Supervisors vote to look at amending urgency ordinance; Supervisor Jimmy Smith submits resignation letter to board

◼ While the supervisors said they're not in support of seeing the courthouse grounds turned into “a private living room” again, Lovelace, 5th District Supervisor Ryan Sundberg and 4th District Supervisor Virginia Bass agreed the urgency ordinance should be changed to allow people to protest at night and hold candlelight vigils.

An urgency ordinance that restricts protest activities at the Humboldt County Courthouse might be amended after the Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to have staff look at alterations.

Currently, the urgency ordinance restricts protest activities between 9:30 p.m. and 6 a.m., prohibits people from erecting structures or securing items to county property, prohibits camping on the courthouse grounds, prohibits obstructing access or interfering with the passage of others and more. The ordinance was passed in March in response to complaints about the activities of the Occupy group in front of the courthouse....

During the afternoon session of the meeting, the board officially received Smith's resignation letter. Smith is resigning effective Aug. 3 so he can rest while undergoing treatments for lymphoma -- a type of cancer that attacks white blood cells called lymphocytes.

An emotional Smith read the resignation letter aloud, struggling to get through the first few sentences. Smith, who has served on the board for 12 years, sent a letter to Gov. Jerry Brown asking that supervisor-elect Rex Bohn take his place when he steps down. The governor is responsible for appointing someone to fill the vacant supervisorial seat.

The board expressed gratitude for Smith's leadership, guidance and knowledge. The supervisors voted unanimously to send a letter to the governor seconding Smith's request to appoint Bohn to the seat. Bohn and Smith's wife were in the audience to support Smith.

Smith said he'll be working closely with Bohn and the board to try to make the change as seamless as possible.