#125. Planning, Housing, and the Push and Pull of Humboldt Growth | John Ford

Scott Hammond: Ladies and gentlemen, friends and neighbors, and all those out to see, it's Scott Hammond with the 100% Humboldt Podcast with my new best friend, John Ford from Humboldt County.

Scott Hammond: Hi, John.

John Ford: Hi, Scott. Thanks for having me.

Scott Hammond: Hey, how's your day?

John Ford: It's been pretty good.

Scott Hammond: Pretty magical out there for a summer day.

John Ford: So summer day, it's a nice day. People seem a little bit more upbeat today.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, there's… It, it doesn't take much after a lot of fog.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Tease us with a little sunshine, it will be nice.

John Ford: Absolutely.

Scott Hammond: So-

John Ford: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … so tell us, t- tell us about, uh, what's your job, r- name, rank, and serial

Scott Hammond: number?

John Ford: Sure. So my name's John Ford. Um, when I first got here, there was a John Ford here who was doing some things that weren't n- completely legal.

John Ford: And, uh-

Scott Hammond: The other John Ford

John Ford: … so the district attorney, attorney advised me that I should- … uh, absolutely use my, uh, middle initial-

Scott Hammond: Okay.

John Ford: … in all things.

John Ford: So-

Scott Hammond: I, I knew the other John Ford personally, yeah.

John Ford: Oh, okay.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. He was a realtor, then an insurance guy.

John Ford: Right, right, right.

Scott Hammond: Wait, I have my insurance tag on.

Scott Hammond: Wait. Not with State Farm.

John Ford: Right. So, um, I'm the Director of Planning and Building for the County of Humboldt, and, uh, within that department we get to obviously do building permitting. We get to do planning permitting. We get to, uh, prepare recommended ordinances and policy documents for the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors, and we also get to do code enforcement.

Scott Hammond: Ah. And cannabis stuff too, right?

John Ford: Cannabis is really part of the, uh, permitting.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

John Ford: Um, and it's also part of the code enforcement,

John Ford: so-

Scott Hammond: I'd say less- lesser-

John Ford: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … now, right? 'Cause it, the industry's kinda tanked a little bit.

John Ford: Industry's really down.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

John Ford: It was, uh, one of the most, uh, amazing,

John Ford: uh, experiences to come in. I came in in 2016.

Scott Hammond: Right on time.

John Ford: Just as that was starting.

Scott Hammond: Peak. Ready to peak.

John Ford: Oh, it w- hadn't peaked yet.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

John Ford: But it peaked days after that.

John Ford: I-

Scott Hammond: I was gonna say, yeah

John Ford: … I mean, when I came in, I think there was, uh, maybe 26 applications on file.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: By the end of that year, there were 2,370 applications on file. I-

Scott Hammond: How many?

John Ford: 2,300.

Scott Hammond: F- whoa.

John Ford: And I came on October 31st, so that was November, December. In fact, I looked a long time ago, and this number just sticks with me, is that in the last… What was the last two weeks of the year, we took in 1,500 applications.

Scott Hammond: Is that right?

John Ford: That's 10 working days.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

John Ford: 150 applications a day.

Scott Hammond: That's crazy. That's like an annual number.

John Ford: Yeah. It, it actually is.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

John Ford: It's a, it's bigger than an an- annual number, frankly.

Scott Hammond: Funny. You know, it's, um, y'all wanna grow some weed? Back then y'all did. And then, um, and then we know it's all burned and, you know, burned to the ground, uh, mostly, but, you know, with the boom and bust economy that is famous to our county.

John Ford: Right.

Scott Hammond: You know, timber or, or anything else, I suppose dotcoms and s- the steel industry and

Scott Hammond: the…

John Ford: Well, there's a lot of people that applied. There's a, there's a few people who are still making it work-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

John Ford: … in Humboldt, which is good to see.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

John Ford: And, you know, one of the struggles that a lot of us recognized is that new businesses, a new business, if it lasts five years, that's a great

John Ford: thing.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: So not everybody was gonna make it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, that five-year window

John Ford: … just, just statistically, not everybody was gonna make it.

Scott Hammond: And they told me I started State Farm at 53. Just a year ago.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: They said, "You know, you gotta make it five years, and you'll know."

John Ford: Yeah, it's just a try your time.

Scott Hammond: Or you might make money at five years. I go, "Well, I'm gonna do it in two or three."

Scott Hammond: It was five. You know, so five, five is probably a pretty good number.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So we'll get to the, we'll get to the weed and all the weed guys and all of our opinions on that in a minute.

John Ford: Okay.

Scott Hammond: But, uh, tell us your life story. Where were you born and raised, and school, and how'd you get to Humboldt?

John Ford: So I was, uh, uh, born in California. I was actually born in a town called Fresno, California.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

John Ford: And, uh, my father, every six years or so, would, uh, change

John Ford: jobs.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: And, uh, so I went from Fresno to Sacramento to Walnut Creek, uh, to Modesto when I was growing up.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

John Ford: Graduated from high school in Modesto, started in junior college there. Came up to Humboldt State for a year and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

John Ford: … uh, went to college here, and then ultimately transferred down to University of California at Santa Barbara and graduated from there.

Scott Hammond: Cool school.

John Ford: It was a, it was a great experience.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. My wife was raised in Ojai-

John Ford: Okay

Scott Hammond: … California.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Not far from there.

John Ford: Nope, just a little bit inland.

Scott Hammond: What a great, what, what a great place. We've been b- down the last two Novembers.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And just, um, still a really cool little town. Gets crowded 'cause that highway's the only s- re- road in town, but-

John Ford: Yeah. W- yeah, yeah. No, I get that.

Scott Hammond: I'm trying to think of the numbers. 94 or seven. I, who knows? Whatever. Yeah, um, and UCSB's, uh, that's where daddy went to school for pharmacy.

John Ford: Okay.

Scott Hammond: So they lived in Isla Vista for a minute.

John Ford: Mm. Lived in Isla Vista for a minute myself.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Fish, fish tacos were good there back in the day.

John Ford: They… Uh, they were. Yep.

Scott Hammond: That's where, that's where I was introduced. So we had our honeymoon there. We got married in, uh, Port Seacole Wedding Chapel in San Pedro Harbor and did the great two-day honeymoon in Ventura, Santa Barbara.

John Ford: Nice.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. It's what we could afford, so you do what you can do.

John Ford: Right, right, right. It's a nice place to, to be.

John Ford: I, I mean-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

John Ford: … it was good to go to class and then go out, enjoy the beach-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

John Ford: … enjoy the scenery.

Scott Hammond: It's literally on the beach, isn't it?

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Pretty close.

John Ford: It, it is.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

John Ford: Right on Cold Oil Point.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

John Ford: Um, it's great to walk on the beach and have tar on the bottom of your feet-

Scott Hammond: That was in the tar days

John Ford: … at the end of the walk. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I remember all the oil spills. Yeah. Hey, they, maybe they're gonna open those back up again.

John Ford: They've been struggling with that a little bit.

Scott Hammond: They're talk- Now want some more tar on your feet. Um, so h- where'd you, what'd you, what'd you study and where'd you go from

Scott Hammond: there?

John Ford: So I, I obvious- I wanted to, uh, go into

John Ford: planning.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: And, uh, so I, uh, studied environmental studies and geography, got a degree in both at, uh, UCSB. And, uh, then, uh, went down, spent a year working for the City of Thousand Oaks.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

John Ford: And then went up to, uh, the city of Roseville.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

John Ford: Worked there for a l- about 11 years.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: Uh, went to work as a consultant for a few years, processing permits, doing feasibility studies, things like that for-

Scott Hammond: Sacramento or?

John Ford: Uh, actually over in Santa Cruz.

Scott Hammond: Oh, better yet.

John Ford: Lived up in the, uh, San Lorenzo Valley.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: And then, uh, actually, um, felt like I should, uh, take a different path. Felt like God was telling me that I needed to, uh, go into

John Ford: ministry.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

John Ford: So I went back to, uh, seminary in Kansas City, moved up my young family.

Scott Hammond: Rad.

John Ford: And, uh, moved to Kansas City at the Nazarene, uh, Theological Seminary.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

John Ford: While I was, uh, there, um-

Scott Hammond: Is that International House of Prayer somewhere by there too, right? Is it somewhere outside of Kansas City?

John Ford: It could be. I'm, I'm not aware of it-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

John Ford: … but it could be. Uh, started pastoring a small church out in a small town called Carrollton while

John Ford: I was there.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

John Ford: Um, and then, um, kinda realized that, uh, my ability in that church to continue to evoke, uh, growth, change-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

John Ford: … had reached its limit.

Scott Hammond: That's a nice way to say that.

Scott Hammond: I like that.

John Ford: And I was in the seminary that following Monday and was looking at, uh, the job board. And I noticed that, uh, the nominational, um,

John Ford: person for the church I'm a part of was gonna be, um, at the

John Ford: seminary.

Scott Hammond: Oh, wow.

John Ford: And so I, uh, made an appointment to see him.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: And, uh, by the time I was able to meet with him, he'd already talked to people who knew me within the district here on Northern California because that's where I came from originally.

Scott Hammond: So he already kinda knew you, did his homework.

John Ford: Yeah. And, uh-

Scott Hammond: That's a good sign, right?

John Ford: Yeah. So I, uh, agreed to go to McKinleyville-

Scott Hammond: Wow

John Ford: … to, uh, pastor the Nazarene church there.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

John Ford: And s- was there for about seven years and-

Scott Hammond: On McKinleyville Avenue.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Sure.

John Ford: At the time, my, my wife at the time got sick, and, uh, couldn't work, and I was struggling, we were struggling financially, and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

John Ford: … I'd applied to all kinds of second jobs, Starbucks, Safeway, I mean, you name it. I put a application in and-

Scott Hammond: Good

John Ford: … nobody gave me a call back. And so one day, out of frustration, I, um, sent my resume back, or down to, uh, for an opening in Monterey County.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

John Ford: Um, and they hired me.

Scott Hammond: At the Naz Church?

John Ford: Uh, no, for a, uh, planner.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

John Ford: So I went back-

Scott Hammond: 'Cause that was your skill set, that was your-

John Ford: Into the-

Scott Hammond: … plus.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

John Ford: And, uh, I was down there for a year and a half, and, uh, the denominational superintendent, uh, called me and said, "Hey, we've got a church open up in Cupertino."

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

John Ford: "Do you wanna interview?" And I said, "Yeah, sure." So I went up there, and they called me, and, and that was a great experience, but my wife at the time decided, "I don't, I can't do this anymore."

Scott Hammond: Huh.

John Ford: And so we ended up, uh, separating, and I didn't feel good about staying in the church as a separated, soon-to-be-divorced person.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

John Ford: So I resigned, and Monterey County took me back.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

John Ford: And, uh, I don't know, eight years later, 10 years later, whatever it's been, uh, somebody I met, uh, while I was pastoring up here, uh, and I started communicating, um, and then got

John Ford: remarried.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

John Ford: And so she was either going to, uh, move, uh, someplace, which wasn't likely.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: Or I was gonna move up here.

Scott Hammond: Closer.

John Ford: Yep. And, uh, so I ended up, uh, interviewing for the position of director of planning and building.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

John Ford: And, uh, was able to, to get that job.

Scott Hammond: What a cool God journey.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Wow. That's a lot of, that's a lot of twists and turns.

John Ford: It's a lot of twists and turns.

Scott Hammond: I like that.

John Ford: There's a lot to be learned in, in those turns.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. No, thanks for sharing all that. That's, that's, that's good stuff. So yeah, the God journey. It's, um, interesting listening to Him and, and not, and when you don't.

John Ford: Absolutely. It's when you don't that you're in trouble.

Scott Hammond: It's, it's- … scary, it's scary. Um, so you guys met, and so you came back up here, and you, you came and took a job to be closer to your sweetheart.

John Ford: Yeah. And then we-

Scott Hammond: Your now sweetheart.

John Ford: Well, and we got married, so yeah.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: That's exactly it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Wow. I like that. So you've lived in a lot of places.

John Ford: I have.

Scott Hammond: How do you like Humboldt so far?

John Ford: This is my third stint in Humboldt.

John Ford: So…

Scott Hammond: You keep coming back.

John Ford: I keep coming back.

Scott Hammond: I like that.

John Ford: So.

Scott Hammond: Hey, it could be worse. I always say that, you know, there's, there's so many worse places one could, uh, establish. Hey, if you're just joining us, my new best friend, John Ford, from County Humboldt, and, um, uh, I have so much resonance with your, um, your walk with God, your relationship to the Holy Spirit, the fact that you're a God guy, that, that, you know, unashamedly, uh, stating that and me resonating with that in the same way, and the fact that, um, you know, the, the life journey is, is really quite interesting in terms of the twists and turns and the, uh, and some of the people that let us down along the way, and, and sometimes we wonder if God does, and turns out He doesn't.

John Ford: Some- we, we hit really difficult places in our lives. I think probably everybody does.

Scott Hammond: Sure

John Ford: That's not a sign that God is absent.

Scott Hammond: Right.

John Ford: And usually in those times, God is most available.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Right.

John Ford: And, you know, it's the, the hard part is admitting that and turning to

John Ford: Him.

Scott Hammond: And so now your pastoral position is the planning director. Now your church looks a little different.

John Ford: It's a lot different.

Scott Hammond: How's your congregation doing, John? Probably like any congregation. There's a bell curve.

John Ford: Well, we- we've gone through immense changes.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: And because obviously the, the whole cannabis,

John Ford: uh, thing-

Scott Hammond: Sure

John Ford: … was, uh, something we had to adapt to.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

John Ford: And as part of that, we took on code enforcement.

Scott Hammond: Ah.

John Ford: And so that was also a huge change.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: And so the department has faced continual change, continual growth in terms of how we do things-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

John Ford: … and how to address things and adapt to

John Ford: things.

Scott Hammond: So that means that… Who used to do that? C- uh, sheriff? Or who would do code enforcement?

John Ford: It was actually in the county council's office.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

John Ford: Code enforcement became quite controversial for a while in Humboldt

John Ford: County-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

John Ford: … because, um, it did get… I think it was in the sheriff's office.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: And, uh, that was a long time ago.

John Ford: And-

Scott Hammond: So what's an example? You come out and write me up because I have a bad sewer or, or septic or something just way out of line in, in compliance?

John Ford: So with the exception of a couple things, uh, cannabis being one of

John Ford: them-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

John Ford: … um, abandoned vehicles being another-

Scott Hammond: Okay

John Ford: … um, we don't proactively go out and look for violations.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

John Ford: We're… The code enforcement is complaint driven.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

John Ford: So-

Scott Hammond: A lot of complainers in Humboldt County. Love you, mean it. No lack of those around.

John Ford: There's… And, and in fact, one of the things that we experienced is during COVID-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

John Ford: … when people were home more-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

John Ford: … the number of complaints we received went way, way up, like doubled.

Scott Hammond: Interesting. Yeah. Nothing else to do, huh? Nothing else to do with your time. I'm complaining now.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Or at least I'm condemning a little bit.

John Ford: Some, some of the situations we run into, I mean, they're pretty rough.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: And they're-

Scott Hammond: Sure

John Ford: … they're really things that need to be addressed.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Well, I've seen some things in insurance where, you know, blackberries have taken over a home or a hoarder or-

John Ford: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … you know, there's all kinds of other ancillary dangers.

John Ford: Absolutely.

Scott Hammond: And s- somebody's gotta say something, do something.

John Ford: Yep.

Scott Hammond: Other, other than that, you wanna burn down the neighborhood, I don't think so.

John Ford: Nope. And, and it's really difficult because in every situation you're dealing with a person.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: And obvious- And oftentimes you're dealing with two different sets of people. You're dealing with the property owner who has a

John Ford: condition, and you're dealing with neighbors who are being affected by it.

Scott Hammond: Right. And how do you politely, respectfully, and

Scott Hammond: firmly solve that problem?

John Ford: Right.

Scott Hammond: I like it. Tough job.

John Ford: It is.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

John Ford: So one of those jobs where nobody, nobody wants to talk to you.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. It's, it's a lonely road at the top, John. Don't I know. F- father of nine kids, I totally get it.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Dad, Dad, what… You know, Joni can't do any sin at all. She's the amazing mom, and I married way up, and I know that. But I can't get a win. I don't know what it is. Us poor dads. Let me play my sad dad story.

Scott Hammond: So, um, so land use is part of-

John Ford: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … your deal, too, right?

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Um, since, since we know this, we just discovered this Monday morning as I confirmed your attendance today-

John Ford: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … that we're neighbors. So John's my backdoor neighbor, whatever. He's, he's behind a giant thing, so I never see him, and he never sees me in my

Scott Hammond: hot tub. So for that, be eternally grateful, John.

Scott Hammond: Um, but we were able to build an ADU, uh, during COVID.

John Ford: Good.

Scott Hammond: So it is heroic in the sense that, uh, here's Gabriel, our special needs son, who's amazing and 27 with autism and Downs and needs 24/7 care. Doesn't really care who's in office, never worries about a mortgage. He's the greatest guy around.

John Ford: Right.

Scott Hammond: He's kind of my guru, you know.

Scott Hammond: So the Mormons got that right. They think that people that with Downs get an automatic ticket to heaven, and I gotta, I gotta a- resoundingly agree with that, so.

Scott Hammond: So-

John Ford: Wouldn't argue with that.

Scott Hammond: So Christians think that, too. So there you go. Anyway, so long story short, our, our lot sits like this. John's at the back. We have a home in the front. The cool thing is I, uh, Joni's father died, which is not cool, down in LA, Santa Barbara,

Scott Hammond: and, um, Joni inherited a little bit of money, so we were able to build this ADU. Found out this new law came into effect in 2020-

John Ford: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … that we c- it made planning easier to do ADUs. So I'll let you talk to that, and then I'll tell the rest of the story.

John Ford: Sure. So it used to be that, uh, accessory dwelling units or ADUs were called granny flats, and, uh, they could be installed with, uh, s- you know, some kind of permit, discretionary

John Ford: permit-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

John Ford: … that took a lot of time. Uh, too much time probably. And, uh, the state changed the law and said, "You know what? We need to see more housing built."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: "So we're gonna just allow these as part of the

John Ford: residence."

Scott Hammond: Just so they, they're to code.

John Ford: Y- Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And zoning.

John Ford: If you get a permit for them and they comply with all the other requirements that are-

Scott Hammond: Mm

John Ford: … part of any other development, they're good to go. So the county obviously followed suit-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

John Ford: … updated our code to reflect that.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: And we've been seeing a lot of ADUs built-

Scott Hammond: Sure

John Ford: … uh, because they're, it's a good way to provide housing.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: It's a good way for some people to, uh, have supplemental income on their

John Ford: property.

Scott Hammond: Sure. What's a good number? Is it the hundreds, thousands?

Scott Hammond: Um-

John Ford: Of ADUs?

Scott Hammond: Yeah, in the last five years.

John Ford: Mm, hundreds.

Scott Hammond: That's great, though.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Consider the shortage, right?

John Ford: Yeah. Well, it's, yeah, we're struggling to see housing built.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

John Ford: And, uh, you know, part of it though too, is, maybe this is a little off topic, but, you know, our population is not exploding.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

John Ford: It's not growing.

Scott Hammond: I never knew that. What? We don't grow. We, we might go backwards some years.

John Ford: I, I, I think the trend right now is backwards.

Scott Hammond: Is it really?

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Okay. It's funny how some people are happy with that.

John Ford: Right.

Scott Hammond: You know, we, we, we say that, we go, "Womp, womp," and other people are going,

Scott Hammond: "Yeah." And, um, we'll get to Amazon here in a minute. Is that part of your bailiwick up in, uh-

John Ford: Yep

Scott Hammond: … in McKinleyville?

John Ford: Yep.

Scott Hammond: Wow, we're going from weed to Amazon. And next stop, we're gonna talk about Trump. Just kidding.

Scott Hammond: Um, so I'll finish my Gabe story real quick-

John Ford: Yeah, yeah, yeah

Scott Hammond: … this ADU story. Um, pla- where planning meets God stuff and miracles. So we have this money. We have the special needs son. We're not gonna send him to Section 8 housing 'cause it, we don't…

Scott Hammond: Who knows? And, uh, we have the will and the son-in-law that's a builder.

John Ford: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: He goes, "I'll build something back there." You know, and he's built a beautiful 1,100 square foot, two bedroom, two bath.

John Ford: That's awesome.

Scott Hammond: It's awesome, dude, and it's beautiful, and it's, it's not Shang- it's not Taj Mahal, but it's pretty f- f- pretty cool. So, um, I call into the county and I, I don't think I talked to you, but I talked to one of your guys. I go, "Hey, so, uh, this ADU law, uh, you know, we got CC&Rs in our, you know, cul-de-sac, and CC&Rs must mean some-" He goes, "No, it's the state law, Scott. You can build a house." I go, "Well, you know, what about setback?" "Well, if the setbacks work and you're… But, but, but CC…" He goes, "Gavin Newsom signed

Scott Hammond: a bill. It's law. You can– I'm telling you, you can do this within, within the rules." And I go, "Are you sure?" So, so, you know, that, that non-believing mindset of, like, doubting, you know, something cool could happen. So, um, and it did. And, and here's the interesting thing, and you'll appreciate this 'cause you'll get it. Um, I'm looking for something long to, to show this. Anyway, so our lot… My prop here. Our home sits in front of the lot, and there's a, an airport transecting line. Uh, what am I telling you? You probably know what it's called. Anyway, it, uh, it transects our property almost in half, less than half. And it became apparent with our planning, uh, our builder and

Scott Hammond: our planner that we could drop a house right in, right in there. And it's sure enough, and it's beautiful, and Gabe's, um, happy camper, and mom and dad are, um, we're off to Oregon tomorrow-

John Ford: Nice

Scott Hammond: … another, another travel. After nine years of being stuck in McKinleyville. Well, I'm sorry, raising nine kids and having a delightful time in the fog. We're gonna go swim in the river in Oregon, thank you, and go see String Cheese Incident and Britt Festival. So anyway, that's my Gabe story and, and he, he, um, he, it's just worked out fabulous. You know, it's one of those stories. So there's a great side to what you do and provide for,

Scott Hammond: right?

John Ford: Th- there is. Some of the things we get to do is, is really help people do things that are meaningful and important, and, uh, that's, it's probably what keeps me coming back-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

John Ford: … is the ability to make a difference.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So, um, before we go into weed and Amazon, um, you help the county supervisors make recommendations on land use and-

John Ford: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … and meetings, and, and you run the planning commission. Do you run the meeting?

John Ford: I don't run the meeting. There's a chair.

John Ford: I, uh-

Scott Hammond: But you're present for that.

John Ford: I am present for that. Um-

Scott Hammond: Is that Ivor? Is that who does it?

Scott Hammond: Who's the-

John Ford: Uh, it was Ivor Skavdahl for a time. Now it's Sarah West. She's the chair.

Scott Hammond: And Noah was the chair for a minute.

John Ford: Yeah. They, they rotate on an annual basis.

Scott Hammond: Ah, the only government meeting I've ever been to, except for we got recognized, uh, by Rex and the board for, um, Humboldt Heroes-

John Ford: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … which we recognize vets once a month for 10 years, uh, was the We Are Up testimony.

John Ford: Right. Right.

Scott Hammond: And, uh, you know, she– Mary had asked everybody, "Please be there," and, and I, I think, pretty sure you were there.

John Ford: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: And that sailed right through.

Scott Hammond: Um, amazing person and, you know… I don't remember speaking. Uh, maybe Joni did. I don't remember, but I remember attending and, and being impressed with the whole, how the, how the board works.

John Ford: Yeah. Y- you know, the, that, and that thing, that's, uh, one of those projects that when you look at it, you think, "Wow, there is s- a lot of love, um, behind that to-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

John Ford: … to make something like that work."

Scott Hammond: Special lady.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So, um, l- let's you and I color in the We Are Up for, uh, vision for people that don't know what it is.

John Ford: Sure.

Scott Hammond: It's, it's modeled after, uh… Gosh, what, what did I call it? It, it's modeled from something back east, I know that much, but it's a, it's a farm. It's a tract of land by, behind Grocery Outlet in McKinleyville.

John Ford: Correct. And what it will do is provide housing for seniors and, uh, uh, really adult, uh, people-

Scott Hammond: With special needs populations

John Ford: … who have autism and, and other things-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

John Ford: … that it'll give them, the seniors and the special needs populations, the ability to interact, to socialize.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. And, and Cal Poly people could come and-

John Ford: Ri-

Scott Hammond: … live and study there and nursing pro-

John Ford: Right

Scott Hammond: … nursing students. Um, big vision. So it starts with this, um, greenhouse and

Scott Hammond: barn.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: They're gonna grow their own.

John Ford: Yeah, so

Scott Hammond: Not weed, you weed thinker. Um, and, and then expand out to a building and then a community center type of

Scott Hammond: thing.

John Ford: Right. And, and ultimately it'll be a place where the community can

John Ford: come-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

John Ford: … and, uh, lease space to have events, weddings.

Scott Hammond: Li- live shows.

John Ford: Yeah. So, and, and one of the interesting things there is that, as I understand it, those events and the proceeds for those really go to underwrite the overall cost of the facility.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

John Ford: So it keeps the cost down, uh-

Scott Hammond: Right

John Ford: … to the residents.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

John Ford: And-

Scott Hammond: And I, I'm amazed, and I'll, I'll, I'll Pivot to where I really wanna talk about, and that is the NIMBY headspace of Humboldt, some people in Humboldt that don't want anything in their backyard ever.

John Ford: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Um, and, and I, I don't know much. I'm 67. I'm a B student from Humboldt. I was a feral hippie child that walked the streets of Sa- San Diego smoking weed till I came and met Jesus and Joni and a degree at Humboldt and

Scott Hammond: sobriety.

Scott Hammond: However, I'm not stupid, and going to this meeting, I'm going, "How could you oppose this?" They thought of every detail, every environmental detail, every… The thing was s- Was it buttoned up in your book?

Scott Hammond: I mean-

John Ford: Yeah, it was buttoned up.

Scott Hammond: Obviously, the board thought so, and they approved it the night of with no concerns, right?

John Ford: Um, so-

Scott Hammond: Or minor c- minor something.

John Ford: The second time it got approved with no concerns.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: The first time it went through, there were some neighbors to the

John Ford: north-

Scott Hammond: Correct

John Ford: … that, uh, had concerns about being able to see something, um, behind their fence.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

John Ford: And, uh-

Scott Hammond: And they-

John Ford: … the noise that may come from the events-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

John Ford: … the lights, and that sort of thing.

Scott Hammond: And they mitigated all that or addressed it.

John Ford: They, they, they went way, way beyond. They, uh, purchased additional property-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

John Ford: … uh, found alternative access-

Scott Hammond: Right

John Ford: … um, oriented things away from those

John Ford: residents.

Scott Hammond: So they did a redesign to accommodate-

John Ford: Yes

Scott Hammond: … six, not even, maybe a half dozen home, households.

Scott Hammond: So the n-

John Ford: Max number.

Scott Hammond: So we, we got a na- a name for them, and, and not just the people there, but we'll call them the neighbors to the north. And I, I wanna address those guys 'cause I, I don't– First of all, I don't really like who you are, neighbors to the north, or how you act, at least. I'm sure you're, you're wonderful people. But I, I think, and I'm, again, not addressing them, I'm addressing the people who would say,

Scott Hammond: um, "Any growth in Humboldt's bad." You know? "Here's, here's Amazon. It's zoned for this. Here's WeAreUp." How could you not fall in love with that program and just bite the bullet and deal with the lighting or deal with any noise because it's such a cool vision? And, uh, I guess it's the obstructionist mofo that I would, would, uh, label the, the neighbors to the north, uh, that keep things, uh, keep us small, keep us in poverty, keep us desperate, keep us, um, provincial and weird, and at the end of the day, broke. And I think, you know, my kids, your kids, your grandkids… You know, my, my son's 22 today. He goes, "Dad, I don't have a chance here."

John Ford: He's right.

Scott Hammond: And I go,

Scott Hammond: "F. You know, you're right, dude." And I, you know, "Well, I, and hey, well, you're gonna be okay. It'll be fine." And you know, we're talking to our wealthy friends from church in Trinidad Sunday night.

Scott Hammond: I go, "Why would you keep Amazon out? It's… Why would you be against that or try to get that on a ballot? It's providing 80 to 200 jobs, some wages, some medical care for people, and it's zoned for it, and it's in a corner of an industrial lot that nobody ever goes to." Um, and here we are, here, and we didn't even talk about the undeveloped bay. It's like… So love your insights. I, I, I don't have answers. I just kinda wonder if it's this protectionistic, obstructionistic s- at the end of the day, I would call it freaking selfish headspace of I got mine millennials that, "And I don't really give a crap about anyb- I just wanna keep Humboldt small and green and, and groovy," and it's like, um… And I could start being kinda nasty about it, and I don't think that's the point. The point is, how do you see that, um, th- that cadre of people and, and, and their value system behind that? I'm sure there's more than just one demographic here or psychographic.

John Ford: There, there's, there's more than one demographic that's involved in

John Ford: that. Um, earlier in the conversation, y- you mentioned that, uh,

John Ford: um… Or no, you didn't. I was talking to somebody earlier today that, uh, went into

John Ford: Wildberry's-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

John Ford: … and they were trying to get the petition signed against, uh, Amazon.

Scott Hammond: And it's failed, right?

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

John Ford: And, uh-

Scott Hammond: Shucks, that's too bad.

John Ford: You know, he was like-

Scott Hammond: Am I losing listeners and watchers as I express

John Ford: I, I, I can't imagine. Um, but his thought was just like, "You are an elderly European, of European descent individual. Um, you're probably wealthy, own your house."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: "So why are you against this?"

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

John Ford: And, uh, you know, there's no answer for that.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

John Ford: And I think you're right. People do like, uh, Humboldt just

John Ford: as it is.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

John Ford: The struggle is, is that

John Ford: an economy,

John Ford: a society, is much like a body.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: If you're feeding it and exercising it and keeping

John Ford: it strong-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

John Ford: … and it's growing-

Scott Hammond: Moving

John Ford: … it functions pretty darn well.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: Even as we age,

John Ford: if we-

Scott Hammond: Speak for yourself, brother. I'm kinda stiff right now.

John Ford: Yeah. Well, but you keep moving. You get up in the morning, you go for a walk.

Scott Hammond: That's right.

John Ford: And, uh, so we-

Scott Hammond: I'll tell you about the skunk in a minute.

John Ford: Yeah. We continue to experience, um, you know, the strength of and the function of our body, and the same thing happens in a community.

Scott Hammond: Econ- in economy.

John Ford: In economy.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: You know, when you start to lose segments of the economy, you lose your industrial sector. Where are your jobs?

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Where's lumber?

John Ford: Yeah. You, you have none.

Scott Hammond: Where's fisheries? Where's tourism? I mean, tourism, yeah, that, we talk about it, but that's not-

John Ford: We probably get a pretty good number of tourists

Scott Hammond: It's gotten better.

John Ford: But-

Scott Hammond: But it ain't… You can't live on it

John Ford: … the, the struggle is, is it does not, it produces some

John Ford: taxes.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: But the people who work in the tourist industry, by and large, aren't the highest paid.

Scott Hammond: And they're seasonal.

John Ford: And, yeah, their, most of their work period is seasonal.

Scott Hammond: I go down to Old Town from January to m- early May, and it's, and it, it's pretty dead. You know, there's a lot of booming in downtown. You know what it, what it is? Dispensaries and thrift stores. If that's your groove, you're gonna do well in Humboldt. And it, it's like, it's, it's such a nasty true statement, and I, and I walk it daily, so please argue with me 'cause there's…

Scott Hammond: It's, um, it just ain't good. There's banks, and there's insurance companies and dispensaries and thrift stores, and a couple of restaurants. By the way, have you ate out recently?

Scott Hammond: It's pretty also expensive.

John Ford: It's, it's very expensive to eat out.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Yeah.

John Ford: It gets really hard.

Scott Hammond: So, so back to this NIMBY, uh, folks on the north side-

John Ford: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … folks to the north. Um,

Scott Hammond: what… And, and I realize we both need to be careful. What, what can we say to them or, or do about that head

Scott Hammond: space?

John Ford: I, I don't know that we can do anything about that. I mean, on the one hand, neighbors who have enjoyed a certain quality of life with nothing behind them for a period of time-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

John Ford: … I, I get it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

John Ford: That becomes an intrusion-

Scott Hammond: It's a bummer

John Ford: … into their property.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: But it's not their property right because there-

Scott Hammond: They don't own that property

John Ford: … there is a, a property to the south of them that has the right or some rights to develop.

Scott Hammond: They should have bought it.

John Ford: That's one option. Y- you know, and but I think that what, uh, Mary did, like with We Are Up-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

John Ford: … is to recognize is like, "You know what? I don't wanna create enemies."

Scott Hammond: Right. Before we even start.

John Ford: Right.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

John Ford: So let's go ahead and take a, take another look at this before we end up in front of the board of supervisors and, and have

John Ford: that-

Scott Hammond: An open warfare.

John Ford: Yeah, that fight.

Scott Hammond: How many, how many households are we talking about oppose this, John, roughly?

John Ford: Probably about six.

Scott Hammond: Wow. How they could sh- six households could shift the, the, the, the trajectory of a, of a-

John Ford: Well, and, and-

Scott Hammond: … a beautiful project

John Ford: … the, the one thing that becomes,

John Ford: um, important in that is, you know, your, the ef- the way you effectively engage in the public process.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: You know, one of the things I like about what we do is it is public, so people do have a right-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

John Ford: … to get up and say, "Hey, I think this adversely affects me, and I don't, I don't like that."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: And so there's always the, you know, the desire anyway, or I have that desire, and I've seen many developers wanting to, "Let's work this

John Ford: out."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: And Mary did that.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

John Ford: Um-

Scott Hammond: And it's done. It's a done deal at this point.

John Ford: It's, it's approved now. It's done.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, with conditions.

John Ford: Yeah. I, I think Amazon's a little different.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: Amazon's more of a philosophical, um, hate of Amazon.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, which is fine. Don't shop 'em. Yeah. You don't like porn? Stop watching porn. I… Philosophically, maybe that's, maybe that's not the greatest analogy. But okay.

Scott Hammond: Um-

John Ford: It's, the point's taken.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, but, but they're coming in legally and zoned correctly and, and trying to comply with-

John Ford: Well, and they're not-

Scott Hammond: … known law, right?

John Ford: … they're not coming in to close down stores, and that seems to be one of the arguments.

Scott Hammond: Which is kind of a fallacy, right?

John Ford: Um, they're coming in because people are already using their

John Ford: services.

Scott Hammond: Correct.

John Ford: And-

Scott Hammond: And stores are already closed.

John Ford: And, right, and it makes business sense for them-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

John Ford: … rather than paying commercial freight charges to UPS or the United States Postal Service-

Scott Hammond: Sure

John Ford: … to use their own resources

John Ford: to ship, uh-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

John Ford: … material up here-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

John Ford: … and distribute it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

John Ford: I, I, I, I mean, maybe I'm too simple-minded, but that's where I see it.

Scott Hammond: Well, and I, I understand the argument they may not be here for 50 years. Okay. So what, what are you offering a friend from the north and other jobs that you're trying to bring in? And the answer is, "Heck if I know, dude, and, and I don't care." And it's like, so now we have a, a, a, a deeper than philosophical difference, and, and, and, and I see where it becomes insulting then on Facebook and-

John Ford: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … other places where it's like, "You're an idiot." "No, you're an idiot." "Screw you." "No, screw you." And so it… I don't know where that gets us in the dialogue, but I, I do know,

Scott Hammond: um, little baby, the, the day, don't despise the day of small beginnings. And, and we need small beginnings. We need DanCo to do Samoa. We need, um, someone to come and build around the bay and do some, you know, the, um, Halverson project. Why don't we have a convention center? What is, what is possibly wrong with us that we don't have that? Why don't we have a Home Depot? Really? A Home Depot. Uh, uh, why did Walmart have to come into Gottschalks to go in the back door to get into Humboldt? I mean, are, are we that exclusive?

Scott Hammond: And, and,

Scott Hammond: um,

Scott Hammond: uh, as much as I sit here and s- ask people how much they love Humboldt County, there is, there's an underlying, uh, philosophical, um, I would call it a disease or a pathology or even a poison that keeps, um, that has ancillary results of, of a poverty and mindset that, that doesn't touch the old fat white guy that shops at Wildberries in Arcata. Love you old fat white guys. But you ain't, you can't, you can't own the day and you can't own the future of Humboldt. I'm sorry.

John Ford: Well-

Scott Hammond: So I think I found my passion.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Been, been praying about that person that I wanna help out, that demographic. Young families in Humboldt, let's get, let's get you guys some jobs.

John Ford: Sounds great.

Scott Hammond: Let's bring in some business. You know?

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Let's, let's bring in some manufacturing. Let's, let's do some real, real economic good damage. We're not bringing in nuclear power plants.

John Ford: Nope.

Scott Hammond: We're not, we're not drilling for oil here, folks. So it's like, i- is there some… I guess I would plead for some middle ground, but that's another story.

John Ford: And it's hard. We have some disadvantages, too. Transportation is one of them.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Yep.

John Ford: It's, it's hard to mass produce things here and then ship them someplace. We're-

Scott Hammond: We could, we could ride them down the Railroad Trail when it's built and, and put people on bikes and ship stuff out.

John Ford: That'd be incredibly environmentally-

Scott Hammond: Amazing

John Ford: … sensitive. Yep.

Scott Hammond: Hey, it's low on gas. But I got a lot of Holly Yashi in the back. We're gonna ship some earrings. It's cool. Um, anyway, we'll see. W- we, Paul, we wanna get you on the show, by the way. Um, so let's, uh, let's go back to the, uh, skunk story. Before we do that, any other thoughts to-

John Ford: No

Scott Hammond: … to our friends that are obstructionist, uh, brethren?

John Ford: N- no. And th- the, the thing is, is that while NIMBYs are incredibly frustrating in a lot of circumstances-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

John Ford: … um, they do have an appropriate place.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

John Ford: You know, and so they can't be just completely disregarded, then NIMBY kinda becomes one of those derisive terms.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

John Ford: But the fact of the matter is, is that everybody gets to participate in the

John Ford: process.

Scott Hammond: Right. And I think it's, uh, that, that statement holds, implies equity-

John Ford: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … and fairness, and I, I, I see very… I've, I s- I don't see none, almost none. You know, it's like, no, w- uh, the… How about the… Well, no. How about…

Scott Hammond: Nope. How about offshore wind? Well, no. How about some fish? How about Hershey's chocolate? Way back, I heard, uh, when I was younger in college, they tried to come in somewhere around the bay.

John Ford: Really?

Scott Hammond: They were waiting for Dick Taylor. Speaking of which, oh, wow, it's almost time for the quiz.

John Ford: Uh-oh.

Scott Hammond: Oh, we have a… Do you like vanilla melt chocolate, or you like a dark chocolate?

John Ford: Oh, vanilla's good. Dark is good.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: This is delicious. Okay. Well, don't get carried away. You haven't won anything yet.

Scott Hammond: So, so John and I are neighbors, and I was telling John this. We have a bear up on Dow's Prairie that's raising cane and going crazy,

Scott Hammond: and I don't know. It got in some trash. I s- Did you see the trash can Tuesday morning after we talked?

John Ford: I did not.

Scott Hammond: It was down by the golf course. It's over it. Anyway, don't put your trash out on Monday night. I called the neighbors after you called us. I said, "Pat and Jerry, you know, uh, bring that trash can in." "Thank you, Scott. You're amazing." You know, our NIMBY neighbors.

Scott Hammond: I'm sorry. I don't, I don't call everybody that. Um, but they're great, and they were appreciative and, um… So we have a bear running around, so I'm, I, I get up in the morning, take a walk outside and stretch my legs, and I look over. There's a skunk. And I go, "Oh, okay." I'm scaring the skunk away, and he's going nowhere. In fact, he's going in a circle. I get closer, and I go, "Oh, he's got a cup on his nose." And it turns out it's a yogurt container, which is worse-

John Ford: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … 'cause it's g- it's hard plastic. I thought it was a little Dixie cup. And this sku- a big skunk, too, not a little skunk. And, and I call, call Lynn this morning. I go, "Hey, um…" First of all, I showed Joni. I said, "Uh, we don't…

Scott Hammond: You know. This is w- I've seen weird stuff. This is pretty weird, pretty funny." Not funny. It's, it was funny weird. And I called N- Lynn. I go, "Lynn, I, I don't know how to tell you this good morning, but you got a, one of the skunks that live around your house is doing circles in your yard." And, and I thought about going over with a, a long, you know, uh, 10-foot pole and trying to get it off, and she goes, "Okay, thank you." And so she calls back.

Scott Hammond: She goes, "I had no choice. I walked up to it and pulled it off its nose." I go, "Lynn, you are a bad A, man."

John Ford: Yeah, no doubt.

Scott Hammond: Good, good job, Lynn. You're tough. She goes, "It, it, it fled, and it was happy."

Scott Hammond: Um-

John Ford: Okay, so it didn't turn around and turn on her literally.

Scott Hammond: No. No, we're gonna call, you know, Fish and Game, and had a big plan. But she just did it the right way. Popped that off. So, hey, having said that, ready to make some, uh, some chocolate happen?

John Ford: I'll give it a try.

Scott Hammond: All right, John. For all the money. John Ford, what was the best day of your life?

John Ford: That,

John Ford: um, has

John Ford: the moment-

Scott Hammond: Or one of, one of the best days

John Ford: … I'm gonna say the, the day that I decided to follow Jesus Christ.

Scott Hammond: Wow. How old were you?

John Ford: I was-

Scott Hammond: Or what happened?

John Ford: … 25 years old.

Scott Hammond: Wow. What happened?

John Ford: Just lots of changes going on. You know, done with college, struggling with the job, struggling with whether to take a new job, struggling with whether or not to enter into a relationship, and just-

Scott Hammond: Wow

John Ford: … okay. Got-

Scott Hammond: Hit bottom.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That's good. That, that's a good day.

John Ford: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: A lot of good days since then.

John Ford: Very good days.

Scott Hammond: It's funny that He knew you then, but He did, uh, you didn't know who you would be now. But He knew-

John Ford: Correct

Scott Hammond: … and had you, uh, kinda lined up, if you will. I like that. I was 21. I married Joni 45 years ago. Had no idea how cool it would be.

Scott Hammond: He knew-

John Ford: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … how this would go, but I had no clue, and it's like, wow, y- you could see beyond time. Wait. He must be God. Question number two: What's the worst day of your life?

John Ford: Ooh.

John Ford: Um,

John Ford: I'm gonna go with the day my father died.

Scott Hammond: Okay. How long ago was that?

John Ford: It was in 1992.

Scott Hammond: Wow. He's been gone a while.

John Ford: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Wow. So I'm sorry to hear that, but that's kind of the way of things at times.

John Ford: It is the way of things.

Scott Hammond: Lost my dad now before that he… Ornery guy, he died on Valentine's Day, kind of ruined

Scott Hammond: .

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And th- and now it's made it beautiful. I, I see it in a different light.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: He lived a full life. And I was able to share Christ with him as I was the hippie feral child from Humboldt, giving my father an amazing Ryrie study Bible from Charles Ryrie, Dallas Theological, Dad.

John Ford: Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Presented it, "Here, Bob." And he goes, "You know, I only read the King James." And I said, "You don't read any Bible, dude. You've never read the Bible. And it cost me a whole month of groceries. It's yours, bro." And he goes, "Thank you very much," and what, you know, whatever. And a couple months later, he was on Camp Pendleton where he sold life insurance of

Scott Hammond: all things-

John Ford: Mm

Scott Hammond: … to Marines. The chaplain goes, "Hey." He's telling him about his hippie, stupid Christian son up at Humboldt State. "Scott, you know, gave me this dumb Bible, Ryrie something." And the chaplain, in perfect secret agent God

Scott Hammond: form said, "You know, I studied under him at Dallas Theological. And Bobby, you would do well as a fellow Marine in reading

Scott Hammond: that Bible." And it caught my dad flat-footed. And he became a student of the Bible and got baptized at 53 and the whole nine and a beautiful story. He was sober since 1973. But it, it just added that next layer of spirituality and Christ to his sobriety.

John Ford: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: And died, uh, uh, at 83 and a beautiful death and just a neat guy that, hey, we're gonna hang out before too long, I'm sure.

John Ford: That's sweet.

Scott Hammond: It's gonna be great. So, hey, question number three. So we've all lost a dad, right?

John Ford: Right.

Scott Hammond: What do you find fulfilling in your life?

John Ford: Helping people.

Scott Hammond: Nice. In what way?

John Ford: Meeting needs.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. More specific.

John Ford: Um,

John Ford: depending-

Scott Hammond: Solv- solving their problems?

John Ford: Uh, if I can.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

John Ford: You know? If, uh, they need help in the yard-

Scott Hammond: Mm

John Ford: … I'll do that. If, uh, there's something I see that I can do

John Ford: that-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

John Ford: … you know, may be beyond them, I'll do it.

Scott Hammond: Well, let's talk about throwing money at problems. I, I think it, we have 1,000 other gifts and currencies besides writing a check.

John Ford: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: You know, to, just spending time and being present with people.

John Ford: That was one of the things that I learned as a pastor that probably is the most important thing we can give to people is time.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: And sometimes we think that-

Scott Hammond: Amen

John Ford: … we have to say the right thing and do the right thing and all that, but sometimes it's just being present.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Just listening. I've watched my wife do that so wonderfully with our kids, especially our oldest son at home, who's, um, has a lot of things to say. And I'm in the other room going, "Better her than me." You know, 'cause she can endure it. I, I, I, I have a, a limit, and then I have to go, um, you know, put my head in the hot tub or something.

Scott Hammond: But, um, but to be listened to and understood is, what a great ministry to people, just… And by and large, they got it worked out already. They just had to talk about it or be emotional or just freak out for a minute and, and get it all out there, and

Scott Hammond: then, and then Mike is usually pretty good at the end of the day.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Thanks for, you know. Never quite s- quite says thanks for listening,

Scott Hammond: but, uh, yeah, what a gift. Um, bonus question, and this is for all the chocolate. Um, this, Jodi's father used to ask this.

Scott Hammond: Who are you, John Ford, and what do you want?

John Ford: Um, I am a child of God, and I want to make a difference.

Scott Hammond: Nice. Define child of God and define difference.

John Ford: I, uh, have come to discover that I am the beloved of, of God the Father, of Jesus Christ.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Scott Hammond: Awesome.

John Ford: And, um, part of that is loving others-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

John Ford: … and finding what it is that I can do to improve their

John Ford: situation.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: And that particularly applies in my job.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

John Ford: But more importantly applies at home.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

John Ford: Applies in the church, applies in the community.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. It's a high calling. Lucky we have, uh, help.

John Ford: Can't do it alone.

Scott Hammond: I was gonna say, I, I, I can't imagine… I, I, I don't know your job, but I can imagine the pressures of, of, uh, the human beings involved and, and, uh, just the baggage, the emotion, uh, all the, all the stuff that comes with that and having to sit still with that and sit with that and try to, try to do the right thing f- f- by them and for, for the county and, you know, to find that space. Uh, I guess that's true in insurance. I'm trying to do right by the customer and the company, and there's the, there's the call. Glad, glad I have a job.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, there's, there's the job.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Go get 'em, tiger.

John Ford: That is the job.

Scott Hammond: Hey, uh, y- thanks to, uh, Dick Taylor Chocolate, you're the proud owner of a vanilla milk chocolate, 55%. Oh, the Alexander Family Farm, um, up in Smith River and Ferndale.

John Ford: Oh, nice.

Scott Hammond: Delicious milk. Enjoy that, John.

John Ford: Thank you.

Scott Hammond: You may not eat that on the way home. She'll get really mad.

John Ford: She will.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, you better share that 'cause that's, uh, that's what we do.

John Ford: Yep.

Scott Hammond: So tell, let's talk about your legacy real quick. What would you like to be, um, remembered for in terms of, uh,

Scott Hammond: your, uh, your arrival and departure from Earth?

Scott Hammond: … gravestone.

Scott Hammond: Your, uh-

John Ford: Uh, um-

Scott Hammond: … your, uh, celebration of life.

John Ford: Yeah. I'm, uh,

John Ford: I-

Scott Hammond: You probably presided over a few of those.

John Ford: I have. I absolutely have. And, you know, some of them are a little bit, uh, more difficult than others.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

John Ford: I think the thing that,

John Ford: um, I would like to be remembered foremost is that I, like poured into people's lives-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

John Ford: … in some way, whether it's professionally, personally, whatever.

Scott Hammond: That's good.

Scott Hammond: I like that. Um, I like the one that, I think it was a week or two ago, she said, uh, "I'd like my tombstone to say, 'She was a lot.'" I thought, that's a pretty good one. I should ask Nick his one day. We'll see what his is after. Um, so you would know a lot of Nazarene people.

Scott Hammond: So, um-

John Ford: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … Pastor Zimbleman was a, uh, Nazarene pastor in 1979, where Joni and I went to church for a minute in Arcata.

John Ford: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Is that still a Nazarene church right by the campus?

John Ford: That is still a Nazarene church.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. He was an amazing dude, had a good youth ministry. My other Naz parallel is, um, Eureka Naz. Jo- Jerome used to be pastor there for a minute.

John Ford: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: We visited there when we were church hopping and found it w- e- even though we lived in McKinleyville, it wouldn't work, but it was one of the most friendly, amazing, warm churches that I'd ever visited. And then, uh, closer to home is Pastor Nicole down in Fortuna.

John Ford: Yep.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Uh, good f- uh, my, my office manager loves her. She, she's plugged in as part of that and recently got baptized by her last summer.

John Ford: Oh, good.

Scott Hammond: Just, uh, I, I look forward to… N- Nicole, want to meet you. And then, uh, we're part of Catalyst Church, so we have Pastor Bethany and

Scott Hammond: Jason.

John Ford: Nice.

Scott Hammond: Shea, I don't know if you've ever met them.

John Ford: I, I haven't.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. You would do well. They're great.

Scott Hammond: Super-

John Ford: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … super great people.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Um, but she talks, you know, back to what you said about being beloved,

Scott Hammond: um, Paul talks about that a lot, turns out. So do all the writers of all the Gospels.

Scott Hammond: Um, and I think it's a really important, uh, note that if you don't get that, if, if God's just this heavy-duty grandpa that wants to beat people, you missed, you missed the New Testament, which is, which is what they would like you to do. But, uh, if you reread it, it's, First John especially, or Romans or John, Book of John, uh, you know, as God's holy, dearly beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bearing with one another, forgiving one another.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Forgive as God forgave you. And above all that, put on love,

Scott Hammond: which turns out it binds it all together in perfect harmony.

Scott Hammond: And I think,

Scott Hammond: um, it's taken 66 years of unlearning to relearn the fact that, um, you know, I always figured God, you know, likes, you know, loves everybody. He might like me, I don't know. And I think it's that mentality that, that, that level of unbelief that God's after. That's way more s- that's way more sinful than a heroin habit in my book. That, that unbelief that keeps you from the rest of it.

John Ford: Yeah. It's, that's a hard one.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

John Ford: And it's hard to overcome.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Heroin's easy. Cussing, uh, cigarettes, psht, vaping, get out of here. But overcoming that head space of unbelief and going, "Well, I just know that God's this way." Well, really, have you been outside today and looked around at nature or the revelation of the creation or hanging out with people that love you and that are beloved also? And are you gonna, like, really reframe God in some way, or are you gonna just stay with your, your, uh, weird unbelief?

John Ford: Right.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, so. Hey, there's my preaching for the day.

John Ford: That was good m- good word.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. I'm here for you. Well, uh, friend, any, any closing remarks? Are you, you good?

John Ford: I'm good.

Scott Hammond: Good. I'm good. Uh, fastest hour of the week is what I always tell Nick. I always tell my guests that, too. Hey, and if you're just joining us, it's, uh, Pastor, Pastor John Ford. So h- real quick, how long were you at the Naz in, uh, in McKinleyville?

John Ford: I was there about seven years.

Scott Hammond: Okay. We're just down the street, Church of the Light.

John Ford: Okay. Okay.

Scott Hammond: On the corner.

John Ford: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, which is now something else. Uh, we, we left there and went to Calvary Arcata. Uh, and then that's, uh, transformed to Teleios now.

John Ford: Right.

Scott Hammond: Pastor Jim Thomas. Hey, Jim.

John Ford: Yeah. I've gone by Teleios a few times.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Great guy.

John Ford: Um, he, uh, he presents a good word.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. He's a, he's a good man, and, uh, they're doing a good job, and three services now and, you know, they, they grew a lot during COVID.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Um, so they, um, they're, they're a bunch of good guys. Um, having said all that, um, if you're just joining us, you're really late, and it's okay. It's John Ford, my new best friend and my new best neighbor. Uh, I think he's a good neighbor. I know I'm a good neighbor. If the bear comes around. If you see the bear-

John Ford: I did call you about the bear.

Scott Hammond: You did. You were, you were on it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. We saw the bear this morning. It's like, and I've talked to about eight other people since then that, yeah, there's been bear spottings.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And Joni did call Fish and Game.

John Ford: Uh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: And she said that that's exact- they, they move around. And did, did you guys ever see a cub?

John Ford: Did not see a cub.

Scott Hammond: That was a creepy squeal in the night, though.

John Ford: It was.

Scott Hammond: And bears don't normally eat things-

John Ford: Yep

Scott Hammond: … like live things.

John Ford: Well, and frankly, I don't want to be gross, but if a bear was eating something, it would only squeal for a little bit.

Scott Hammond: That's true. This was a, an ongoing-

John Ford: This was ongoing for, like, hours.

Scott Hammond: Oh, was it that long?

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Oh, I only woke up… And then I heard it kind of go away. So, interesting.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. And then-

John Ford: So the, the bear may be roaming around out there and-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

John Ford: … it looked like they had, uh, kind of made a little nest, um-

Scott Hammond: Yep

John Ford: … there, but

Scott Hammond: Yeah, could be stopping point. Uh, th- there's an area there where deer hang- have hung out.

Scott Hammond: She's raised generational deer spot there.

John Ford: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: But we're, that's gonna go away. The, um, so you kids out in Dows Prairie, keep an eye keep an eye out for the, the bear. It's like it's not a grizzly.

John Ford: It's, it's not a grizzly.

Scott Hammond: It's a black bear that's scared of people.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Clap twice, it'll run. But yeah, it's kinda creepy to know there's something,

Scott Hammond: you know… Next time you're out in your skivvies in the middle of the night around your house, you know, just be careful.

Scott Hammond: Um-

John Ford: You don't wanna see something, uh, with shining eyes that, uh, is running at you.

Scott Hammond: No, no, it's not your cat.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That'd be a huge bummer. Well, hey, thanks for being here, John.

John Ford: Thank you very much, Scott. It's a pleasure.

Scott Hammond: Appreciate it.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Thanks for sharing, yeah. Hey, so if you're, uh, just joining us, again, you're, you're super late, that's fine. Uh, but you can do this. You can, um, subscribe to us. I, I, I very rarely take much time. I think I'm gonna win the chocolate bar. Um, we're on YouTube. You could come and make a comment. You could subscribe. We're on all the podcast platforms, right, Nick? Like Apple and Spotify and… Is there o- There's, there's way many m- there's thousands more. I guess Amazon's got a podcast.

Scott Hammond: Um, oh, we're on Access Humboldt TV. You ever watch, uh, Access cable channel 10, 11, 12?

John Ford: I do.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Oh, you would, 'cause you're on there a lot.

Scott Hammond: I mean- Sorry. Sorry. That was a dig. That was uncalled for. Do you ever see yourself on TV? I guess you probably do.

John Ford: I, I d- I try not to watch myself, and when I'm tempted to, my wife says, "Don't you get enough of that at work?"

Scott Hammond: Yeah. There you are watching your friends again doing it work.

Scott Hammond: Um, yeah, no, they're really great. Access Humboldt, they're doing a good job.

John Ford: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: They've just moved. I guess they're gonna be in Eureka somewhere, and they come off to see our studio, and they're gonna be around for a little while.

John Ford: Yeah, appreciate them. They, they, they work hard.

Scott Hammond: Had Christina on the show. She's great. And then Nate Dogg, and then Matt was just in there in my office, one of their volunteers. What a great crew they have and, uh, some s- special folks doing the good work, um, serving the community.

John Ford: Yep.

Scott Hammond: Having said all that, you could like us, follow us. We have a website. Um, is it 100humboldt.com? That's correct. Nick says yes. And, um, yeah, got some cool people that are partners in this.

Scott Hammond: Dick Taylor, Advanced Security, um, Quality Body, and, uh, Growing Pains, uh, that's Nick's podcast. Nick Flores, ladies and gentlemen, 240 episodes, all of them three to four hours long. Joe Rogan format. Not all of them, but some amazing people there too. So thanks for joining us. We'll see you next time. Scott Hammond, 100% Humboldt. Keep it real.