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Tomorrow evening, the Blue Lake City Council is scheduled to pick someone to fill the seat vacated last month with the abrupt resignation of Councilmember Chris Firor.

Just two applicants have thrown their names in the hat, and one of them — former Mayor Adelene Jones — is actively involved in an election recall campaign that seeks to remove three of the four councilmembers charged with making the appointment: Elise Scafani, Kat Napier and Mayor John Sawatzky.

It’s only through random chance that Jones isn’t still on Blue Lake’s city council. November’s general election ended with an improbable tie for the third and final available council seat. Having received exactly 245 votes apiece, Jones and Napier put their names into envelopes that were then placed in boxes for a tie-breaking draw, with Napier emerging victorious.

In an interview this morning, Jones cited her 30 years of experience in Blue Lake city governance as a primary reason why she should be selected over the other applicant, retired elementary school teacher Terri Bayles.

Politics in Blue Lake have grown increasingly rancorous and divisive in recent years as the city struggles to navigate a path toward an uncertain future. As the city struggles to identify a post-timber economic engine, disputes surrounding proposed development projects, former City Manager Amanda “Mandy” Mager and the city’s long-overdue housing element update have split the community into sparring factions. 

Asked whether it’s awkward to request an appointment from officials she’s actively working to recall, Jones downplayed the discord.

“I sign lots of petitions, and we still have our First Amendment right to free speech in this country,” she said. She quickly added, “I would love to work with this group. I love Blue Lake — that’s my focus. There are serious issues coming up, including the housing element; the city has a $100,000 budget deficit; and now we’re going to be looking for a new city manager. I have a lot of experience with that. We hired four city managers in my time, and I would like to help with that so we get the best person for Blue Lake.”

Terri Bayles. | Photo from Arcata School District via Facebook. 

The Outpost was unable to reach Bayles, though her application says that her 30-year teaching career “gave me a unique set of skills to work with the public and the ability to have many major projects going at one time.”

Earlier this year, Bayles launched an online petition in opposition to a proposal to convert the city’s defunct power plant into a lithium-iron-phosphate battery energy storage system (BESS). The city council recently canceled Blue Lake’s exclusive negotiating agreement with the Texas-based energy developer PowerTransition LLC, so that plan appears to have vaporized.

A 43-year resident of Blue Lake, Bayles vows in her application that she would “work hard to serve our community and help support a transparent, functional government … .”

Jones countered that Bayles “has really had no experience with city government at all,” beyond her public opposition to the BESS project. 

Asked if she would continue to pursue the recall effort against Sawatzky, Scafani and Napier even if she’s appointed to the city council, Jones said probably so, though she added that there are more immediate problems that need to be addressed, including the hiring of a new city manager and dealing with the $100,000 budget deficit.

Housing Element Update

The other big item Jones sees as a priority is the city’s overdue housing element update, which has been among the community’s most contentious issues, even as the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) threatens fines and penalties for continued failure to submit an updated element that complies with state law.

The council could potentially do that tomorrow night — well ahead of the nine-month timeline they proposed back in May. (In March, a narrowly divided council voted 3-2 not to adopt a state-approved draft housing element update, with the council majority voicing doubts about development plans in the Powers Creek District.) The state rejected that timeline in a notice of violation issued last month, and a slightly revised housing element update is being presented for discussion and possible approval tomorrow night.

In revising the draft, staff reduced the projected number of housing units that could potentially be built on vacant sites in the Powers Creek District. However, the draft plan still allows enough development to meet the city’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA), meaning it’s projected share of housing to accommodate the state’s population growth. 

The staff report says the state has already signed off on this new draft.

“The revisions to the Draft Housing Element Update were reviewed by HCD on July 14, 2025, and they determined that the revisions were minor adjustments and would not require further review by their department prior to adoption by the City,” the report says.

Tuesday’s meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. inside the Skinner Store, right behind City Hall at 111 Greenwood Road. For more information, visit the City Council page on Blue Lake’s website.