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As a scientist with the California Department of Fish & Wildlife, Scott Bauer takes a data-driven approach to his role as the Fourth Ward representative for the Eureka City Council. If there’s a local problem that needs solving – whether it be multimodal transportation needs or increased access to affordable housing – Bauer leans on evidence-based research to guide the decision-making process.

“I deal with data every day of my life,” he told the Outpost during a sit-down interview this week. “I also believe that our laws should be based off of data.”

After having served nearly four years as the Ward 4 representative on the Eureka City Council, Bauer hopes to secure a second term in the upcoming General Election. He’s running against first-time city council candidate Thavisak “Lucky” Syphanthong.

The Outpost met with Bauer in Old Town Eureka on Tuesday afternoon to talk about the upcoming election and some of the city’s most pressing issues, including homelessness and housing, ongoing infrastructure improvements, the importance of renewable energy, and, of course, Measure F. Our conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

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Lost Coast Outpost: Thank you for taking the time to chat this afternoon. I suppose I’ll start off by asking you to introduce yourself to the folks who aren’t familiar with Eureka politics. Can you tell me about the ward you represent and what you do outside of your role on the Eureka City Council?

Bauer: I’m Scott Bauer, I have lived in Eureka for over 20 years and a little over 11 years in the Fourth Ward. I have two kids; one is a Eureka High student and the other is now in college at Montana State in Bozeman. My wife is a nurse at St. Joe’s; she’s been there for over a decade. Both of us have been active in politics for many years; she worked for Congressman Mike Thompson doing fundraising for a few years and I was on the California Association of Professional Sciences Board of Directors for 12 or 14 years. I’ve been politically involved for most of my life, whether it be union work or working to get people elected that we respected. I work for the California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW) as a scientist, and I’ve been working for the state for 25 years. I’m a career civil servant, permitting, enforcement, all that kind of stuff. In my free time, you know, I’m an outdoorsman, so fishing, hiking, hunting, etc. I’ll do anything that’s outside.

Eureka’s ward map. Click to enlarge.

I represent Ward 4, which is full of great people, like the whole city. Eureka is on a “true ward” system, which means you only vote for the representative of your ward, which upsets a lot of people but I think it’s great. All of our wards are very interesting looking, but it’s not due to gerrymandering, it’s just based on population.

LoCO: You’re running for your second term on the Eureka City Council. Can you tell me what drew you to run for the council in the first place?

Bauer: Oh, that’s a great question. My kids hate when I tell this story, but we were driving north through Eureka one day, and they’re like, “This town is so ugly,” you know, along the 101 corridor, and I explained to them – like I’ve explained to a lot of people who want to see things change faster – that we’re a utilitarian community. We were built for mining, timber and fishing. Our economy was based on a hard-working industry, so beautification and having a beautiful city wasn’t the first priority, you know? But my kids would say that from time to time and I’ve always been someone that looks for a solution when there’s a problem. I don’t like when people complain and don’t take action. So, I decided to try and do something about it. I talked to my wife and she said, “You’ve been involved in politics your whole life, why not?”

And that kind of dovetails into why I’m running again – Eureka is my home and I have civic pride and I care about it. That’s why I ran for the first time and that’s why I want to continue to represent this city. I feel like the city is doing a lot; renewable energy is coming, we’re getting really close to breaking ground on some big projects and I want to see more housing built. I want to see people appreciate this city because I think it’s valuable. 

LoCO: Can you talk about some specific obstacles you encountered in your first term? 

Bauer: Well, there are general government obstacles, as well as the speed at which things occur. Having a background in civil service, I understand permitting and how things take time. You want things to happen immediately, but there’s the public process and there’s a permitting process. You know, I want to see the Bay to Zoo Trail built, but these things take time. So, that is an obstacle to me but it’s also a part of society and something we can’t necessarily change. In the last few years, for example, the city has made a lot of progress with Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). The permitting process is way easier now. So, the more we can do to reduce obstacles, the better.

There’s also the challenge of getting people to have the shared vision that, I think, our city council has. I see people in two camps: Those that pine for some other time, like the 50s or something, who feel we should just go back to that, and those that are like, “We have challenges, we have climate change, we have homelessness and addiction, we have all these things that we can’t just go back.” So, what do we do going forward, you know? That’s the fun stuff – well, it’s not fun – but that’s the stuff that I enjoy, you know, solving problems and trying to find solutions. 

One of the things I’ve done during my time on the council is serve on the board of directors for the League of California Cities and we get involved in legislation. I take that as an extension of my council work that I’m going to try and protect Eureka. One of my goals for these next four years is to get more money from the state because relying on our tax base isn’t enough. … So, what can I do at the state level to bring in funds to make sure that legislation doesn’t get passed that affects us in a negative way or prevents our forward momentum? That’s how I see obstacles and challenges getting handled, by taking a proactive look but always looking forward. 

We’ve got a lot to do in Eureka. If you’ve been to the Friday Night Market, it’s insane! People want to hang out in Old Town; they want to enjoy each other’s company. We need to keep moving forward in a way that makes this town super valuable as a place for people to live in the future.

LoCO: That’s funny, I just referred to Friday Night Market as “insane” while talking to some friends recently. It really is amazing to see how many people come out. Eureka has become so vibrant, it’s really cool to see.

Bauer: Well, and some people would say it isn’t. We get comments at council meetings all the time about how horrible it is, and I’m like, “What vision are they seeing?” You know, I can see issues, but they just see darkness. And I feel sorry for them, frankly, because that’s all they see. You know, when I go to Friday Night Market and I see 100 people I know, I walk out of there feeling like life is good.

LoCO: Well, to that point, there are real concerns with homelessness, mental health, needle litter and drug use in Eureka, but these are difficult issues that can’t be solved through a one-size-fits-all approach. There are people in the streets that really need help. That help often starts with access to mental health services and housing. Can you expand on that and talk about what the city is doing and can do to address some of those concerns?

Bauer: Yeah, we’ll start with policing. As you know, we have CSET – the city’s Community Safety Engagement Team – and they’re out there trying to de-escalate situations, which, 10 years ago, would have ended up in someone being hauled off to jail. So we’ve got these incredible law enforcement personnel that are trained in mental crisis like we never would have thought and it’s critical to making our community safer. 

We’ve also hired mental health clinicians, mostly through grant funding, to go out with law enforcement and respond to the person who’s having a crisis. That way there’s a law enforcement presence close by to help them if things go wrong. … We also have these issues that can’t be addressed through law enforcement. That’s what people feel, but I have to remind people that this is a societal problem. It’s not something that’s [exclusive] to Eureka, this is happening everywhere. …

On top of that, the county has MIST [Mobile Intervention Services Team] and we have all these different programs that are trying to address housing. You know, Betty Chinn’s Blue Angel Village is going to be done soon. … We’re building facilities to try and get people a place and then, hopefully, we can address their mental health issues. We’re doing our damnedest to address those issues. And like I said, everything takes time. … The business of the city council is very much like a business. It can be tedious and it can be a challenge, but that’s how the city is run. … I feel like we’ve done a lot with the leadership of our city. Our city staff are great; they’re just human beings trying to make our city better and there’s always more to do. 

LoCO: I’d like to stay on the topic of housing, a key issue in this year’s election. What is your stance on Measure F, the “Housing for All and Downtown Vitality” initiative?

Bauer: I’ll be voting “no” on Measure F. It’s not a question. I’ve had friends tell me, “This seems great! You know, housing for all!” I think the easiest way to get a feel for how authentic it is is to look at how much money somebody puts into an initiative. Who’s behind it? Do they really care about the city? And I would argue, no.

[The city has] done what it can to pave the way for people to build housing. We just need people to come in, get grant funds and do it. These things take time but the reality is, Measure F would not help with that. Some people seem to think that a few parking lots versus housing is a trade-off that they’re not willing to do, and I don’t understand it. I mean, I don’t ever have a problem finding parking in Eureka and I live and work here.

It’s interesting that in this little tiny city, someone has spent over a million dollars to pass an initiative. Why? 

LoCO: Can you talk about how Measure F would impact the city’s efforts to build new housing in Eureka and how it would affect the city’s Housing Element?

Bauer: Well, it kind of upsets those efforts because the overall gist of [Measure F] is to maintain parking. If you build, let’s say, 90 units on top of parking, it makes it cost-prohibitive for the developer, right? So, what do we do? We have a Regional Housing Needs Allocation that says the city needs “x” number of new housing based on its population. If the [the city] can’t do that because it’s restricted by a particular ballot measure, the state could tell us that we’re in violation of state law and we can be sued. … It essentially throws our Housing Element into turmoil. … We just need housing, and this initiative makes it more challenging to build that housing.

LoCO: Keeping with the topic of housing, during a recent city council meeting you voted against the passage of the Vacant Building Ordinance. Can you explain some of your concerns and why you voted against the ordinance?

Bauer: Sure. You know, I have a wide net of friendships and I talked to a lot of people about this ordinance and my feeling was, is this really an issue? Is this something that is actually preventing people from finding housing? And we don’t have the information on that. I deal with data every day of my life and … I also believe that our laws should be based off of data. You know, is there a problem we’re trying to solve? And frankly, I’m not sure I see it right now. …

LoCO: I’d like to shift gears to infrastructure. The city has made a lot of progress in recent years through capital improvement projects, including trail building, repaving city streets and more. Some projects have received near-unanimous support from the community, while others have been extremely divisive, such as the Dolbeer/W Street Couplet Project. Can you talk about the delicate balance between pushing forward new, innovative projects while also hearing constituents’ concerns about too much change too fast?

Bauer: That’s a great question. You know, I like to remind people that there was a time when the city was spending $700,000 a year on roads, which doesn’t do hardly anything. After Measure H passed, which I campaigned on and supported, we’re spending $2.5 million on roads and we’re able to do quite a bit more. And while we’re doing that … we’re fixing the city’s sewer system. Our water system is more than a century old and we’re slowly doing the work that needs to be done to make our city operate efficiently. 

When it comes to things like bike lanes and bulb-outs – which are proven safety measures – it’s about the bottom line. Change is hard, and I totally understand that. At the same time, you get through it and you learn to change your driving habits. I realize that I turn slower because of bulb-outs. If you do hit somebody, the impact’s gonna be a lot less significant because you’re going slower. It is a safety feature, and it’s totally working, even though people still hate them. 

It’s the same as bike lanes, right? We’ve been a car-based culture for about a century, roughly. And to change that, you know, from a historical perspective, is huge. It’s hard for a lot of people but it needs to happen. We should all be able to enjoy the roads that we pay for. If you’re a biker, the road should be safe for you, too. If you’re a pedestrian, there should be a flashing beacon at that busy intersection that people still don’t stop at, you know? 

Right now, we need to move as fast as possible to change how we think of transportation because we are in desperate times with climate change. We need more bike lanes because we need to get out of our vehicles. We have to, for the planet’s sake, for our children’s sake. And some people won’t be able to for health issues or whatever it may be, but those people will still have the same access they’ve always had. 

LoCO: On the topic of climate change, the next few years are going to be really important for economic development in Eureka – and Humboldt County as a whole – with the burgeoning offshore wind industry. Can you talk about this opportunity and what it means for our community?

Bauer: As a scientist who spends a lot of time looking at climate research and trying to understand it as best I can, we literally don’t have another five years to change how we live if we want the world to be the same. If we don’t really care, then by all means, we just continue. (And to be clear, this is me talking, not the City of Eureka, though I believe the city is supportive of all of this.) Life is filled with trade-offs and it’s a matter of human survival, at least in the current state of society, that we figure out alternative sources of energy beyond what we’re currently doing. There’s a huge amount of fuel out [in the ocean] because wind is fuel. We’re still trying to figure some things out, like where does transmission go? The city should get enough to power us with 100 percent clean energy. We can’t bypass Humboldt County and take it to Red Bluff and down the I-5 corridor. We need to fight for that energy to stay here and the excess can be taken somewhere else. I really strongly believe in that.

I’m the vice-chair of the Redwood Coast Energy Authority (RCEA) board and we’re constantly talking about these issues. And again, I understand the concerns. You’ll be able to see wind turbines from all over the place while they’re being built. … There are impacts locally, but the global picture is something that we can’t deny. We can’t pretend that we’re not a part of the solution, you know? So we need to figure it out and do it with the least amount of impact to our community and to the environment. …

LoCO: Shifting back to Eureka’s Fourth Ward, what are some ward-specific issues you’d like to focus on in your second term?

Bauer: I’d love to see the Bay to Zoo Trail get built. I know there are community members in the Fourth Ward who are concerned about that, but there’s some misinformation about trails … breeding crime when the opposite is true. People using trails make it safer. So I’d really love to see that happen.

I would also love to see us take Cooper Gulch Park and completely restore it, which we’re pursuing grant funds for right now. We’re doing a big fish habitat restoration project there, which is super cool. I want to see that park turn into something that people take pride in. It’s really important for us to get more multimodal transportation as well. I have a lot of friends in the Fourth Ward who ride their bikes to town. We gotta make it easier for people to get around in any kind of fashion. 

Then there are also basic issues you hear about all the time, like roads. Paving is just never fast enough and I really want to work with state legislatures on that and find out how we can get more money for cities. You go to Southern California and all the freeways are constantly under construction. They’re adding lanes and spending hundreds of millions of dollars. We get a little bit of funding, but we need to quadruple that so that our infrastructure isn’t beaten up and suffering from 30 years of neglect. We gotta do better. 

Our hospital is also in the Fourth Ward and it needs to be maintained as a vibrant place. It has seismic issues that they’re working on but it’s a huge economic engine. We need to really work with [the hospital’s leadership] to ensure that we have that critical care facility to keep our community healthy. 

LoCO: Thank you for your time this afternoon. Is there anything else you’d like to add regarding your re-election campaign? Closing thoughts?

Bauer: You know, I’ve been thinking a lot about this and I want this campaign to be focused on community resilience. I think there are three pillars to it: housing, transportation and funding. My mission is to hopefully leave this community in a more resilient place after eight years. You know, creating more abundant transportation options, ensuring that we can weather natural disasters. That is my goal, and I hope to get an opportunity to promote that.

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Click here to learn more about Bauer’s campaign. If you’d like to ask him a few questions of your own, head on over to LoCO Elections!

Election Day is Nov. 5.