Burke and Schwartz outline shared priorities in Fifth District supervisor race

McKinleyville’s next supervisor will help decide how fast the town grows, how safely people move through Central Avenue, and how Humboldt County handles the district’s biggest development fights. In a League of Women Voters forum, Mary Burke and Evan Schwartz sounded strikingly similar on economic development, but voters still got a clearer view of where the consequences will land in the Fifth District, from McKinleyville to Trinidad, Orick, Hoopa, Willow Creek and Weitchpec.

The seat is opening because Supervisor Steve Madrone is not seeking reelection, and the June 2 primary is now just ahead. Ballots began mailing May 4, secure drop boxes opened May 5, and the registration deadline passed May 18, putting the final stretch on a race that will shape the county’s largest unincorporated community area. Burke has Madrone’s endorsement, along with support from Jared Huffman, Chris Rogers and Mike Wilson.

Both candidates returned again and again to the same theme: the district needs jobs, housing and a stronger local economy. Burke leaned on her record in McKinleyville government and nonprofit work. She was elected to the McKinleyville Community Services District board in 2017 and later served on the McKinleyville Municipal Advisory Committee. Schwartz leaned on business experience and a more everyman style, pointing to the years he co-founded and ran McKinleyville Central Market, later founded Craft Beer Distribution Company and Cause Water.

That overlap mattered because the supervisor will inherit a stack of projects already reshaping the town. The McKinleyville Town Center zoning amendment covers about 134 acres and could allow as many as 2,650 multi-family homes, 632,800 square feet of retail and commercial space, and 271,200 square feet of office uses. County planning documents say the site is meant to combine commercial, civic and residential development with pedestrian, bicycle, transit, open-space and wetland-preservation features.

On the proposed Amazon last-mile facility near the California Redwood Coast Airport, Burke and Schwartz both criticized Amazon in broad terms but said the project is zoned appropriately. Both also supported a community benefits agreement, signaling that neither candidate is looking to block the project outright.

They were also broadly aligned on Humboldt Commons, the senior-housing proposal in McKinleyville. The project, formerly known as Life Plan Humboldt, says it would be the county’s first nonprofit 62-plus senior living community of its kind in Northern California. Plans call for about 101 cottages and apartments on 14.58 acres, plus a two-acre affordable senior-housing component with up to 50 apartments. Burke stressed roadway safety for seniors. Schwartz echoed the need for sidewalks and safer pedestrian access.

The clearest split came over Central Avenue. Schwartz strongly opposed the proposed road diet, arguing McKinleyville needs better connectivity before losing vehicle capacity. Burke acknowledged the connectivity problem but appeared more open to pedestrian and access improvements. That fight is already one of the district’s defining political tests: the Board of Supervisors approved the McKinleyville Town Center ordinance on Oct. 20, 2025, by a 4-1 vote after hours of testimony from roughly three dozen speakers, and county staff said the plan would reduce about half a mile of Central Avenue from five lanes to three. McKinleyville Community Services District commenters warned the change could interfere with access to mid-street water and sewer mains.

A separate McKinleyville forum also put the county’s projected $12 million budget deficit on the table, underscoring that the Fifth District contest is about more than personalities. Whoever wins will have to govern through growth pressures, budget strain and a community still arguing over what kind of town McKinleyville should become.