seat.

Scott Hammond: This is Tom Jackson or with the other, the woman before.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Uh, the, um… I'm trying to remember her name now. President, uh-

Scott Hammond: She, she-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Let me-

Scott Hammond: … lost the football team, folks

Juan Pablo Cervantes: She did. She did.

Scott Hammond: And KHSU.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And KHSU. But it was-

Scott Hammond: But we love her

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … Pre Jackson. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: But we still love her.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Um, but yeah, so it was under her. Um, yeah, it was a long year. So part of that shared governance means, uh, you have to get students to sign up for committees 'cause there's a lot of committees at a uni- at a university.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And-

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … I was unwilling for our voice not to be heard, so, uh, I got a degree in philosophy but an education in, uh, public administration-

Scott Hammond: I bet

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … because any, any committee that I didn't fill, I went to that committee meeting.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Oh, that's gotta be a lot.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: It was an obs- You should have seen my calendar. It was insane.

Scott Hammond: Were you married then?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: No.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: No, no. I just got married a year and a half ago.

Scott Hammond: That's right. Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And you're only, like, 29.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, fre-

Scott Hammond: Or 30.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Got it. So what do you do for fun when you're not doing, uh, uh, your day job?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I like cooking. Uh, I'm, I'm a bit of a foodie.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I, I read a lot. I'm a voracious reader. Uh, video games, I'm a fan of the video games.

Scott Hammond: Really?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And then lifting.

Scott Hammond: You're a gamer.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And a lifter.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: What are you reading now?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Uh, right now I'm reading The Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson.

Scott Hammond: Fiction?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Uh, yeah, science fiction.

Scott Hammond: Gotcha.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. During, uh, during the election I need something, a palate cleanser for a, for a tough day.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: A good chill out and t- t- take a breath.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Other… Yeah, otherwise, I'm pretty into biographies.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Cool.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Ron Chernow, I think I've read all of his stuff.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Who's he, uh-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: You know the big, uh, Hamilton musical?

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Uh, based off his book.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And so he's done a v- a lot of really good intense biographies.

Scott Hammond: Oh, wow. Okay.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I, I highly recommend.

Scott Hammond: Cool.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. I think the last one of those I read was on, um, on the, uh, the house of, uh, Morgan.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: So, uh-

Scott Hammond: JP Morgan?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, the JP Morgan-

Scott Hammond: Oh

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … uh, biography, which is pretty good.

Scott Hammond: I bet that's rad.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: It's interesting, yeah, seeing the other side.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: It's-

Scott Hammond: Andrew, Andrew Carneg- Car- Andrew Carnegie

Scott Hammond: or Carnegie.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: He's interesting. He was an interesting dude.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh, all those people at the time.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: The, the new money of the time.

Scott Hammond: He almost died. He was very close to death at 53-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh, interesting

Scott Hammond: … and made it to 98.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: 98.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, he has, he had this painful condition, and he got healed up, and he, he made it and kept going and then gave it all, g- gave a lot of it away.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, we got one of the libraries here in Eureka.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh. Love that. It's amazing. Saw one in Bryan, Texas. It was really… He's, he built like 2,000 of them.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, they're all over the place.

Scott Hammond: They're in little towns all over America.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: They're, and they're all really kinda cool architecture.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And some are restored,

Scott Hammond: like ours.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: All right. I, I… So tell us a little bit more about, um… I don't know. What would you like to talk about?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Um, ooh, that's a good question.

Scott Hammond: I've never actually asked that question.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I… What are you passionate about?

Scott Hammond: I guess-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Let's talk about food. What's y- what's your, what's the favorite meal you've ever

Juan Pablo Cervantes: had?

Scott Hammond: Oh, boy. Um, I had a steak that was this thick with my friend David Litman, who was the publisher of the Time-Standard, and he, he retired out at the North Coast Co-op. We went to Chicago for a conference, and we had a two-inch steak served by older gentlemen with, with, uh, wa… It was a authentic Chicago steakhouse.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Wow.

Scott Hammond: And it was probably the best cut of meat I've ever had.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Everyone I've ever asked that question to-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … has always responded with food being about 15 to 20% of the answer and the people they were with being the other part.

Scott Hammond: Good one. Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: The other was, uh, yeah, probably any time at Larrapin.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Larrapin's great.

Scott Hammond: It's pretty good.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: What do you order?

Scott Hammond: Uh, good question. I will, um… The filet's really good. The, uh, the f- the fish is… There's not a bad order on the menu, but the fish is really good. I like that. What do you order?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I'm a brisket guy.

Scott Hammond: You're a brisket-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: You gotta get the brisket-

Scott Hammond: Brisket's good

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … at Larrapin.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Or at least the half and half.

Scott Hammond: I like sitting… Yeah, the half and half's the way to go-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … 'cause you get a little variety.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And you get to sit outside.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: See, Paul? Free advertising.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: There you go.

Scott Hammond: What'd you call it when, when you come on and it's f-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Earned media. So it wouldn't be earned media for him. He's just lucky that we're, we're, we're shilling his spot.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So what do you… Uh, generally, what do you see from where you sit? What are our issues and challenges, uh, currently and upcoming? What do you, what do you read as you look at that, uh-…

Scott Hammond: horizon.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I think there's like a disconnect that I'm seeing more and more where folks feel alienated from, from the structures in their life, basically, whether that's, uh, government is the one that I mostly interact with. People think that there's this big curtain. Uh, I regularly answer the phones in the office. Uh, I respond to just about any query directed at me.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And it just shocks people.

Scott Hammond: What, it's you?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Like, oh, I, I, I thought I was-

Scott Hammond: Kim does the same thing

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … gonna get a voicemail. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Kim gives out her cell phone.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Are you gonna give out your cell phone?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I, I don't, I don't, I've, I'll give out-

Scott Hammond: Maybe not

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … my, my, my county cell phone.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I'm, I'm very, um, I'm very popular when it comes to record requests.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: So you probably don't wanna, you don't wanna be texting me 'cause-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … 'cause those are all gonna go into a record request at some point or another.

Scott Hammond: Gotcha.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: No, you have to.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Cool.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: But I think that's it, I think the disconnect. I think, um, people are, are more and more disconnected from, from their civics classes, that, that, uh, civics is, is a thing that you're told from like an opp perspective, from, uh, you know, "You should do this. This is your civic responsibility," and it's not talked about from the, uh, from the empowering perspective, that this isn't just your responsibility, but it's your right, and, and you have-

Scott Hammond: And maybe it's fun.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, it, it absolutely is.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Once you get into it. I mean, it's like, so I'm not a, I'm not a sports guy.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: My, my father-in-law is a huge football fan.

Scott Hammond: Who does he like?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Um, I think he's a Bears guy.

Scott Hammond: Oh. He likes the Bears.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. He's from Illinois, so.

Scott Hammond: There you go.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. Um, but, uh, to hear him talk about football is, uh, is probably what I imagine he feels like when I talk about

Juan Pablo Cervantes: elections.

Scott Hammond: Ah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: It's like a bunch of dates and numbers and, uh, rules and, you know, changing of some rules-

Scott Hammond: Right

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … and how, like, that's changed the game, and, you know, the strategy shifts because of this and that. But to hear him talk about football, I'm like, "Oh, I get

Juan Pablo Cervantes: it."

Scott Hammond: Gotcha.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: But just like football, as soon as you start getting familiar with how, how government works-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … it opens up this… It, it, it makes sense, and you can kinda interface with it and engage with it better.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I, I think I, I share the ambivalence you're talking about, and that is, "Let those guys do it. Let 'em handle it," and then I'll complain really bitterly- … and I'll go on Loco and really troll it up and say something really nasty. Not, not that I would do that.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: What's your name?

Scott Hammond: Huh?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Do you have one of those, like, pseudonyms?

Scott Hammond: No, I don't ever do that. I, I really judge those guys, though.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh, yeah?

Scott Hammond: I, I really do hate you In, in all due respect and love.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Maybe.

Scott Hammond: Uh, but yeah, I, I feel like they're cowardly chickens who are, uh, uh, you know, shouldn't be able to do that, but that's, that's Loco. Anyway, hi, Patrick.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: That's, that's just what somebody would say if they had a pseudonym, right?

Scott Hammond: Very good.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: That's how you get your cover going.

Scott Hammond: He's on me, man. He's on to me. What'd I do? Hey, this is the great part of the show. The bell rings, and it's time for the quiz.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Will you earn a Dick Taylor chocolate bar?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Ooh.

Scott Hammond: Oh, from Brazil.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Ooh.

Scott Hammond: Or Brazil.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: That looks delicious.

Scott Hammond: This is a good one.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Ooh.

Scott Hammond: Dick Taylor Chocolates, located somewhere over there on my map in Eureka.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Question number one, Juan Pablo Cervantes, you are given a whole day off to do whatever the heck you wanna do with, with your wife. What are you gonna do in Humboldt?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Well, if it's up to her, it's probably gonna be some kind of home project.

Scott Hammond: Okay. Okay. That's-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Uh, there's gonna be some gardening, some tools involved, some- something that I've been saying that I'll get around to doing. If it's up to me, we're definitely eating out. Um, we're probably gonna go to the movies.

Scott Hammond: Fun.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And then other than that, we're gonna do as little as possible.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: What's your favorite movie?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh, that's a tough one. Um, yeah, that's a really difficult-

Scott Hammond: Maybe a couple.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: A couple? Uh-

Scott Hammond: S- are they sci-fi?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: No, I mean, they, they, they're, they're a pretty broad range.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Um, yeah, I'm trying to, I'm trying to think of what first comes to mind. I've been really into, um, like, older Japanese movies.

Scott Hammond: Really?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: So there's a, there's this guy named, uh, Matsumoto-

Scott Hammond: Yeah, he's famous

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … Musashi.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Famous swordsman, and so he's got a, he's got a series, uh, that, uh, it's like a three-part, uh, movie series about him that I saw on HBO, and so that one's, that one's on my mind. Um, love the classics, The Godfather, you know, regularly

Juan Pablo Cervantes: quote-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … The Godfather.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: The strategy of Mario Puzo is, like-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … yeah, you could apply it to day-to-day life.

Scott Hammond: Was there three Godfather movies?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: There was two. I don't know about this third movie.

Scott Hammond: I thought th- I wonder if they made a third.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I mean, there's, there's this, some- something attributed to Sofia Coppola, but we don't talk about that one.

Scott Hammond: We don't, that doesn't count, yeah. Gotcha. It's hard to get the trifecta in-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh, absolutely

Scott Hammond: … Hollywood. I mean, I, I always thought, you know, Lord of the Rings

Scott Hammond: maybe. Um, The Matrix didn't quite do three good ones.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I mean, you have, like, the Lord of the Rings did it really well. You had, uh, Back to the Future did a, an amazing trifecta.

Scott Hammond: They're pretty good, all three, yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Batman, you know, was pretty good.

Scott Hammond: Okay, three Batman.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Same Batman with, um…

Juan Pablo Cervantes: With, uh…

Scott Hammond: Bruce Wayne.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, with Bruce Wayne in it.

Scott Hammond: Bruce Wayne was in Batman. It's amazing.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Uh, what are some other good trilogies?

Scott Hammond: That's a great-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Star Wars. Star Wars is-

Scott Hammond: Star Wars had three

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … like, essential trilogy.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I like that. I think there's another one.

Scott Hammond: Um, uh, anyway, get started on that. So free day, you're going to the movies.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Going to the movies.

Scott Hammond: On a deuce.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Eating some food and then not doing much, reading a bunch.

Scott Hammond: Second question.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah?

Scott Hammond: Number two, should you choose to answer this question. Uh, so where do you guys go out, if you could go out anywhere? Hey, here's 200 bucks. Just go knock yourself out. What are you having? Where are you eating?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: So it used to be Tavern. I li- I liked Tavern a lot, but that, that sadly went away

Juan Pablo Cervantes: in Eureka.

Scott Hammond: That's gone, right?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, it's gone.

Scott Hammond: What was, where was that?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: That was over at the old Eagle House Inn-

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … in Old Town.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, and so now, um, it's like-

Scott Hammond: Is that Fatty Klein's now? Or-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Uh, it, it was alongside Fatty Klein's, I think by the same owners.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: But the restaurant, the, the more restaurant-y version of that-

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … went away. I think, um-Salt probably in Arcata

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh, no, no. I got this.

Scott Hammond: Oh, wait.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Sushi Spot.

Scott Hammond: Oh, really?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Sushi Spot.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. Sushi Spot, easy.

Scott Hammond: Eric's gonna love that.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, loves Sushi Spot.

Scott Hammond: Which one?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Uh, I like the one by my office. I, uh… They may or may not know my name by this point.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: So the one, uh, in Eureka.

Scott Hammond: Has the outdoor seating.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, but I like sitting at the bar.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: That's why I always sit at the bar. But yeah, Sushi Spot easily. I've probably been there-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … this election cycle 10, 15 times.

Scott Hammond: And it's good for you.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. It feels good for you. I don't know if it is, but it, it feels good.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, no, it sits well. I mean-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … you can metabolize and be hungry by dinner.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. I think, uh, I'm- I'm single-handedly responsible for my wife's aversion

Juan Pablo Cervantes: to sushi-

Scott Hammond: Really?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … at the moment-

Scott Hammond: Because-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … just 'cause I kept, I kept wanting to go back.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I think the… There was a couple weeks there where we went three or four times.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, yeah. He's got three restaurants? He's got Arcata and McKinleyville too, right?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Uh, I think so.

Scott Hammond: I think, I think so.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I've been to the McKinleyville one, and I've been to the Eureka one.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: But I didn't know about the Arcata one.

Scott Hammond: Eric's a cool guy.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. They… Good, good owners. They're solid.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: All right, question three. So you have to do something outdoor. Where do you go? How do… Where do you go outside to play in Humboldt?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh, okay. That's a good question.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Um, let's see. I think the McKay Track, I think, is our first go. We have a, we have a dog. We're, we're dog people, and so the McKay Track is just such a great place to, to walk your dog.

Scott Hammond: How far is it? It is… The tr- the trail goes away, is that right?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: It expands. It's as far as you want it to be because it, it does go away. You can definitely-

Scott Hammond: It winds up in Redding.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. It feels that way.

Scott Hammond: Red Bluff.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. You, you end up out in Kutten, I think, at, at certain parts of it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, it cuts back into Kutten, right?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. Either that or the, uh, the, uh, Elk River Trail is another one that we really like.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: All right. When you say that, do you mean the one up to the big, the, the tall

Scott Hammond: trees?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. The old-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: The, past the bridge

Scott Hammond: … the old growth.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Past the bridge.

Scott Hammond: That's a cool trail.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, it's a nice all-day thing. You really definitely earn that sushi after that.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, that's a sushi earner.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: We did six miles up by Redwood Creek on Saturday, and it was like, I felt really good, you know? First of all, I, I did it. Second of all, I was hungry.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Okay.

Scott Hammond: And I felt like, "Hey, I can get out of control now."

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: You know, a little bit.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: You get that serotonin going from the exercise.

Scott Hammond: Oh, it's great.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: You get to be in nature, breathe that-

Scott Hammond: My wife-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … that tree air.

Scott Hammond: My wife was so proud of me. "Oh, honey, you're so, you're so amazing."

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: "Wait a minute. You could do 10 and 15 miles. I did six." So look at me go.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Right.

Scott Hammond: Wow, okay. Another question. Cup of coffee, where do you go?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I don't drink coffee.

Scott Hammond: Cup of something.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, I don't drink coffee. Um, our, our office goes to Jitter Bean a lot, though. I buy a lot of coffee for my staff.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I just-

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Do you drink tea or-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh, I-

Scott Hammond: … cocoa?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Diet soda.

Scott Hammond: Beers?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: It's terrible. I'm a diet soda-

Scott Hammond: You're a d- Oh, the… Put that poison in your body.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I'm a Diet Coke guy, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Diet Coke.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. That's got a lot of good stuff in it.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh, I'm sure. Yeah. Look, you can tell by the color.

Scott Hammond: Diet Coke. Breakfast of champions.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Jodi's father would come up from LA, and he, she'd always get him a six-pack of Coke 'cause the guy would just… And then he'd get on me. He goes, "What are you doing drinking that Starbucks? Are, are you putting that stuff in your body?" I go, "Come on, Tom." Look at you, Mr. Coke. Anyway. Those, those LA guys, I don't know.

Scott Hammond: Anyway.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So, uh, what do you, uh, what, what do you envision for Humboldt County going forward? Uh, with regard to the, the county at large, what kind of a future would you like to see, uh, as that relates to the, to the office? Are you… Is there a future pr- I don't know, new gizmo software? Is there something cool that we're gonna get for,

Scott Hammond: uh-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: So my dream?

Scott Hammond: Y- Give us your dream

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … dream. Uh, this is my goal. I was hoping to get it done in four years. I might need to ask folks to vote for me again so that I get-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … four more years to do it, but-

Scott Hammond: When is that election? Two years?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, 2026 is when I'm up for re-

Scott Hammond: You get the year off next year. You can just play.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, right.

Scott Hammond: You can watch movies all day. Read biographies.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Right. Yeah. Um, but the dream is, uh, a clerk recorder, uh, registrar vehicle. Like, I want, I want, like, a, a voting taco truck.

Scott Hammond: Oh, that'd be cool. Like a wrapped, big old thing?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: A big old, like, RV-like thing that I could deploy as a vote

Juan Pablo Cervantes: center.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And, you know, you can go there and get copies of your birth certificate, death

Juan Pablo Cervantes: certificate.

Scott Hammond: Is there such thing in, in the universe?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: There is. There is.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: It's finding the funding for it. That's my goal for next-

Scott Hammond: What does that cost?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I don't know. So I've seen a couple of different versions of it. I've seen some that cost a couple hundred grand that I think we can make happen relatively easily, and then I've seen some that are upwards of half a mil, almost a mil, and that's, like, full on. I… The dream is that

Juan Pablo Cervantes: for the 2028 presidential election cycle-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … one of my vote centers starts kind of like a procession around the entire county, so, uh, locations that haven't had a, a polling place in a while get one for a day.

Scott Hammond: Eddersberg.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. Shelter Cove.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Uh, Weott, Orick, um, just Orleans. Like, the whole-

Scott Hammond: 'Cause there's so much-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … the whole gamut

Scott Hammond: … remote stuff.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. And so-

Scott Hammond: So have you, have you had a chance to go to all those communities?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I have, yeah. Yeah, I've made it a point to.

Scott Hammond: Good for you.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. I've, I've, I've made it throughout the entirety of the county. You know, Blocksburg was my last, my last thing on my list, and I, I was able to make it out this summer.

Scott Hammond: How have you found the people in those places?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh, incredibly hospitable. Like, I-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … every, every space that I've encountered in Humboldt County, I've been amazed. Uh, the trick is to-

Scott Hammond: Right

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … is to get invited.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: The trick is, especially in some of our more rural parts, is, is making sure you go where folks are gathering-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … not necessarily where they live.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Right.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: You know, there's a lot of doors out there you don't wanna be knocking on-

Scott Hammond: Right

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … 'cause they don't want you knocking on them.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. It's just Humboldt.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It would be unwise.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.Like I said, I, I, I'm from a, a rural town, uh, and so I, I get that. And so you don't, you don't live outside of a city because you wanna, you wanna be pestered.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Oh, come and solicit my door.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, basically. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It's a long driveway.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: One of the things I did after college was, uh, as a philosophy major, you know, you have so many job prospects, and so I had to pick- … one of the many job prospects I had, which was the, uh, the postal service. So I was a mail carrier.

Scott Hammond: Oh, really?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: A rural mail carrier.

Scott Hammond: Where was that?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: In Woodland.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. And so I went back home for a bit, was there for about a year, year and some change. Uh, and, uh…

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, I got to first-hand experience how some folks really don't want government vehicles, uh-

Scott Hammond: Anywhere

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … driving around.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. They say that's true, especially, uh, um, east of Laytonville, they called it, uh, the Black Triangle or something. It had a name.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It's like, it's like no law, outlaw, wild, wild west.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I wonder how much-

Scott Hammond: Crazy stuff

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … that's changed with, uh, cannabis legalization.

Scott Hammond: Hard to say.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, 'cause that was like, that was our whole deal, right? We were just so far away and so remote that it-

Scott Hammond: Right

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … made growing easier. But now that you can grow it off I-5.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Good point. Yeah, you see it a lot in Oregon too, where we have kids. But, so let's talk about cannabis for a minute. Does that relate to voting in any way?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Well, we had a, a cannabis ordinance last election cycle that, that failed.

Scott Hammond: It did fail, right?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: But other than that, there's not much intersection other than, I mean, the, the biggest intersection is one that you're gonna hear from any other county department head is, uh, our tax dollar's decreasing sharply-

Scott Hammond: That's-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … and having to deal with the budget deficit.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. On account of cannabis?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Well, I mean-

Scott Hammond: That's-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … you see it, you see it track though, right?

Scott Hammond: It's a piece of it, right?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. If you look at the data, the amount of cannabis, uh, tax dollars that we received perfectly fits the hole in the budget, you know?

Scott Hammond: That's interesting.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So we could attribute it mostly to that.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Um, it's hard to attribute it mostly to anything. I mean, the, the state as a whole is facing, you know, an potential

Juan Pablo Cervantes: recession.

Scott Hammond: We know that that industry cratered a lot though, right, in the last five years.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh, absolutely. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And we see it in other, you know, sales, sales tax issues. So even if we didn't tax the, uh, the black market stuff, uh, those dollars got spent in the community.

Scott Hammond: I really haven't asked anybody, what, in your opinion, what pr- as a private

Scott Hammond: citizen, uh, one, what do you think is the reason that marijuana has cratered here or elsewhere in the state?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: As a citizen, a very uninformed citizen- … very ignorant citizen when it comes to those market forces-

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … uh, it's a supply and demand thing, right? You know, it used to be something that was hard to grow in public, and so you had to do it somewhere hidden away, like Humboldt County, and now it's something you can grow just about anywhere in the

Juan Pablo Cervantes: state. And so you'd end up in a situation where every mar-

Scott Hammond: Everybody's got weed.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. Well, and it's not just that, but the market forces are such that you'd want to increase profit, so you can grow as much weed as possible with the smallest dollar amount associated with it.

Scott Hammond: Right. Right.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. You industrialize cannabis is kind of what ended up happening.

Scott Hammond: Right. Yeah, see that a lot. I saw a dispensary go out, and there's a new one going, right, the same spot-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … downtown Eureka.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Well, and then, and the other part is, uh, it's regulated. It's regulated as if it was still this-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … high-earning, you know, black market thing, but it's sold as a commodity.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And so, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Interesting, yeah, the, the market forces and… I don't know if it created that much more demand when it was legal.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, I can't imagine. Oh, I don't know.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I have a 20-year-old that likes to smoke it now, so there's some demand.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. It didn't before it was legalized? Of course not, right?

Scott Hammond: Never, no.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Very, very upstanding.

Scott Hammond: No, it was… When, when it's naughty, you always avoid it.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Yeah, every time. So, uh, wrap- wrapping up here, any parting shots, anything you'd like to, uh, talk about, uh, that we

Scott Hammond: missed?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Um, no. No, I really appreciate what you do. Like I said, uh, getting connected, uh, having that, that, uh, that, that disconnect from, from folks and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … the world they live around and their community is kind of, I think, our greatest malaise as a-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … as a society, and the work you're doing is, is trying to mend that. And so I appreciate it.

Scott Hammond: I'm gonna go home and get behind the TV and just veg out and forget about

Scott Hammond: people.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Nice. Disassociate.

Scott Hammond: So-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Right?

Scott Hammond: Yeah, disassociate. So let's, really quick, what, what could we do to do that different? Maybe run, run for office or join-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … a committee or-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Absolutely. If you think-

Scott Hammond: Join a board

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … if you think things should be done differently, don't just, uh, don't just go and complain, but start showing up to meetings. And I know it's tough. I, I absolutely know it's tough, you know, making rent and putting food on the table and then adding something on top of that. But it makes a difference. It makes a huge difference if, uh… One thing I heard, uh, in listening to your previous guests is just how, how much change a person can make by just participating.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Yeah, they can be changed, and they can make change.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And it used to be we'd all go to church about three times a week. Now you can go to meetings.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: There you go.

Scott Hammond: Your other, the other meetings.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And most of them you can even do from home.

Scott Hammond: But, uh, you know, you're onto, you're onto something, that is, what am I passionate about? If I really like, uh, the medical community, I can get on a board at Provident-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … Providence and just do… Or if I wanna get involved with the water board or-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … kids or high school or football, it's like, there's a lot of opportunities.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, even beyond the county stuff, you know. There's a state insurance board.

Scott Hammond: Ah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: You know? If, if, if-

Scott Hammond: Hadn't thought about that one.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, that's a whole nother ball of wax. It's, uh, really interesting.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I bet.

Scott Hammond: It's tough.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. You're dealing with some tough issues.

Scott Hammond: Oh, insurance is on fire, bro.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: That's what I hear.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. I think they're gonna figure it out, but it's gonna be a little bit.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Have you had, uh, uh, Jana Velekovic on your show yet?

Scott Hammond: No, but, but she's come up a couple times.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Right.

Scott Hammond: What does she do?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Uh, she, uh, runs our UC Ag extension.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, you're the second person in a week.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: She's very, very knowledgeable, particularly, I mean, about a lot of things, but particularly about the, uh, the current state of fire and

Juan Pablo Cervantes: insurance.

Scott Hammond: Somebody said she's a pretty brilliant person.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh, absolutely. One of the smartest people I've ever met.

Scott Hammond: We'll get that off, off the air. Maybe, I maybe you can introduce me.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, absolutely.

Scott Hammond: That'd be cool. Yeah, appreciate that. So hey, uh, your legacy. Let's talk about what's it gonna say on, on your tombstone? What, what would you like it to say? What are we gonna say at your, your, uh, celebration of life?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh, you don't think that-

Scott Hammond: What kind of, what kind of-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … technology-

Scott Hammond: Tech-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Like you just live forever?

Scott Hammond: Yeah, no.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: You know?

Scott Hammond: Well, spiritually, I-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … tend to believe that, but, uh, but barring you living forever on this, in this earth suit, what do, what do you think, uh, you'd like us to say?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I, I love how you phrase that, this, this earth suit. I think that's what-

Scott Hammond: It's just-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … I'm gonna start calling it.

Scott Hammond: It's my earth suit. Take it off one day.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Uh, you know, this isn't a satisfying answer, and my wife has asked me this before, and I've given her the same unsatisfying answer, is I don't care.

Scott Hammond: You don't care.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, it's not, it's not my deal.

Scott Hammond: You probably w- at that time, you probably won't.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I'm gonna be gone. You know, I'm gonna do what I can while I'm here, and then after I'm here, that's, that's on whoever couldn't figure out the technology to keep me

Juan Pablo Cervantes: going.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Yeah, cry- the cryo- … the cryogenic tank.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, the gen set broke down that day, so.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. When are we getting uploaded, you know?

Scott Hammond: He thought, he thought out. I think you're the second person in a couple of weeks to go, "You know, I really don't care. I think legacy's overrated, and I don't care, but I wanna be present today and give it 100%, and maybe, maybe that'll take care of itself."

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Absolutely.

Scott Hammond: I like that. Love it. Well, hey, man, thank you for coming. Appreciate you being here.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Thanks for having me. Really appreciate this.

Scott Hammond: Hope the election goes well, and you don't-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Me too

Scott Hammond: … you burn out too much, you get some rest.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. The, our goal is to not be in the news.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. The goal is to not be pre- yeah, just don't show up.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. No, no. We want people-

Scott Hammond: Be legit

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … to know what's going on, but-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … but nothing, nothing too interesting.

Scott Hammond: Does it become arduous if there's a, a runoff or if something's super

Scott Hammond: close?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: No. No, we just process things a- along we go. We keep, uh, checks and balances and audits, and if we need to do more work, that's what we get paid for.

Scott Hammond: Might just be some weeks after to cu- recount or do what a-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … gather up every single vote or…

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And here's something I did wanna touch on really briefly.

Scott Hammond: Go for it. Yeah, we have time.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: The Humboldt Transparency Project. Do you know anything about them?

Scott Hammond: I've heard of it.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Oh, you should have them on the show for sure. They're doing something that no one else in the country, I think, is doing.

Scott Hammond: The trans- what is that? Is it-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: So in Humboldt County, you know, I do all my processing that I can probably speak for 45 minutes on by itself.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Um, the Humboldt Transparency Project is this nonprofit separate from me that, um, scans every ballot after I've scanned it.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And then essentially, and they hate it when I c- use this, Carolyn, who is on that board now, uh, is gonna-

Scott Hammond: Cernich?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, is gonna have some, some bad things to say about me. They basically do an audit without an audit.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: They basically check my results, and, uh, because of them, we've had contests in our county that have been won by one vote, and, uh, the candidates go, "If, if Carolyn, you know, counted it, we're good."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: You know, we, we trust the-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … the Transparency Project.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Scott Hammond: 100%.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Wow, that's cool.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: But yeah, the-

Scott Hammond: Are they independent, or are they state?

Scott Hammond: Who-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: They're independent.

Scott Hammond: So they're just-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: These volunteers-

Scott Hammond: … nonprofit

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … got together in, uh, 2014-ish, I think.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And so they'll count everything you count?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Everything I count. We, we have a chain of custody with the ballots. We have, you know, we, we have oversight when, when they do their scanning. They check them out, check them back in.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: And then they compare, they compare and contrast.

Scott Hammond: Nice. Humboldt Transparency Project.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. No other county's doing it, and nothing that we've heard about in the country is, is approaching this.

Scott Hammond: So when you lay your numbers against theirs, is, have, has there been any disparity?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, there, there was one time where they were responsible, them and Humboldt County were responsible for decertifying an election system because they found an error that discounted about 200 ballots. Yeah. And so they caught it, and they ran it up the, the

Juan Pablo Cervantes: flagpole and got them in trouble.

Scott Hammond: Wow. Did they have to ru- do a runoff or do something different?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: They just reprocessed those, uh, those ballots.

Scott Hammond: Oh, I see, okay.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. That's the nice thing about paper ballots.

Scott Hammond: Well, it's good, good, it's good to catch it, then.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. I like that.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah. In Humboldt County, we've, we, uh… I hope that, uh, that in, uh, that in being as transparent as we are, that we're given the grace to fix our mistakes if we're caught, 'cause, uh, I wanna be in a space where, uh, where my mistakes do get caught. And so-

Scott Hammond: Perfect

Juan Pablo Cervantes: … having that transparency with them makes that possible.

Scott Hammond: And being okay with, with having that done.

Scott Hammond: That's-

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … that's the job, right?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: That's it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, nothing wrong with that.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: No ego.

Scott Hammond: That's right. No ego, amigo. Um, hey, so how do we get aho- hold of you? Emails, Facebook?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Uh, so-

Scott Hammond: How do, how do we best, uh, get ahold of y'all?

Juan Pablo Cervantes: We're on social media. HumCoElections on both Facebook and, uh, Instagram. Uh, we're not on TikTok yet. I, I don't really do dances all that well.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I hear that's a requirement.

Scott Hammond: You gotta dance on TikTok, dude.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It's just… Why am I looking over at Nick for no, no other reason? Third, fourth wall.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: I, I'm excited to see the Scott Hammond TikTok in action. Uh, other than that, you can, uh, reach us at humboldtgov.org/elections.

Scott Hammond: You'll see, you'll see yourself on TikTok.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Not dancing. You'll see yourself talking. Um, no, thank you so much for being here, and, uh, yeah, let's, let's take those two, uh, phone numbers offline. I'll do that.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Absolutely.

Scott Hammond: Appreciate it. Thanks for being here.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Yeah, thank you.

Scott Hammond: All right, thank you. Oh, wait, before we go, I forgot one thing. Am I still on?

Scott Hammond: Here we go. Thanks everybody for listening and watching. 100% Humboldt, subscribe on all the usual, uh, Apple, uh, Spotify. There's like a dozen of these. There's a whole lot of them. And then, uh, you know, if you wanted to repost or share or subscribe, uh, you could do that.

Scott Hammond: And, uh, you too… Oh, I forgot to do this. Juan Pablo Cervantes, on behalf of a grateful community, one Dick Taylor Brazil chocolate bar for you, sir.

Juan Pablo Cervantes: Thank you so much.

Scott Hammond: All right. Thanks for being on 100% Humboldt. Have a great day.