With incumbent Kelly Sanders opting not to seek a third term in office, Humboldt County voters will elect a brand new county clerk-recorder/registrar of voters this year.
To date, three candidates have filed paperwork with the Humboldt County Elections Office in hopes of winning that seat. All three work in either the Clerk-Recorders office or the Humboldt County Elections Office. They are as follows (listed alphabetically by last name): Juan Pablo Cervantes, Benjamin Hershberger and Tiffany Hunt Nielsen.
(A fourth candidate, Samanthia Carns, filed paperwork but quickly dropped out. She told the Outpost in an email that she will be supporting Hershberger, whom she called “the perfect candidate for the position.”)
Some of you may be wondering: What exactly is a county clerk-recorder/registrar of voters? I mean, besides “most cumbersome elected official title in Humboldt.”
It’s really two jobs in one. The clerk-recorder maintains records of vital statistics — birth certificates, death certificates and marriage licenses — and files more mundane documents like fictitious business name statements and notary bonds.
Incidentally, the clerk-recorder’s staff may have the nicest digs of any county employees. The office, on the fifth floor of the county courthouse, has a row of windows offering a panoramic view of Humboldt Bay and the Samoa Peninsula.
The registrar of voters, meanwhile, is responsible for managing elections, which entails everything from creating ballots to registering voters, recruiting and training poll workers, reserving polling place locations, educating the public, managing candidate filings and ensuring the security of voting systems, including ballot processing and vote tallying.
The first candidate to announce, Cervantes is an elections specialist in the county Elections Office, and in a December press release he said he’s running because he’s “passionate about transparent, accessible and efficient government.”
He praised both Sanders and previous clerk-recorder/registrar Carolyn Crnich as “paragons” in fulfilling those values.
On his campaign website Cervantes says he’s worked as a poll worker since high school. As an employee in the Elections Office, he’s played a role in expanding voter security and combating misinformation.
“I’ve developed chain-of-custody protocols for our voting systems, broadcasted the accuracy testing of our voting equipment on livestream and TV, and I continue to serve as Humboldt County’s liaison to the Election Transparency Project,” he said. “I’m excited to build upon our community partnerships and look forward to leveraging my experience to provide Humboldt County with increased transparency, efficiency, and accessibility when it comes to records management and elections administration.”
Having worked for the county since 1996 — and at the clerk-recorder/registrar’s office since 2006 — Hershberger said he thinks he’s the candidate with the most institutional knowledge about the office’s two divisions.
As the office’s fiscal officer, he’s responsible for all the financial components, including purchasing and the budget. He has also served on committees to select voting software and an election management system.
Born and raised in Humboldt County, Hershberger attended McKinleyville High School and Humboldt State University, where he earned his bachelor’s in business administration, with a focus on accounting and a minor in computer information systems.
Reached by phone, he said he’s been mulling a run for the office’s top job for years and believes now’s the right time.
“I have the experience with both Kelly Sanders and Carolyn Crnich, so I understand where we’re headed with the department,” he said.
If you’re the kind of voter who likes mud-slinging, don’t expect it from Hershberger. Asked about his competition he said, “I think all of the candidates are going to be good clerk-recorders and registrars of voters, so whether I win or lose it will still be my job to help them moving forward.”
Tiffany Hunt Nielsen
Also born and raised in Humboldt (on a cattle ranch), Hunt Nielsen said the Hunt side of her family arrived here in the early 1900s.
She holds a land surveying certificate and worked for a local engineering firm until the owner retired. From there, Hunt Nielsen went to work for Humboldt Land Title.
“I started as a receptionist for the first four hours,” she said, adding that she quickly passed a test and moved immediately over to the title department, where she worked for the next 17 years.
The company was employee owned until 2018, and she left the following year. Crnich was her neighbor in Loleta, and Hunt Nielsen’s job at the title company entailed taking title documents to the clerk-recorder’s office to be filed.
Hunt Nielsen said she was intrigued by Crnich’s job, “and I really liked the view from her office.” She also liked the way staff handled things, so after leaving Humboldt Land Title, the clerk-recorder’s office seemed like a natural fit. “I was creating the documents they recorded, so I understood how the laws worked,” she said.
She’s now a senior recordable document examiner in the clerk-recorder’s office, and she has worked the last three elections, alternately checking ballots for clarity and voter intent and working the office’s phone bank.
Going door-to-door to collect nomination signatures, she encountered a number of people with concerns about the integrity of the voting process. “I tried to reassure everyone that everything’s run up to par at the Elections Office,” she said, adding that she’s been impressed by how diligently poll workers check voters’ signatures.
Ta-da! Conceptual rendering of a building designed by McSorely Architecture, slated to be built on the corner of Second and E streets in Old Town Eureka. | Submitted.
Folks roaming about Old Town Eureka Thursday afternoon may be wondering what’s going on with the building being demolished at the corner of Second and E Streets. Well, we made a couple of phone calls and found out the former home of Here & There Vintage (among other businesses) is slated to become a four-story mixed-use building with a tantalizing rooftop terrace.
The new building will provide space for retail storefronts on the ground floor, one- and two-bedroom apartments on the second and third floors, and a restaurant and bar on the rooftop.
“There will be a really cool rooftop deck with what we’re currently calling a banquet room, which we think will be a bar and restaurant,” Will Adams, CEO of Adams Commercial General Contracting, Inc., told the Outpost. ”… My office is down the street from this building and I’ve kind of had my eye on it for the last several years thinking, ‘What an ugly, out-of-place building in Old Town’ and thought it could certainly be improved upon.”
Such projects usually cause quite a stir in Humboldt County, such as the recently approved EaRTH Center in Eureka, but Eureka City Manager Miles Slattery said he isn’t aware of any objections to the new project.
“All of the property owners within a 300-foot radius of the property were noticed and then it went through the planning division, then it went through design review and it’s all been approved,” Slattery told the Outpost. “It’s an outstanding project. There’s going to be this incredible rooftop terrace. I’d love to go have a cocktail up there.”
While the prospect of a rooftop bar with a picturesque view of Humboldt Bay is quite enticing, Adams emphasized the need for more housing in the city.
“The need for local housing is overwhelming,” he said. “We do a lot of apartments in Humboldt County, mainly in Fortuna, Arcata and Eureka. I certainly see the need for it.”
Slattery added that the new building will enhance economic development as well.
“I think it’s great to see this type of development down there in Old Town,” he said. “I think it’s gonna be a great benefit for not only housing but also for economic development, which is really what we need in Eureka and this is a perfect example. It’s great to see that these private developers are helping us out with our economic development.
The building is slated for completion next spring.
Conceptual rendering of the new building | City of Eureka
A new bill introduced into the state legislature this week would give a leg up to small-scale cannabis farmers looking to sell their product at statewide cannabis events.
AB 2691, introduced by North Coast Assemblymember Jim Wood (D-Santa Rosa), would authorize the Department of Cannabis Control to issue temporary event retail licenses that would open the door for cannabis cultivators to sell their product directly to consumers at cannabis events like the Emerald Cup. As it stands, small-scale cultivators can participate in such events, but they cannot sell directly to the buyer.
Ross Gordon, policy director at the Humboldt County Growers Alliance (HCGA) and policy chair at the Origins Council, said the bill would give small producers “who don’t have access to sales teams and large advertising” the ability to connect directly with consumers, an essential component in building “a real market for craft cannabis.”
“The human element is a large part of what allows people to choose cannabis based on quality, values and sustainable cultivation practices, rather than flashy packaging or billboard advertising,” Gordon wrote in an email to the Outpost. “… Commodity cannabis can be produced anywhere – what differentiates us is our quality, craft, history and culture.”
Having the opportunity to connect directly with consumers will give growers the chance to share their stories and put a face to the name.
“This bill could patch up a really needed missing piece to the puzzle for us as cultivators of high-end cannabis,” Drew Barber, owner-operator of East Mill Creek Farms and co-founder of Uplift Co-op, told the Outpost. “The ability to connect with our consumers in this day and age seems like one of the major assets that could and should come along with regulation, right? The consumer should know who is growing their weed. We feel like our stories say a lot about both the quality of the product as well as the types of farming that we do.”
The fact that cultivators can’t sell directly to consumers is “absurd,” he added.
“We go through all this effort right now to make it to Santa Rosa or to San Francisco or to Los Angeles and the consumers talk with us and they get excited about our products, but when they say I’d love to buy it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, go wait in that line over there so you can purchase my weed,’” he said. “The point of sale is this important contract and when it can happen between the farmer and the consumer, it’s a different kind of bond that you don’t get when it goes through this circuitous route.”
Gordon noted that AB 2691 brings cannabis farmers one step closer to being treated like other farmers.
“For us, this bill is a major step forward in recognizing that cannabis farmers are farmers, and we need access to the same types of sales opportunities that allow other small farmers to sustain a livelihood,” he said. “Every step towards normalization, whether it’s the conversation around cultivation taxes or farmer’s markets, brings us closer to a point where cannabis is treated at parity with other agriculture.”
SACRAMENTO–Assemblymember Jim Wood (D-Santa Rosa) has introduced AB 2691, legislation authorizing the Department of Cannabis Control to issue temporary cultivator event retail licenses that would allow small-scale growers to sell their cannabis products at cannabis events in the state.
“This license will allow so many growers who cultivate cannabis on one acre or less to really showcase their products at these special cannabis events,” said Wood. “The opportunity to share their unique strains directly with consumers and allow them to reach markets previously unattainable.”
Current law allows small-scale growers to participate in cannabis events, such as the Emerald Cup, but does not allow them to sell their product limiting potential buyers’ ability to determine a product’s qualities.
“Assemblymember Wood’s bill is a lifeline for thousands of small family cannabis farms across California struggling to bring their products to market and achieve profitability,” said Genine Coleman, Executive Director of Origins Council. “This legislation will also advance destination tourism for heritage cannabis producing regions and expand consumer access to regulated craft cannabis products.” This legislation would specify that the temporary cultivator event retail license would be valid only for the specific cannabis event for which it was issued, and would limit the number of temporary cultivator event retail licenses issued to each licensee to 12 per calendar year.
“As a small farmer of both cannabis and vegetables I understand the importance of bringing products directly to customers as a small producer,” said Blaire AuClair, a small cannabis and produce farmer at Radicle Herbs and Folk Life Farm in Mendocino County. “It is imperative that small cannabis producers be able to get our products directly into consumers’ hands, to educate them about our products, to share our story and to learn about the needs of consumers. The survival of our small cannabis farms relies on the passage of this legislation.”
“The Emerald Triangle is located in the district I represent and we need to do what we can to ensure that licensed cultivators, especially small-scale growers that are competing with larger cultivators, have an opportunity to fully participate in marketing their products,” said Wood.
I remember mom driving us home from a long trip. It was night and hard for her to see. She was tired from driving all day but we had a couple of hours still to go. I wanted to pull over, but she did not, saying, “God will watch out for us and get us home, I have faith in him!” And that is how she lived her life, full speed ahead and always with faith in God to see her through.
My mom Susan Butler was born in 1960 to Thelma and Dwell Singley, and to siblings, Roger and Nancy. She married my dad Ken Butler July 3, 1976, became a mom to me Nadine Clark in 1976, and David in 1978. She was a grandmother in her 40s to Abby, Kiana, Faye, Byran, Avonlea, Adam, and Braiden.
Susan started living her life to the fullest, young. She had many adventures and mishaps along the way and could paint a picture with her storytelling of the events ( like when she partially sank the boat out at Ruth). She enjoyed and tried her hand at many things like camping, boating, water skiing, poker parties, bread making, tole painting, ceramics, sewing, quada and Honda 90 driving, scrap booking, quilting, flower arranging, and gardening. She loved animals and so much she became a vegetarian at the age of 12. She especially loved being with her horses and family. She resided primarily in Humboldt County. In everything, she used what she would say was “common sense,” and many times encouraged us to use it also. Life was often hard for my mom with her many health issues over the years, but like always she had great faith and we witnessed many miracles throughout those times. Mom was tired and wanted more out of life, than what she could do and on Feb 15th, 2022 God let her rest in him and move on, from her broken body. We are so thankful for her love, and being able to love her and to witness all that was beautiful about her.
A small family memorial will be at a later date.
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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Susan’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.
Danny H. Walker was born on June 3, 1951 at St. Joseph Hospital to Harold H. Walker and Patsy Ruth Walker. He had two children, a son Cody D. Walker, and a daughter Cassandra N. Walker. Danny was a welder, avid bowler, Humboldt history buff, and nature lover. He was a cancer survivor, beating prostate cancer. It is with heavy hearts that his family is announcing that he passed away peacefully by a wood fire with a friend on February 16, 2022. He was taken too soon, at the young age of 70.
Danny grew up in Mckinleyville; he attended Mckinleyville High School and Humboldt State University. He started out his career as a machinist at Gene’s Machinery in Arcata. He dedicated 40-odd years of his life to the tutelage of hundreds of welding students at the College of the Redwoods, starting part-time, working in the evenings and then eventually leading the program.
Danny loved spending time in the outdoors - hunting, diving, fishing, gold-panning and metal-detecting. In his recent retirement, he found that burning brush was ‘his therapy’ and spent time at Pinewood Cove, and South Port Landing doing just that. Pre-Covid times, he spent countless hours at E&O Bowl in Blue Lake sipping his signature drink – ‘the dirty mother’ (a mix of bourbon, tequila, Kahlua & milk) and bowling game after game aiming to get that perfect score. He also bowled at Harbor Lanes in Eureka occasionally. AA Bar in Eureka was another common haunt for him, where he could be found eating steak with a glass of red wine.
Danny liked to do what he wanted, when he wanted; he did not like to be tied down and this is why his vagabond lifestyle suited him. In his later years, Danny found wanderlust thanks to his girlfriend – Lesley Sundberg, and his daughter, who encouraged him to take trips to Germany, Egypt, Alaska and Italy with them. He treasured these memories and was planning trips to return to Egypt to dive in the Red Sea and spoke of going to see New Zealand someday.
Danny is survived by his mother Patsy R. Walker, daughter Cassandra N. Walker, and sister Michelle L. Walker. He is also survived by numerous great aunts and uncles. He is preceded in death by his father Harold H. Walker, and son Cody D. Walker.
There will be a celebration of life on Saturday, February 26th from 11am-1pm at Sanders Funeral Home located on 1835 E Street in Eureka. Please join if you would like to say goodbye to Danny alongside his family and friends.
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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Danny’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.
Lois Claire Wild née Johnson was born March 22, 1942 in Santa Rosa while her father worked in the Hunter’s Point Shipyard. After WW II the family returned to Eureka where Lois began her schooling. After graduating from Eureka High School she attended Humboldt State College with the intention of becoming a nurse. All went well until she saw blood! Her major quickly changed to Elementary Education.
After graduating she began teaching at Pacific Union School where she remained for most of her 30 year career. She briefly taught at South Bay Elementary school and Toddy Thomas school in Fortuna before returning to Pacific Union School. Long after retirement she maintained contact with some of her students.
Lois and her college sweetheart Dick were married on September 2, 1969. This September they would have been married 59 years. Their children, Heather and Erik, were one of her greatest loves. She was heavily involved in their upbringing, including their sports and extracurricular activities. She even took on the role of soccer coach on occasion. After her children each got married and grandkids arrived, they too were included in her ring of love.
In earlier years she enjoyed summer camping on the Van Duzen river near Swimmers Delight. Other vacations were spent visiting Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Italy, China and Mexico. In China she was invited aboard a small boat where the owner/operator fished with lanterns and cormorants. She commented many times about that experience.
She is survived by her husband Dick Wild, daughter and son Heather and Erik, their spouses Garry and Lan, and grandchildren McKenzie, Elle and Logan.
A celebration of life will be held at a later date.
The family would like to thank Dr. Kevan Long and wife Marisa for their compassionate care during Lois’s last week, as well as the ICU staff at Mad River Hospital and Hospice. We would also like to thank the Church of Jesus Chris of Latter Day Saints Relief Society for preparing meals for the family.
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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Lois’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.
After weeks of rising tensions, Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced the beginning of a “special military operation” in Eastern Ukraine. Additionally, large explosions have been documented near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and other major cities.
In an address to the Russian people, Putin claimed his goal was to disarm Ukraine but not to occupy it.
US President Joe Biden released a statement in response to the attack:
The prayers of the entire world are with the people of Ukraine tonight as they suffer an unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces. President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering. Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction this attack will bring, and the United States and its Allies and partners will respond in a united and decisive way. The world will hold Russia accountable.
I will be monitoring the situation from the White House this evening and will continue to get regular updates from my national security team. Tomorrow, I will meet with my G7 counterparts in the morning and then speak to the American people to announce the further consequences the United States and our Allies and partners will impose on Russia for this needless act of aggression against Ukraine and global peace and security. We will also coordinate with our NATO Allies to ensure a strong, united response that deters any aggression against the Alliance. Tonight, Jill and I are praying for the brave and proud people of Ukraine.
Above: Live coverage of the situation in Ukraine from Sky News out of the UK
