Brinton and Sopoci-Belknap.

Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap, a liberal activist and longtime board member on the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District, recently announced her resignation from that government body, effective March 10, 2016. Her term is scheduled to last through December 2016, and in her resignation letter she notes, “I have every confidence that the Board will choose a capable replacement for me to serve during those interim months.”

Why the departure? Sopoci-Belknap tells the Outpost that she and her husband, former Arcata City Councilmember Shane Brinton, are picking up and moving to the state capitol.

“We are excited to be moving to Sacramento as it is a lovely and diverse city,” she told the Outpost in an email. Her message continued:

It is an a important move for the work that both of us do. Move to Amend is making great strides in building the movement to amend the constitution to eliminate corporate constitutional rights and get big money out of politics, but it has gotten to the point that being in such an isolated location is too great an inconvenience for a national campaign. As for Shane, he’s eager to make greater contributions to the struggle for workers’ rights in a place where there is more action in the Labor Movement.

We’re sad to part ways with Humboldt for the time being but this will always be a special place to us. We’ll miss everyone (probably even the people you wouldn’t think we’d miss) but we won’t be that far away and we won’t be strangers. If nothing else we’ll need to come visit when Sacramento is 125 degrees and we need a fog fix!

Sopoci-Belknap has been involved in local political and social causes for many years, co-founding such groups as Democracy Unlimited and Local Solutions. Brinton first entered public office 10 years ago when, at the tender age of 18, he won a seat on the board of the Northern Humboldt Union High School District. He was elected to the Arcata City Council in 2008, and he resigned in 2014 to care for his ailing mother.

Best of luck in Sac, you two.

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