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December 14, 1916 was just another cold, foggy morning along the Humboldt coast until three Samoa schoolboys on the school grounds at 8:30 a.m. thought they saw a whale on the beach through the mists. “Pat” Gallagher, a Humboldt Times newsboy, Robert Hensel and Curtis Peterson ran across some small dunes to get a better look and discovered the U. S. submarine the H-3 wallowing in the breakers.

The boys informed the doubtful teachers, Nina Graham and Esther Merkey, who checked and then sent the boys to notify Walter Pratt, chief electrician for the Hammond Lumber Company. Pratt immediately phoned authorities in Eureka, who sent the coast guard cutter to the scene. The cutter was helpless in the sea as the submarine was practically on the shore. Men from the Humboldt Bay Life Station were on their way up the ocean beach with two horses pulling their heavy equipment, and several men hauled lighter equipment on handcarts.

Until 9 a.m. there was no one on the beach except the students. They watched the craft dip into the waves, first on one side and then on the other. I was never allowed on the beach without my parents, but when Barbara McMillan told me there was a boat on the beach and that there was no school that day, I forgot I had parents and a home and scurried to have a look at what I thought was a wrecked red boat.

There was no sign of life aboard but occasional bursts from the sub’s whistle revealed that someone was calling for assistance. By this time parents and other adults of Samoa were straggling to the beach, housework postponed. This was an unusual occurrence, and the youngsters at this unscheduled field trip were totally unaware of the significance of this news to the nation.

Shorty before 11 a.m. the life saving crew arrived from their five-mile hike. Though the men were tired they went to work at once. They were often hampered by the crowds of people who had been filtering in all morning.

One of the older boys of Samoa, Harry Morian, who was a Boy Scout, arrived on the scene with semaphore flags. He was assisted by Kenneth Farley, another Scout. When a member of the sub’s crew appeared topside, Harry sent a communication inquiring if any lives had been lost. The answer was “No,” but he reported that fumes inside the hull were causing some discomfort. It was also mentioned that a crewman had lost two fingers.

It was about this time that my mother and small sister appeared and I was jolted back to reality. They were happy to find me and after escorting me home for a quick lunch, we all returned to the beach for the rest of the day. The life-saving crew found the high wintry seas and the high tide troublesome as they attempted to shoot a line to the wreck. Time and again a Lyle Gun (small cannon) was employed to shoot a rope to the derelict vessel. Men aboard the sub would appear, and if they caught the rope they would lose it. Seasickness and gas fumes had weakened them.

The station keeper eventually found it necessary to send for a surfboat. When it arrived, surfmen were dispatched to the submarine. A member of the local crew, Werner Sweins, leaped from the prow of the boat and scrambled aboard the sub with the line. If he had lost his footing there would have been little chance of rescuing him.

Sweins fastened the line on the sub and the crowd eagerly awaited action. A bystander on the beach took the hawser and fastened it to a redwood stump. It was at that time that a massive swell rolled the submarine seaward and the slackless line snapped. The entire process started over again, and this time it was successful. When Sweins returned to the beach through the pounding surf, he received a round of applause from the onlookers. Before leaving the sub, he had raised flags revealing that all men aboard were safe.

The hawser tying the submarine to the beach hung just atop the breakers and was just right for shooting the breeches buoy (seat resembling short trousers) to the sub. After eight or more hours in their gassy prison the men were ready for their release. Just before dark we watched the first man roll down the hawser. The crowd was entirely sympathetic as each man was submerged in the icy breakers before coming to shore in the biting wind. 

Residents had been gathering blankets and clothes and had a fire roaring and hot coffee ready for the rescued men. Nurses and a doctor were also on hand. The blankets were attached to poles making a room and a windbreak. The refugees, all of whom were saved, were housed with Samoa residents until the next day. It was the wreck of the submarine that led to the losing of the heavy cruiser, the U.S.S. Milwaukee. The cruiser, with two other ships, the navy tug Iroquoise and the U.S. monitor Cheyenne, attempted to pull the sub seaward but failed. All cut their lines after the hawser between the Milwaukee and the Cheyenne broke, but for the Milwaukee it was too late. She made her berth on the beach for all time on January 13, 1917.

The submarine’s fate was put to bid, with Mercer-Fraser being awarded the contract. After several months the vessel was transported across the sand into the bay. She was towed to Mare Island where she underwent extensive repairs.

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Lena Catherine Petty, 105, died peacefully and gracefully in her sleep on January 13, 2026 in Vancouver, Wash. Lena lived in Humboldt County for 91 years until moving to the Pacific Northwest in 2011. She is remembered for her kindness and empathy, zest for life and sense of humor, abundant energy, prodigious memory, and warm welcoming smile.

Lena was born on June 19, 1920 on her parents’ farm above the Eel River in Holmes Flat and baptized Madalena Caterina Sequestri. Her Aunt Nettie called her “Lena” from the beginning, and the name stuck. Lena’s parents, Tito Lino Sequestri and Rosalia Brambani, emigrated from the Lake Como area of Northern Italy in the early 1900s. Tito was a hand bucker and crosscut sawyer for Pacific Lumber Company. Lena lost her father at age 5, when he was drowned in the flooding Eel while helping to save boats used for crossing to the work site at Shively. Her mother followed him in death from pneumonia 5 years later. Two young brothers died in early childhood.

Lena often spoke of the intense poverty that her family experienced during the years after Tito’s death as her mother strove to raise three young children. The struggle seemed to nurture Lena’s curious nature as she described happy memories spent with her brother Pietro Lino (Peter Lee) and sister Maria Domenica (Mary). More than 90 years later she still recalled their two-story farmhouse, the two-room Holmes school house, and train and bus rides into Fortuna and Eureka. She remembered visiting a gypsy camp on the river bank where she found a tube of lipstick, and walking with her brother and sister out to Highway 101 in the Redwoods to watch the Native American marathon runners.

After Rosalia’s death in 1931, the three Sequestri children were taken in by different relatives. Lena moved to Eureka to live with her mother’s first cousin, Carlo (Charlie) Maffia, his wife Mary Albini and their sons Sero (Sag), Rinaldo (Nard) and Carlo (Charlie) in their home on West Clark Street. A lasting memory of that time was Nard teaching her to drive so she could get a hardship driver’s license when she was 15. She drove for her “Papa and Mamma Maffia”, going even as far as San Francisco which was a two-day trip in those days. The anxiety of making it up hills like Table Bluff haunted her for the entire trip. When she got her first Oregon Driver’s License at age 91, the clerk told her she had never given a license to someone who had been driving for more than 70 years. Lena passed the difficult test on the first try. She drove until she was 97, turning in her last license on the same day Saudi Arabia gave women the right to drive. Always interested in current events, Lena said she thought that was a fair trade.

She fondly remembered making ravioli with Mamma Maffia and strolling arm and arm together for evening passeggiate around Eureka’s Little Italy. She told stories of the lively neighborhood of Italians, Irish, Germans, Greeks and Czechoslovakians, and vividly remembered the horrible night when the Colivas grocery store burned down. She loved taking the streetcar to get ice cream at the Bon Boniere in what is now Old Town. Every year before Christmas she and Mamma Maffia carried sacks of oranges to give to tuberculosis patients at the county hospital. They carried the heavy sacks on the streetcar out Myrtle Avenue, and continued up the Harrison Street hill on foot. In the summers she joined her brother and sister on her beloved Zio Tony Albini’s ranch at Alton and later in Ferndale, happy to be with her siblings and to help Tony with his chores. Every time Lena rode on old 101 past the eucalyptus trees at Alton, she reminded us that we were driving over Tony’s carrot patch. For many years she joined Tony’s family in Ferndale for annual sausage making.

After her first years in the small Holmes school house, Lena attended Jefferson Elementary and Eureka Junior and Senior High Schools, graduating in 1938. After graduation she attended Eureka Business College and was hired at S.H. Kress as head floor walker. During World War II she became the ticket agent at the Greyhound Bus Lines, a job she loved because she heard stories of other places and was even allowed to drive an empty bus occasionally. In the early 1960s she worked in sales at Daly Brothers’ Department Store, starting in the men’s department. She managed the Daly’s Fortuna store for a while before returning to be assistant manager in the Bargain Center. In the mid-1960s she was offered a newly created job in the accounting department at the Eureka City Schools where she worked until retirement in 1988. She loved all her jobs, never leaving because she didn’t like them but for a new opportunity. Until she moved to Oregon in 2011 she met Eureka High classmates and former coworkers for lunch every month.

The outbreak of World War II affected Lena deeply, as it did her entire generation. She described collapsing to the floor when she heard about the Pearl Harbor attack on the radio while changing her bed that December morning. She knew her brother was in the Navy somewhere near Hawaii. He was safe then but would later lose a leg in the attack and sinking of his ship, the USS Monsson, during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942.

At Christmas, 1943, Lena began dating the older brother, Reginald, of two close friends from high school, Frances and Durward Petty. A few weeks later at the end of January 1944, Lena drove with Reg’s parents Charles and Irene to visit Reg at Camp Adair near Corvallis, OR. There they decided spontaneously to drive to Vancouver, WA and be married by a justice of the peace. They did not tell their own children until they were nearly adults themselves about this quick courtship, fearing it might set a bad example. But because Lena knew Reg’s family so well by then, she felt like she already knew him. She traveled with him during his medical training to Illinois and Texas until he received orders to ship out to the Philippines. Always ready for adventure, Lena drove their convertible back to Eureka alone.

In the early 1950s Lena and Reg owned a meat market at 5th and L until they sold it so Reg could take over a Fuller Brush distributorship. In 1958 Reg became an insurance salesman, first for MetLife and then The Travelers. During these years Lena took on a few side hustles. For years she made potato salad from her own recipe for most of the markets in Eureka and Arcata. Every week she set up an assembly line of kids and friends to peel boiled potatoes and hard-boiled eggs, chop celery and mix the condiments. All measurements were done by Lena’s eye, no recipe. She sold Irish Sweepstakes Tickets, an illegal endeavor at the time. She also worked for a while for Gallup Polls, interviewing people in their homes. She told stories of meeting people in alleys to sell tickets and of interviewing interesting people, including her first encounter with a Buddhist. “A Buddhist!” she said, thrilled by the new experience. She and Reg managed these enterprises as a team in their home on 8th Street, where Lena lived for 65 years.

After Reg’s sudden death in 1970, Lena was introduced by friends to Alfred “Al” Foster because they were both great dancers. Al became her companion and dancing partner for 30 years. They were well known on the Dixieland Jazz Festival circuit where onlookers loved to watch their graceful, close and fast West Coast Swing style. They could be seen dancing in Eureka at the Moose Lodge, the Friendship Circle and to their favorite band, the Hall Street Honkers, at the Red Lion.

Lena’s love of travel must have begun on those early train rides to Eureka from Holmes. She made many trips to Europe alone and with family and friends. She especially enjoyed time in Switzerland with her son and his family, where she also made several new friends. Highlights of her trips included seeing cousins and visiting her mother’s village, Garzeno above Lake Como. She also spent a memorable vacation with friends in the Valle Maggia above Locarno on Lago Maggiore. Her unequalled stamina was seen when she hiked thousands of feet to one of the tallest dams in Switzerland. Lena’s remarkable memory and love of learning never waned. She chronicled her trips, making detailed notes on all the sights and monuments. At age 87, she traveled twice to Italy and toured museums and ruins with equal interest, showing a keen appreciation for art and history—and gelato for breakfast.

Lena actively volunteered in the Eureka community. She sold annual subscriptions to the Community Concerts series, volunteered for the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, and helped serve lunch weekly at the St. Vincent de Paul Dining Facility. She was a member of the Sons of Italy, the Italian Catholic Federation and the Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. She helped host the Redwood Coast Jazz Festival (now the Redwood Coast Music Festival). On her own she often spent her lunch hours visiting people she knew who were in a hospital or nursing home.

Lena described herself as a shy child. She learned to lead with her famous smile, breaking the ice with everyone she met. In the mornings she faithfully visited local coffee shops, first Deb’s until it closed, then the 305 and finally The Pantry, to enjoy tea and toast while reading the three newspapers she bought every day. She made many friends during these morning sojourns. Over the years more than one checked up on her if she failed to show up for a couple of mornings. After retirement, she followed these outings with time at the Adorni Center gym, long afternoon walks and ending with tea at Ramone’s or Border’s Books.

Lena was observant of those around her, accepting their failures and quirks, though quick to point out ways to improve. She was definite in her opinions but kind and often funny in their delivery. Her secret power was helping people find and accept love, making friends everywhere she went. “Never go to sleep angry,” she would say. She enjoyed mentoring young people, and many called and visited her for advice over the years. In recognition of that gift, she and Reg (posthumously) were honored in 1973 by the National CYO for their work as advisers to Catholic youth. She followed current events avidly, volunteering for many years as a poll worker for the elections office. She enjoyed all music, babied her tart cherry tree in the backyard that she grew from a cutting, organized long camping trips and always kept a suitcase ready for travel. Above all she loved her family, her Italian Heritage and Catholic Faith, and Eureka. Within minutes of meeting her, people would hear that she was from “Eureka, California, in the Redwoods, on the Coast.”

In 2011 Lena moved to Lake Oswego, Oregon to live near her daughter. At 91 she was ready for a new adventure and was often found surrounded by a group of friends in the social lounge of her retirement community. Another move in 2023 took her to Vancouver, Wash., back where she had first begun her married life.

In addition to her parents and young brothers, Lena outlived her brother Peter Lee Sequestri and sister Mary McManus, her Maffia foster parents and brothers, her husband Reginald Petty, her long-time companion and dancing partner Alfred Foster, her daughter-in-law Tana Lyn Wells, and most of her generation of family and friends. She is survived by her son David of Etoy, Switzerland; her daughter Diana and husband John Bosshardt of Vancouver, Wash.; her grandson Damien and wife Kirsten of Los Angeles; her niece Joanne Sequestri Kratzwald and nephew Tom Smith; grandnephew Guy Smith and grandnieces Debbi Logue Lal and Kitty Bryan; several generations of cousins in the extended Maffia and Brambani families; and many friends from several generations. Barbara Maffia Westlake, Lynn Maffia McKenna and Linda Albini Beatty were not only her “foster nieces” but close friends.

The family are grateful to Gigi and Julia Bittar, Evelia Lim and Casey Heist of G&J In Home Care who cared for Lena in her home in Lake Oswego for several years, and to the dedicated staff at Touchmark at Fairway Village Memory Care in Vancouver. Her final days were greatly eased by Providence Hospice of Portland. Those who wish to make gifts in Lena’s memory are invited to contribute to the Sequoia Humane Society (6073 Loma Ave., Eureka, CA 95503), the St. Vincent de Paul Dining Facility (P O Box1386, Eureka, CA 95502), or the Redwood Coast Music Festival (P O Box 314, Eureka, CA 95502).

A rosary will begin at 10:30 a.m., followed by mass and reception, on April 25 at St. Bernard’s Catholic Church, 615 H St., Eureka. Lena will be interred at Oceanview Cemetery, in a private ceremony.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Lena Petty’s family. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.

Michael Eugene Quinn, 68, passed away on January 25, 2026, in McKinleyville. Born on December 21, 1957, in West Covina, California, Michael lived a life filled with dedication to his work, passion for his hobbies, and love for his family.

Michael began his career by joining the Coast Guard in 1977 and was stationed in Yorktown. After his service, he pursued a long and varied career that showcased his mechanical expertise and hardworking spirit. He spent many years as a truck driver and mechanic, dedicating himself to his craft throughout his life. Michael met Shawna Young in the early 2000s, and he knew she was the one for the rest of his life. Michael worked at Johnson Auto Electric for 16 years and Eureka Auto Wholesale for another 16 years. He also contributed four years of service at Ray’s Old Town and Muffler. His commitment to his work left a lasting impression on those who knew him professionally.

Beyond his career, Michael had a deep passion for building cars. One of his proudest accomplishments was restoring a Pinto station wagon from the ground up — a car that became his favorite and symbolized his skill and dedication as a mechanic. When not working on cars, Michael cherished time spent with his family. Known for being outgoing, funny, caring, and kind-hearted, he especially adored his grandchildren and treasured every moment with them. Michael and Shawna got married August 15th, 2022, to seal the deal forever.

Michael is survived by his loving partner, Shawna Young; sons William M. Quinn and Anthony G. Quinn; daughter Shanna L. Quinn; grandchildren Layla L. Quinn, Dillon J. Quinn, Earl E. Quinn, Maggie L. Quinn, William M. Quinn Jr., Maddox D. Keeter, and Rylee M. Bergeron; as well as many others who held him dear. He was predeceased by his parents, Gene and Cecile Quinn, and his sister Linda Quinn. Michael’s legacy of kindness, humor, and devotion to family will live on in the hearts of all who knew him. May memories of him bring comfort to those he leaves behind.

Services will be held at two locations March 7, 2026: First Trinity Baptist Church at 11 a.m.–12 p.m., 2450 Alliance Road, Arcata. Following, the Veterans Hall, 1425 J St., Arcata.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Michael Quinn’s family. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.

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Press release from the California Highway Patrol:

HUMBOLDT COUNTY, Calif. — On Feb. 26, at approximately 10:30 a.m., the California Highway Patrol (CHP), with assistance from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department, the California Department of Cannabis Control and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, executed a search warrant at a cannabis cultivation operation as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into stolen vehicles with altered Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN).

After securing the property, the Department of Cannabis Control found the site operating illegally. Investigators identified multiple environmental violations, including the unlawful diversion of water for the irrigation of the cannabis operation. Officers also found unpermitted structures used for cooking and habitation.

Based on those findings, investigators obtained and executed a second search warrant.

Following service of the second warrant, officers seized the following items as evidence:

• 3,395 pounds of processed illicit cannabis
• One fully automatic AK-47 assault rifle
• One short-barreled shotgun
• Four pistols
• One rifle
• A stolen 2022 Polaris RZR
• Four VIN-switched stolen vehicles:
• 2025 Ford F-350 King Ranch (approximate value $90,000)
• 2020 GMC Sierra AT4 (approximate value $38,000)
• 2023 Cadillac Escalade (approximate value $67,000)
• 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Trail Boss (approximate value $39,000)
• Hundreds of rounds of ammunition
• Counterfeit identification documents
• Cellular phones
• One mounted wolf seized as contraband by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife

Investigators also located a safe containing high-end jewelry and approximately $15,000 to $20,000 in U.S. currency within the residence and other structures. Authorities seized the property under asset forfeiture laws. The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department will handle asset forfeiture proceedings in coordination with the CHP and the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office.

During the operation, investigators located three cannabis-processing workers at the site. Following further investigation, officers determined the individuals were likely victims of labor trafficking. Authorities provided the workers with information and support services from the Northern California Coalition to Safeguard Communities.

“This case highlights the evolving nature of organized criminal enterprises operating in our rural communities,” said CHP Northern Division Commander Chief John Pinoli. “What began as an investigation into stolen vehicles uncovered an illicit cannabis operation, illegal firearms, environmental crimes, and individuals who may have been exploited for labor. Our personnel and partner agencies remain committed to protecting the public, safeguarding natural resources, and holding those who profit from criminal activity accountable.”

Prosecutors will file all criminal charges via complaint. 

The mission of the CHP is to provide the highest level of Safety, Service, and Security.

UPDATE, Saturday, 9:58 a.m.:

Aileen Yoo, Cal Poly Humboldt’s director of news and information, emailed the following update a few minutes ago:

At approximately 2 a.m. on Saturday, 20 individuals occupying a meeting room in Nelson Hall East exited on their own, and the University was able to clear and secure the building. There were no arrests or injuries. 

Individuals were free to leave at any time, and following multiple dispersal warnings they vacated the building. The campus is open and operating as normal, though certain buildings remain locked. A number of the individuals who had occupied the meeting room have been identified, and the University will follow up using the appropriate campus and legal processes. 

We respect everyone’s First Amendment right to free expression–regardless of their viewpoints and backgrounds. We also support the rights of all students, staff, and faculty to a safe and respectful learning and working environment that is free from disruptions.

I don’t have additional details beyond this right now, but we’ll continue to provide updates when we have more information to share.

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UPDATE, 3:04 p.m.: Mike Fisher, the university’s president for administration and finance, is inside talking with the activists now. Meanwhile, a bit of a crowd has gathered outside.

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ORIGINAL POST:

This morning, following a meeting scheduled with Cal Poly Humboldt administration, masked student activists occupied Nelson Hall, demanding that the university “divest from war and genocide, implement a true sanctuary policy and honor Teamster raises.”

The building has been locked down, with no one able to come in its main entrances. (Though people may freely leave.) An activist speaking out of a window tells the Outpost’s Dezmond Remington that they estimate there to be about a couple of dozen people inside.

A Facebook post from the Lumberjack, the student newspaper, shows that a cache of food and drink has been delivered to the students inside.

As of a few moments ago, the protesters were focusing on a more urgent demand: that the administration unlock the building’s bathrooms.

‘Unlock the bathrooms!’

The occupation, of course, echoes the occupation of the campus’ Siemens Hall in 2024, which lasted a little over a week.

Standing outside the building, Ryder Dschida, a history professor and the president of the local chapter of the California Faculty Association, told the Outpost that he was there to observe.

“CFA stands with SDS [Students for a Democratic Society] and their right to exercise free speech,” he said. “CFA also understands it does not want campus activities like classes to be disrupted. So we’re just trying to figure it out right now as it stands, but I do want to say that we stand in solidarity with SDS and their action in support of Palestinian suffering in Gaza.”

Cal Poly Humboldt issued a statement on the situation in response to an Outpost inquiry:

This morning, University leadership had a conversation with concerned students and community members. After a sit-in on the quad, protestors moved into Nelson Hall East. The building is currently locked and entrance is not allowed. While the University fully supports the right of individuals to peacefully express their views, it is equally important that we maintain a disruption-free environment for all students, staff, and faculty to learn and work.

The Free Speech Support & Resource Team and University leadership are actively engaged with the protestors involved to resolve the situation as quickly and peacefully as possible.

Poster shared on social media in the run-up to today’s events.

PREVIOUSLY

• Amazon Confirms Plans for a Distribution Warehouse in McKinleyville
• Attorney General Bonta Touts New Evidence of Price-Fixing by Amazon, Asks Court to Immediately Halt Illegal Practice

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NOTE: The following opinion piece was written by Humboldt County Fifth District Supervisor Steve Madrone:

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Is Amazon coming to town? Above is a map of the proposed facility at the McKinleyville Airport Business Park.

For months I have been writing articles about the effects of online shopping and the importance of shopping local. Online shopping takes away much of the sales tax benefits of shopping local as well as a loss of local jobs.

It might seem cheaper but without the local sales tax, we then have less support for our local schools, roads and law enforcement. So if you add up all the effects it is not cheaper.

Local jobs also usually pay better wages and there certainly is lots of information online about low paying jobs by Amazon and less than ideal working conditions for Amazon workers.

Why we complain about billionaires taking over our world and then choose to give them our money through purchasing decisions is a mystery to me. There is a lot of power behind these purchasing decisions.

Many of us choose to not shop online for these and many other reasons. Folks say well there are limited options to buy local and if we choose to continue to shop online then that feedback loop will continue to create less and less options for shopping local. It creates a negative feedback loop.

So what can we do? Get involved and become informed. Turns out this proposed facility in McKinleyville does not qualify as a Distribution Center, so we will not get increased sales tax from its development. While the Airport Business Park was permitted long ago for development, this project will still need to get a Coastal Development Permit requiring some level of CEQA review and there will be a public hearing.

Some have suggested a boycott of Amazon products and services. There are communities like San Francisco and San Diego that have organized and pushed back against these developments. A recent report shows that Humboldt County has fallen behind the state for income equality. The number of folks working full time year-round that are still at the poverty level has doubled recently.

Yes, we need more jobs, but low-wage jobs like what Amazon pays with harsh worker conditions are not what we are looking for. Given the extreme wealth that Amazon has it would not hurt to pay better wages and improve worker conditions.

The Airport Business Park is going to develop, and any development comes with impacts, but we can and should do our best to ask for quality businesses that care about our community. It is not anti-business to ask for living wage jobs and decent worker conditions.

What do you think?

PREVIOUSLY

• Burdened With Repairing Low-Income Housing and Worried About a Future Funding Shortfall, the Arcata House Partnership Hopes that Arcata Will Try and Defray Costs
• Arcata City Council Debates Priorities: Fix Up a Homeless Shelter, or Replace Water Meters?
• Arcata Mulls Grant Options for Its Low-Income Residents

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The Arcata City Council decided last night that the city should attempt to earn state money to replace water meters instead of fixing damaged apartments and upgrading infrastructure at the low-income housing project the Grove. 

It’s a blow for the Arcata House Partnership, the homeless services organization that runs the Grove. AHP had appealed to the city, asking Arcata to apply to California’s Community Development Block Grant (CDGB) program for $2.9 million that AHP would use for various repairs and improvements, including installing ADA-compliant sidewalks, adding solar panels, and fixing 12 apartments that are too damaged to live in.

Darlene Spoor, AHP’s executive director, framed AHP’s pitch as an equitability issue; funding AHP would benefit the entire city, Spoor said. AHP could house at least another 12 homeless people with the funding by fixing the damaged units, and AHP could improve the lives of the 56 current tenants, all of whom have a disability and were once homeless. AHP knew when the Grove opened in 2022 that it would eventually need more money for upgrades, but decided it was more important to house people immediately and figure out where the funding would come from later. The city council could, she said, try to buy stability for its tenants.

“We knew we did not have every dollar we needed for capital improvements,” Spoor said at the council meeting last night. “That is not an oversight — it is a choice…We made a mission-driven decision. We chose to house people immediately so they could be safe and stable, rather than wait until every infrastructure upgrade was fully funded.”

Many of the public commenters at the meeting agreed with her proposal, as did councilmember Sarah Schaefer, who was the lone dissenting vote in favor of applying for CDGB funding for the Grove. 

“I think we need the housing,” Schaefer said. “It needs to be rehabbed. It’s a pretty strong need right now, and we’ve seen that federal and state grants are kind of going away for a while. I think to maintain what we have, and try to get grant funding to be able to do that, is going to be important.”

But it was an uphill battle for AHP. There’s no guarantee Arcata will get grants for any project. Councilmembers and city staff pointed out that Arcata was less likely to get the state funding if they applied on behalf of AHP than if the city applied to replace water meters, both because of stiff competition from other municipalities with housing issues and because Arcata’s CDGB program has never used that source of funding for a project like that before. They pointed out that the city is losing $100,000 a year because of old, faulty water meters, according to councilmember Stacy Atkins-Salazar, and they claimed that most of the people they talked to in their off-time preferred the meter project. The vote was 4-1. 

The council spent a lot of time justifying their decision. All four of the councilmembers who voted for the water meters had mixed feelings about their decision. 

“I’m sorry we can’t do both,” Atkins-Salazar said. 

“It’s a very hard decision,” replied councilmember Alex Stillman. 

Mayor Kimberley White talked for three minutes straight before the vote, explaining why she preferred the replacement project. 

“Water meter replacement project is highly competitive, measurable and impacts everyone,” she said. “So while the Grove is important, as we have all pointed out, it’s facing some uncertain scoring [from California] due to project readiness…So choosing the meter project maximizes our chance of securing funding that benefits the greatest number of our residents.”

In a brief interview with the Outpost after the vote, Spoor, effusive and teary, said she was disappointed with the decision. She said city hall should look for water infrastructure funding elsewhere. 

“I live in Arcata,” she said. “I want our water to be wonderful too, but there’s more opportunity for big money for water infrastructure, than for housing…I understand that city council has to look out for everyone, but when we have hundreds and hundreds of people who are homeless in our community — they are everyone.”