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After more than two years of planning, Arcata High’s Black Student Union (BSU) is ready to unveil the club’s new mural in honor of David Josiah Lawson. The big reveal will take place on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

“To me the mural represents power. It shows that we’re here,” sophomore Aliyah Aaron told the Outpost. “The powerful fists, bright colors, and portrait all symbolize power. We’ve all taken so much time and energy into this project, and this reveal really feels like the ending reward. We couldn’t have pulled this off without our amazing community at [Arcata High School] and throughout Humboldt.”

The mural, designed and painted by Cal Poly Humboldt alum Malachi Arthur, was funded by Art Representation Culture (ARC), a Dream Maker project of the Ink People Center for the Arts that promotes diverse cultural representation and community through murals in local public schools. Naomi Doherty, a project facilitator with ARC, worked with the students and local non-profit Youth Art Will Succeed (YAWS) to bring their vision to life.

“The students already knew that they wanted a mural, and in choosing to honor Josiah Lawson, the themes of social justice, Black Joy and Love came to fruition through this mural,” Doherty said. “We think it is important for the students to have a space and to be able to talk about issues that directly impact them. Mural projects such as these center the voices of the youth and through this empowerment they make the changes they wish to see.”

BSU Advisor Shannon Kresge underscored the importance of students feeling represented in their communities, especially at school. “[T]hey need to feel seen, heard and a part of the larger community,” she said. “Artistic expression is important because it allows individuals to express themselves creatively and it promotes self-discovery and empathy. … Spreading a message of love and community were important to the students.”

Sophomores Mae and Tae Wolford are hoping the mural will convey that “the Black community is evolving” in Humboldt County. 

“What encouraged me to get involved was seeing the impact this mural could [have] on people,” Tae said. “The message it gives is to show love [and] give justice to the people who deserve it.” 

The mural reveal will take place at the Fine Arts Building on the Arcata High School campus at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 10. The celebration will feature performances by All Love Aundrea, Ra and Bamidele Hotep. The event is sponsored by the Ink People Center for the Arts, Humboldt Area Foundation, Eureka NAACP, Black Humboldt, Building Black Community, HC Black Music & Arts Association, and Queer Humboldt.

Mike Fong has cast more than 6,000 votes since he joined the state Assembly in 2022 and never once voted “no.” Pilar Schiavo is newer to the Assembly, but she has yet to vote “no” after more than 2,000 opportunities.

Remarkably, their Democratic colleagues in the Legislature are not much different. Using our new Digital Democracy database, CalMatters examined more than 1 million votes cast by current legislators since 2017 and found Democrats vote “no” on average less than 1% of the time.

Why? It’s not something they want to talk about. Democrats have had super-majorities in both legislative chambers since 2019, so most votes involve bills from their political colleagues. But the legislative leaders and lawmakers contacted by CalMatters declined repeated requests to explain a pattern that might appear like a rubber stamp for deals made out of public view. And it seems to be sanctioned by leaders.

“There’s only two fucking buttons on your desk: There’s a green button, and there’s a red button,” then-Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon told the California Labor Federation last year in remarks reported by Politico. “Ninety-nine percent of the time, the green button is the labor button. Ninety-nine percent of the time, the green button means you’re doing the right thing, and the red button means that you’re an asshole.”

Rendon’s office declined to comment or make him available for an interview.

Instead of voting “no,” the data, video and transcripts in CalMatters’ Digital Democracy project reveals that legislators will often decline to cast a vote. Lawmakers widely use the tactic as a courtesy to avoid irking fellow legislators who’d get upset if they vote “no” on their bills, but it’s a controversial practice that critics say allows them to avoid accountability.

“There are a lot of people who abstain and who years later will claim, ‘Oh, I was in the bathroom,’ or ‘I was gone,’ or ‘I was in a meeting,’” said Mike Gatto, a former Democratic Assemblymember from Los Angeles. “It provides them an excuse after the fact to claim that they were not there. I always thought that was cowardly, the opposite of courageous.”

Last year, at least 15 bills died due to lack of votes instead of lawmakers actually voting “no” to kill them.The most notorious example was when a bill to increase penalties for child sex trafficking died in the Assembly Public Safety Committee because Democrats did not vote. After widespread condemnation, Gov. Gavin Newsom got involved, prompting some committee Democrats to apologize and re-vote on the measure that Newsom later signed.

At least three fentanyl-related bills also died last year due to Democrats refusing to vote on them, infuriating Regina Chavez, who advocated for the legislation. Her 15-year-old daughter, Jewels Marie Wolf, died from the drug in 2022.

“I personally am insulted, because I think everything should be on the record when you hold a state title,” she said. “That is what they signed up for to represent us.”

Chavez along with a group of mothers of youth who died from fentanyl learned about the prevalence of non-votes by exploring the Digital Democracy database.

In a glaring example they found, a bill had 22 bipartisan cosponsors and would likely pass if it reached the Senate floor, but it died in the Senate Public Safety Committee when the four Democrats — Nancy Skinner, Steven Bradford, Aisha Wahab and Scott Wiener — declined to vote by staying silent during the roll call. None of them responded to interview requests.

The bill, called “Alexandra’s Law” for a young woman who died from the drug, would have required judges to read a warning to defendants who’d been convicted of dealing fentanyl that if they dealt the drugs again, they could be charged with murder if someone died after taking their fentanyl.

More than 100 people testified in the hearing, almost all in support of the bill and many sharing their own experiences with fentanyl deaths. Some of the Democrats who did not vote had a lengthy discussion with the bill’s author, Sen. Tom Umberg, a Democrat and former federal prosecutor. (This link to Digital Democracy includes information about the bill, SB 44, as well as video and transcripts of the hearing).

“It’s beyond frustrating,” said Laura Didier, who has testified several times in Sacramento about fentanyl legislation and whose 17-year-old son, Zach, died from the drug in 2020 (See video and transcripts of all Laura Didier’s testimony).

Didier said it took an enormous amount of work to assemble the bipartisan group of bill sponsors and the supporters who testified. “To me, it just makes no sense that … people, by withholding their vote, can kill that momentum. You know, it’s very, very frustrating.”

In another example last year, the former chairperson of the Assembly Public Safety Committee cast a “no” vote to kill a bill, AB 367, that would have led to longer prison sentences for fentanyl dealers. Seconds later, he withdrew his vote after all five of his fellow Democrats on the committee killed the bill by not voting.

The then-chairperson, Reggie Jones-Sawyer, a Los Angeles Democrat who is running for Los Angeles City Council when his term expires this year, didn’t return a message from CalMatters.He told the committee last spring that he was a mortician during the crack cocaine epidemic, so he empathized with families who lost loved ones to fentanyl, but he sided with activists who testified that people of color have unfairly and disproportionately borne the brunt of harsh sentences for drug crimes.“Our communities were decimated by the War on Drugs,” he said.

Digital Democracy’s analysis

The CalMatters data analysis included more than 1 million votes currently sitting lawmakers have taken since 2017 in committees and on the Senate or Assembly floors. The analysis only included votes on actual bills. Routine resolutions were not included. The data was collected by Digital Democracy from the Legislature’s official bill-tracking website.The site records each lawmaker’s “aye,” and “no” votes. If a lawmaker does not vote on a bill, it’s listed as “NVR,” short for “No Vote Recorded.” The online system does not distinguish between a vote to abstain, an absence or when the legislator is present but no vote is cast.

Assemblymember Evan Low speaks with fellow lawmaker Phillip Chen at the Capitol on March 27, 2023. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters

The CalMatters analysis reveals that 38 of the 94 members of the Democratic caucus have voted “no” 20 or fewer times since 2017. This, despite each senator and Assemblymember having thousands of opportunities to vote. Some of those lawmakers have served since 2017.

While all Democrats rarely vote “no,” some members stand out in the analysis.

They include Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel of Encino. He’s been in office since 2018 and has cast more than 12,000 “aye” votes. He’s voted “no” just nine times. Lisa Calderon of City of Industry has served in the Assembly since 2020 and cast nearly 9,000 “aye” votes. She’s voted “no” once.

Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia of Coachella has cast more than 15,000 “aye” votes since 2017. He’s only voted “no” eight times. Assemblymembers Schiavo of Santa Clarita Valley and Fong of Los Angeles are the two current members who have never voted “no.”

None of those lawmakers responded to CalMatters’ interview requests

Meanwhile, the Digital Democracy analysis showed wide discrepancies in not voting. Garcia, the Assemblymember from Coachella, had more than 2,000 NVRs, the most of any of his Democratic colleagues since 2017.

Fong, who serves on the powerful Appropriations Committee, stood out for another reason other than never voting “no.” As of last week, he only had 25 NVRs, the lowest abstention or absence rate of any lawmaker.Robert Rivas, who became speaker of the Assembly last year, has only voted “no” nine out of 12,308 times since he joined the Assembly in 2018. He abstained or was absent from voting 673 times during that period.

From left, Assemblymember Mike Fong and Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas. Photos by Richard Pedroncelli, AP Photo and Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters

“The Speaker will not be available for your story,” his press secretary, Cynthia Moreno, said in an emailed response to CalMatters’ request to discuss his voting record and the records of his fellow Democratic lawmakers.

Republicans and the red button

It’s no surprise that vastly outnumbered Republicans in the Legislature regularly vote “no” on Democratic bills. They do so on average 21% of the time. But CalMatters’ analysis shows they tend not to vote on bills at higher rates than Democrats.

The average Republican “No Vote Recorded” rate is around 12%. The average rate for Democrats is 4.5%.

James Gallagher, the Assembly’s minority leader, said it’s due to Democrats largely cutting the Republicans out of bill discussions, leading to situations where Republicans might not oppose a bill’s intent, but they don’t feel comfortable voting for language they can’t change.

“That (bill) might be at a place where you sort of agree with where they’re trying to go with it,” said Gallagher, a Republican from Chico. “But you’re just not really sure that the policy is really right and it’s taking into account all the different unintended consequences.”Gallagher has voted “no” 3,236 times since 2017, and he’s been listed as a “No Vote Recorded” 1,708 times.

Gallagher said he’d support making the process more transparent by requiring lawmakers to officially declare an abstention instead of the way it’s reported now, where the public has no easy way of knowing whether a member was actually absent or just declined to vote on a bill.

Bill Essayli, a Corona Republican who’s served in the Assembly since 2022, has the highest percentage of NVRs in the Legislature. Twenty-three percent of his votes are NVRs.

Essayli said he learned it’s better to abstain on some bills instead of voting “no” to avoid retaliation from Democrats. He said Democrats are “very sensitive” and punish legislators of both parties when they vote “no.”

He noted that last year, Democrats briefly stripped Bakersfield Democratic Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains of a committee assignment after she sided with Republicans and cast the lone Democratic “no” vote against Gov. Newsom’s gas-price windfall tax bill.

Essayli said he’s taken to abstaining from votes on bills he doesn’t support when he’s not trying to make a strong political statement. “Not voting is a polite ‘no,’” he said. “And then hitting the red button is like an ‘F no.’”

Essayli said Democrats have targeted him after voting “no.” The California Democratic Party put up a billboard in his district, accusing him of voting against fentanyl victims. He said it was retaliation for him voting “no” on legislation that contained a fentanyl provision that he supported buried in a large budget bill that he did not.

Former Assemblymember Gatto has heard all of the excuses about why lawmakers choose not to vote. Sometimes, lawmakers abstain to avoid an activist group or political opponent using their vote against them. Other times, they don’t want to irk a colleague who might feel passionately about a bill that a lawmaker doesn’t particularly care for. Other times, Gatto said, a non-vote is a lawmaker’s way of saying, “Court me. I want you to gather around my desk and promise me something I want.

”He said it’s better to just cast a “no” vote, when a lawmaker doesn’t support legislation.

“When people talk about how a very strange or poorly conceived proposal made it all the way through the Legislature, the answer is because very few people stood up and said, ‘This is bunk.’” he said. “When people do, and they do it with something as clear and unambiguous as a ‘no’ vote, it encourages other people to have the same courage to tell a lawmaker, politely, that this idea might not be the best one.”

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The team that performed the data analysis for this story included Foaad Khosmood, Forbes professor of computer engineering at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo; Thomas Gerrity, data scientist and product manager for Digital Democracy; and Zhi He, a Cal Poly student research fellow.

CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

Dr. Edward Buzz Webb
Vice President for Student Affairs, Emeritus     
Humboldt State University
March 29, 1937 – February 22, 2024

Buzz died peacefully at home with his wife, Judy, and daughters Lisa and Sydney, by his side, after a long and hard illness — an end to a long, happy and successful life.

He leaves his wife, Judy; daughters Lisa (Erik) and Sydney (Geo) both of Homer, Alaska; his sister-in-law Salli Sachse, half sisters, Judy Webb and Peggy Webb; along with six granddaughters: Anna (Kevin), Miranda (Justin), Isabel (Emily), Larsen (Keaton), Malina, and Natasha. He was preceded in death by his son, David Webb.

Buzz was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on March 9, 1937. His father, a pharmacist, joined the Marines at the beginning of WW2. His mom. Marian, was a New York model who became a “Rosie the Riveter” in a defense plant in Indianapolis.

At the end of the war, Buzz, his mom, his sister Sandra and his dog Tippy took a train and joined their dad in San Diego. His Dad, Max, opened a pharmacy and the family settled in La Jolla.

Leadership seems to have come early in life. In sixth grade he was elected president of La Jolla Elementary School and was especially proud to have risen to Captain of the Patrol Boys that controlled traffic for students.

Not a great student at La Jolla Jr-Sr High School, he was accepted on probation to San Diego State College where he had to take dumbbell math. Having had enough of that, he shaped up and became a stellar student and scholar. He was president of his fraternity, Kappa Sigma, and supported himself by working for room and board at Brown Military Academy, where he coached PE for eighth graders and oversaw the study hall, swimming and JV basketball teams. The military draft was in effect, so many men joined the Air Force ROTC as he did. He rose to the position of Cadet Commander and was offered a regular Reserve Commission in the Air Force.

Buzz met Judy, his wife of 64 years, at La Jolla High School when she was 16. He said he saw her by the lockers and said he was “besotted.” They married after his college graduation in 1959 and set off across the country to his first assignment at Homestead Air Force Base in Florida, spending his uniform allowance on sightseeing. They stopped off in New Orleans for a few days, eating at then famous restaurants, Dinner at Antoine’s and Breakfast a Brennan’s and listening to great jazz,

His first assignment at Homestead Air Force Base in southern Florida where he was in the Air Police and in charge of the flight line. During the Bay of Pigs debacle he worked with the CIA to get the armed and angry Cuban fighters into the country. While there, he was a player and coach for both the basketball and volleyball AF team. Their first daughter, Lisa, was born in the base hospital in 1960. As a First Lieutenant, he was stationed at Driffield Air Force base in Yorkshire, where his second daughter, Sydney, was born in 1962. He was a missile launch officer on a RAF Base where the missiles were aimed at Russia. This was during the Cold War when Russia began moving missiles to Cuba and through diplomacy, the Cuban Missile Crisis was avoided and all of the U.S. missiles were then taken down.

After five years in the Air Force, Buzz made the decision to go to graduate school.

A talented administrator, he began his career at San Diego State University, while pursuing a master’s degree in public administration and political science. Buzz held various positions including Assistant to the Dean of Students and Director of Career Planning and Placement. In 1970, he received a PhD in psychology at California Western University in San Diego. In the San Diego community, he was a member of Rotary and a founding member of The San Diego Human Relations Committee, serving two terms as chairman.

In 1970, on a family vacation, he toured Humboldt State and fell in love with the small university set in the Redwoods.

Four years later in 1974, President McCrone hired him as the Dean of Students at Humboldt State University. Buzz initiated programs to HSU that had been successful at SDSU including many student activities and cultural programs that later morphed into Center Arts and Center Activities.

“He wanted to be part of building Humboldt State University into an outstanding university. Buzz loved the beauty of Humboldt County and wanted to put our surroundings to good use through programs and activities. He saw it as a perfect tie-in to the academic side and residential campus to make us a university where we can offer students a comprehensive experience in and out of the classroom, ” says Burt Nordstrom who worked with Buzz in Student Affairs where he was inspired by Webb’s vision.

Buzz created programs that left a mark on the University and the North Coast community. He was instrumental in the creation of Center Arts, supporting the effort to bring high quality performing arts programming to the region. Under his leadership the University expanded recreational programs with the addition of club sports, new outdoor adventures: backpacking, sailing, rafting, rock climbing along with expanding intramural sports. Buzz was committed to students. He valued them and placed them at the center of his work. In 1986 his title was changed from Dean of Students to Vice President for Student Affairs including added responsibility for campus police known as Public Safety.

Students came first and you could see that by his approach to management, said Rees Hughes former Director of Student Life. He would wander around campus, talking to students and colleagues.

He enjoyed recruiting students and also driving the bus for weekend geography class field trips.

Always an athlete, he loved basketball, volleyball, running, and later, cycling, when bad knees forced him very sadly to give up running. He had his own weight room at home and spent many pleasant hours working out.

Buzz loved music and loved to dance – to his own dance steps, hard to follow but great fun to watch. He was famous for his jokes often told on long backpacking trips in the Sierra. Some called them bad jokes (he took offense at that description), but they were memorable. Many remember a punch line or two.

Buzz was active in many community volunteer endeavors and projects: He spent two terms on the Headwaters Fund, more than 20 years as a Board member and as a volunteer Vasectomy Counselor at Six Rivers Planned Parenthood. He served on the Humboldt Library Foundation Board, and was a teacher with the Literacy Program. He enjoyed his involvement with Humboldt Mediation. Buzz was a longtime elected member of the Board of Patrick Creek Community Services District. A brave man, he served on the Northern Humboldt Union High School Board for two terms.

An avid reader, he was a proud member of the Manly Men Book Club.

Before he died, he wrote this about Joy:

I am 86 years old and under Hospice care because of a terminal lung disease and house bound with 24-hour oxygen dependency. It might seem counterintuitive to submit this as joyous.

Donald Hall, the New Hampshire poet and essayist wrote Out the Window from his family farmhouse. He, too, was house bound, but took pleasure in looking out his window watching the seasons change and the birds arrive and leave. Now I too am looking out my window watching nature. Reading is also a pleasure.

The joy comes from looking back with few regrets at a full life: a satisfying career, back packing in the Sierra, traveling after retirement, watching my children and granddaughters grow and mature. But most of all being married for 64 years to the same person I met in high school.

As we get older one gives up gracefully the activities we can no longer do — and we find new ones that better fit our capabilities. I guess that is where I am — with joy and contentment.

The Family thanks Robert, Kerry, Katy, Joni, Taylor and Harry, of Hospice of Humboldt, who became good friends and made the last 14 months of his life so much easier. Amy and Michael of Visiting Angels were caring and thoughtful caregivers.

Webb’s legacy of cultivating future leaders lives on through the Webb Student Leadership Endowment, established in 2005 by the Webb’s to recognize Humboldt students who make a difference. The fund supports, among other things, the Outstanding Student Awards, an annual event that recognizes the academic excellence and community involvement of students.

Please make donations to: The Webb Student Leadership Endowment, Cal Poly Humboldt, 1 Harpst St., Arcata, Ca 95521, Planned Parenthood of Northern California, 3225 Timber Fall Court Suite B, Eureka, Ca 95503, Hospice of Humboldt, 3327 Timber Fall Court, Eureka, 95503.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Buzz Webb’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.

Shirley Ann Arruda passed away April 4, 2024 in Eureka, at the age of 95. She was born in Oregon on March 21, 1929.

Shirley was preceded in death by her husband of 57 years, John V. Arruda. Shirley lived a very full and active life. She loved camping, square and round dancing, flower gardening, social gatherings and traveling with her many friends and family. She and her late husband, John, had dairy ranches in Ferndale and Eureka where she was active in all aspects of farm chores and being a homemaker. After retirement from farming they became actively involved with the Humboldt Hoedowners, a square dance club.

Shirley was an active member of the PFSA Council #3, Eureka, attending and participating in various charity drives and events. She is survived by three children, Linda J. Mateus and husband Salomao of McKinleyville, John J. Arruda and wife Teri of Colorado, Arlene M. Finney and husband, Tim; grandchildren Mark A. Mateus and wife Jennifer of San Jose, Terry L. Mateus and wife Stephanie of Kent, Wash. and Jamie B. Johnson of Colorado; great-grandchildren Melissa and Mason Mateus, Keegan and Branden Johnson.

A private family service will be held on April 18, 2024 at 1 p.m. Casket bearers will be Salomao Mateus, Tim Finney, Mark A. Mateus and Terry L. Mateus. Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of Humboldt, Eureka.

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The average price of a gallon of gas in Humboldt County reached a painful $5.84 today, an increase of nearly a dollar per gallon since the beginning of the year and the highest mark in nearly six months.

It’s also the second-highest average price for any county in California, according to the American Automobile Association. (Only remote Mono County has more expensive prices.) And California, with its higher taxes, isolated market and special blend requirements, typically has the highest prices in the continental U.S.

Leading theories spotted on local social media today include “BIDEN!” and “NEWSOM(E)!” [fist-shaking implied], but the truth is a more complex.

Much to the consternation of local drivers, Humboldt County has long had some of the highest gas prices in the lower 48 for reasons that remain mostly unchanged since I wrote about them almost a dozen years ago. Factors include our geographic isolation, lockstep pricing among competitors and inefficient distribution. (Most gas sold here must be shipped from Bay Area refineries in tankers or barges operated by a small number of hauling companies, or “jobbers.”)

Meanwhile, prices have been rising across the country, and they’re going particularly ballistic here in California due to challenges at refineries, including shutdowns for scheduled maintenance, according to Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at Oil Price Information Service (OPIS). One San Francisco refinery stopped producing gasoline altogether in favor of renewable diesel, Yahoo News reports.

Prices tend to go up this time of year as demand increases in the approaching summer travel season. Other factors are international in scope. 

“Renewed Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s oil infrastructure and increasing tension in the Middle East spiked oil prices recently,” said AAA spokesman Andrew Gross. “And with the cost of oil accounting for roughly 60% of what we pay at the pump, there will likely be some upward pressure on prices.”    

Crude oil prices have risen to the mid-$80s per barrel, and the major oil companies continue to earn tens of billions of dollars per year. 

Last year, in an effort to combat soaring gas prices, Newsom signed into law a bill that created the Division of Petroleum Market Oversight, a new branch of the Energy Commission designed to function as a watchdog against price gouging. Last fall the director of that division sent Newsom and legislators a letter noting that gas prices had spiked “in a manner that does not appear to be completely explained even by … supply-and-demand fundamentals.”

Might be time to bust out your bicycles, Humboldt.

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PREVIOUSLY:

• Homelessness Is on the California Ballot This March. Will Conditions Change on the Street?
• TODAY in SUPES: County Eyes Major Changes to Mental Health Programs, Awards $1M in Measure Z Revenues to Road Repairs
• Newsom Hits the Road for Mental Health Measure as Poll Shows Declining Enthusiasm for Prop. 1
• Californians Are Voting on Prop. 1, Gavin Newsom’s Mental Health Plan. Here’s What It Does
• Why Prop. 1 Foes Are Getting Back in the Fight
• With Prop. 1, Gavin Newsom Again Changes How Californians With Mental Illness Get Help

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Last month, California voters just barely passed Proposition 1, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $6.4 billion plan to overhaul the state’s community mental health and substance abuse program.

The two-pronged measure will use revenue from a nearly $6.38 billion bond to build treatment facilities and supportive housing. It will also change the way counties spend revenues from a 1 percent “millionaires tax” known as the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), approved by voters in 2004. 

Supporters of Prop. 1, including U.S. VETS, the National Alliance on Mental Illness of California and the mayors of many cities including San Francisco and Los Angeles, say this much-needed reset will direct more resources to the people who need it most — namely, chronically homeless folks with mental health diagnoses or addiction disorders. 

But a coalition of opponents, who derided the election results “an embarrassing squeaker of a victory,” say Prop. 1 will “steal” money from existing mental health services managed by individual counties.

Counties currently receive about 95 percent of the money available from the MHSA, but once Prop. 1 is implemented that amount will drop to 90 percent, meaning an estimated $140 million per year will go to the state instead.

Opponents also say that redirecting MHSA money to build housing will result in up to $1 billion in cuts to existing mental health programs, such as crisis response and wraparound services like education and employment assistance. 

Voters here in Humboldt County followed the statewide trend, narrowly approving Prop. 1. In an interview with the Outpost, Oliver Gonzalez, the county’s MHSA program manager, said it’s too soon to tell how Prop. 1 will impact local services because much of its language is generalized and the details have yet to be worked out.

“There are a lot of concerns, of course, from stakeholders, from people in our community [and] all across California about what it could mean for existing programs,” Gonzalez said. Humboldt County, like all others in the state, will see a reduction in funding across the board for MHSA programs, and yet staff must now figure out how to implement new requirements to address substance use disorders and housing.

“We don’t even know how we’re going to implement 99 percent of the things Prop. 1 is proposing,” Gonzalez said. “We don’t have the language for it yet.”

Historically, local MHSA programs have been designed through a collaborative process, with input from a broad range of stakeholders such as the Hope Center, the Humboldt County Transition-Age Youth Collaboration (HCTAYC), family resource centers, the Behavioral Health Board and the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Health. 

“MHSA has always been this very flexible source of income that can be molded to our county’s unique needs,” Gonzalez said. “With these new changes, we’ll have to navigate more regulations and more requirements with less funding. And essentially it would make us not be able to leverage as much stakeholder input.” 

When Gonzalez last made the rounds with stakeholders, telling them about Prop. 1, many people didn’t even know what it was or what its implications will be, he said, and some asked why Californians were being asked to vote on something so nebulous.

“But also there was a kind of underlying concern … like, what does that really mean for existing programs? And, again, it’s an open question that doesn’t have an answer yet,” Gonzalez said.

In the two decades since voters passed the MHSA, a cornerstone of its implementation has been that the services are voluntary. Prop. 1, by contrast, will allow bond revenues to be spent on involuntary treatment facilities. Meanwhile, last October, Newsom signed Senate Bill 43, which broadens the definition of “gravely disabled,” making a lot more people eligible for involuntary conservatorship.

Back in January, Humboldt County Behavioral Health Director Emi Botzler-Rodgers told the Board of Supervisors that the bill could increase eligibility for such programs from about one percent of the population to about 10 percent. The county has asked for implementation to be delayed until Jan. 1, 2026.

“With these new additions and changes as they’re doing, they’re kind of blurring the lines a little bit as to what will be voluntary and what will be involuntary,” Gonzalez said. “So a lot of advocates have been really voicing that concern.”

That concern extends across the state. In a recent meeting with the MHSA directors of all 58 counties in California, virtually all of them remarked on the questions and concerns being voiced by members of their communities and the fact that they, the MHSA directors, don’t have many answers, Gonzalez said.

Under Prop. 1, the Mental Health Services Act will be renamed the Behavioral Health Services Act. Aside from a few administrative changes that have already been made, most provisions of the measure won’t go into effect until July 1, 2026. 

In the coming months, Gonzalez expects the state to issue “cleanup language” clarifying some provisions of the measure. After that, he said, he can start working with local stakeholders to revise their approach to comply with the new realities. 

“That way we can at least start preparing to see exactly how we can navigate these changes, how we can preserve programs and protect them as much as we can, because that’s really the ultimate concern.”

# # #

Original Post: So you somehow managed to resist to urge to head down to Texas to experience temporary darkness. How extremely unadventurous-but-responsible you are! But don’t worry, the skies here in Humboldt are not going to be completely bereft of eclipse activity. 

For example, here in Eureka, where the weather forecast suggests partly cloudy conditions, we’ll still experience roughly 26% obscuration when the eclipse peaks late morning. Yay, us!

Here’s your guide for when to glance up (while donning the special glasses you hopefully have left over from the last Humboldt eclipse, of course).

• 10:21 a.m.: Partial eclipse begins
• 11:16 a.m.: Maximum coverage
• 12:13 p.m.: Partial eclipse ends.

That’s what you get! Enjoy your slightly weird Monday, Humboldt.