As plans to bring offshore wind to the North Coast move steadily ahead, commercial fishermen are urging federal and state regulatory agencies to pump the brakes.
“I want to make one thing clear: Fishermen are not opposing [renewable] projects up here, we’re opposing the loss of thousands of miles of fishing grounds,” Ken Bates, president of the California Fishermen’s Resiliency Association (CFRA), told the Outpost in a recent interview. “Fishermen understand what’s going on with the climate. They can see what’s going on with the ocean. They get it. … That being said, we need to exercise a little bit of caution before we just throw these projects to the wind, so to speak.”
The Humboldt Wind Energy Area (WEA) is comprised of two lease areas spanning more than 200 square miles – 28 miles north to south and about 14 miles east to west – roughly 20 miles west of Eureka, smack dab in the middle of some of the most valuable fishing grounds on the entire West Coast.
“Interestingly enough, the areas that are the windiest on the California, Oregon and Washington coasts are also the areas that are most biologically productive,” Bates said. “Some of the worst ocean conditions in the world have also been recorded off the Cape Mendocino.”
Bates has relayed his concerns to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the federal agency that oversees the development of offshore renewable energy projects, but he feels commercial fishermen aren’t being heard.
“The lease area was picked by [BOEM] without input from anybody in the fishing fleet,” he said, adding that there are only a handful of fully operational floating wind turbines in the world. “Part of what fishermen are asking for is to slow down. Let’s be careful and make sure we’re not doing more damage than we’re hoping to alleviate by implementing this technology in the ocean. …We’re scrambling to try to find a way to have some input in this process.”
Travis Hunter, president of the Fisherman’s Marketing Association, said engagement with BOEM and other federal and state agencies “has been little more than a rubber stamp.”
“You know, ‘Check the box, we talked to the fishermen!’” he told the Outpost in a recent interview. “I’m not saying that there hasn’t been an opportunity for public comment; I just don’t think it’s going anywhere and our concerns aren’t being heard. … It seems like there is a push to get this done no matter what. You’ve got to break a few eggs to make an omelet and, well, we’re going to be the broken eggs.”
If the offshore wind development moves forward as planned, many local fishermen – particularly the trawl and ground fishing fleets – would lose access to grounds they’ve fished for decades.
“The trawl fleet has fished in and around the Humboldt [WEA] for generations and we’re gonna lose a lot of ground,” Hunter continued. “We may very well lose more of that area depending on how developers construct the transmission lines connecting the operation to the shore. There are a lot of unknowns in this and, sure, there are some fishermen in the area that will be much less impacted and there are mitigation measures for them, but not for all.”
Harrison Ibach, president of the Humboldt Fisherman’s Marketing Association, worries that the offshore wind development could impact upwelling, the process in which currents bring cold, nutrient-rich water from the depths of the ocean to its surface, replacing warm, nutrient-deficient water.
Preliminary results from a recent study of the Morro Bay and Humboldt Call Areas found large-scale offshore wind energy projects “[have] the potential to reduce the wind stress at the sea surface” which could adversely impact upwelling, nutrient delivery and ecosystem dynamics along the Pacific Coast. However, the study notes that changes to wind speeds in the Humboldt Bay Call Area “are substantially smaller than those seen near Morro Bay.”
Oceana Hooknline Seafood crew, with halibut. Photo courtesy Harrison Ibach.
“We have a very healthy ocean along our coast because we have a lot of upwelling that comes from bad weather and a lot of wind,” Ibach told the Outpost. “Fishing grounds that are that productive and that close to port are really important because you’re not looking to travel very long distances when you’re fishing in bad weather.”
As one might guess, these are the same reasons that that particular swath of sea is appealing for offshore wind development. Once construction begins, Ibach fears fleets will have to compete with developers to fish.
“We’re really concerned about the amount of traffic that will be taking place,” he said. In this case, “traffic” refers to the vessels that will be used to bring the wind turbines, which will be assembled at a full-service terminal on the Samoa Peninsula, through Humboldt Bay and out to the Humboldt WEA. “We don’t get a lot of good fishable days out of Humboldt Bay, so we may be competing with offshore wind [developers] for the best fishing weather.”
“Marine vessels mobilizing and transiting from ports to the WEA may reduce efficiency of fishing operations due to time delays associated with congestion, but the [port] and its nearshore waters hosts a variety of marine operations and hundreds of fishers, so the expected increase in activity from project vessels would be small compared to the overall level of work,” the document states. “Potential effects to commercial fishing from the collection buoys are expected to be temporary in duration (five years or less) and would be limited to a small area of the WEA (around the buoys).”
The environmental review process still has a long way to go. After the upcoming lease auction (more on that below) BOEM will select two winning bidders. The leaseholders will then begin the “construction and operations phase” and conduct further analysis through an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) or an Environmental Impact Report (EIR).
North Coast fisheries could receive a chunk of funding from developers to make up for lost fishing grounds and other disruptions to commercial fishing efforts.
For example, developers associated with Vineyard Wind, an offshore wind energy project currently under construction off the coast of Massachusetts, created a compensation package to reimburse impacted commercial fishermen and to fund studies and projects to improve conditions for fish in and around the facility. Developers also agreed to bury transmission cables deep enough to allow for fishing above them and to align the wind turbines in an east-west direction to better accommodate boat traffic.
The Redwood Region Climate & Community Resilience (CORE) Hub and the North Coast Offshore Wind Community Benefits Network (the Network) – a coalition of local governments, districts and agencies, tribes, environmental advocacy groups and community-based organizations – are hoping to do something similar through a bid credit package.
The future site of the floating offshore wind farm. Map: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
The bid credit package will be made available through an upcoming lease auction in which 43 separate entities, ranging from regional LLCs all the way up to energy giants like Shell, will bid for five lease areas along the West Coast, two of which are in the Humboldt WEA. To qualify for the credit package the bidder “must commit to mak[ing] a qualifying monetary contribution to programs or initiatives” that benefit the greater Humboldt County community.
“A bidder may target either workforce training, supply chain development, or a combination thereof for a 20 percent credit,” according to the Final Sale Notice (FSN) for the Humboldt WEA. “The Lease Area Use Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) bidding credit will be worth 5 percent of the cash bid. The General CBA bidding credit will be worth 5 percent of the cash bid.”
That means up to 30 percent of the final cash bid that is accepted during the upcoming auction could be set aside to offset impacts associated with offshore wind development.
However, the bid credit is not guaranteed. Bidders can choose to opt out of the credit on the Bidder’s Financial Form.
“Everybody is making this giant assumption that these credits are mandatory and they’re not,” Bates said. “It’s my personal opinion that fishermen won’t see any of that money from those bid credits because of the restrictive language in [the CBA]. … I wouldn’t bet on it for a second.”
Instead of counting on financial relief for fisheries, Bates suggested a three-pronged approach: avoidance, minimization and mitigation.
“What can we do to avoid the impacts that we perceive are coming?” he asked. “Part of that might be in the short-term, such as limiting wind power areas across California for the next five years or so until we see how this stuff works. … Another part of ‘avoidance’ would be working with fisheries to try to locate areas that are more important than others, but that’s always been controversial because fish move and fishermen move with them.”
The second piece, “minimization,” would seek to reduce impacts associated with offshore wind. The California Fishermen’s Resiliency Association is working on a list of things that developers and fisheries can do to work together to minimize impacts.
“That includes things like seasonality and when they might be moving turbine units on and off the fishing grounds,” Bates said. “Or, the route of the cable lanes. These turbine arrays are going to have multiple cables – anywhere from five to 12 cables – and they have to be far apart.”
The final component is “mitigation,” he said. “Mitigation is when you can’t figure out any other way to fix the problem you’ve created. At that point, it comes down to cash and that will just be a bandaid.”
BOEM did not respond to the Outpost’s request for comment regarding the fishing fleet’s apprehension.
The County of Humboldt, on the other hand, acknowledged the fleet’s “legitimate concerns about access to fishing grounds and other impacts of offshore wind development,” and emphasized the importance of a robust public process.
“While the County has little direct control over the offshore wind development process, we have been working hard to represent and support local residents, communities, and industries to ensure that offshore wind development provides community benefits, minimizes and mitigates any unavoidable impacts, and generates significant economic opportunity for the region,” Humboldt County spokesperson Sean Quincey wrote in a recent email to the Outpost. “Offshore wind energy is a key strategy to fight global climate change, and we look forward to working directly with project developers to build a sustainable approach in conjunction with local and regional stakeholders.”
The Dec. 6 lease auction is the next big step for offshore wind development. The provisional winners and the winning bid amounts will be published shortly after the auction.
Once the post-auction review is completed sometime in March 2023, BOEM will send off three unsigned copies of the lease to each provisionally winning bidder who must sign the lease agreement, file financial assurance and pay off any outstanding balance of their bonus bid within 10 days.
“At least we’ll know what companies we’re dealing with at that point,” Bates said. “Our position is to try to work with these potential developers [to] avoid as many impacts as possible. That’s where we are right now.”
More information on the lease auction can be found here.
Vanessa King, born May 14, 1985, in Hayward to parents Ana and Paul King, parted this world on Nov. 24, 2022, on Thanksgiving Day, at age 37. She’s now reunited with her first-born daughter, Natalie.
She leaves behind two beautiful children — Mckaela, age 11, and Joseph, two years old, as well as her siblings, Pablo King, Susana King, Emely King, Miguel King and sister-in-law Mayra King, as well as her niece, Angelina King, and nephews Jonathan King and Daniel King, and a very large extended family who loved her dearly. She was loved by everyone who knew her. She loved the Lord and had a personal reencounter with God before her passing. She touched many people’s life in her short time on this Earth. She was a selfless, loving person.
Growing up she had a great sense of humor and a bubbly personality. She was very outgoing and loved to play sports all through her school years. She attended St. Bernard’s Elementary and part of high school and finished out her high school years at Eureka High. She attended Fredrick and Charles beauty college and got her cosmetology license. If you ever needed anything Vanessa was the first person you could go to because she was always ready to help everyone and anyone in any way, shape and form.
One of our daughters favorite quotes was “in happy moments praise God, in difficult moments seek God, in quiet moments trust God, in every moment thank God.” To love forever is to have you forever. I will love you forever, my beautiful daughter. Love, Mom and Dad.
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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Vanessa King’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.
Friend, brother, uncle and once-husband, Rick
passed away on November 9, 2022, from heart failure.
Rick
was born on June 30, 1946, to Amelia and Conrad Campos. He spent his
childhood living in Santa Maria but once he left, he never went back
there. When he graduated from high school he moved to Sacramento and
got a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science. After that, he enlisted in
the Air Force, thinking that it would be a better way to go then
waiting to be drafted into the Army. After about a year of the
military, he went AWOL and became a Conscientious Objector and that’s
where his dislike and disdain for the military started. He was given
a Dishonorable Discharge, which was later upgraded to a General
Discharge in the late 1960s
when Nixon pardoned all of the conscientious objectors.
After
his release from the military, he spent some time living in a tent on
a river in Mendocino County. He always said he was very happy there.
He also said that never again would he be put in a position where
somebody else was going to tell him what to do.
When
he was upgraded to a General Discharge, he moved to the Bay Area
(Richmond), and enrolled in a junior college so that he could get
back into the hang of being in school again. That’s where he met his
ex-wife, Kathy. They met in 1971 but didn’t get together until 1973.
Although they had been living together since 1975, they didn’t get
married until 1980. They split up in 1988 or so and were divorced a
year later.
In
1975, Rick went on to get an MA in Social Science at Humboldt State
University. He really wanted a degree in Political Science, but that
department was too small to have its own department.
In
1980, Rick and Kathy moved to Colville for several months, looking
for cheap land. They soon discovered why land was so cheap. They
missed the lush forests, rivers, and mountains of Humboldt County, so
they quickly came back and bought 23 acres of raw land in Redwood
Valley, just off of 299. There, they built a 16 ft. by 24 ft. cabin,
totally by hand. There was no electricity and they couldn’t afford a
generator. They had two huge vegetable gardens, a small orchard, a
small vineyard, two goats, several chickens, various dogs and cats,
and eventually, a wolf. The plan was to live in this one-room cabin
while they built a “real” house on the landing below. After five years, they decided it would be easier to move someplace else and
buy a house that was already built and that had electricity and
running water and phone service. So they moved to Dallas, a small
town outside of Salem, until they split up.
After
that, Rick stayed in the house in Dallas by himself for a few months,
and then moved to Mount Shasta for a while. But he missed Humboldt so
much that he came back once again. Later, he moved to Mount Vernon
for a year or two to take care of his brother, but once again, he
returned to Humboldt, and he stayed there until the end.
At
one point he used the money he got from selling the property in
Oregon and he bought a small house in McKinleyville, but he didn’t
have the income to keep it, so he lost it.
For
several years Rick volunteered for the large vegetable garden at
United Indian Health Services, Potawot, where he was always a hard worker.
In recent years he enjoyed visiting with people on the Arcata Plaza,
the Marsh, and at the Arcata Co-op. Until a few years ago, he was an
avid runner, sometimes running 10 miles several times a week.
During
the last of his last many years in Humboldt, he spent his time
working for Veterans for Peace and the GI Hotline. He was passionate
about helping others find their way through the military system
successfully, and he leaves behind a long list of grateful people he
has helped over the years.
Rick
was a long-time, committed member of Humboldt Bay Chapter 56 of the
international veteran’s peace organization, “Veterans for Peace.”
He was also a long-time counselor at the G.I. Rights Hotline, where
he helped active-duty military service people with both their legal
and psychological problems within the military. Rick attended the
Arcata Veterans for Peace vigil at the Arcata Plaza for many years,
up to and including the last Friday before his passing. Rick was also
a passionate environmentalist and supporter of human rights. He was a
compassionate man, who loved peace and who loved the earth.
Rick
died living in his tent on the beach, just as he had done when he
first started his adult life. It seems that Rick has come full
circle.
He
is survived by his sister Gloria and her husband Doug Gordon, nieces
Becky Gordon and Robin Gordon, niece Vanessa and her husband Adam
Carlson and their family, nephew Dan Campos and his wife Jennifer and
their family, and his ex-wife, Kathy (now Jonas). He is also survived
by the hundreds of lives that he touched, working with Veterans for
Peace and the GI Hotline. While there will not be a formal ceremony,
friends are invited to gather at Wedding Rock in Sue-meg (formerly
Patrick’s Point) State Park on Saturday, December 10 at 10 a.m.
to say their farewells.
Please
note: Neither Rick’s sister (who lives in Salem) nor I (Kathy) knew
who to invite or really what to do. So the end result is that we’re
not going to do anything except offer a place and a time for people
to gather if they choose. I have been told that Rick had become
pretty much a recluse so I really have no idea how many people might
want to gather. I guess this may turn into a wake more than anything
else. It will simply be a time and place for any of Rick’s friends to
gather and say goodbye.
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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Rick Campos’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.
Freddie Joe Mendoza (Fred) of Manila
Born October 17, 1962
Suddenly passed away at the age of 60 on November 9, 2022
He is preceded in death by his mother, Wanda Stone, his father, Joe Mendoza and his nephew, James Lay.
He’s survived by his wife, Eileen Mendoza of Manila; his children Kevin Mendoza of Stockton and Tracy Mendoza, also of Stockton, and his grandson Skylar Reed Harris of Redding; his sisters and brothers, Karen Mendoza of Carson City, Nevada. Gwendolyn Egger of Manila, Kenny Mendoza of Eureka, and Shannon Stone of Eureka; his niece and nephew, Daniel Egger of Fortuna and Kendra Egger of Manila; his great-niece Danica Egger of Eureka and Daniel Dean Egger Jr. of Manila.
Freddie was a very funny and outgoing person. He had many, many sayings like “O’Day O’Day” being one many people would remember. He loved life. He was a very giving person. He loved landscaping also.
He will be greatly missed by many.
A gathering of immediate family and close friends will be at Luffenholtz on December 4 at 1 p.m. Celebration of life will be at a later date.
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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Freddie Mendoza’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.
On November 29, 2022 at about 10:37 p.m., an officer with the Eureka Police
Department conducted a traffic stop on the 3000 block of Broadway for a traffic
violation. The driver of the vehicle was identified as Carolyn Marie Baker, 46 years old
of Carlotta. During the traffic stop, the officer utilized his K-9 partner “Yeti”, to
conduct a narcotics detection sweep. The K-9 alerted to the presence of narcotics in
the vehicle.
During a search of the vehicle, officers located approximately 36 grams of Fentanyl, 1
gram of methamphetamine, scales, packaging material and additional drug paraphernalia.
Baker was arrested for possession of controlled substances for sales and possession of
illegal narcotics.
Time to clean out that closet and donated you warm stuff! (in good condition, of course.) | Photo: Stephanie McGeary
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In case you somehow haven’t noticed, it’s been cold outside! And it is going to be that way for a bit. As we enter the darkest, coldest and wettest months of the year, now is a good time to think about donating warm items (you know that coat that you never wear that’s just taking up space in your closet?) to people who need it.
Many of our local nonprofits dedicated to helping the unhoused community are looking for donations of tents, sleeping bags, blankets, coats, hats, gloves, socks and anything that will help keep people warm and dry during the winter season. So, whether you’re in need of warmth, or looking to donate, here are a few of the local places that can help.
As always, Betty and her staff are busy providing food, clothing and shelter to Humboldt’s homeless. With the recent drop in temperatures, the foundation has been gathering extra gear to help open up extra shelter for the winter. Chinn has already added 10 beds to the Blue Angel Village for the winter, and she is also working to open up a tent shelter for another 20 or 25 people.
Chinn said that the tent shelter is on someone’s private property (she did not want to disclose the location yet) and will hold tents with cots inside. The tents were donated to Chinn by Proper Wellness, a cannabis dispensary in Eureka and Rio Dell. Chinn said that when Proper Wellness first offered to help, she had no idea what type of business it was. When she learned it was a cannabis business, she was pretty surprised, but she is thankful for the generosity. She also received a bunch of sleeping bags from a private donor and received a bunch of cots – some from a private donor and some from Public Health.
As far as what she still needs, Chinn said that blankets would be the most helpful donation right now. Blankets can be new or used, but must be clean and in good condition. You can drop off donations at the Betty Kwan Chinn Day Center during open hours – Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. If you need more information, or are in need of shelter, call the center at 707-407-3833.
[During] the winter time and holiday time people are very depressed,” Chinn told the Outpost over the phone on Tuesday. “This winter is so bad. So I’m going to open another shelter that people can go to.”
Arcata House recently wrapped up its official Cold Weather CareDrive, but the nonprofit is still accepting donations of new items. Florence Carroll, Arcata House’s administrative specialist, told the outpost that the organization can only accept new items right now because of its COVID protocols.
The nonprofit is currently accepting tarps, tents, sleeping bags, blankets, socks, scarves, mittens, hand warmers, rain ponchos, coats and sweaters. Arcata House is preparing for its extreme weather shelter, something the nonprofit opens during the chilliest nights of the year. Items donated will go to people in the shelter and also be handed out during Arcata House’s outreach to local homeless folks. You can schedule a donation by emailing admin@arcatahouse.org or by calling 707-822-4528.
Carroll added that, for those living outdoors who are in need of gear, Arcata House will be giving out the warm items it has already collected at The Annex – 501 9th St, next to the Arcata Transit Center – on Saturday, Dec. 3. Wednesday, Dec. 7.
As another nonprofit organization that works closely with Humboldt’s unhoused population, HACHR knows how dire conditions can be for people living outside in the winter. That is why HACHR is holding its annual Anything Warm Drive to gather items that can be distributed to those who need it.
As during all its previous drives, HACHR really is looking for anything and everything warm, including hats, gloves, coats, socks, boots and other warm clothing. You can also donate items to help keep people dry, including raincoats, tents and tarps. HACHR will distribute the items to folks during its outreach trips.
Jasmine Guerra, executive director of HACHR, told the Outpost that HACHR is still working with local businesses and other nonprofit organizations to place donation boxes around the community. Currently there’s a donation bin at Outer Space in Arcata, but their hours are a bit sporadic. There will be more bins out by the end of next week, Guerra said, adding that HACHR will post updates about this on their social media.
In the meantime, if you can’t make it Outer Space, the best way to donate is to reach out to HACHR to coordinate a drop-off at the office in Valley West. Email admin@hachr707 to setup up a time to donate. You can also email if your business or nonprofit is interested in hosting a donation box. The donation drive will continue through February.
Donations must be new or lightly used, in good condition, clean and free of stains or odors. Guerra also wanted to add that if you’re not sure what to donate, socks and boots are very useful because it’s really important to help keep people’s feet dry and warm during the winter.
“I woke up this morning and had frost on my windows and I didn’t want to get out of bed because it was so cold,” Guerra told the Outpost on Tuesday. “So you can only imagine what it’s like for people living outside, out in the elements. Anything that helps people keep warm is so helpful.”
Another nonprofit that works tirelessly to feed, clothe and shelter the homeless, Eureka Rescue Mission, is nearly always willing to accept donations of clothing, blankets and other crucial gear for people who are struggling.
A member of the staff told the Outpost that the Mission is currently looking for blankets, socks and men’s clothing – including winter coats, sweatshirts, sweatpants, long underwear and shoes. The Mission does not require you to make an appointment to donate, and you can drop items off donations at 110 Second Street in Eureka anytime between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m.
If you call when you arrive, someone can usually come out and meet you to collect the items. Eureka Rescue Mission can be reached at 707-443-4551.
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If you don’t have any clothing or gear to donate and don’t feel like buying anything, all of the mentioned nonprofits also enthusiastically accept monetary donations to help with their efforts. Here are the donation links: Betty Chinn, Arcata House Partnership, HACHR, Eureka Rescue Mission.
Also, all of these nonprofits are registered on Amazon Smile. That means that if you use Amazon to buy anything this holiday season, you can select any of these organizations as your charity and Amazon will donate 0.5% of your purchases to that organization. It may be small, but if you’re gonna shop on Amazon anyway, it couldn’t hurt!
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CORRECTION: The Arcata House Partnership will be holding its pop-up at the Annex on Wednesday, Dec. 7 between 1 and 3 p.m., not Saturday. Please don’t go to the Annex on Saturday, because it will be closed! The Outpost regrets the error.
Screenshot from Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting.
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The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors returned to its windowless courthouse chambers on Tuesday for the first time since Election Day. The extended break came thanks to a couple of holiday-impacted weeks, and while Tuesday’s agenda was relatively light — at least compared to the all-day sessions typical of their recent proceedings — the supes wrangled with such hefty matters as offshore wind development, homelessness, cell tower regulations and more.
As per usual, the board began (following the obligatory recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance) by approving a slate of consent calendar items in one fell swoop. Among them was an item appointing American AgCredit Vice President Walt Geist and Eureka Broadcasting Company General Manager Brian Papstein to the Headwaters Fund board of directors and another item formally suspending Measure S cannabis cultivation taxes for next year. (See here for background.)
The two areas off Humboldt County’s shores that will be opened for wind energy leases on Tuesday, Dec. 6. Map: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
Offshore wind
A resolution supporting sustainable offshore wind development had been listed on the consent calendar, but it was pulled for discussion.
Next Tuesday the federal Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management (BOEM) is set to auction off leases for development of offshore wind energy projects in five lease areas off the California coast, two of which are in the Humboldt Wind Energy Area, 21 miles off our local shoreline.
“It is evident that there is a significant local need and desire to ensure that the offshore wind industry is developed in a sustainable and inclusive way,” Deputy County Administrative Officer Sean Quincey said in a presentation to the board.
County staff has been working with local stakeholders for years now, Quincey said, and in recent months they’ve ramped up engagement with community partners, local governments, tribes, state and federal agencies, potential project developers and local businesses in hopes of maximizing community benefits.
Broadly speaking, the resolution (which you can download by clicking here) aims to formalize a path forward while incorporating feedback the county has received from various stakeholders.
Quincey emphasized that there will be many more opportunities for the public to participate in the process, and Fifth District Supervisor Steve Madrone underscored the importance of reaching out to local tribes early and often.
“And trades,” Madrone added, “you know, workforce development. I mean, I think we’re all hopeful that this might really put a big surge into some really good, high-paying, quality jobs for our community.”
Third District Supervisor Mike Wilson described the resolution as a message to potential bidders looking to develop projects off our coast, one that says, “This community is firmly planted in our defense of this space” and our values while also “leaning into the potential” such development represents.
During the public comment period, fisherman Ken Bates, who represents both the Humboldt Fisheries Marketing Association and the nonprofit California Fishermen’s Resiliency Association, thanked staff for incorporating some of his industry’s recommendations in the ordinance, though he also said he could spend a couple of hours discussing the potential impacts of wind energy developments may have on local fisheries.
Jeff Hunerlach, district representative for Operating Engineers Local No. 3, said he would have liked to give input on behalf of the 20,000 union members in the county. He said there should be more concrete provisions in the resolution supporting local labor agreements and California-approved apprenticeships.
“It’s a partnership, guys, and we just want to be, you know, in the mix,” he said.
Bryna Lipper, CEO of the Humboldt Area Foundation, said offshore wind energy development represents a “once-in-a-multi-generation opportunity” for economic and infrastructure development, as well as “being a part of national and global climate resilience transformation.”
The county’s economic development director, Scott Adair, reiterated that “robust” stakeholder engagement is ongoing.
The board approved the resolution unanimously.
Next year’s board chair is …
Fifth District Supervisor Steve Madrone | Screenshot
Madrone!
Each year around this time the board decides who’s going to serve as chair and vice chair for the upcoming year. The chair is charged with running the meetings in an orderly fashion, calling on fellow supes when they’d like to speak, organizing the public comment sessions and serving as a conduit for board-staff communication.
Wilson began this year’s discussion by noting that, typically, the board takes turns, rotating the chairperson duties numerically by district rep.
Wilson himself was in line to serve in that role this year but begged off due to various responsibilities, including having a kid still living at home and the complications to daily life wrought by the COVID pandemic. Fourth District Supervisor Virginia Bass stepped in to serve in his stead.
Today Wilson suggested going back to the regular order of operations, which puts Madrone in line to be chair for 2023 and First District Supervisor Rex Bohn slated for vice-chair (a role that carries no formal responsibilities beyond stepping in when the chair is absent). A motion was made and passed unanimously.
Grand Jury responses
Later in the meeting, Public Information Specialist Cati Gallardo revisited three of the six reports produced this year by the Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury. She presented draft board responses to the reports’ findings and recommendations, as required by law.
First, she addressed the report titled “Distrust, Disagreements, Dysfunction,” which offered a scathing analysis of the county’s fiscal management chaos, laying most of the blame at the feet of former Auditor-Controller Karen Paz Dominguez while also noting poor inter-department communication among county staff.
The proposed responses say the board agrees with most of the report’s findings while partially agreeing with two others. Of the report’s 18 recommendations, the draft responses say all but three either have been implemented or will be. The other three cannot, according to the responses, and Gallardo explained that the board’s authority is limited since the auditor-controller is elected independently. (Click the link above to read the detailed responses.)
The next report discussed, titled “Custody, Corrections and Other County Facilities,” outlined the Civil Grand Jury’s findings after inspecting the physical conditions and management of the county’s one state prison facility (the Eel River Conservation Camp) and various county correctional facilities, including the juvenile hall, the animal shelter, the Sempervirens Psychiatric Health Facility and the jail.
The report found significant concerns, including deferred maintenance, substandard facilities and the overwhelming impacts of mental health and substance use disorders.
The proposed responses (again, click to download) say the board agrees or partially agrees with all but one of the 30 findings — one which concluded that Sempervirens “does not provide enough space or services to reduce the strain on the Humboldt County Correctional Facility and ensure mental health patients receive appropriate placement and care.”
The proposed response says that while additional space is needed, “without Sempervirens, the correctional facility and other facilities would be more heavily impacted than their current situations.”
Lastly, Gallardo addressed the report titled “Collaborative Community Quest,” which followed up on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the county and the state following a judgement against the county’s Child Welfare Services Division and the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office for violations of the California’s Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA). The MOU requires collaboration with the area’s eight federally recognized tribes.
The proposed responses say the board agrees with the three relevant findings and will implement one of the two recommendations. The one they won’t implement called for the board’s authorization to create an independent Office of Tribal Affairs before January 1. The proposed response says that idea has merit but “would need to be evaluated at a broader level and include discussion with all department heads, the Board, and local Tribal representatives.”
During the public comment period, Civil Grand Jury member and Foreperson Jim Glover said he appreciates the hard work staff put into the responses, but he chastised the county for being five months late in submitting its responses to these three reports.
Glover said such a delay is “unacceptable by state statute” and “renders useless some of the work and deadlines that we proposed.”
Quincey stepped to the public lectern to take responsibility and apologize for the delay, noting the heavy workload staff has had due to COVID, the American Rescue Plan and offshore wind development. He said staff will make sure such a delay doesn’t occur in the future.
The board voted unanimously to approve the proposed responses.
Homelessness
Following a brief break, the board heard a report about the fourth and latest round of funding available through the state’s Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) Program.
Robert Ward, the housing and assistance coordinator with the county Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), told the board that the county expects to get around $4.3 million this round.
“We can use these funds for street outreach, interim housing [and/or] permanent housing,” Ward said, adding that applications were due at the end of the day.
Ward’s introduction of the item was brief, but the supervisors — particularly Madrone and Bohn — wanted to dive deeper and scrutinize the county’s approach to addressing the intractable, seemingly never-ending challenge of solving homelessness.
“How much housing have we created through the first three rounds [of funding]?” Bohn asked.
“You know,” Ward replied, “a lot of these funds have been used for programs that provide rental assistance and case management services to help people locate housing that already exists in the community and to be able to afford it. So it’s not necessarily being used to create new units [so much] as it is to make housing affordable to people who otherwise would remain on the streets.”
He added that some of the funds have gone toward the Providence Mother Bernard House, which will offer roughly 50 units of permanent supportive housing for homeless and chronically homeless people. Construction is scheduled to be completed in the spring.
Madrone asked about the county’s methodology for conducting its Point-In-Time county, an every-other-year tally of homeless people required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Madrone wanted to know if it’s possible to get a more accurate count, but Ward said HUD rules and on-the-ground realities make it challenging.
“There’s just no way that we’re going to be able to see everyone,” he said. “Many people are carefully hidden outdoors.”
Bohn said the county seems to be spending a lot of money to collect data but hasn’t seen the kinds of results the community needs.
“We’re going to have to do something,” he said. “I counted, I think, 19 people this morning, sleeping in businesses’ doorways … . And I know it’s a mental health issue. I know it’s a big issue. We’re throwing a lot of money at it and and the frustration part for me — it’s not for lack of effort on your part. We’re just getting a lot of people getting very frustrated that things aren’t getting any better. And and we need to put our heads together.”
Proposed ideas include everything from parking lots designated for camping to tiny homes, motel conversions and apartment developments. Bohn said he’d “almost like” to take money from a Point-in-Time grant and use it to build new housing instead.
DHHS Director Connie Beck appeared via Zoom to say that’s not feasible.
“Without that data, we would not get money,” she said. State and federal grants are based off the homeless counts in each regional Continuum of Care. Beck said money has been used to fund services because that’s what it was earmarked for.
“I just want to just make sure that we’re all understanding that this is one piece of a really big, awful puzzle that we’re working on,” she said.
Ward added that the point of outreach isn’t so much to collect data as it is to engage with people and connect them with case-management services.
Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell said there are few options for homeless people in the county’s unincorporated areas, including SoHum.
She said she appreciates all the hard work being done, “but it doesn’t seem to get anywhere, and the obstacles seem to be huge, such as, you know, trying to find housing down there or even a cold weather shelter in the Southern Humboldt area.
Ward noted that the county funds a shelter program in SoHum through the Redwoods Rural Health Center, but Bushnell said its few rooms have been occupied for quite some time.
“The whole community is wondering what we’re doing about this larger issue,” Madrone said, “because we’re all impacted by it, especially those that are without a house.”
Madrone suggested that while there’s money for services and lots of people stepping up to help, the biggest impediment to solving homelessness locally might be community attitudes.
“Nobody wants anything near them —the NIMByism and the rest of it,” he said, referring to sanctioned camping areas, safe parking lots and other potential measures. ” And when we as a society continue to do that, I would submit that this problem is not going to get solved anytime soon in any way.”
Madrone suggested that community leaders should engage with the local community through the media in an effort to change attitudes.
“[M]aybe we can try and have that discussion with our community about how we increase our tolerance for not perfect [solutions], because there is no perfect, but what might be the steps to get us to a better place.”
Ward said that, since the county now has three shelter crisis ordinances in place, the county government can bypass various state regulations, including building code compliance, to set up housing solutions on county-owned properties.
“The way to really move it forward is probably for the county to lease a property for that purpose,” he said.
The board unanimously approved a motion to have staff apply for the latest round of funding.
The conversation had been robust, but the award for lengthiest deliberations of the day goes to …
And what’s more, this was a continuation of an item already discussed at the board’s November 1 meeting.
Planning and Building Director John Ford explained that the county needs to pass two separate ordinances pertaining to development of wireless telecommunications facilities, aka cell towers — one for the county’s unincorporated coastal areas and another for its inland areas.
“The design of these ordinances is intended to provide incentives for wireless carriers to … design low-visual-impact facilities,” Ford said. When they do, he explained, they get the benefit of a less-intensive permitting process. The uglier and more environmentally impactful the cell tower, the more scrutiny it will be subjected to, is the idea.
Staff had prepared a range of alternatives for the two ordinances, and the range of possible actions was fairly narrow, much to the frustration of several supervisors, particularly Madrone, who repeatedly voiced frustration about the federal government’s preemption of local regulations that might, say, limit the proliferation of 5G networks.
“There is a lot of concern in the community about the bandwidth, the microwave energy coming in from [5G towers],” he said. “… The [federal] government tries to say, ‘No, you don’t get to have a say in this, something that may very well be affecting people’s health.’ I frankly don’t know what to believe. There’s a tremendous amount of information out there and so I’m somewhat skeptical, I will say, about the safety of all of this.”
The board debated how restrictive to be with the two ordinances, taking straw votes as they worked through the various alternatives, which addressed such matters a tower height, blinking lights and proximity to neighboring residences.
One exchange got a bit testy. Wilson and Bushnell were debating whether to require a permit hearing for installation of new cell towers on existing telecom sites located on land zoned agricultural exclusive or timber production zones.
Wilson wanted the more restrictive option and quipped, “if you [Bushnell] want less protections for your constituents in your district, then then by all means.”
A minute or so later Bushnell said Wilson’s comment offended her. “My thoughts always go to my constituents and their concerns,” she said.
During the public comment period, a number of people voiced concerns about the safety of 5G technology, which is regulated by the federal government. The Food and Drug Administration has stated that, based on the totality of scientific evidence, 5G technology falls within the acceptable exposure range covered by existing radio frequency exposure limits, set by the Federal Communications Commission.
Former Arcata City Councilmember Paul Pitino expressed concern about “sensitive receptors” such as daycare facilities, schools, hospitals and nursing homes.
A Eureka resident who identified herself only as Katie claimed that FCC limits were based on military tests conducted on hungry monkeys, and one test caused the monkeys’ faces to melt off. (The Outpost could not find evidence of such a result.)
Arcata resident Laurie Birdsall urged the board to protect the community from both the alleged health risks and and the visual blight of 5G cell towers.
“I would just like to advocate: Don’t make us fight for it,” she said. “It’s your job to fight for us. It’s your job to fight for us. We don’t want to be the sitting ducks. We don’t want to be the experiment.”
Ford responded shortly thereafter. “I do appreciate the concern that’s being expressed,” he said. “I do appreciate the desire. But from a regulatory standpoint, it’s really important to be clear about what we are regulating and where we’re preempted.”
Ford reiterated that local governments are precluded from regulating radio frequency, and he didn’t want to give local residents false hope by requiring hearings that might address such matters.
“Really, in my job, that’s one of the hardest things to deal with, is public expectation that can’t be satisfied,” he said. “And that’s just painful.”
Ultimately, the board wound up adopting the two ordinances, choosing options that require a zoning clearance certificate and design approval for all small wireless facilities within 300 feet of a residence.
