“Growth” was the main theme linking together speeches from Arcata’s leaders in business, education, and government at the State of the City speeches Thursday. 

Speakers, including Arcata Chamber of Commerce Director Meredith Maier, City Manager Merritt Perry, and Cal Poly Humboldt administrators Michael Fisher and Chrissy Holliday, focused on how Arcata is evolving to better serve its residents amidst changes both nationally and locally. 

The Chamber of Commerce

Maier and chamber Event Manager Gloria Baker focused on the dozens of events the chamber has worked to coordinate, including the Arcata version of the Friday Night Market, an Oyster Fest attended by 12,000 people, and various business mixers. 

Baker said 75% of Oyster Fest attendees went to a local business before or after (according to AI data that Baker said was “so insanely legit”), and 30% of them were tourists. $65,000 went to local vendors, bands, artists, and local businesses. 

“It’s really wonderful knowing that we have so many people here that we can pay to do the things we need,” Baker said. “We don’t need to outsource. And all of the talent, all of the art, and all of the beer is here. It’s really remarkable.”

The news wasn’t all rosy. Maier said many businesses were earning less than they needed to survive at the moment. However, she hopes a slate of fire-relief events over the next couple weeks helps alleviate the pain.

The City

City Manager Merritt Perry crammed what could have been an hour’s speech worth of dense material into half of that, touching on everything from the Jan. 2 fire, to the city’s budget and priorities, to the big-picture General Plan. 

Perry thanked the many individuals and organizations that prevented the Jan. 2 fire from consuming more of Arcata’s downtown, which could easily have happened with the heavy winds that day. He mentioned that the Arcata Fire District would finish its investigations later this week, and the insurance investigators would begin their assessments soon. The cleanup will commence after that and will be led by the property owners. 

Perry said the city was working with Cal Poly Humboldt to figure out a way to clear the site for a “fraction” of the cost some contractors have quoted. 

Arcata needs to beef its firefighting infrastructure up, Perry said, saying the current setup “doesn’t even meet residential standards.” Addressing that will be a priority. 

Arcata’s budget was worth a few minutes; Perry said that despite a 2% dip in sales tax revenue, Arcata was doing alright fiscally. New tax revenues, from Measure H and Measure G, have paid for road pavings and more police officers and allowed the city to do lots of little things that improve the quality of life in the city. City staff secured $147 million in grant funding over the last four years, almost 50% of Arcata’s total revenue. Perry guessed that Arcata’s staff brought in more dollars per staff member than any other city in California. That $147 million has paid for new trails, mobile home renovations, housing grants and low-interest loans, and rental assistance. 

The U.S. at large has been rocked in recent months by the federal government’s anti-immigration actions, something Perry mentioned a few times in his speech. He reaffirmed that Arcata is a sanctuary city and that both the council and the city would like to avoid its police department doing anti-immigration work. 

Bringing Arcata together as a community is crucial. Perry showed some photos from the divisive city council meetings during the summer.

“How can we choose a path that doesn’t exclude people, and doesn’t blame people?” Perry asked. “…How can we find a way to unite people? Sometimes it’s easy — the Fairy Festival, the Kinetic [Sculpture] Race, the Oyster Festival, all these wonderful things that everybody supports — those are easy. How do you choose a path forward that is inclusive of everybody and seeks to unite people?”

It seems part of that is keeping Arcata somewhere worth living, something Perry dwelt on for a little while. He complimented the availability of opportunities to enjoy the outdoors and walkability, and reminded listeners that Arcata’s 2045 General Plan was structured to support that goal. 

“People want to be close to home,” Perry said. “They want experiences. They want outdoor experiences. They want to have those local, niche businesses that they can go to. And I was just thinking about our general plan. A lot of people think about the policies: ‘Is it tall buildings? Is it parking?’…But really, what people are looking for is experiencing quality of life. And I think Arcata does an amazing job with that, and a lot of our general plan policies support that.”

The University

Cal Poly Humboldt’s Vice President of Enrollment Management Chrissy Holliday kicked her speech off with a list of figures: the student population grew 4% in the last year, up to almost 6,300 students. The share of the student population that comes from Humboldt increased to 18%, up from 16%. Many of the poorer students are taking advantage of their programs for them; many of the new students are transfers. They’ve launched 15 new programs since becoming a polytechnic. Holliday said CPH was optimistic about continued growth. 

“The good news for us is that it’s manageable,” Holliday said. “That’s good news for the community as well. We are trying to be very responsible with the growth we have, but we also have some pretty significant expectations because of all the [polytechnic] money that the state gave us.”

Michael Fisher, CPH’s Interim Vice President for Administration and Finance, focused almost entirely on their upcoming and completed building projects, including the Hinarr Hu Moulik dorms, the Engineering and Technology Building, the refurbishing of Jenkins Hall, and a planned $170 million Health, Dining, and Housing project slated to be built on the former site of the Campus Apartment dorms and done by 2029. 

“Our success is Arcata’s success, is our region’s success,” Fisher said. “We all have to move in the same direction, and that is a monumental task.”