Candidate for
County Supervisor; Humboldt County; Supervisorial District 5

Patrick Cleary is a community leader and businessman with a proven track record in getting things done.

Patrick is the president of Lost Coast Communications, a local radio station group which includes station K-HUM, K-SLUG and The Point. Lost Coast's flagship station KHUM won the National Association of Broadcasters' Service to America Award for its coverage of the 2006 New Year's Day storm. KHUM also won the national Edward R. Murrow award in 2007 for its documentary of the methamphetamine crisis in Humboldt County.

Patrick also has been the interim general manager at KHSU at Humboldt State University, where he is responsible for restoring the station's fiscal health, maintaining the confidence of members and volunteers, strengthening the station's signal reach and installing new management.

He also helped turn around the North Coast Co-op. Patrick rescued the Co-op out of its precarious financial position while reaching the organization's first ever collective bargaining agreement; and in 2002, the Eureka co-op hosted Consumer Cooperative National Convention.

As a member of the Big Lagoon Community Services District, he was instrumental in the upgrade and purchase of the community water system, which now has a backup generator to protect it from power outages.

Patrick is an original board member of the county's Headwaters Fund Board. Through his leadership, the fund has assisted with financing of the Rio Dell and Willow Creek water and sewer upgrades, the recruitment of Horizon and Delta Airlines to the Eureka-Arcata Airport, and the expansion of the airport terminal.

An avid musician himself, Patrick is president of the Humboldt Folklife Society, where he is leading the expansion of its annual Folklife Festival into an eight day summer festival and local musicians' showcase in Blue Lake. He is also a co-founder and organizer of the Buddy Brown Blues Festival that also takes place in Blue Lake.

He served as co-chair of the Six Rivers Planned Parenthood Building Committee, helping lead the organization through complex negotiations resulting in the completion of its new building.

He was a judge in the Economic Fuel business plan competition in 2007 and 2008.

In recognition of his efforts, Patrick was named the North Coast Association of Non-Profits (NorCAN) 2008 Non-Profit Leader of the Year.

Patrick moved to Humboldt County in 1997 from New York where he was managing director at The Chase Manhattan Bank. He earned his Bachelor's Degree from Georgetown University in 1979. He and his wife Cat live in McKinleyville.