This morning, local realtor Lauren Lazio issued an urgent call for help finding a three bed/two bath home to buy in Eureka’s Second Ward. The city council seat representing this area – which includes (parts of) Henderson Center and the neighborhoods surrounding the Eureka Mall shopping center – is currently filled by Kati Moulton, but it’ll be up for election this November.

“If you or someone you know has a nice house in ward 2 that isn’t currently for sale and want to sell it please contact as soon as possible!” Lazio wrote in a post to a 707 Classified Facebook page. 

“Thank you in advance and hopefully we can find this awesome buyer a great house asap!”

Is someone – dare we suggest – ward shoppin’?

Reached by phone, Lazio said she has “no idea” why her client is seeking a home in this very specific location. Her Facebook post has since been removed. 

If a city council campaign is indeed this mystery-buyer’s intention, the haste reflected in Lazio’s post is warranted. The filing deadline for Eureka council candidates is August 9th, and the average escrow period in California lasts around 30 to 60 days. The few days it would take for a seller to accept an offer, and for the house to be inspected and appraised, would leave around ten days of wiggle room. 

The City of Eureka website clarifies that “a candidate must be a registered voter of the ward that they wish to represent at the time nomination papers are issued.” 

Ward Two incumbent Kati Moulton wanted to give the hopeful buyer the benefit of the doubt during a brief phone call with the Outpost this morning. 

“Maybe they just want to live in Ward Two because it’s a wonderful part of our community,” Moulton said. “I live there on purpose!” 

But a run for the council position does seem to be what’s happening, the councilmember said. If that’s the case, Moulton added, this person is looking to “game the system.” 

“It sounds like a power play by someone with more money than me,” she said.

The average home in Eureka is currently valued at $423,567, according to Zillow. 

Moving to a specific area to run for office isn’t new to Humboldt politics. In 2022, Larry Doss moved to a property he owned in Orick full-time in part to qualify as a candidate for Humboldt County Fifth District Supervisor race, Doss told the Outpost at the time.

The upcoming Eureka council election will be a novel one. It will be the first to employ a ranked-choice voting system – in which voters rank candidates from most to least desired – a change that was approved by Eureka voters in 2020 and recently solidified by the City Council. 

Kati Moulton. Photo: City of Eureka website

It’ll be interesting to see how ranked-choice voting shakes out given Eureka’s by-district voting system, which voters approved in the 2016 general election and requires folks to pick a representative who lives in their ward. In at-large elections, on the other hand, people may vote for anyone, regardless of their address. (Arcata does this.) In the 2020 election, 1,253 people voted in the Ward Two city council race. 

No one has officially announced a campaign for the Ward Two seat, but Moulton indicated that she will run for reelection. She was elected to the council in 2020 in a race against three other candidates, and won by a large margin with more than 40 percent of the votes. Eureka’s Fourth Ward seat, currently occupied by Scott Bauer, will also be up for election in November.

For the time being, Moulton said she hopes her constituents are “seeing and appreciating” the work she does on their behalf. As far as a potential “carpetbagger” candidate in Ward Two? We’ll have to wait and see.