PREVIOUSLY: Former Deputy County Council Calls Out ‘Hazing’ Culture, ‘Boyz Club’ in Humboldt Department of Public Works, Seeks $1.4 Million in Damages

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The County of Humboldt filed suit against former Deputy County Counsel Cathie Childs and her attorney Cyndy Day-Wilson in Humboldt County Superior Court this week for allegedly disclosing confidential and attorney-client privileged information to the public in a recent legal action against the county.

Specifically, the complaint, filed on behalf of the county by Sacramento-based law firm Libert Cassidy Whitmore, calls out a recent Lost Coast Outpost article written by this reporter which outlined the details of Childs’ claim for damages against the county.

“The Outpost article includes a link to a complete, unredacted, and downloadable copy of Childs’s Claim for Damages, including the details of legal advice that Childs provided at Humboldt County in the course of her employment as a Deputy County Counsel,” the complaint states. “Humboldt County did not provide an unredacted copy of Childs’s Claim for Damages to the Outpost, and it did not authorize Childs’s disclosures of privileged or confidential information.”

Childs’ unredacted Claim for Damages details eleven tumultuous months in which she was allegedly “hazed” and discriminated against by specific members of the Public Works Department who consistently undermined her legal authority. 

Childs complained to her immediate supervisor, County Counsel Scott Miles, on numerous occasions during her employment at the county, the claim states, but their relationship eventually became strained. She was told to file a formal complaint through the county’s Human Resources Department, which led Childs to seek her own legal counsel to advise her on whether that was an appropriate next step. She also contacted the California Bar to file an ethics complaint against her supervisors for allowing non-lawyers to practice law. She was fired the next day.

Shortly after she was fired, the county sent Childs a “Notice to Cease and Desist,” which ordered her to stop “disclosing confidential and/or attorney-client privileged information” as well as complaints, “whether they be criminal, administrative or disciplinary.”

Day-Wilson maintained that the county had misapplied the definition of attorney-client privilege, noting in the claim that it “protects only confidential communications made by a client seeking legal advice from their legal adviser. County staff are NOT [Childs’] clients. The Board of Supervisors is the client.”

The county, on the other hand, believes Childs and Day-Wilson “have, and are continuing to, act on a knowingly erroneous interpretation of the scope of the attorney-client privilege and duty of confidentiality … which presents an imminent threat in the form of further unauthorized disclosures of privileged or confidential information,” according to the complaint. 

The county also asserts that Childs violated attorney-client privilege by forwarding internal county emails to her personal email address, “or had included her personal email address as a blind copy ‘BCC’ recipient on internal emails between herself and Humboldt County staff.”

Childs intends to sue the county for wrongful termination and violation of her federal civil rights and freedom of speech. However, if it is proven that Childs violated attorney-client privilege, the county argues that a wrongful termination charge cannot move forward.

“The California Supreme Court in General Dynamics Corp. v. Superior Court (1994) … held that a former in-house counsel can maintain a wrongful termination charge only to the extent they can establish the claim without breaching the attorney-client privilege or unduly endangering the values lying at the heart of the professional relationship,” the complaint states. “[The] County … believes that Childs and Day-Wilson intentionally disclosed confidential and privileged information obtained during the course of Childs’s employment at [the] County to the Outpost, and perhaps others, notwithstanding Humboldt County’s repeated insistence that she refrain from disclosing privileged information.”

The county fears the continued release of attorney-client privileged information could cause “great irreparable injury” to Humboldt County. As such, the county is asking the court to prohibit further “unauthorized disclosures of attorney-client privileged information or information covered by Childs’s duty of confidentiality.” 

It is not totally clear what happens next or when this matter will be discussed in court. Reached for additional comment on the matter, county spokesperson Catarina Gallardo provided the following emailed statement: “This is an important matter to us; however, this is a legal matter, and the county must preserve the integrity of that process. As such, we will not be able to discuss this subject with the press further at this time.”

Childs maintains that the county discriminated against her because of her gender which, she says, resulted in her wrongful termination. She intends to move ahead with her lawsuit against the county.

“Because I am now taking legal action, the County is now attempting to create a distraction from their own wrongdoing with unfounded and untrue allegations,” she wrote in a text message to the Outpost on Friday afternoon.

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DOCUMENT: Complaint for Permanent and Preliminary Injunction

In the summer of 1941 our family left the hot Sacramento Valley and came to Humboldt County to make our home. On several occasions we had traveled to this part of the country, so we became familiar with it and learned to love the climate. My husband took a job at the old California Barrel Factory, which in spite of its name, was a lumber mill. His beginning wage was 50 cents an hour, which increased somewhat as he became more familiar with his job. This wage seems small to us today but things had not been near as “good” in a recent home. There he would sometimes make $1 a day, so if he should make as much as $5 a day, which he rarely did, we felt that that was very good!

In looking for a house to rent, we managed to find one on the Samoa Peninsula which asked a rent of $7 a month. It wasn’t too good a place but sufficient for our family at this time and was just two miles from the small town of Samoa.

About this time, after we had settled in our new home, school was about to begin so we enrolled the children in the only available grammar school around, which was in Arcata. This made it a long trip by bus each day for the children but there was no other way for them to attend school.

Samoa was a different environment than we had been accustomed to. It fascinated us to hear the boom of the ocean waves just over the sand hills. The waves sounded so close it was quite disturbing at first. It seemed like the noise filled the whole house! We soon learned that when this sound came from the North, it was the sign of fair weather; when we could hear it coming from the South, it was a sure sign that we were in for a storm.

We, as a family, loved to make frequent trips to the nearby beach where we spent our time wading in the cold waters of the surf. Somehow we never minded it a bit that it was so cold. We loved to look for unusual rocks and for shells left by creatures of the sea. We often tramped over the sand hills carrying the makings of a lunch that we planned to cook over a fire on the nearby beach. We cooked wieners over the fire and roasted potatoes in the hot coals. It all tasted extra delicious, much better than if it had been cooked at home.

The cool breeze was refreshing. We also relished the continual motion of the waves as they dashed wildly upon the seashore. Far away there was nothing but water and it set us to dreaming of other countries and of other places….

This place on the peninsula seemed so isolated. True, there was one small grocery store at Samoa but its stock of groceries was small and its prices were high. Our only other source was Arcata, which was a much further distance.

As a family, we soon began to attend church at Eureka. This meant a long trip by car, around the bay. Our car was an old one and was likely to break down most any time.

We had heard about another way to go to Eureka besides by car: A ferry boat called the Madaket. The boat plied the waters of the bay from the dock at Hammond’s Lumber Company in Samoa, to the foot of F Street in Eureka. If we weren’t afraid to travel by boat, this seemed like an ideal alternative to the car. At first I couldn’t help being a bit afraid for I had never in all of my life been on the water. When our friends pointed out its advantages, I decided it was probably safe after all. After that, we began to travel by water quite often and soon I began to enjoy the process. We made trips to Eureka to attend church and to shop, as well as visit our newly acquired friends.

Aboard the Madaket there were seats on the upper deck where one might ride if he or she so wished. We loved to sit out there so that we could watch the scenery. Often we would see porpoises and sea lions playing in the waters not far off. At night it was very special, as we could see the lights of the town. On a clear night, when there was no fog about, one could see the millions of stars in all their glory. Perhaps the moon would come riding across the sky. All of these things made riding on the top deck worthwhile.

There was always the hold down below and there, especially in foul weather, the passengers would congregate to await the end of our ride to the opposite side of the bay.

There were many kinds of people who made a practice of riding the ferry boat. Among them were housewives who, of course, loved to go on shopping trips and hunt for bargains in the stores of Eureka. Mill workers, who worked at the Hammond Lumber Mill, sometimes rode on the Madaket, though rarely, for there was a special boat just for their convenience. We sometimes saw an old, dirty boat drawn up to the dock at the lumber mill, unloading the workers who came from Eureka.

As we left the boat at F Street in Eureka, there was a little newsstand— the first thing that met our eyes. This stand was run by a Mrs. Green, a woman who sold newspapers, paperback books and all kinds of candy.

The next thing to come into view was Coggeshall Towing Company. It was much like a railroad waiting room, for it was here that we purchased our tickets for the return trip to Samoa and it was here that we often had to wait for the boat.

These were wonderful times and they hold a place in my memory and, I’m sure, in the memories of each of my children. I’ve often wished that those days might return but the advent of a bridge across the bay on May 22, 1971, marked the end of an era…

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The story above was originally printed in the Spring 1994 issue of The Humboldt Historian, a journal of the Humboldt County Historical Society, and is reprinted here with permission. The Humboldt County Historical Society is a nonprofit organization devoted to archiving, preserving and sharing Humboldt County’s rich history. You can become a member and receive a year’s worth of new issues of The Humboldt Historian at this link.

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From the City of Eureka:

The City of Eureka wants your continued input about the future of Eureka’s central waterfront!

Please visit www.waterfronteureka.com to check out and comment on the Public Review Draft of the Waterfront Eureka Plan (WEP), and catch up on where the project is at in the process.

The purpose of the WEP is to guide development and redevelopment of Eureka’s central waterfront by facilitating new mixed-use developments and increasing housing stock.

The WEP will serve as a template for land use, circulation, and infrastructure to be used by City leaders, residents, businesses, and developers. The WEP outlines community-led visions for the future of the Plan Area, and contains focused policies, programs, and regulations, which will govern and shape development in the Plan Area to achieve these visions.

Questions? Contact Development Services – Planning 707-441-4160. 
Planning@eurekaca.gov.

It’s Memorial Day weekend! Kinetics weekend! All that good stuff! Catch up with the news before you cut loose for three whole days.

Plus: If you’re gonna buy your Memorial Day BBQ, where are you buying it from? Please take the poll below.

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After 75 years of business, Arcata’s oldest and only remaining shoe store, Plaza Shoe Shop, is preparing to close its doors and bid a final farewell to the town it has served for decades. 

Owner Aiyana Neely, who contacted the Outpost with the news earlier this week, said she is sad to see the shop closing, and that her family has loved serving Arcata for so many years. 

“The customers are amazing –  just the friendliest group of people,” Neely said in a phone interview on Thursday afternoon. “We’ve really loved servicing the community over the years. It would be great if we could keep going.” 

Neely’s parents, Jim and Renee Guitierrez, bought the shop in 1991 from the original owner, Guido Canclini, who opened the store on Ninth Street on the Arcata Plaza in 1948. Originally, Canclini opened his storefront as a shoe repair shop, but eventually he also started carrying high-quality work boots and — an Arcata staple – Birkenstocks. Canclini’s shop was known as a friendly place, where customers could stop in for some coffee and a chat, and Neely said that her family tried to carry on that same type of atmosphere.  

“Some folks who were retired would just come in and drink their coffee and chat everyday,” Neely said. “For me those are the fondest memories, just hanging with the customers.”

From a young age Neely had an interest and involvement in the family business. By nine years old she was helping out by sweeping up the shop floors and by the time she was in high school she and her sister both had jobs managing the store. Neely’s parents both knew a lot about making and repairing shoes and passed a lot of their knowledge onto their daughter. 

In 2000 the family moved the shop from its longtime home between Everett’s and Toby and Jacks to the current location on Seventh and G Streets, and in 2017 Neely bought the store from her parents when they retired. 

Since Neely’s dad was the one who did most of the shoe repairs at the shop, business started to slow down a little after he retired. The shoe repair was a draw to get people into the store, but it was hard for Neely to keep a “niche service like that running,” she said. 

That and the fact that more people have started shopping online or at big box stores certainly had some impact on the business, Neely said. But, like with so many other local businesses, COVID is what made it really hard to keep going. Of course the shop had to close entirely during the early days of the pandemic, and losing the sales while still having to keep paying the bills hurt the business a lot, even with help from COVID business relief grants. 

Life changes also led Neely to relocate to Colorado, and she has been trying to sell the business for a while now, hoping that somebody would either want to take over Plaza Shoe Shop or open another shoe shop in its place. But with no luck selling the store, Neely finally decided it was time to close. At least for now, her parents still own the property and will likely lease it out to another business in the future.

Of course, no closing would be complete without a big blowout sale, and between now and final closing, everything in the store will be between 20 and 60 percent off. The shop’s last day of business will be Saturday, June 3. 

With her parents living in Blue Lake and her sister still living and teaching in Arcata, Neely said she will be back to visit often, adding that she loves her hometown and is thankful for all the community members who supported the business for so many years. 

“We really appreciate Arcata and people from all over Humboldt who shopped there,” Neely said. “I really just want to thank everybody, all of our customers for supporting our family over the years. We loved being a part of the community.”

Press release from the City of Arcata:

The City of Arcata Transportation Division is excited to announce that the Arcata and Mad River Transit System (A&MRTS) is offering free bus rides during the month of June.

The City encourages Arcata residents and visitors to take the bus to run errands and to explore Arcata’s neighborhoods, businesses, parks and recreational spaces. The goal of this program is to increase ridership for A&MRTS by showing how easy it is to use the transit system.

A summer month was selected for this program as historically the ridership is low in summer months because schools, including Cal Poly Humboldt, are not in session. Last year, there was an approximately 10% increase in ridership during the implementation of this program in June and July of financial year (FY) 21-22 compared to FY 20-21. The division is excited about increasing that percentage in FY 22-23. Funding to support this program comes from the Low Carbon Transit Operations Program (LCTOP).

Free bus rides in Arcata will be in effect starting Thursday, June 1 through Friday, June 30 with A&MRTS offering transit routes that run Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the summer months.

For more information regarding bus routes and schedules, visit hta.org/agencies/arcata-and-mad-river/ or call (707) 822-3775.

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If you like helping out your community, or you just really like soup (who doesn’t, right?) you might want to check out Empty Bowls, a fundraising event happening June 1 to help raise money for local nonprofits St. Vincent de Paul and the Jefferson Community Center. 

Started in 1990 by two ceramics teachers in Michigan, Empty Bowls is now a worldwide grassroots effort to use art and crafts to help raise money for food-related charities. The local event coordinator Mark Campbell, a longtime potter and St. Vincent de Paul board member, told the Outpost that SVdP held an Empty Bowls event for several years at the Arcata Endeavor, back when it was still open. But this will be the first time the event is being held locally in more than 20 years. 

The exact way the fundraiser is done varies in different places, but the idea is that people can purchase empty bowls and fill them with soup to eat, and all the money raised will go toward feeding those in need. Though in the past, Campbell said, the bowls and soup were purchased as a package deal, this year participants can purchase their ceramic bowls separately and/ or buy a dinner of unlimited soup, salad and bread. The cost for dinner is $20 for one person, $40 per couple or $45 for families, no matter the family size. The proceeds will go toward funding SVdP’s continued efforts to feed the homeless, and toward the Jefferson Community Center’s efforts to build a new kitchen and start offering community cooking classes. 

To get this year’s event going Campbell has been busy working with ceramics artists, who are donating the bowls, and local restaurants and chefs, who are donating the food. The meal will feature soups from more than 20 local restaurants, including Humboldt Bay Bistro, Brett’s Pizzeria, Bayfront Restaurant, Nou Nou’s food truck, the Curry Leaf, the Greene Lily, Vista del Mar, Restaurant 511, Mazottis, Plaza Grill , Jack’s Seafood, Blue Lake Casino, Manzanilla Kitchen, Humboldt Soup Company, Ramones, Opera Alley Bistro, the Eagle House, Big Blue Cafe, Murphys Market, and Caps Food Shack. Plus local bakeries, including Brio and the North Coast Co-op, will be contributing the bread. 

“It’s the only time I can think of where you have 20 restaurants in one building,” Campbell said. 

Bowl donated by ceramic artist George Lea

For the pottery sale, bowls (and a few other ceramics) were donated by Fire Arts, as well as  ceramics students and instructors from both Cal Poly Humboldt and College of the Redwoods. Campbell also got a few donations through his Facebook group “Clay Buddies,” which he said is the largest pottery club on Facebook (5.2K members.) Of course, being a potter himself, Campbell also made 30 bowls for the event. 

In addition to his love for pottery, Campbell also has a deep love for food and spent 28 years cooking at various restaurants throughout Humboldt. Throughout much of that time Campbell also volunteered at the SVdP free meal, helping prepare and serve food for the hungry. About seven years ago Campbell retired from the food service industry to become a full time potter, but has continued dedicating much of his free time to cooking for SVdP. Campbell said he loves doing the work and wanted to add that SVdP is nearing its 4 millionth free meal served.  

For the event, Campbell will be representing SVdP with his own mulligatawny – an Indian curry that usually features chicken, cream and apples. But Campbell said he is changing it up by subbing out the apples for mandarin oranges. “It used to be really popular in the day, when I cooked professionally,” he said. 

As far as the rest of the menu, Campbell said a few restaurants have shared what they’re making (Blue Lake Casino is doing a clam chowder and Brett’s Pizzeria is contributing a ham and navy bean soup) but mostly, it will be a surprise. Campbell does know that there will be lots of variety (both in pottery and food) and has been thrilled to have so many people want to help contribute to the event. 

“All the work these people put in – these really skilled potters and chefs putting in work for this  common cause – it’s incredible,” Campbell said. 

Empty Bowls will take place on Thursday June 1 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Jefferson Community Center – 1000 B St, Eureka. You can purchase tickets at this link.