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Herrera. | Submitted

And we have another challenger!

Kathleen Herrera, a 79-year-old retiree, has qualified as a candidate for the Fifth Ward seat on the Eureka City Council. She will face off against Jeff Leonard, who previously represented Eureka’s Third Ward from 2002 to 2010. 

Eureka’s Fifth Ward (see map here) is currently represented by Renee Contreras, whose last-minute announcement that she would not seek re-election allowed a few extra days for potential candidates to turn in the necessary nomination paperwork. Herrera seized that opportunity.

Reached by phone shortly after 4 p.m., she said she first got interested in pursuing a seat on the city council because of her friends’ concerns about C Street’s reconfiguration into a bicycle boulevard. They felt that it’s now “kind of a mess.”

“I ride a bike,” Herrera said. “I actually think it’s quite nice, the bike part [of C Street]. But I was quite disappointed that they made it a one-way.”

The direction of vehicle traffic on C Street’s single lane through downtown alternates between north-south and vice versa, depending on which block you happen to be on. Herrera said she’s seen several people driving the wrong way since the redesign.

“Then, I read there might be another one on G Street, but the City said they won’t make that one one-way. But some of my friends were skeptical. They said, ‘We need you on city council!’”

Herrera was still not planning on running until she heard that Leonard was positioned to run for the seat unopposed. 

“That shot me to the top of the priority list,” Herrera said. “Nobody should ever be unopposed. It’s just not right.”

Walking around the city and talking to people, she found that homelessness is at the top of many residents’ lists of concerns. It’s one of hers, too.

“I hate the word homeless,” she said. “I just wish there were another term that weren’t so degrading.”

As for potential solutions, she said, “I am very much in favor of Housing First,” referring to the model that prioritizes finding permanent housing options for those living on the streets. “And I think the City of Eureka has adapted that.”

It has.

Ultimately, Herrera said she would like to see people living on the street “disappear as an option in my lifetime. I’m not talking about rounding people up or putting them in jail or giving them one-way bus tickets. But eventually [living on the street] will not be an option.”

Herrera first moved to Eureka in 1978 and lived here until landing a job in Siskiyou County in 2004. She came back to Eureka in 2024, she said, adding, “The house was mine all of the time.”

When she gave her age, 79, Herrera quipped, “Younger than Trump!”

She said she received an email today informing her that she’s been hired as an election worker with the county.

Returning briefly to the subject of bike lanes, Herrera noted that she doesn’t even own a car. She gets around on her bicycle and an e-scooter. 

“You would expect me to want more bike lanes, but I’m happy with what we have,” she said.

California’s General Election will take place on Nov. 3. The Outpost will have plenty more news coverage of the local races between now and then.