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Facing a long horizon of budget deficits, California officials stretched and scrimped and massaged the numbers to stabilize the state’s finances last year. But an unforeseen economic downturn, spurred by President Donald Trump’s chaotic tariffs strategy, has knocked California out of fiscal balance once again.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is now forecasting a $16 billion, or 4%, decline in tax revenues in his revised budget proposal, according to a memo provided by his office in advance of the announcement Wednesday. That plan is the opening salvo in negotiations with the Legislature, ahead of the start of the fiscal year in July.

It’s a sharp turnaround from January, when Newsom projected a modest surplus in his $322 billion spending plan. The memo, which dubs the revenue shortfall the “Trump Slump,” does not provide an updated figure for California’s budget deficit.

“We are seeing the slow-rolling impact of ‘Liberation Day’ and it’s not a good one,” spokesperson H.D. Palmer said. “Conditions have definitely changed for the worse since January, in significant part because of those federal tariffs.”

California’s financial picture was troubled even before the recent turmoil. Newsom and the Legislature took extraordinary steps last summer to close a budget gap projected in the tens of billions of dollars over two years, including by making sweeping cuts to state agencies and positions, clawing back funding increases for health care providers, eliminating affordable housing programs, delaying money for schools, suspending business tax credits and dipping into reserves.

And while tax revenues came in $6.8 billion above forecast through April, other problems were brewing.

A one-man ‘wrecking ball’ to California economy

Medi-Cal, the state’s health insurance program for low-income people, has reported a more than $6 billion cost overrun this year — in part because an expansion to include immigrants without legal status brought in more new enrollees than expected — and it needed an emergency cash infusion in March.

The devastating fires that hit Los Angeles in January also introduced new uncertainty for the budget, because the tax deadline for Los Angeles County — where a quarter of all Californians live — was delayed until October.

But the biggest risk is undoubtedly from Trump’s tariffs, which Newsom sued last month to block. Stock market declines are poised to take a bite out of future income tax revenue, because California relies disproportionately on capital gains earned by the wealthiest taxpayers; that accounts for $10 billion of the projected revenue decline. Higher costs from the tariffs are also imperiling major sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture, tourism and shipping in California, whose largest trading partner is China.

“It’s one person that is taking a wrecking ball to our economy,” state Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire, a Healdsburg Democrat, said last week during an event in Sacramento. “That is the existential threat to the state of California right now.”

The grim outlook will almost certainly force more reductions to state programs, and legislative leaders will have their own ideas about what to target after Newsom puts forward his priorities today.

Bargaining will ramp up over the next month, with a June 15 deadline for the Legislature to pass a balanced budget or forgo its pay, though sometimes provisions of an overall deal drag out beyond that.

A binder showing Gov. Gavin Newsom’s revised budget proposal for 2023-24 during a press briefing at the state Natural Resources Agency in Sacramento on May 12, 2023. Photo by Rahul Lal, CalMatters

“Anyone who thinks we’re not going to make cuts this year is not in touch with reality,” Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, an Encino Democrat who leads the Assembly budget committee, told CalMatters. “Advocates who are proposing major expansions of programs should stop wasting people’s time.”

One likely exception is a proposed $420 million annual increase of California’s film and television tax credit, more than doubling the pot of available subsidies and boosting the amount that individual productions can receive. It’s a priority for Newsom, with the strong backing of many Los Angeles-area legislators, especially as the region seeks a comeback after the fires.

Trump’s effort to slash federal spending is another looming question mark. Congressional Republicans have floated shifting more of the cost of social safety net programs to the states, though they are struggling to reach a budget agreement.

If they ultimately push through major changes to federal funding, lawmakers could be back in Sacramento later this year or early next year revising the state budget once again.

“Ninety percent of the ball game is in Washington,” Gabriel said. “It’s frustrating to me that this is beyond our control.”

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A year after granting Medi-Cal access to low-income immigrants without legal status, Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing to freeze enrollment of new recipients and charge premiums in a move expected to save the state more than $5 billion.

Under Newsom’s proposal announced today, Medi-Cal — the state’s health insurance program for low-income people and those with disabilities — beginning in 2026 would no longer accept new enrollees 19 and older who lack permanent legal status.

The 1.6 million immigrants already signed up would not lose their Medi-Cal coverage, and children could still enroll. All undocumented Californians would still be covered for emergency medical and pregnancy care — so-called “limited scope” coverage that is paid for with federal dollars. But those who don’t enroll before January 2026 would be uncovered for other medical expenses, such as prescription drugs and doctor’s visits.

Before the changes could go into effect, the California Legislature would have to approve them in the state budget. Democratic lawmakers have so far largely balked at making major cuts to Medi-Cal coverage for immigrants.

State Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat and chair of the Senate budget committee, said at a luncheon last month that despite fiscal uncertainty, Senate Democrats want to ensure healthcare coverage for immigrants in California.

“These are folks who are working, paying taxes. They should have access to health care,” Wiener said.

Newsom also proposed that adults with “unsatisfactory immigration status” should pay a $100 monthly premium starting in 2027. Those are people whose immigration status makes them ineligible for federal Medicaid, including those with lawful status. The $100 premium is less than the average subsidized premium paid under Covered California, according to the governor’s office.

Together these moves would save the state $5.4 billion by 2028-29, Newsom’s office said, helping to address the state’s projected $16 billion deficit.

Newsom’s office said the deficit required “tough decisions” but that the governor remained committed to protecting immigrants.

“These changes are designed to preserve that commitment, protect coverage for millions of Californians, and preserve the strength of our values and health care system,” according to the governor’s fact sheet.

The decision is a bruising blow to Newsom, who ran for governor on the promise of universal health care. California was the second state after Oregon to offer full-scope health insurance to all immigrants without legal status.

“These are folks who are working, paying taxes. They should have access to health care.”

— State Sen. Scott Wiener

Newsom’s office blamed wide-ranging tariffs imposed by the Trump administration for weakening the state’s expected revenues, but the Medi-Cal program was already experiencing cost problems related to growing enrollment and increasing costs of prescription drugs.

In March, the administration reported a $6.2 billion shortfall in its Medi-Cal budget, and had to appropriate additional funds to pay providers through the end of June.

The Department of Health Care Services, which oversees Medi-Cal, cited a number of reasons for exceeding its budget, including that it was spending about $2.7 billion more than anticipated on people without legal status.

The state spends about $8.5 billion a year from the general fund to cover immigrants who are in the country without legal authorization, according to the Newsom administration’s estimates.

The request for additional dollars was criticized by Republicans in the Legislature, who say the governor and Democrats over-promised on what the state could afford.

Newsom’s call to limit enrollment comes as Congress is proposing major spending reductions to the federal Medicaid program. (Medi-Cal is California’s name for Medicaid.)

One proposal aims to penalize states that cover unauthorized immigrants. That penalty would come in the form of reduced federal funding for the Affordable Care Act expansion population — largely able-bodied adults without children. If enacted, that penalty could cost California about $3.2 billion a year in federal funding, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

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CalMatters reporter Yue Stella Yu contributed to this story.

This is an exciting time to be alive for Eurekans who like to get around by bike or electric scooter or roller blade, or even just on their own two damn feet! To name just one big thing: The Eureka-Arcata Bay Trail’s grand opening date is very soon! 

But that is far from the only thing happening, and there are a couple of events this month that people of this persuasion might want to take note of.

THING #1:  Tomorrow at 5:30 p.m., the Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities will be conducting a “bike safety audit” of downtown Eureka to document conditions as of right now, in order to prepare for future amenities. They would love to see you there!

THING #2: Work is really starting to kick into gear on the Bay to Zoo Trail, which will eventually extend from the end of Eureka’s Waterfront Trail all the way out to the Zoo. This season of public outreach will kick off with a May 28 event at Zane Middle School. Imagine! Once they complete this and the county completes the McKay Tract trail network, the whole damn city of Eureka will just about be encircled with non-motorized trails. Dang!

Scroll down below for more detail about each of the above things.

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For tomorrow’s safety audit, Here’s a press release from the Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities:

Next Wednesday, May 14, 2025, from 5:30-6:30 pm, the Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities (CRTP) is conducting a bike safety audit of Eureka’s 4th and 5th Streets, part of the US-101 state highway corridor. Participants will meet at the corner of 4th and C Streets in Eureka, and no bike is required to participate.

Bike audits are an opportunity to experience and take note of the conditions for bicyclists in a particular neighborhood or location. Unfortunately, due to the dangerous conditions on 4th and 5th Streets, we will not be riding bikes during the audit. But while we already know 4th and 5th Streets are not safe for bicyclists, the bike audit will help document the exact hazards, and suggest solutions to improve safety.

Participants will walk or roll on the sidewalk while observing conditions for bicyclists, and will focus on observations of three intersections:

• 4th & C Streets, focusing on how bicyclists can connect with the future C Street Bike Boulevard
• 4th & H Streets, focusing on how bicyclists can connect to the new buffered bike lane on H Street from Old Town, Downtown, and the future EaRTH Center transit hub
• 5th & I Streets, focusing on how bicyclists using the new buffered bike lane on I Street can connect to Downtown, Old Town, and the EaRTH Center

The event is free, and all members of the public are invited to participate. No bike is required.

More information about CRTP is available at https://transportationpriorities.org.

May is Bike Month! Information about other local Bike Month events can be found at https://bikemonthhumboldt.org/.

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For more on the Bay to Zoo Trail Outreach meeting, scope this press release from the City of Eureka:

The City of Eureka will soon be advancing into the design and right of way phase for the Bay to Zoo Trail Project. To ensure clarity, consistency, and accessibility of information, the City is hosting a Public Outreach Event.

This event is just one of the ways the City plans to communicate and engage with the public throughout the project.

Public Outreach Event – Bay to Zoo Trail

When: Wednesday, May 28th 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Where: Zane Middle School Library, 2155 S St. Eureka

What: Join City Staff, Councilmember Scott Bauer, and County Supervisor Natalie Arroyo for a presentation on the Bay to Zoo Trail Project. Following the presentation, a panel will answer questions received prior to the event. To submit a question, email BTZtrail@eurekaca.gov by 5/23.

Project staff will also be tabling at the Bike Month Celebration Fair Saturday, May 31st at the Jefferson Community Park, the Humboldt Bay Trail South Grand Opening Party Saturday, June 28th at Adorni Center, select Friday Night Markets, and more.

Visit https://www.eurekaca.gov/255/Trails to view the project website, for information on proposed alignment, facts, history, funding, FAQ and more. Updates will be shared with the public as they become available. If you have questions or would like more information, contact Project Manager, Brittany Powell at bpowell@eurekaca.gov or (707) 441-4127.

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Butler Valley will celebrate 45 years of empowering local adults with disabilities at its Spring Fling Anniversary Fundraiser at the Carole Sund Center Farm in Eureka on Saturday. If you’re in the market for a Nigerian Dwarf goat or seeking a few extra plant starts for your veggie garden, look no further.

For decades, the fine folks at Butler Valley, a Eureka-based nonprofit, have provided intellectually and developmentally disabled adults with supportive services and life skills training through its residential care program that helps participants transition into independent living. The nonprofit expanded its programming in 2013 to include the Carole Sund Center Farm, a four-acre property at the south end of Eureka donated by the Carrington family, where participants learn gardening skills and earn money selling fresh vegetables and eggs.

“We provide a space for people with disabilities to learn new skills and to be more empowered and independent within a community that supports them and appreciates the skills that they bring to the table,” said Alicia Durham, program developer at Butler Valley. “And it gives their families comfort knowing that their loved ones have a space where they’re learning and they’re thriving. As a community, we’re teaching appreciation of everybody.”

A few years ago, Butler Valley added a goat breeding program to the farm, giving participants a chance to care for and socialize the goats, nearly all of whom are certified for dairy and show through the American Dairy Goat Association. (Please, prepare yourself for devilishly cute baby goat pictures below.)

The nonprofit also added a recycling pick-up program, beekeeping and aquaponics to the mix of programming, all of which earn participants a small income. Aquaponics — unlike its artificially formulated cousin, hydroponics — is a closed-loop farming system for cultivating fish and plants. 

“The difference between aquaponics and hydroponics is that the nutrients are coming from the fish, and then it cycles through the roots of the plants and cycles back down into the fish tank, cleaning the water and providing nutrients to the plants,” Durham said. “We use koi, and when they get too big, we sell them to Fin-N-Feather, and they sell them in their store.”

Butler Valley has a similar partnership with the nursery at Pierson Building Center, which donates ailing plants to the nonprofit’s various flower and vegetable gardens. 

“Our day program has gone through a lot of different iterations over the years,” Durham continued. “Having this greenhouse and seeing how much everybody loved working — well, not everybody, but most people! — in the dirt and growing things. … Watching people go from cutting their first boards and then being able to assemble a garden bed — it’s amazing to have that opportunity to share that excitement and joy with people. One of the most rewarding aspects of the job is just seeing people have success in their lives.”

It’s a complex job. Unlike other similar programs in the region, the staff at Butler Valley oversee the day-to-day responsibilities of being licensed care providers while also taking on farmhand and beekeeping duties. 

Harvesting honey.

“It’s a really rare program and it’s a complex job — one of the most complex jobs I’ve ever had — but I’m so honored to have it,” said Morgan Huber, direct care staff at Butler Valley. “It’s all about creating a safe, inclusive environment for [our clients]. I want to be able to create a space that gives someone the same opportunities that you and I can have.”

Proceeds from the upcoming fundraiser will go toward supplies needed for upcoming projects, whether that be sewing supplies for making handmade bags and pillows, or hoof-cleaning tools for the goats.

“We really just want to show the community what we’ve been up to at the farm and show off all of our fun projects,” Durham said.

The Spring Fling Fundraiser will be held at the Carole Sund Center Farm — 4634 Broadway in Eureka. More information can be found in the flyer below.

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Press release from the County of Humboldt:

Humboldt County Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) has been awarded more than $43.5 million to help construct a new Sempervirens (SV) psychiatric health facility after county staff submitted a grant application that was approved by the state.

At a May 12 news conference, California Gov. Gavin Newson announced the award which comes from Proposition 1 funding.

Prop. 1, the Behavioral Health Services Act, was passed by California voters in March 2024 and replaces the Mental Health Services Act of 2004. It reforms behavioral health care funding to prioritize services for people with the most significant mental health needs while adding the treatment of substance use disorders, expanding housing interventions and increasing the behavioral health workforce.

The new ADA-accessible facility, which will be housed on Fifth Street across the street from the Humboldt County Courthouse, will be more than 21,000 square feet, include 16 psychiatric health facility beds and four crisis stabilization unit beds, and will make it possible to expand access to children and youth, as well as patients who are not ambulatory.

DHHS Director Connie Beck said, “Building a new SV will be one more puzzle piece in our local behavioral health continuum of care. This new facility will make it possible for us to provide crisis stabilization and improved trauma-informed intensive in-patient services for individuals living with serious and/or severe mental or behavioral health conditions, in a more therapeutic environment than the current facility. I am very grateful to the Governor’s Office and to staff for all the time spent on the grant application. This new facility will ensure these services remain locally available for decades to come.”

The new facility is expected to be completed by 2030. For a list of funded projects, including other local projects, click here.

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Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered state agencies to clear homeless encampments from their properties last summer, holding up the California Department of Transportation as an example of how it should be done.

But in the more than nine months since, cities up and down the state have complained that Caltrans isn’t doing enough. City officials and staff say the state agency is slow, sometimes taking months to respond to their requests to clear an encampment. They complain the agency doesn’t consistently tell them when it plans to clear a camp. In at least one city, officials have no idea if Caltrans is offering services to the homeless people it kicks off its land.

And for the most part, city workers are barred from going onto Caltrans property to do the job themselves.

“The way it’s set up right now isn’t working,” said Jorgel Chavez, mayor of Bell Gardens — a city of nearly 40,000 on the outskirts of Los Angeles. “It’s too long. Folks are frustrated.”

A bill making its way through the Legislature seeks to change that by pushing Caltrans to better collaborate with cities. Senate Bill 569 would require the state agency to hire a liaison to communicate with local governments, and lay out timelines that make it clear when Caltrans should respond after a city asks it to clear an encampment.

The bill also would make it easier for cities to go onto Caltrans property and use their own resources and personnel to remove encampments and offer services. It would allow, but not require, Caltrans to reimburse cities for those efforts.

Caltrans refused an interview request and did not respond to emailed questions about its process for working with cities to clear encampments, or about the Senate bill. The agency hasn’t publicly endorsed or opposed the bill.

The bill comes amid a statewide push to remove homeless camps, and sometimes arrest the people in them, despite a widespread shortage of housing and shelters. Newsom on Monday urged cities and counties to adopt a model ordinance that would make camping in one place for more than three days illegal.

The U.S. Supreme Court last year found that cities can make it illegal to sleep outside in a public place, even if there is nowhere else for someone to go. Since then, more than two dozen California cities and counties have enacted new encampment bans, brought back old bans or made their ordinances more punitive.

As cities push unhoused people off their downtown sidewalks and out of their parks, people often resort to sleeping on Caltrans land — alongside highway on and off ramps, on medians or under overpasses. Sleeping so close to cars whizzing by carries its own risks, but it can buy them time, as Caltrans tends to take longer than cities to clear encampments.

Meanwhile, Caltrans is in the midst of a sometimes fraught transition from an agency tasked with building and maintaining highways to an agency increasingly also burdened with the difficult responsibility of humanely dismantling homeless encampments and helping unhoused residents access scarce shelter. In 2020, the agency agreed to pay $5.5 million to settle a lawsuit claiming it illegally destroyed the belongings of homeless people living on its land. Unhoused people and Caltrans workers have complained about cruel treatment and chaotic conditions during sweeps. A homeless woman was struck by machinery and killed during a Caltrans encampment sweep in Modesto in 2018.

The National Health Care for the Homeless Council has found encampment sweeps can have adverse effects on the health of displaced residents, put their safety at risk and undermine their efforts to get into housing.

Sen. Catherine Blakespear, the author of the Senate bill and a Democrat from Encinitas, said her goal is not to move unhoused people from one outdoor location to another, and that she recognizes the need to build more temporary and permanent housing — something her bill does not address. But having people living in public spaces, especially next to speeding traffic, is a “true disaster,” she said.

“I just wish Caltrans would handle the problems on their property,” she said. “But that’s not happening.”

‘We just keep swapping back and forth’

In July, Newsom signed an executive order requiring state agencies to adopt policies for clearing encampments on their properties — and held up Caltrans’ efforts as a model of success.

Since then, there has been a steady drumbeat of complaints from city leaders, said Caroline Grinder, community services legislative advocate for the League of California Cities. There’s no universal model for how Caltrans should involve city personnel when clearing a camp, so the process varies widely. Some cities say their relationship with the state agency is great.

“To other cities, it’s a real challenge to get Caltrans to respond, and they have a hard time working with them to address encampments,” Grinder said.

In a recent League of California Cities survey, 40% of cities said coordinating with state agencies was a barrier to addressing encampments. They said it’s the biggest hurdle they face, after a lack of services and a lack of funding.

A homeless encampment at the Figueroa St. Viaduct above Highway 110 in Elysian Valley Park in Los Angeles on Nov. 18, 2022. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local

“This is up and down the state, in all different kinds of communities,” Grinder said.

CalMatters requested data from Caltrans on encampment removals in January, which the state agency has yet to provide.

Caltrans has funding for 30 “encampment coordinators” that manage camps along its roadways. Before removing a camp, Caltrans is supposed to warn occupants 48 hours in advance (unless the camp is deemed to pose an imminent threat to life, health, safety or infrastructure), according to the agency’s encampment policy. Once the sweep starts, people remaining at the camp are supposed to get “a reasonable amount of time” to remove their belongings, and Caltrans is supposed to store any personal items left behind. The policy also states that staff should contact service providers to request outreach at the encampment.

In San Diego, the largest, most visible encampments tend to be on Caltrans land, said Franklin Coopersmith, deputy director of San Diego’s Environmental Services Department and head of its Clean SD effort. The city receives more than 300 complaints each month about encampments on Caltrans land. City staff can’t address them, so instead, they tell residents to fill out an online form on Caltrans’ customer service webpage.

In San Jose, it can take weeks or months for Caltrans to remove an encampment. In some extreme cases, camps have lingered for a year or two, said Mayor Matt Mahan. After Caltrans clears a site, people return immediately, because they know the state agency won’t be back for three to six months, he said.

“The longer we allow people to remain encamped along the freeway or along an on and off ramp, the more the encampment becomes established and people come to the location and we get a significant accumulation of waste,” he said. It can cost between $50,000 and $100,000 to remove a long-standing encampment, he said.

San Jose has a staff of 40 outreach workers and experience preventing people from returning to encampments, Mahan said. It would be more efficient for everyone, he said, to let San Jose take over sweeps on Caltrans land and get reimbursed.

San Jose is negotiating an agreement with Caltrans that Mahan hopes will let the city clear certain encampments along on and off ramps in East San Jose.

Los Angeles reached a similar agreement with Caltrans last year.

Blackspear’s bill, which Mahan supports, would make it easier for other California cities to set up similar deals. It would require Caltrans to create a publicly accessible online database of these agreements (called delegated maintenance agreements) that other cities can use as a jumping-off point for negotiations.

Riverside has been trying to negotiate such a deal with Caltrans since September, said Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson. In the meantime, the city and the state agency aren’t always on the same page. Caltrans doesn’t consistently tell the city when it’s going to clear a camp, according to the mayor’s office, and the mayor’s staff doesn’t even know if Caltrans offers people services before forcing them off its property.

As a result, unhoused people bounce from Caltrans property, to city property, and back to Caltrans property without getting off the street, Lock Dawson said.

“We just keep swapping back and forth and it’s really inefficient,” she said.

Riverside has submitted more than 70 requests for encampment removals on Caltrans property so far this year, according to the mayor’s office. It generally takes between two days and two weeks for the state agency to clear those camps.

Caltrans spent more than $51 million addressing encampments in the 2023-24 fiscal year, according to an analysis of Blackspear’s bill by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

If the bill passes, Caltrans told the committee it would cost about $200,000 per year to hire the “liaison” tasked with overseeing communication between the state agency and local governments. If the agency reimburses cities and counties for clearing encampments, those costs could balloon into the tens of millions of dollars annually, according to the committee’s cost analysis.

The reimbursement proposal has been popular among city officials and staff.

“Outreach is not cheap,” said Coopersmith, of San Diego. His city spends about $675,000 per year on four outreach workers who have permission to go onto Caltrans land and offer shelter (if it’s available) and other services before encampment sweeps.

“Placement is not cheap,” he said. “Police, encampment disposal, all of this costs money. We also need to ensure that if we’re working on any type of state property, we want to make sure that we’re compensated for it.”

Sally Linda Goetz
January 9, 1948 to May 10, 2025

I’ve never known, and probably never will know, someone with a bigger heart, a more positive attitude, or a better smile than Sally Goetz. I actually knew Sally before the rest of my family. I met her when I was taking flying instruction and lessons from her then-husband at College of the Redwoods and Murray Field. Sally was with us during my Mom’s (Katherine Goetz - Kathy) illness and subsequent death in 1987, and during that time whenever it was a tough day, Sally always made us feel better with her positive and sunny attitude, her hugs, and her broad shoulders to cry on. One day not long before Mom passed, I still remember her admonishing Sally and me to behave because we were being “punny” and Mom was trying to “get things done.” That attitude, that smile, that love, has been a huge part of my life since then (and the puns), and I know she shared all of herself with everyone else she met.

Sally was born on January 9, 1948, in Pine Falls, Manitoba, Canada, to Cliff and Nan Richmond. Sally’s brother Phil was born in 1950, and she said one of her fondest memories was when they brought her baby brother home from the hospital. For the first six years of her life, she lived “way out in the boonies” in Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba, Canada (she called it “Lake of the Hat”), on the Winnepeg river. She remembered they had wood heat, no electricity or running water, and used an outhouse (knowing she had an outhouse for the first years of her life may explain some fascinations she had with…well, bathroom outcomes…too much?). There was a short trail through the woods to her grandparents’ cottage, and the woods were her playground. Sally said she had no fear of the animals in the woods, including bears, because she thought they were just big dogs.

The family (including her grandparents) moved to Kaslow, British Columbia (BC) in 1954, where Sally started school. They then moved to Chilliwack, BC in the Fraiser Valley, where she spent the rest of her time growing up. One of Sally’s fondest memories when she started first grade was their English Setter, Mickey, would often follow her to school. The teacher would let Mickey stay in the classroom, and he’d go out to play with the kids at recess.

Sally graduated from high school in 1966 and soon moved to Winnepeg to live with her Aunt Sadie Mossman and attended vocational school and worked for the Canadian government, before moving to Vancouver.

In 1972, Sally immigrated to San Franciso, and worked in the private sector for a couple of years before working for the cities of Stockton and Visalia as a secretary. She then moved to Eureka in 1980, working at College of the Redwoods for four years, and in 1984, she began her career with the City of Eureka, starting in the Personnel department as a secretary. She was soon promoted to the City Attorney’s office, then the City Manager’s office, and in 1988 she was appointed City Clerk.

I really wasn’t surprised when Sally and Bill (my Dad) fell in love. They snuck off to Reno, Nevada, and on March 17, 1989, they were married. I lovingly refer to her as my EWSM (Evil Wicked Step Monster) because she is anything but evil, wicked, or a monster! Sally always said Bill was the love of her life, and she loved, and was loved by my Dad for more than 27 years, and during his last stay at Granada Healthcare beginning in 2013, and for many, many years before, she was at his side almost every single day until his passing in 2015. Sally and I have laughed and cried, and made really tough decisions together over the years, and I’m grateful to her for all she did for my Dad and all she’d been to him: friend, wife, caregiver, lover. And for me, Sally and I always said she never took the place of my mom, but she filled the space, and I’m so privileged and grateful to have known and loved her, and been loved by her, for all these years.

Sally took an early retirement from the City of Eureka in 1993 so she and Bill could spend more time together. She started a transcription service, North Coast Business Services, which she operated until 2010, when she became a caregiver for Dad.

After her retirement, she and Bill did a lot of airplane camping with friends and family to places like the Alvord Desert in Oregon, and the Frank Church Wilderness area in Idaho. Or, they’d fly to Gold Beach, Oregon, for breakfast, or to Ruth Lake, or to visit family in the Rogue Valley in Oregon, or land on a river bar and just have a picnic. When Bill quit flying planes, he bought and rebuilt speeders (railroad crew cars) and Sally and Bill had many adventures riding the rails from Willits to Fort Bragg, and various other speeder runs in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and British Columbia.

After Bill passed, Sally moved to Humboldt Hill in 2017, and she lived there until April 2024, when she chose to move to Granada Rehabilitation and Wellness Center. At Granada, Sally visited with all the other Granada residents, and knew ALL of the staff, many of whom had worked at Granada when Bill was there. She played Bingo several times a week so she could stock up her treat drawer with the candy and cookies she won, and she had also recently taken on the job of President of the Resident’s Council.

Sally was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1973, and she always said, instead of being challenged, she celebrated all her years with MS (all 52 of them!). She also had recently been diagnosed with diabetes and was meeting the challenges that came with that diagnosis like she did any challenge – celebrating it head on!

Sally was a Christian all her life, and hosted a regular bible study each month in her home on Humboldt Hill, including baking yummy snacks. Sally loved to bake, and she made the best muffins, cookies, and cakes for everybody – family, friends, neighbors, the UPS driver, and the guys from Century Mobile Homes who worked on her house when she moved to Humboldt Hill.

Sally passed away peacefully in the early morning hours of Saturday, May 10, 2025, at the age of 77. Sally was preceded in death by her parents, Nan and Cliff Richmond, Aunt Sadie Mossman, husband William F. Goetz III, sister-in-law Lori Richmond, father-in-law Roland Stockhoff, and dear, dear friends Kathy Goetz, Rodney and Barbara Angell-Baker, Kathy Pearl, Lucky Reed, her kitties Buster and Winnie, and many other aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Sally is survived by her brother Phillip and wife Maureen Richmond, daughters Kristen Goetz (me) and Melissa Smith, and family-by-choice: Carl and Erzsi Willoughby, Suzie and Harold Reed, Teresa Pearl, Sanna Fase, John and Paula Burton, Sue and Jim Wilson, Jen and Richard Lanham, Rebecca Angell-Baker (Paul Lightowler), Vicky Angell, and her cat Ben (now lovingly cared for by the Willoughby’s).

Sally is also survived by her grandchildren and grandchildren-by-choice: Nora Glasner, Kane Smith, Darianne Smith, Jessica (Scott) Debrick, Heather (Logan) Hill, Krysteena (Josh) Gomez, Savannah Reed, Zach Reed, Grace Pearl, Jennie (Justin) Rogers, and Dylan Wilson.

Her great grand- and god-children and great-grand- and god-children-by-choice: Cody Kruger, Austynn Kruger, Easton Debrick, Wesley Hill, Aria Reed, Manolo Gomez, Violet Angell, Evan Gibbs, Alysia Hayes, Jaydee Rogers, and Ferne Rogers.

She also leaves behind long-time friends/family: William and Laura Glasner, Janne Gibbs, Dianne Reed, Chet and Sandra Dee Williams, Chuck Pearl, John and Cindy Slater, Lou and Noelle Marak, Marc Matteoli, William Honsal Sr., her friends and neighbors at Sea View Mobile Estates, Granada roommate Nancy Loring, and the entire staff at Granada who cared for her for the last year+ and became loving family. If I tried to list you all I know I’d forget someone, so please just know that Sally loved and appreciated each and every one of you, and I am grateful for the part each of you played in helping her over this last year. I’m also sure I’ve forgotten one (or more) other friends/family, but know that if she knew you, you were special to her.

Sally requested there be no funeral services, and her remains are being cremated and will be scattered per her wishes. Sally really didn’t have a favorite charity, but if you wanted to do something, I’m sure she’d appreciate a donation to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (www.nationalmssociety.org). Or, have a pizza - her most recent favorite food. Or, plant some flowers, or take flowers to a resident or patient in a nursing or care home and spend a little time visiting. And please, when you hear birds chirping, and see the flowers blooming, think of Sally.

Sally had a huge heart, and a unique ability to make each of us feel special. Remember how that made you feel and carry it with you. I know her passing has left a huge hole in our world, and in all our hearts. She is loved and will be missed - always. And on a personal note from me, 143-CYH, and thanks for being my EWSM.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Sally Goetz’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.