From time to time, when we publish news about the renaming of this park or that, we still receive questions — some innocent, some less so — about why that was necessary. We’ve always called it Patrick’s Point! Why do we have to start calling it “Sue-Meg” now? What is “Da’ Yas”? Why should I have to learn to pronounce that?

These questions are a product of the fact that 150 years and change after the fact, we still have not had a reckoning with the genocide and the horror that made that world we live in today, here in California and in Humboldt County in particular. We’ve been willing to shove it to one side for all these years because it was more convenient for us to do so, I suppose. 

This is the issue — the one with the blue cat on the cover.

This leaves us with the innocent and not-so-innocent people asking those sorts of questions. The way to tell the two classes of questioners apart is to see if they actually want answers. And if you’re one of those people who does, I really recommend the reported essay “Reclaiming Native Identity in California” by writer Ed Vulliamy in the June 22 issue of the New York Review of Books. It is the most concise and powerful summary of the history of the genocide waged against the people native to this place that I’ve ever read, and as a bonus it introduces us to some of the people of today who are working to remove the blinders from our history, most of whom are associated with the California Truth and Healing Council. They include Vice-chair Frankie Myers and Judge Abby Abinanti, both of the Yurok Tribe, and Vulliamy spends part of the essay reporting from up here.

Vulliamy starts and ends the essay with those people, and throughout details the things they are hoping to accomplish. But he never strays far from the reasons their work is necessary, and for most of us it’s history that we should have learned in high school but did not:

The genocide of Native Americans was nowhere more methodically savage than in California. Nowhere was there such an explicit intention to “exterminate” — the word is used over and over again in state records — the inhabitants of a land supposedly “discovered.” Meanwhile, a brutal slave market for Indians flourished in California just as slavery was about to be abolished in the South.

As I said, the essay is amazingly concise — it takes about half an hour to read — but there turns out to be plenty of room to back this up. Here’s one particularly sickening passage rooted in a place nearby:

In 1984 James J. Rawls published Indians of California, which made two major contributions. First, Rawls affirmed that “although forced recruitment and Indian peonage were part of life at the missions and ranchos [in Spanish California], the actual buying and selling of California Indians was an American innovation” He compared post–Civil War “Black Codes” with California “Indian Codes” and found that “the parallels between California and the South are particularly striking.”

Rawls detailed how “a common feature of the trade was the seizure of Indian girls and women who were held by their captors as sexual partners.” The Marysville Appeal in December 1851 noted that “while kidnapped Indian children were seized as servants, the young women were made to serve both the ‘purposes of labor and of lust.’” The language is repulsive: Isaac Cox in his Annals of Trinity County (1858) described “the purchase by ‘Kentuck’” of an Indian girl eight or nine years old, “either for his seraglio, to be educated the queen of his heart, or the handmaid of its gentle emanations.”

Unfortunately for us, the essay is behind a paywall.  If you’re not a subscriber, I urge you to seek it out. The Humboldt County Library carries the New York Review of Books, and if you have a library card I believe — though I’m not positive — that you can also check out a copy digitally, through the Libby app. It’s sold at Northtown Books. You can buy the current issue for your Kindle or Kindle app for $2.99 on Amazon, or for free if you are a Kindle Unlimited subscriber. (UPDATE: Mitch, in the comments below, says that you can just register on the site and read the article for free.)

You didn’t commit the atrocities that took place here in Humboldt County, or elsewhere in the state or the nation. They weren’t your fault. So there’s no reason you should object to telling the story straight. What would you think of a person who refused to admit to some horrific act of violence he committed on another person, or who refused to atone? Why would you think differently of a society that does that?

Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and…housing?

California lawmakers are trying to enshrine the right to housing in the state’s constitution. But what exactly does that mean in a state that lacks the resources to give everyone a roof over their heads?

Supporters say the constitutional amendment would hold state and local officials more accountable for solving California’s homelessness crisis.

“It’s really a way to make sure elected officials and the government does its job and doesn’t continue to fail so miserably in ensuring access to housing for all,” said the author of Assembly Constitutional Amendment 10, San Francisco Democrat Matt Haney.

But the language of the measure is brief and vague, and doesn’t specify what a right to housing entails or how it would be enforced. Some critics worry the amendment wouldn’t do much. Others fear it would do too much — with unintended consequences.

While several prior attempts to create a right to housing in California failed, this one recently passed its first committee vote. Even if it passes, the proposed amendment would still need approval from California voters.

What would a right to housing do?

The proposed amendment recognizes the fundamental right to “adequate housing” for everyone in California. Local and state lawmakers must work toward fulfilling that right “by all appropriate means.”

That’s about it. What that looks like in practice and how it is enforced would be hammered out by local officials and the courts.

Haney, one of the few state legislators who rents rather than owns a home, called the measure a “game-changer” during a recent rally in front of the Capitol. He was backed by several dozen people carrying signs that read “Housing is a human right” and “Keep families home.”

He said the amendment could influence local planning decisions, such as by empowering lawsuits against zoning rules or policy decisions that restrict affordable housing development. It could also help the state enforce existing pro-housing laws, he said.

According to Michael Tubbs, former mayor of Stockton and now an adviser to Gov. Gavin Newsom, a right to housing also would require the government to regulate landlords, potentially by enacting rent control or tenant anti-harassment policies, or guaranteeing renters a right to counsel during evictions. It also would create an obligation for the government to budget for housing programs, he wrote in a recent op-ed for CalMatters.

Newsom has not endorsed the right to housing amendment.

What would a ‘right to housing’ cost California?

Declaring a right to housing wouldn’t immediately solve California’s homelessness crisis, Haney acknowledged, nor would it require cities to provide housing to everyone or entitle people to free housing.

Decades of under-building have led to soaring housing prices and more people living on the streets. The state needed to build 220,000 new homes per year for two decades to meet its population’s needs, California’s Department of Housing and Community Development estimated in 2000. Last year, the state added just 113,130.

As a result, rents are unaffordable for many Californians. The median rent for a two-bedroom home in San Jose, for example, is $3,100, according to Zillow. It’s the same in Los Angeles.

Ann Owens, a sociology professor at the University of Southern California specializing in social inequality and housing, believes everyone has a right to housing. But she’s not sure how much good putting it in the state’s constitution will do.

“The resources part, I think, is where the right to housing often hits a wall,” she said. “You can have this constitutional amendment, but what happens when you don’t actually have the money to provide it?”

In 2020, Newsom vetoed a bill that would have guaranteed a right to housing, citing its estimated price tag of more than $10 billion a year. An analysis by the Senate Appropriations Committee laid out billions in potential costs for state agencies to design programs and connect people with housing and other services.

Haney’s amendment doesn’t yet have a cost estimate. California would have to spend $8.1 billion a year for the next dozen years to house all its homeless residents, according to a 2022 analysis by the Corporation for Supportive Housing and the California Housing Partnership.

At the same time, several lawmakers expressed concern that a right to housing would go too far.

Assemblymember Joe Patterson, a Granite Bay Republican, voted against the measure in committee last week. He said he’s “really scared” about the leeway California’s judges would have when interpreting a right to housing.

Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, a Democrat from Woodland Hills and an attorney, worried it would subject every budget decision the Legislature makes to litigation. If legislators allocate money to clean energy or health care, he asked, could someone sue because that money wasn’t being spent on housing?

“The major, major heartburn I’m having right now is around enforcement and implementation of this,” he said, though he ended up voting for the amendment.

Haney dismissed Gabriel’s argument as a “straw man if there ever was one.” But he promised to work with legislators, constitutional experts and housing leaders to address his colleagues’ concerns.

The measure narrowly passed the Assembly’s housing committee and next must clear appropriations.

California renter groups back amendment

If this idea makes it onto the ballot and voters OK it, California would become the first U.S. state to legally recognize a right to housing.

“It would be a really big deal,” said Eric Tars, legal director for the National Homelessness Law Center.

It’s not for lack of trying that it hasn’t been done before. Attempts in 2020 and in 2022 to put the right in the state constitution both failed – neither was heard in committee. And Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg proposed a right to housing in his city, paired with an obligation for unhoused people to accept a bed when it was offered, but it didn’t get far.

The new state proposal likely will meet the same fate, said political consultant Steven Maviglio, who served as spokesman for the campaign against California’s Proposition 21 rent control initiative in 2020. Local officials likely will balk at the cost, he said, as will individual homeowners worried about tax increases.

“I don’t see it having a very long future,” he said.

More than 100 housing and renter advocacy groups and other organizations support the amendment, which is co-sponsored by the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment Action, ACLU California Action, Abundant Housing LA and several others.

No organizations are on the record opposing the amendment, but the League of California Cities has expressed reservations.

“Cal Cities has concerns with ACA 10, as it does not include the significant investment needed from the state to jumpstart the construction of sorely needed affordable housing throughout California,” Jason Rhine, assistant director of legislative affairs said in an emailed statement.

What’s next?

To make it onto the March 2024 primary ballot, the right to housing amendment must pass the Legislature before it adjourns in mid-September. To hit the November 2024 ballot, it has until June 2024. It needs a two-thirds vote in both houses.

After hearing the feedback from his colleagues Wednesday, Haney said it might take longer than this year to pass his measure.

“I’m not trying to rush this just to force it to the ballot,” he said.

If it does pass, Haney hopes it will help people like Peggy Pleasant, who spoke at the committee hearing on behalf of the amendment. The Los Angeles mother lost her job in 2008 and became homeless, sleeping with her daughter in her car until it was repossessed. She eventually found housing, but recognizes she’s one of the lucky few who did.

“When you’re homeless, you lose housing, whatever, you lose family members,” Pleasant said. “But you lose your hope. And when you lose your hope, that makes you an inadequate person.”

###

CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

Kenny began his journey to join his ancestors with passing on May 3, 2023 in Redding. Kenny was born on June 30, 1953 in Hoopa to Wesley Ammon and DD Martin, when joined his brothers Paul, Jack and Earl. His parental grandparents were Chan and Ruth Ammon and maternal grandparents were Jack and Blanche Hensel. He was an active member of the Tsnungwe Tribe and was a resident in Tsnungwe aboriginal territory of Burnt Rach/Salyer, California. He graduated from Terra Nova High School, Pacifica, California in 1970.

Kenny was married to Irene and together they raised four daughters, Tampra, Shane, Jerrie and Lavada.

Kenny was known for his skills as a carpenter. He understood all phases of the profession and was extremely proud that he either built, remodeled and renovated over 500 homes in Hoopa. He would assist family and friends with their building projects by stopping by after his workday to review their progress while pointing out errors, how to correct and lay out the next phase of the project. His memory will be alive forever in the hearts of everyone who knew him. Kenny was a loving father, brother, and husband, but he really shined at being a grandfather.

He is survived by his wife Irene, daughters Tempra, Shane, Jerrie and Lavada and brother Paul Ammon.

He is further survived by nine grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and several nephews, nieces, uncles, aunts and cousins.

He was preceded in death by his brothers Jack and Earl, father, mother, step-mother Virginia Ammon and stepfather Lincoln Martin, his grandparents and numerous uncles, aunts and cousins.

Services will be held June 24, 2023 at 11 a.m. at the Ammon Family Cemetery on South Fork Road, Salyer. Followed by a gathering at the home of Tom Ammon, South Fork Road. For those who wish, in lieu of flowers make a donation to the Tsnungwe Scholarship Fund or other charity of your choice in Kenny’s name.

###

Betty Rose Sporrer
November 29, 1924, to May 28, 2023

Betty Rose Sporrer, at age 98, passed peacefully in her sleep at home with family by her side on May 28, 2023. The Hospice of Humboldt provided exceptional care during her last days.

Betty is survived by her brother Clarence; her children: Renee, Kathy, and Dan; her six grandchildren: Daniel, Emma, Katie, Christopher, Bret, and Kinsey; her great-grandchildren: Jaxon and Eli. She was preceded in death by her loving husband, Dean (Buck) Sporrer; children, Dephane and Rodney, and 11 siblings.

Betty was born on November 29, 1924, in Wisconsin to Albert and Mildred Turenne. At the age of 15, Betty ventured to the big city of Chicago, Illinois, where she worked in the factories supporting the war effort. Shortly thereafter, she began her 10-year career as a switchboard operator for Bell Telephone. She transferred to Portland as a supervisor where she met Buck. Their 59-year marriage began on April 13, 1954, and continued until Buck’s passing in 2013.

Betty had an active retirement in Bend, Oregon. She was surrounded by family and a diverse tribe of friends, including various clubs and her beloved Catholic Daughters. Betty lived independently in Bend to age 93; at which time she moved to Northern California to live with her daughter Kathy and her husband.

She was loved, adored, and respected by all who knew her and is missed. She left this world a better place with her wit, her smile and encouraging words to all.

Our wish is to honor Betty with contributions to the Dephane Marie Sporrer scholarship foundation managed by St. Mary’s Academy. The address is 1615 SW 5th Portland OR 97021. The phone number for the foundation is (503) 228-8306.

The family invites you to a celebration of Betty’s life at the Stock Pot Broiler from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday, July 15th, 2023. The address is 8200 SW Scholls Ferry Road, Beaverton, Oregon.

###

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On June 11, 2023, at about 8:27 a.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the area of Table Bluff and South Jetty Roads for the report of an assault and robbery. As deputies were responding, an additional reporting party contacted the Sheriff’s Emergency Communications Center regarding a male attempting to break into a residence.

Deputies arrived in the area and located the suspect, 35-year-old Jamael Brandon Lowery, walking naked on Indianola Reservation Road. Deputies detained Lowery without incident.

While continuing their investigation, deputies located and contacted four victims. One victim, a 39-year-old female, told deputies that she and Lowery had previously been in a dating relationship. While driving to the South Jetty, the victim noticed a Nissan Altima following her. Upon parking at the Jetty, Lowery reportedly exited the Altima and attacked the victim, causing minor injuries and damage to her vehicle. At some point following this incident, Lowery reportedly approached an unlocked, occupied vehicle parked by the Table Bluff Lookout. Lowery reportedly forced open the vehicle’s door, assaulted the 27-year-old female victim inside and stole her cell phone. The victim was able to push Lowery out of her vehicle and drive away to seek assistance.

Following this incident, Lowery reportedly approached a vehicle traveling along Table Bluff Road and began banging on the vehicle, attempting to open the door. During this incident, Lowery reportedly broke off the vehicle’s driver’s side mirror.

At some point following these altercations, Lowery attempted to force entry into a nearby residence via the home’s doggy door. He was confronted by a resident of the home and fled.

Lowery was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of burglary (PC 459/461(a)), inflicting corporal injury on a spouse (PC 273.5(a)), robbery (PC 211), assault (PC 240), battery (PC 242), damaging a wireless communication device to prevent a person from calling for help (PC 591.5), vandalism (PC 594(b)(2)(A)) and violation of probation (PC 1203.2(a)(1) & (2).

Anyone with information about this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.

Still yet to strike a budget deal with Gov. Gavin Newsom, legislative Democrats have put their own spending priorities into a bill that they plan to pass this week ahead of a critical deadline.

The proposal, which was published online late Sunday, represents an agreement between the Democratic caucuses of the state Senate and Assembly, both of which hold supermajorities and can pass any measure without Republican support. The Legislature is constitutionally required to approve a balanced budget by Thursday to get paid.

But negotiations are ongoing with Newsom, including over a looming shortfall in public transit funding and the governor’s push to streamline permitting for infrastructure projects, as California faces a budget deficit estimated to be more than $30 billion. They have just weeks remaining to work out a compromise before the start of the fiscal year on July 1.

“You cannot achieve that if you’re not close,” said Sen. Nancy Skinner, a Berkeley Democrat who leads the Senate budget committee. She characterized the remaining differences between the Legislature and the governor as a matter of details.

“The money will be very comparable,” she told CalMatters today.

Assemblymember Phil Ting, a San Francisco Democrat who leads the Assembly budget committee, pointed to permitting overhaul as the biggest unresolved issue. Newsom recently announced a plan to speed up development of major infrastructure projects by limiting environmental challenges, which he is trying to jam through the budget process over the objections of some legislators.

“We’re supportive of the overall direction of the governor’s bills, but we still need time to go through the policy details,” Ting said. “These are significant policy bills which all the different policy committees are reviewing.”

Overall, the Legislature’s $312 billion spending plan aligns with Newsom on avoiding major cuts to ongoing programs and even increasing core funding for some, including schools, public universities, welfare payments and health coverage. It also approves many of the new proposals from the governor’s own budget blueprint, such as $250 million in additional funding for flood protection and another $1 billion to help local governments address widespread homelessness.

How much assistance to provide public transit agencies, which warn that they may go over the “fiscal cliff” without an infusion of cash from the state because of steep ridership declines during the coronavirus pandemic, has been a key subject of disagreement.

Newsom wants to pull back more than $2 billion that was previously promised for local rail infrastructure. Legislative Democrats not only rejected that move, but also proposed an additional $1.1 billion over the next three years from the state’s cap-and-trade funds to help cover operating expenses for transit agencies.

Even that aid is not enough to avoid cutbacks in service, according to the California Transit Association, which represents the industry and pegs its revenue gap at closer to $6 billion.

“We are acknowledging that this isn’t a funding package that will address the full balance of our needs, but we see this as something that will address the most immediate needs,” said Michael Pimentel, executive director of the association. “It gives us the ability to come back in future months and future years and continue the conversation.”

Legislative Democrats’ plan also seeks $1 billion more than the governor for local homelessness initiatives and $1 billion to increase reimbursement rates for providers of subsidized child care, who say they do not make enough money to cover their costs. Newsom is pushing to change those rates through a more comprehensive overhaul.

“The wrinkle this year, relative to other years, is there is a new degree of challenge when you’re trying to close a shortfall,” said H.D. Palmer, spokesperson for the governor’s Department of Finance.

Palmer declined to discuss what specific issues remain unresolved in the negotiations, though he acknowledged that the permitting proposal is a priority for Newsom.

“We hope we’ll be able to resolve those differences sooner than later,” Palmer said.

###

CalMatters’ state Capitol reporter Sameea Kamal contributed to this story. CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

###

Press release from Cal Poly Humboldt:

Fresh off their national title victory two weeks ago, the Cal Poly Humboldt Women’s Rowing team celebrated in style with a visit to the White House on Monday, June 12.

For Humboldt rower Dana Foley, who was named Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Rower of the Year, today’s visit was a culmination of a magical season that saw her team win its third national title in program history.

“I feel really happy to be here today with this particular team,” Foley said. “To end up here, at the White House, where everything feels very special and gold, I am just really happy to share it with everyone.”

The Lumberjacks, along with national rowing champions from Divisions I and III, attended the event as part of the White House’s College Athlete Day, which seeks to celebrate the NCAA’s national champions across all divisions and sports.

Humboldt’s GNAC Coach of the Year Matt Weise said he couldn’t have asked for a better ending to the season. Weise’s staff, which includes assistant coaches Pat Hyland and Ashley Donnell and volunteer coach Lisa Weise, also earned West Region Staff of the Year from the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA).

“I talked to my wife a week before the championship and I said I wanted my ‘sports movie ending’ to this season, because it’s been so good,” Weise said. “There’s not a much better ‘sports movie ending’ than being at the White House.”

Vice President Kamala Harris, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, and President of the NCAA Charlie Baker presided over the ceremony.

“It’s been an amazing experience,” Humboldt athletic director Nick Pettit said. “Celebrating [this team’s] achievements as national champions, being in front of the White House, and seeing their faces is a really special thing, not just for them, but for the whole community.”

Humboldt earned its invitation to the exclusive event after winning the NCAA Division II title on May 27 at Cooper River Park in New Jersey, where the Jacks snagged gold in both the Fours and Eights grand finals. The victory brings the third national title in program history back to the North Coast and is also the first title for head coach Matt Weise since he was named head coach in 2020.