Everything is trending right for Fourth District hopeful Natalie Arroyo after the Elections Office has officially tallied a little more than 9,000 ballots since last Friday.

Arroyo now has 52.8 percent of the vote — way up from 50.8 a week ago — and can now feel pretty confident about her chances of avoiding a November runoff against second-place finisher Mike Newman.

The Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters Race is still headed into runoff territory, but the race for first place has dramatically narrowed between candidates Tiffany Hunt Nielsen and Juan Pablo Cervantes.

All the other races: Much the same. Incumbent Steve Madrone cruising to victory in the Fifth District; DA candidate Stacey Eads with a large lead; Auditor-Controller candidate Cheryl Dillingham with an even larger lead; Alex Stillman with an easy victory in Arcata.

A little more than 9,000 more ballots remain to be counted.

Find the Election Office’s full second post-election night tally at this link.

PREVIOUSLY:

• Jury Convicts Sotolongo of Second-Degree Murder for 2016 Hoopa Stabbing

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Press release from the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office:

Today, June 17, 2022, Judge Lawrence Killoran sentenced Gearold Sotolongo (aka Roldo Pratt) to 16 years to life in prison, the maximum allowable sentence, for the murder of Roger Yale. The sentence includes 15 years to life for second-degree murder and an additional year for using a deadly weapon to commit the murder. Under current California law, because he was convicted of murder, Mr. Sotolongo will serve every day of his sentence. 

The case arose from an incident in 2016 when Sotolongo and four of his friends approached Mr. Yale and engaged in an argument. Mr. Yale walked away from the confrontation and, in the belief that it was over, sat down on a curb. Sotolongo then walked up to Mr. Yale and stabbed him once in the heart.    

A Humboldt County jury convicted Sotolongo on June 2, 2022. The issue of the defendant’s competency to stand trial and multiple changes in defense attorneys delayed the case. 

Prior to sentencing, family and community members expressed to Judge Killoran the profound sense of loss they feel without Roger Yale.

The District Attorney appreciates the willingness of witnesses to testify and the time and attention of those who served as jurors.   Our justice system relies on people to both provide evidence and provide accused persons with their right to a trial by jury.

Deputy district attorneys Roger Rees and Jessica Watson prosecuted the case, with assistance from District Attorney Investigator Marvin Kirkpatrick and Victim Advocate Holly Hensher. Private attorney Zack Curtis represented Mr. Sotolongo.

PREVIOUSLY: Humboldt County Planning and Building Director John Ford Resigns

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As last night’s meeting of the Humboldt County Planning Commission was drawing to a close, Planning and Building Director John Ford confirmed that he will not be resigning next week to take a job as city manager of Fort Bragg after all.

This revelation from Ford, who gave his notice late last month, appeared to surprise and delight the commissioners.

Planning Commissioner Melanie McCavour had asked Ford whether this would be his last meeting before he departs for his new gig. Ford paused for a couple beats, picked up a stack of papers and tapped them the tabletop before responding.

“Well,” he said, “I’ve been trying to respect the City of Fort Bragg, but since Lost — or, um, Redheaded Blackbelt has already leaked this, um, no.”

Listen to the commissioners’ reactions in the video below:

For the record, while Redheaded Blackbelt Publisher Kym Kemp was the first local reporter to publish the news, it’s not fair to say she “leaked” it. Earlier in the day the City of Fort Bragg issued a press release, which Kemp published roughly 40 minutes into last night’s meeting.

The press release says Ford changed his mind due to family issues, including the challenge of making his son switch middle schools as well as “his wife’s desire to remain where they are.”

Ford’s expression as he relays this news is inscrutable. Is he chagrined? Despondent? Overjoyed? Hard to tell. But the delight of the commissioners is clear. 

Chair Alan Bongio can be heard starting the word “congratulations” before catching himself and changing course. “Well, thank you,” he says.

Commissioner Mike Newman exclaims, simply, “What?”

“You’re staying permanently?” McCavour asks.

“Uh, yeah — well, as permanently as it can be,” Ford replies philosophically. 

Amid the ongoing expressions of surprise, Bongio says, “Well, I’ll be the first to tell ya, it’s the best thing for our county.” 

If you listen closely you can hear someone — Commissioner Thomas Mulder, perhaps? — express sympathy: “I’m sorry, dude.”

Whichever response is appropriate — felicitations or condolences — Ford will remain the county’s planning and building director for the foreseeable future.

Here’s the press release from the City of Fort Bragg:

John H. Ford of Humboldt County has requested release from his contract recently approved by the Fort Bragg City Council. Mr. Ford cited reasons of conflict in making the transition from his son’s middle school to Fort Bragg and his wife’s desire to remain where they are.

Mr. Ford said, “This would place significant stress on my family and would not allow me to be as socially involved in the Fort Bragg community as the job mandates.”

He goes on to further say, “This is a difficult realization for me. I love the community and was attracted by how cohesively the City Council works and by you as individuals. I am impressed with the staff I met and the impressive list of successful projects they have taken on. From my perspective, Fort Bragg is well run and has a bright future. Fort Bragg deserves a leader not torn between serving the community and needing to make every effort to be supportive of distant immediate family.”

“While we are all disappointed at the loss of Mr. Ford as our next City Manager, we understand the priority of family first and the need to follow priorities in this situation,” said Mayor Bernie Norvell. The City will move onward and forward in a positive direction.

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Remember that unsightly surveillance pole the City of Eureka erected directly in front of the Old Town gazebo last month? Everyone made a big stink about it because the public was not involved in the decision-making process – the Eureka City Council didn’t even know about it! – and before the day was out the City agreed to take it down and move it to a less prominent location behind the gazebo. 

After all that fuss, City staff decided to develop an overarching policy to clearly define the uses for City-owned security cameras and ensure the uses align with public interest. 

The policy proposal, which will be presented to the council next week, outlines various uses for City-owned security cameras while also ensuring the “protection of civil rights and civil liberties.” For example, security cameras “shall never be used in areas where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy” or “to intimidate, harass, or discriminate against any individual or group.” 

Under the policy proposal, security cameras will be used to identify, apprehend and prosecute offenders and gather evidence for administrative, civil and criminal investigations. The images and video captured by the devices “shall be used for City business purposes only, and never for personal or non-City uses.” 

One of the most controversial aspects of the surveillance tower, popularly known as a “Lot Cop,” that was partially installed in front of the Old Town gazebo was its ability to collect audio. The policy proposal specifies that any City-owned surveillance camera “will never be used to collect audio data from members of the public.” The policy also notes that the devices will not have facial recognition or license plate reading capability.

Live video footage and archived data captured by City-owned cameras will be “protected from data breach by industry-standard security protocols” and “stored in a secure manner consistent with the City’s document retention protocols.” The data can be accessed by the City Manager and authorized City employees. Data that is not downloaded for City business will be deleted after 90 days.

The proposed Security Camera Use Policy can be found here.

In other business, the City Council will consider the approval of a 2.51 percent rate increase for solid waste collection by Recology Humboldt County. The council will also discuss the fee schedule for the upcoming fiscal year and appoint a delegate and an alternate for the League of California Cities annual conference to be held in Long Beach this September.

The Eureka City Council meets on Tuesday, June 21 at 6 p.m. at Eureka City Hall — 531 K Street. You can also watch the meeting online here.

The Humboldt County Grand Jury has just released the latest in its series of 2021-2022 reports. This one, titled “Silver Tsunami Warning: Safeguarding Our Seniors,” is the result of its investigation into elder abuse in the county, and how local government agencies respond to it.

As the introduction notes, the investigation was broadened to include services to homeless senior citizens after a social worker who was interviewed made the suggestion that homelessness was, in itself, a form of elder abuse.

What did the grand jury find, during its investigation of these matters? Mainly, it hopes to see county government — mainly the District Attorney’s Office, which has a team dedicated to prosecuting these cases, as well as Adult Protective Services — do a better job in outreach. Many seniors don’t know of the resources available to them, either when they are victims of abusers or when they have trouble fulfilling their own needs.

Also: The grand jury would like to see shelters and/or shelter beds devoted exclusively for homeless senior citizens. Some seniors avoid existing local shelters, the report finds, for fear of theft or violence. Senior-only housing would decrease the threat, and the grand jury notes that there are currently lots of state grants available for such programs.

Download the full Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury Report at this link. The report’s summary can be found below.

Humboldt County is a great place to retire, if you have good health, a home to live in, medical insurance, a social safety net and people that care about you. But what if you do not have all of the things listed above? What if your health is failing? What if you can no longer make your house payment or rent? What if a neighbor, health care provider or family member is hurting you? What if you are getting confused or forgetful? What if you suddenly realize that you have much less money in your bank account than you thought you did? You may be suffering from elder abuse and not even know it. You may know that you are being abused but might not know how to make it stop. Where can you find help?

The Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury (Grand Jury) has been posing these questions to local social services, law enforcement, housing authorities and non-profit organizations. We have found that there are resources in place to provide services, procedures for reporting and investigating elder abuse, and agencies to help find low cost senior housing. We have also found that there is an overwhelming demand for any type of housing with waiting lists that are extremely long. We believe agencies and organizations can do more to provide services for older people by enhancing the services they offer; giving better information to people about how to report elder abuse; and offering homeless shelters exclusively for seniors.

The 2020 U.S. Census report stated 10,000 baby boomers turn 65 each day, and everyone from that generation will be at least 65 by 2030. As of this writing over 136,000 people live in Humboldt County and more than 25,000 of them are seniors.1 In 2030 it is projected that approximately 34,000 of our citizens will be seniors.2 How are we, as a county, going to prepare for this eventuality? What services and safety nets should Humboldt County start to think about in order to prepare for the inevitable graying of the largest group of seniors and the fastest growing demographic in the history of this country and our county? Our report examines the challenges our older family members and their friends face as they age into a new and sometimes confusing chapter of their lives. We also attempt to clarify the currently available senior services and safety nets, our County’s immediate need in this regard, and how our County can better prepare for the future.

When a senior suffers a catastrophic event (a serious medical condition, loss of a spouse, people taking advantage of their finances) they may sacrifice meals and important medications to make ends meet on a fixed income.3 Nearly 92,000 California seniors are behind on their rent, according to a May 2021 survey.4 After these seniors have sacrificed their health to keep a roof over their head, if they then lose that housing, they are in an even more vulnerable situation as they try to survive, often without family or friends to offer shelter.

Adult Protective Services (APS), a division of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), local law enforcement agencies, and the District Attorney’s Office (DA) are here to help our senior population. All these agencies strive to keep people cared for, fed, provided with proper health care, and generally safe and healthy in their own home. When the system fails, seniors find themselves hungry, thirsty, desperate, mentally ill, disoriented, assaulted, battered, and living on the streets, now members of our homeless community.

If you or someone you know may be a victim of elder abuse, contact Humboldt County Adult Protective Services at 707-476-2100 or 866-527-8614. If the issue is emergent or life-threatening, call 911.

It has been more than six months since the State Controller’s Office notified Auditor-Controller Karen Paz Dominguez and County Administrative Officer Elishia Hayes that the agency would conduct an investigation into the county’s financial practices and reporting due to its failure to file financial reports on time.

This morning, Paz Dominguez issued a press release saying representatives from the State Controller’s Office met with county officials, including herself, on Wednesday to discuss the results of the investigation and communicate their findings with a draft report.

“It is very disappointing that the SCO chose to wait until after the election to release the report because even in its multiply-revised form the report and the information it provides would have been very useful to voters in their decision,” Paz Dominguez says in the release (published in full below).

The Outpost has been checking in with the State Controller’s Office periodically since the investigation team was in town. On April 28, Press Secretary Jennifer Hanson said via email that the audit was still in progress, and she offered an explanation as to why the process can take so long:

It is common for audit teams to request additional information, documentation, or clarifications while continuing to evaluate and analyze the audit results after the on-site fieldwork is conducted.

The audit team independently finalizes the audit results, findings, and recommendations, which are shared with the auditee in an exit conference. Next, a confidential draft audit report is issued to the audited entity for their review and response, and provides the opportunity to submit additional documentation for consideration.

The audit team reviews the response and any additional documentation provided by the auditee before finalizing the audit report. The final report includes a copy of the auditee’s response and the audit team’s comments to the response, as appropriate.

Four days after that explanation, the state filed a lawsuit against Paz Dominguez and the county, saying Paz Dominguez failed to file the county’s adopted budgets on time for two consecutive fiscal years — 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 — and failed to file the county’s Financial Transaction Reports for fiscal years 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 “in the time, form, and manner prescribed by the State Controller.”

Last Friday we checked in with Hanson again, asking for an update on the status of the State Controller’s Office’s report. She said the agency was nearing completion and anticipates that the final report will be issued in July.

Here’s the press release from the Auditor-Controller’s Office:

On Wednesday, June 15, 2022, the Office of the Auditor-Controller attended an exit conference with the State Controller’s Office and the Humboldt County Administrative Office. In attendance were Auditor-Controller Karen Paz Domínguez, the Acting Assistant Auditor-Controller Jim Hussey, the County Administrative Officer Elishia Hayes, the Assistant County Administrative Officer Tabatha Miller, Deputy County Administrative Officer Sean Quincey, and five representatives from the State Controller’s Office (bureau chief, audit manager, audit lead, audit staff). 

Discussed at the meeting were the results of the SCO’s month-long investigation into the County’s internal controls and causes of untimely filing of the 19/20 Financial Transactions Report (FTR). The month-long investigation began in December 2021, covered the 19/20 and 20/21 fiscal years, and ended in early January 2022. Today, six months after the SCO’s completion of field work, the SCO officially communicated their findings with the County in draft report form. The County now has 10 days to respond. Once the responses are delivered to the SCO, they will need additional time to publish their final report which will be made available to the public. 

The Office of the Auditor-Controller became aware of the potential findings of the report in March 2022 and the findings reported today did not differ from the potential findings communicated in March 2022. 

During the exit conference, SCO representatives were asked why their draft report was held up for the past several months. While no clear and definitive response was provided to the County, the SCO referenced “things at the County”, the SCO’s “audit backlog”, and “the review up the chain” as causes for their delay in issuing their investigation report. 

The County has been reminded that the SCO’s draft report is confidential and is not to be distributed. This update is provided because many Humboldt County residents and media reporters have expressed great interest in the SCO’s findings. 

For reasons which have not been explained, the State Controller, Betty Yee, directed the Attorney General to file a lawsuit against the County of Humboldt and Auditor-Controller Karen Paz Domínguez for the untimely filing of the 19/20 and 20/21 FTR on May 2, 2022, a month and a half before communicating the SCO’s findings about why the County was unable to timely file the 19/20 and 20/21 FTR. 

It is very disappointing that the SCO chose to wait until after the election to release the report because even in its multiply-revised form the report and the information it provides would have been very useful to voters in their decision. The A-C office will honor the SCO request for confidentiality until the final report is issued, and will issue a further public comment at that time. 

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PREVIOUSLY:

• State Launches Investigation Into County’s County’s Financial Practices and Reporting
• Attorney General’s Office Threatens Legal Action Against Auditor-Controller Karen Paz Dominguez Over Failure to Submit Financial Transactions Report
• Paz Dominguez on the Offensive: Auditor-Controller Riles Supervisors, Staff With Allegations of Fiscal Shenanigans
• Attorney General’s Office Confirms ‘Final Notice’ to Auditor-Controller Was Not Sent By Mistake
• TODAY in SUPES: Delinquent Financial Reports are Making County’s Budgeting Process a Challenge, Chief Financial Officer Says
• Fortuna City Council Directs Staff to Send Letter Expressing ‘No Confidence’ in Auditor-Controller Karen Paz Dominguez
• Auditor-Controller Karen Paz Dominguez Blasts Humboldt County Board of Supervisors During Reelection Announcement
• Auditor-Controller Submitted Overdue Report to the State After 10 Last Night; Special Meeting to Present Proof Behind Her Recent Allegations Canceled
• State Sues Paz Dominguez and County for Failure to Comply With Reporting Requirements

Anita Ansley, known as Nita, Mom, Dave’s wife, Mrs. A, Aunt Anita, Ma, Grammy, and Great Grammy, passed away May 20, 2022 after having a stroke. In passing she was surrounded by her loved ones.

Anita was born June 16, 1944 in Oak Grove, Louisiana to Pauline and Charles Corley. The family migrated to Shively in a crowded Studebaker when she was a baby and then to Rio Dell. She spent her early years as a “tomboy,” keeping up with her brothers and cousins, rarely complaining and happy to be included.

She graduated from Fortuna High School in 1962, married David Ansley in 1963, and started a family. As her children grew her roles expanded. She was the bookkeeper for their service station and for her precious brother’s auto shop. She was the special niece to numerous aunts and uncles whom she cared for as needed and into their older years. She was the loving daughter of an amazing mother and Nana who lived with her family for most of their lives.

Anita was a superfun mom to not only her children but to the dozens of kids who spent countless hours at our house eating snacks and drinking Kool-Aid while running around Lawndale, throwing water balloons, playing hide and seek, riding bikes and sleeping over. She was very involved in her children’s school activities and sporting events and never missed a game or performance. Family memories are filled with storytelling, lots of laughter, playing games, picnicking, hot dog roasts at the beach, and gathering for family dinners at 6 p.m. during the week and Bob’s Footlongs on Friday nights. She continued active play with her grandchildren, and in her final few months, she was fascinated by her great grandchildren who captured her heart and brought her joy!

She was a truly compassionate soul — always willing to make time for her family and forever interested in our lives and eager to listen and support, no matter what. She held a special place for so many and will be remembered with love long after her passing.

Anita was preceded in death by her parents, Pauline and Charles Corley, her brothers Mike (Linda) and Kirby Corley, her husband, David Ansley, and sister-in-law Linda Zollars. She is survived by her sister-in-law Karen Ansley, her children Bryan, Renae (Bob) Will, Kathy (Joe) Vagle, and Debbie (John Haley) Ansley, her special niece Kathryn Corley and grandniece Nova, her grandchildren Melissa Ansley and her son Logan, Marissa (JR) Ambrosini and sons Brady and Benson, David Vagle, and Ryan, Erica and Ally Haley, and her step grandchildren Joelle (Todd) Lemley and children Maddy, Kinsey, and Joseph, and Rob (Silvia) Will and children Natalia, Sergio, Justin, Kaley, Julian, and Alexis, and Cameron Will, as well as many adored cousins, nephews, and friends.

The family would like to thank the caring staff of Providence St. Joseph Hospital and the amazing Hospice team for their compassionate care during her final days. In lieu of flowers please direct donations to Hospice of Humboldt, or reach out to a loved one and take the time to listen with your whole heart.

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