Meredith Erin Vance
October 2, 1982 - April 23, 2024

Meredith passed away peacefully at home on April 23 at the age of 41. She was a warrior, and she fought a fierce and long fight with leukemia before passing. She was a beloved wife, mom, daughter, sister, auntie, niece and friend.

Meredith will be lovingly remembered by her husband of 20 years, Joey; her son Caden; her parents Debra and Stan, Michael and Rebecca; her sisters Emily, Annie and April; her brother Tieran; as well as numerous other relatives and friends.

Meredith was born in Fortuna in 1982. She was universally known as beautiful, kind and brilliant. She excelled in school, loved art and was an amazing artist. She graduated from Humboldt State with a degree in Graphic Design. She excelled at every job she had, including graphic designer, to later store manager at Target. Her employees remember her as the kindest and best boss.

Meredith was a strong beautiful woman who loved her boys more than anything. She was the best mom, never missed any of Caden’s baseball or basketball games, and just loved being with Joey and Caden. Most people can’t say they’ve been with the love of their life since 16, and Mer and Joey can, and made the best of it, and have the coolest son to show for it.

Mer enjoyed being at the beach, or being out on the ocean. Mer loved going out with Joey on his boat. He would fish and she would read for hours. She loved to travel, play games and do puzzles (especially The NY Times crossword).

Mer was truly an angel here on earth. She always made the best of a situation, saw the best in other people and took joy in the little things. She saw beauty everywhere and she brought the best out in others. Her family and friends will miss her every moment; every day, but take great comfort knowing that she is at peace and no longer in pain. She spent her last days surrounded by her loved ones, talking about how she would get to read through heaven’s library, explore heaven’s best beaches and check out the best fishing spots for Joey.

A celebration of life will be held on June 15, 2024 from 4 to 7 p.m. at Old Growth Cellars at 1945 Hillfiker Lane in Eureka. Please join us.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Meredith Vance’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.

Leewitt Elizabeth Ann Withrow
December 28, 1969 – March 3, 2024

Who was Leewitt Elizabeth Ann Withrow? Let her tell you in her own words:

My upbringing was connected with extended family even though my parents divorced when I was a baby. My younger years I lived with my mom, and she was an artist and struggled with alcohol abuse and bipolar disorder. My older brother and I moved with our mom multiple times, and we went to many different schools. Due to my mom’s mental health struggles my emotional development suffered, I spent a lot of time trying to fix things and I had a lot of insecurities.

My evident social identities are: I am a white female, middle aged, mother, public servant, and democrat. Even with a hard upbringing there were important “mentors” in my life. My paternal grandmother Gretchen made sure to always provide loving care and connect with my brother and I. My father provided stability for us in our middle school and high school years. My longtime second parents [God Parents], Joseph and Vicky Reader extended love with visits and incorporating me into their life for the last 40 years. I’m blessed with caring friends and especially having a son who has grown up to be a very kind and caring person. I am lucky and grateful for my life journey.

I have my own mental health journey which helped me learn how to take better care of myself, set priorities and routines for stability and being grounded.

My mental health journey was at many points. I was stuck in depression, but with counseling and building tools I am now a lot stronger and able to balance life stressors. One aspect of my social identities is I am a Nichiren Buddhist. The basics of this religion/philosophy is to chant “Nam Myoho Renge Kyo” for my own happiness and the happiness of others.

This hope-filled practice helps me focus my life, to keep a sense of gratitude, and to keep a positive outlook practice.”

Leewitt wrote the above in September of 2022.

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I met Leewitt during the 1994-1995 school year while I was attending CR. I was in downtown Arcata kickin’ it at old school Sidelines. I was outside the bar when I saw one of my friends, Aviva, with some of her friends, and Leewitt was one of them.

Aviva introduced me to her friends, and they asked me where I was from. When I mentioned the East Bay in a town called Pittsburg, Leewitt asked me if I knew someone she went to San Jose State University (SJSU) with. When I told her I did know that person, that’s how we connected.

During her college years, Leewitt worked various jobs through the semester and summer. Leewitt worked at Healthsport in Arcata, the Co-Op, and Los Bagels to name a few. For a couple of summers, Leewitt worked in Washington on Orcus Island at “Camp Four Winds Westward Ho!” and had a great time meeting different people and enjoying the scenery. Working on Orcus Island had a profound effect on Leewitt and when our son Dexter was old enough, she wanted him to experience the adventure she had, and so Dexter spent two summers at Camp Four Winds Westward Ho! One thing I can say in particular about Leewitt is that she loved our son very much and she would go out of her way to ensure Dexter was taken care of and had the opportunity to experience as much fun as possible during his childhood.

Leewitt graduated from Humboldt State University in 1998 but walked the stage during May of 1999 receiving her Bachelor of Science degree and a few years later, her Multiple Subjects Teaching Credential. Leewitt tried hard to find employment as a teacher here in Humboldt County, but during that time, teaching jobs were scarce, and she eventually found employment as a teacher in the Bay Area in Oakland. Working in Oakland, she gained experience working with inner-city kids. Leewitt said it was tough at times, but she persevered and was a better person for the experience.

While working in Oakland, Leewitt met some ladies that were also hired as teachers, who were from the Philippines, and they became roommates. Josie, Charlene, and I forgot the third person’s name, but they all became good friends. The ladies did not have a car, but Leewitt did, so they would ride with her to school, grocery shopping, or on sightseeing adventures.

Working in Oakland was hard on Leewitt because she was away from our son. While she was working in Oakland, she would often make the trip back to Arcata to see Dexter. At that time, I was caring for Dexter full-time, and she would come up during the weekends to relieve me and spend time with our son. Leewitt endured many hardships in her lifetime and when our son was 15 months old, she encountered one of the most difficult.

On May 2, 2003, she experienced one of the most traumatic situations that would shape her for the rest of her life. While driving back up to Arcata, Leewitt was involved in a head-on collision with another vehicle right after the bridge over the Russian River coming into Hopland. This crash later resulted in Leewitt having metal in both her forearms and ankles. It took some time for her to recover. Still afterwards, her injuries would affect the way she walked, and she often dealt with pain in her joints, but this did not stop Leewitt from living her life; she was strong-willed and resilient.

After she recovered to the extent that her injuries allowed, Leewitt participated in AmeriCorps as a mentor to the children at Blue Lake Elementary School. Leewitt enjoyed interacting with children and was a positive influence on the students she worked with. After AmeriCorps, Leewitt worked at “Changing Tides” for a period of time and assisted families in providing subsidized childcare.

Then in 2012, Leewitt was hired with the County of Humboldt as an Eligibility Worker for the Department of Health and Human Services. Leewitt was a “people person” and she developed friendships with many of her coworkers. Some of the people Leewitt developed close friendships with were Kim Sullivan, Jenny Cameron, and Julie Fillman. I know there are a lot more people that she was friends with from Eligibility and although they might not be mentioned here, to any of you reading this who knew her, know that she cherished your friendship.

After working in Eligibility for about 5 years, Leewitt applied for and was hired with CWS as a Social Worker. There, Leewitt helped many children in dire straits, and formed new friendships with Donna, Emily, Bianca, Lauren, Michelle, Danielle, and many others.

Working at CWS was hard for Leewitt because of the circumstances and crises that many of the children and families were experiencing. Even though working at CWS was hectic and took its toll on Leewitt, she appreciated the camaraderie amongst her coworkers and could lean on them when she was feeling the stress of the cases she had to deal with. When her cases felt overwhelming, Leewitt also took solace in speaking with CWS’ cultural coach Bruce. Leewitt told me that she admired Bruce because he would provide informal counseling and words of wisdom when she needed someone to listen to her and that she enjoyed his company.

For a brief time, Leewitt stopped working at CWS and transitioned to being an IHSS Social Worker before going back to CWS. This job was also difficult for her because she had to go into her clients’ homes and interview them to determine how many hours they were eligible for. This also affected Leewitt because of the nature of the client’s situation. She had empathy for her clients, and it was difficult for her when she had to deny her client’s request for IHSS hours because they were not eligible based on the criteria she had to abide by.

Readers who knew her may or may not know, but Leewitt inherited bipolar disorder from her mom, and it was something that she had to deal with throughout her life. Leewitt was 22 years old when she encountered her first episode and since then, she had to deal with and manage the repercussions of the aftermath of an episode.

Leewitt’s father abandoned her and has not had any contact with her since that first episode many years ago. In fact, Leewitt has also had other friends abandon her when they found out she is bipolar. Leewitt’s mom would at times call her when she herself was having an episode and this really affected her to the point that she would have to stop taking her calls for a period of time. Although it pained Leewitt to cut her mom off, she knew it was to help preserve her own mental health.

I wrote the above to say this… her having to deal with bipolar did not define who Leewitt Withrow was. Leewitt was an authentic caring person who cherished her relationships with her friends because of her upbringing. She was thoughtful and appreciated the people she cared about.

Leewitt was also an artist. She had her own style of drawing, and she was pretty good at painting with watercolors. She also liked to do crafting, sewing, quilting, crocheting, and she was learning to knit. During the Christmas season, Leewitt and some of her friends attended a wreath making class. She enjoyed the holidays and loved to bake all sorts of pastries, pies, cobblers, and casseroles.

Although Leewitt left this physical world, she will never be forgotten because her memory and energy will remain in our hearts and minds. I am grateful to have known her and that she and I had a son together. I will always remember her smile and appreciate our times together. Leewitt, in many ways helped me become the man I am today.

Leewitt, know that you are missed, thought of, and loved by a lot of people who care about you. You have touched the lives of many with your good positive energy.

Love and Miss You Always,

-Your Friend Jim Gorospe-

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It is important to discuss the difficulties Leewitt faced during her life, not just because it adds to the bigger picture, but because it directly contributed to the development of her compassion, and the professions she chose to engage in.

Leewitt’s childhood was in fact turbulent; her mother, my grandmother, was a semi-functional alcoholic and artist, who struggled with bi-polar disorder. Leewitt would inherit this psychiatric condition and after the age of 22, would take medication for it for the rest of her life. Though she did have a support network in adolescence and adulthood, her mental health struggles did sometimes push friends and family away, as well as impacting the stability of her career. In addition, the car crash in ’03 affected her ability to engage in her favorite outdoor activities and maintain peak health.

It was these myriad of struggles that fueled her compassion. The difficulty in her upbringing allowed her to genuinely empathize with those of all ages who suffer(ed) a rough childhood. Her struggles with mental health allowed her to connect with those who also deal with psychiatric conditions and insufficient coping mechanisms. The way the crash affected her too helped her empathize with the physically disabled. The hardships she was dealt both increased the difficulty of and accentuated her ability to be an effective and compassionate public servant.

It is clear that Leewitt had a passion for working with children, from her time teaching, mentoring children and working in child welfare services. She really wanted to dedicate her time to serving the vulnerable and underprivileged in her community, despite the great stress it placed upon her at times. In truth, she decided to use her experiences from childhood, and develop into the kind of person she needed in her life at that time, and the world is a better place because of it.

How do I remember my mom?

I remember her by her smile, by how happy she was when she looked at me.

I remember her by our walks together, and how she wanted to show me the beauty of Humboldt and beyond. I remember her by all of the places she took me, all the trips to the beaches and the rivers. The times she got me and my dad to go rafting. Our trips to Washington, Oregon, and New York City.

I remember her by our garden, and the many hours I saw her and shared with her gardening and admiring the beauty. I remember how much she loved to see the hummingbirds buzzing about.

I remember my mom by all the sweet treats she used to make to share with me, my father, her friends and even my classmates. I remember her by all of the family recipes and experimental goods, what she made for all my birthdays, and the holidays, and the random days in summer. She always shared her sweetness in many different ways.

I remember her by her music; always filled with upbeat energy. She enjoyed lots of genres, from jazz to reggae, from funk to folk, both rock and pop music too. By far her favorite musician was Michael Franti. His music will always remind me of my mom.

And I remember her stories. When she travelled to London and Taiwan. Her time teaching in Oakland, her time raising me, and so many more of the wonderful times in her life.

I remember her by her friends too. The people she cherished, the people who supported her, and our visits with them.

We all loved you, Leewitt. I love you mom. You brought many good memories and love to many people. You were a light to the people whose lives you touched.

We would like to offer a special thank you to the following people. To Blair’s Direct Cremation and Burial Services, to Priscilla Howard, to Sandra, Jim, and the Poston Family, to Joe and Vicky Reader, to Yvette McFarland, to Mike and Josie Manalac, to The Morris Family, to her friends and coworkers at Humboldt County DHHS, to her friends at the Nichiren Buddhist group, and everyone else who supported her in life, and supported us, her family, in death.

We are planning a celebration of life for Leewitt at a date to be determined.

To inquire and RSVP, contact Dexter at 707-616-6292.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Leewitt Withrow’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.

John (Jack) C. Lindstrand
April 22, 1929-May 10, 2024

John (Jack) Carl Lindstrand was born at home on Second Avenue, in Blue Lake, on April 22, 1929 to Ethel E. Cox and Leonard C. Lindstrand. He passed away in his sleep on May 10, 2024 in Yuma, Arizona. He attended Blue Lake Elementary School, Arcata High School, where he played basketball and saxophone, and enjoyed dancing at the Arcata High noontime dances. He also attended Humboldt State College. On July 14, 1950, Jack married his best dancing partner, Berlene Beshears. They were married for 43 years, until her passing in 1994.

Jack worked at McIntosh Lumber for a few years until he was hospitalized with appendicitis. While recovering from surgery, he began helping out at the family business, Lindstrand’s Store, in Blue Lake. He spent 30+ years working at the store until it was sold. At that time, he got his realtor’s license and sold real estate from 1984 to 1999. Jack was on the school board of Blue Lake Elementary from 1967 to 1973 and spent many, many years as a volunteer in the Blue Lake Fire Department. He enjoyed driving the antique fire truck in the Annie and Mary Day Parades in Blue Lake. Jack and Berlene continued to dance in local dance clubs. He enjoyed hunting and fishing with friends here in Humboldt County and in Colorado. They had wonderful family times at Whiskeytown Lake, Benbow Lake and Big Lagoon. After their children were grown, they started hunting agates and could often be found at the crack of dawn roaring up the beaches on their three-wheeler.

After Berlene’s passing in 1994, Jack met Evie Stone. Together they took wonderful care of each other and had many good times traveling in their motor home, enjoying old and new friends, and spending time in their winter home in Yuma, Arizona.

Jack was preceded in death by his parents, Leonard and Ethel Lindstrand, his close aunt and uncle, Lester and Mary Sundquist, and his wife of 43 years, Berlene Lindstrand, his sister and brother-in-law, Jay and Barbara Thacker and nephew, James Thacker. He is survived by his three daughters, Diane (Jeff), Denise, Dana (David), and his companion of 28 years, Evelyn Stone. He is also survived by his grandchildren Cara (Jason), Taya, Joele (Drew), Jacy (Cody), John (Demetria), Lola (Matt), Sage (Ruben); and by his great-grandchildren, Nyah, Freddie, Tyrus, Tessa, Caelum, Brycelyn, Ainsley, Maverick, Luca, Luna; and by his great-great-grandchild Aveyah; and also, two additional great-grandchildren due in September.

Jack will be interred at Blue Lake Cemetery. Please join us for a celebration of Jack’s life at the Blue Lake Fire Hall on June 22, 2024 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. If possible, RSVP to dromberg@sbcglobal.net. Contributions in Jack’s memory can be made to Blue Lake Fire Department, P.O.Box 245, Blue Lake, CA 95525 if you wish.

Bernadette was born into a working-class Catholic family in Port Angeles, Washington on June 10, 1950. Her older siblings, Burke and Alicia, and her younger sister, Mary, were always close and kind to each other. Her sheltered childhood provided a solid base for stability, hard work and love of nature. She remembered her Irish grandmother being a fountain of love. She remembered playing in the woods in empty lots and spending time at the family resort at Lake Crescent. She loved running just for the pure joy of it. She experienced much of her life through her emotions. She began taking pre-veterinary classes but got very ill and never went back to school.

When she was nineteen, she set off on a long hitch-hiking trip across the western US. She spent a winter working and living in Minneapolis with friends. When she was hitch-hiking, she would sleep in graveyards because she felt safe. When cars would stop to pick her up, her kitten would jump off her shoulder into the car which would win over the occupants.

Don Edwards picked her up hitch-hiking and she ended helping him find a farm to buy and stayed on Chemise Mountain Farm with him for 25 years of an inequitable relationship. They homesteaded and raised show goats. They had an orchard and large gardens. Her animal husbandry came in handy many times especially when cougars caused damage. The farm remained off grid with kerosene lamps and gravity flow water.

On May 1, 1973 her first child, Blossom, was born. She was delivered at home by her father because the midwives were late. The Madrone trees were in full blossom that day. Their second child, Logan, was born on May 26, 1981 and was delivered by his dad because the labor was only one hour.

She became an integral and loved part of the community in the Humboldt culture. She was involved in volunteer work in local politics. She took declarations from homeless people who were harassed and discriminated against. She also worked for years on litigation against Operation Greensweep.

In 2012 she married Jack Glick in Mendocino and lived a happy life with him in Whale Gulch. Logan and his wife, Ashley, had three children — Lukas, Parker and Connor — whom she adored and spent as much time as she could with. She spent years suffering from cancer but confounding doctors when she would bounce back from near-death episodes. Jack died over a year before she did. She was with him when he passed, and Logan was one of the first responders to show up.

She loved to travel and would regularly go up the Oregon coast and make her way over to spend time with her other grandchildren Noa, Rio and Jessica.

She was so ill and yet she was as productive and as optimistic as possible. Although she lived alone, she was surrounded by those that loved her and was able to say goodbye to her family before she passed. She did not appear to be afraid, but seemed to embrace the ultimate liberation. She passed in Eureka on March 15, 2024.

Her family will be holding a celebration of life Saturday June 8 at 1 p.m. at Beginnings in Briceland. The main course and drinks will be provided. Potluck for appetizers, sides and desserts.

Ronald Allen Ulmer passed on Thursday, May 30, 2024, at the age of 79 years.

Ronnie is survived by his daughter Chanda Ulmer-Pifferini and son Anthony Ulmer, two granddaughters Zaida Pifferini and Sophia Ulmer, and many cousins Tanya Sangrey, John, Mike, John (Bubba), Justin and Chelly Puzz, Debbie, and Rene McBride, and Rachel McBride-Praetorius, Sherie and Robert England and Angel England-Amato, Richard England, Christina Nelson, Kim, Brian and Kelly Mamaradlo and so many more. He is preceded in death by his mother Edna Puzz-Cuddie, grandmother Lillian Blake-Puzz, grandfather Mike Puzz, uncle Hank Puzz, aunties Dorthy Puzz-Walker and Norma Puzz-Dankulich, and cousins Roanne Lyall (Skooky) and Cathy Puzz-Carmesin.

A five-day fire held in his honor will begin on June 7 at his Klamath home. Friends and family are invited to stop by and share a memory. An intimate family service will be held at the Blake family graveyard on June 15th. Ronnie and his beloved cousin, Skooky, will be laid to rest.

Ronnie was born in San Francisco on April 3, 1945 to Edna Puzz-Ulmer and Rudy Ulmer. Ronnie grew up in Klamath and attended Klamath Elementary then graduated from Del Norte High school. During his childhood he enjoyed many adventures, from raising two abandoned river otter pups that latter became the first otter exhibit at the Sequoia Zoo to washing dishes at the at the Redwood Rest Resort, Frog Pond Restaurant & Bar, at the Klamath Glen. In 1968 he joined the Navy and served as a radio operator in the Philippines. He loved falling big timber, riding his motorcycle, reading about astronomy, welding, weightlifting, visiting with friends at the Country Club in Klamath and running from the ladies.

Ronnie was a handsome man with a great big smile. He had a big heart and he always made his family feel loved. He was a warm, caring and loving father and is greatly missed.

The man who would finally break up California is a real estate developer from Rancho Cucamonga.

Jeff Burum knows this may sound crazy. He heard that response two years ago, before he persuaded politicians and voters in San Bernardino County to study the possibility of seceding.

But leaders, Burum points out, are often considered crazy when they try to do something that no one has ever done. And he is trying to do something that others have failed at many, many, many times before.

Burum has a plan to win independence for San Bernardino County — yes, a new state of “Empire” in the diverse, working-class community of 2.2 million. Driven by civic pride in a growing region that has been looked down upon by many Californians and by frustration that the state has held it back from reaching its full potential, he envisions secession as a declaration of the county’s dignity and an opportunity to reimagine a broken political system.

The county government is planning to publish a key report evaluating the feasibility and financial implications of the proposal by June 11.

“I’m never going to be deterred based on other people’s beliefs,” Burum told CalMatters in a series of recent interviews. “If you can see a path to get there, then for the betterment of mankind, you need to pursue it.”

Though he can be coy sometimes about how much he really wants San Bernardino County to strike out on its own, Burum’s longshot campaign taps into the same vein of resistance against California’s liberal governance increasingly cropping up in more conservative pockets of the state. That includes San Bernardino County, which sued to stop Gov. Gavin Newsom’s lockdown policies during the coronavirus pandemic and which is home to one of the school boards leading challenges to policies inclusive of LGBTQ+ students and curriculum.

Jeff Burum at his Hope Through Housing Foundation in Rancho Cucamonga on April 18, 2024. Burum is spearheading the secession initiative in San Bernardino County. Photo by Zaydee Sanchez for CalMatters

Burum, who is a Republican, is less focused on settling ideological scores than demanding respect. He contends that California has long deprived San Bernardino County, which at more than 20,000 square miles is the largest county in the contiguous United States, of its “fair share” of resources.

But his belief that the solution is secession — that it would be easier to carve out another state than fix these inequities through the existing political process, because those in charge will never relinquish any power — reflects just how disillusioned so many Californians have become about the extent of the problems here and our ability to ever fix them.

California, Burum argues, is too big to succeed.

“People are revolting because they can’t relate to the purpose of government when we were created,” he said, comparing his efforts to the colonists rising up against the British. “When the government doesn’t realize it’s become one of the bad actors, it’s time to speak up.”

A long and fruitless history of splitting California

By the time California became a state on Sept. 9, 1850, it had already survived the first attempt to split it — an unsuccessful last-minute amendment in the U.S. Senate that would have divided California in two, just north of Morro Bay.

In the nearly 174 years since, according to the California State Library, more than 220 additional attempts to break up California have followed, fueled by the persistent anxieties of rural residents feeling overpowered by the cities, of conservative voters feeling ignored by liberal Sacramento and of everyone feeling eclipsed by Los Angeles.

A bill to split Northern and Southern California passed the state Senate in 1965. A similar 1992 plebiscite won approval in 27 of the 31 counties where it appeared on the ballot. Less than a decade ago, a Silicon Valley billionaire tried to put a proposal for six Californians before voters. Perhaps most famously, residents of the rural north have been pushing for decades to create the State of Jefferson with fellow breakaway counties from southern Oregon.

None, of course, succeeded.

But that hasn’t diminished the allure of secession as a cry of rebellion — especially as the scale of American society has expanded, isolating voters from their representatives, said Glenn Harlan Reynolds, a law professor at the University of Tennessee.

“The states used to be there to provide a degree of localism and small-scale governance that they’re no longer able to provide,” said Reynolds, who wrote a paper in 2019 exploring how to address the dissatisfaction that fuels state secession movements. “California is probably the worst case of that, because it is so big and the government is pretty centralized.”

So why are some San Bernardino County residents so dissatisfied that they would leave California altogether?

“Oh man. It’s a long list,” said Jose Rodriguez, a 42-year-old union electrician from Rialto, as he loaded his purchases into his car at the Lowe’s in Fontana.

Poor education. Rising crime. Bad roads. Rodriguez, who supports former President Donald Trump, said he liked the idea of living in a community where he could trust people who are like-minded.

Secession “would have happened a long time ago if it was a possibility,” he said.

Jose Rodriguez at the Lowe’s parking lot in Fontana on April 18, 2024. Rodriguez, an electrician and resident of San Bernardino County, supports the effort to have the county secede from the state of California. Photo by Zaydee Sanchez for CalMatters

Mostly, though, there’s a sense that California and what it means are slipping away. Rodriguez lamented that “the American Dream is no longer available.” While families could once survive a single income, he said, his union keeps raising the retirement age.

“I can’t be 70 years old working construction,” he said. “California, what it used to be, it isn’t there anymore.”

What happened to the ‘platinum service’?

California was good to Jeff Burum.

Originally from Maryland and later raised in Phoenix — where he said his political awakening came while fighting to keep his inner-city high school open — Burum moved to California to attend what is now Claremont McKenna College in suburban Los Angeles County. In the early 1990s, he founded a multi-state development empire of both commercial real estate and affordable housing.

Burum even came out ahead the last time he battled the government: In 2011, he was indicted for allegedly bribing county officials to approve a $102 million settlement that ended years of legal battles over flood control improvements to a property Burum wanted to develop. He was eventually acquitted in 2017, and contributed more than $100,000 to a committee to defeat the local prosecutor who led the case. Three years later, Burum received a $65 million payout from the county to settle a malicious prosecution lawsuit.

“People that come from nothing and achieve that level of success, you know, I think needs to be respected,” said state Treasurer Fiona Ma, a Democrat who became friends with Burum when they attended a legislative trip to China more than two decades ago but who decidedly does not support his secession proposal. “That’s why I think people do respect him, because he didn’t grow up with a silver spoon and he’s been a fighter all his life. And he’s not doing it to line in his pockets, you know? He’s doing it because he thinks it’s the right thing to do.”

On a sunny afternoon last month, Burum waxed philosophical about secession at the headquarters of his affordable housing company in a Rancho Cucamonga office park. The chic meeting space on the first floor looks like a hotel lobby, with a bar and an artificial fireplace. Burum hopes it could one day host conferences.

Ever expanding his ventures, even at the age of 61, there’s a studio for a soon-to-launch online media network down the hall, while the office of a professional arena soccer team he owns, the Empire Strykers, sits across the parking lot. Burum is also working on a reality show about the ghost town of Calico, which he wants to turn into a virtual reality amusement park.

First: A slogan on a wall at the Hope through Housing Foundation, which provides homes for low-income families in San Bernardino County on April 18, 2024. Second: At right, Jeff Burum at the foundation offices in Rancho Cucamonga on April 18, 2024. Photos by Zaydee Sanchez for CalMatters

Burum said he loves being part of California. He praised its expansive economy and its diverse population, which he said inspires collaboration and change for the better.

But like many conservatives, Burum views governance through the lens of business. And he has been frustrated, he said, to watch California’s government become “inefficient through its growth” over the past several decades — lacking the economies of scale that are achieved by successful companies in the private sector and failing to provide the “platinum service” that he says should come from having among the highest taxes in the country.

“Government shouldn’t be an organic growing creature. It wasn’t ever really designed to be that. Government was created to protect us,” he said. “That’s become the largest weed in the garden. Now it’s bigger than the trees. That’s what government’s become in our country. That’s what it is in our state. Listen, that’s not what we were intended to be.”

What pushed Burum over the edge was how the state handled its massive budget surplus two years ago, which he complains was “porked out, instead of being invested in our future.” He said officials should have spent more money on infrastructure, such as water reservoirs and affordable housing, and helping people meet unfunded mandates, including the requirement that all cars sold in the state be zero-emission by 2035.

“None of it is common sense,” Burum said. “There’s a lot of distrust of government in our state, so let’s show them how to do it right.”

The ‘red-headed stepchild’ strikes back

Naturally, the response of an entrepreneur was to take on a project. Burum wanted to dig deeper into the numbers, to find out if San Bernardino County was getting what it was owed, and if not, to fight for more — or leave California.

Putting a number on how much San Bernardino County is being undervalued, Burum figures, will allow the county to demand payment from California. If the debt is so big that the state can’t cover it, then that’s leverage to reach a different type of settlement, such as a tax-free zone or even secession.

“What do you have to do in order to solve problems? You have to create natural tensions so that everyone wants to take the pressure off,” he said.

Though an initial assessment in August 2022 indicated that San Bernardino County falls in the middle of the pack among California’s counties for state and federal funding per person, Burum persuaded the board of supervisors to put a measure on the local ballot asking voters whether the county should “study all options to obtain its fair share of state and federal resources, up to and including secession.”

Elected officials and business leaders complain that state support for San Bernardino County is inadequate for its size and importance to the California economy. They point to courthouses without enough space for every judge and insufficient funding for new housing and roads in one region where California’s population is still growing. It’s common to hear “red-headed stepchild” invoked when describing the county’s treatment by the ruling Democrats at the state Capitol.

“It’s super frustrating to now have a supermajority in the state Legislature that doesn’t create the space for a healthy dialogue,” Supervisor Dawn Rowe said. “This is an opportunity for us to figure out whether there are the inequities that we think we have.”

Ahead of the November 2022 election, Burum mounted a minimal campaign — no mailers, no ads, just 7,000 yard signs. He said he didn’t want to manipulate voters with a flood of money, which would have given critics fuel to brush off the significance of a victory.

With no organized opposition, his gambit paid off. The measure passed with 50.6% of the vote.

Randy Thornton, a 44-year-old truck driver from Victorville, said he voted for it because he was tired of the Bay Area and Los Angeles having all the say about the direction of California.

“The state of California is run by limousine liberals who don’t care about the working class,” Thornton, a former Democrat turned independent voter, said as he headed to a Turner’s Outdoorsman in Victorville. “We get overlooked. We don’t get the representation.”

After the election, the board of supervisors hired a consulting firm to study what San Bernardino County’s “fair share” of state and federal funding should look like, develop strategies for securing more resources and research the viability of the county changing states or forming its own state.

A draft report was due on March 3 and a county spokesperson said it is “working on the logistics of releasing” the findings this month. A representative for Supervisor Curt Hagman — who once wrote a column in defense of the initiative that declared “loving California may end in leaving it” and now serves as chairperson of the “fair share” committee — refused multiple interview requests.

And now the waiting game

In the meantime, Burum has largely gone quiet since his electoral triumph. Unlike the State of Jefferson, whose supporters fly the green double X flag of their movement all over far Northern California, you don’t see visible signs of support for a state of Empire as you drive around San Bernardino County. Most people seem entirely unaware of it.

Even Connie Leyva, a former state senator who wrote a joint letter to the board of supervisors in August 2022 opposing the ballot measure, didn’t realize it had passed when reached by CalMatters recently. She called secession a “ridiculous” idea for San Bernardino County, which she said does not have a big enough tax base to be self-reliant, and compared those pushing for it to a “petulant child.”

“These people are very foolish if they think that, by seceding from California and becoming the state of Empire, we’re going to get more money,” she said. “If you want more money, you need to work for it.”

Burum said his understated strategy is intentional. He wants to build his movement into something deeper — a cause for the residents of San Bernardino County — and he knows he needs to make people feel this is an issue about them, otherwise they won’t care. Though he’s growing impatient with the slow pace, Burum is waiting for the answers that the county’s study will provide to start evangelizing again.

“I’m not out here to push people. I’m here to put out a carrot and encourage people to follow,” he said. “I’m not going to polarize anything until it’s time to polarize something.”

He has his work cut out for him — and not just because both the California Legislature and the U.S. Congress would need to agree to form a new state.

Some San Bernardino County elected officials have enthusiastically embraced Burum’s plan, including Acquanetta Warren, a self-described “Republican with common sense” who serves as mayor of Fontana, the second-largest city in the county.

“It made a stand for ourselves. Isn’t that something, that we’re willing to stand up for ourselves finally and say, ‘we want our fair share’?” she said.

An overpass with “San Bernardino” painted on it on Interstate 210 on April 18, 2024. Photo by Zaydee Sanchez for CalMatters

Yet there remains a prevailing caution about being fully associated with secession. Warren said her own political consultant was worried that it might cause problems for her when she first began campaigning for the measure.

Rowe, the county supervisor, said including the language about secession — which she believes is “fairly insurmountable and not practical” — was more about catching attention and conveying the seriousness of their other demands. She sees the study as a way to provide a sense of validation for residents and a road map for the legislators who represent the county to advocate more effectively at the Capitol.

“It’s great, theoretically, to hope for a moment when we could express a desire for more autonomy,” Rowe said. “But I think we are hoping for a moment when we could express a desire for more respect.”

Despite all the failed attempts to split the state, Burum has no doubt it can be achieved. He’s certain that he’s developed a stronger legal foundation than his predecessors to win San Bernardino County’s independence, if that’s what all this comes to. And if not, the county only stands to gain financially.

That faith — or perhaps it’s ego — has propelled Burum through a lifetime of proving people wrong about his crazy ideas.

“So my point is, I am trying. I’m trying with every ounce, every day,” he said. “I get up every day, and when I’m going to bed at night, I kid you not, I am so worn out. I pray God lets me go to sleep and he wakes me up again in the morning, because the pressure’s on.”

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The CalMatters Ideas Festival takes place June 5-6! Find out more and get your tickets at this link.

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

Some of the most liberal and conservative members of the state Senate agreed recently that if you buy an iPhone in Los Angeles it shouldn’t help pay for police in Cupertino.

But the bipartisanship wasn’t enough to pass a bill that would change the rules allowing corporations wide discretion to choose who gets their online sales taxes, forcing cities to compete by offering companies huge tax kickbacks to win their favor.

“When we’re talking about how much you’re losing in tax dollars, let me tell you, it’s over $1 billion … given back to companies,” Sen. Steve Glazer, the bill’s author, told his colleagues on the Senate floor late last month. “One billion dollars that would go to public services in all of our jurisdictions.”

The opposition to Glazer’s Senate Bill 1494 was also bipartisan, some of it from senators who represent cities that benefit from the current rules. Cupertino, for example, gives 35% of the taxes it collects from Apple – about $4.5 million per year – back to the company. Still, nearly three quarters of the city’s sales tax revenue comes from Apple, according to Bloomberg Tax, which has extensively covered the issue.

As shoppers have switched to buying goods on their smartphones and computers, officials have debated for years about where sales tax revenue should go for purchases made online. Should it be the location of the buyer or the seller? Currently, it’s the seller. And companies have significant discretion about choosing their “point of sale” for tax purposes. This gives the companies that promise local jobs and municipal revenue boosts from warehouses, offices or retail centers tremendous bargaining power over local governments as they negotiate agreements that funnel sales tax money the cities collect back to the corporations.

For Glazer, a Democrat from Orinda, the agreements with local governments that kick back sales taxes to the firms are fundamentally unfair. He believes that if Californians buy something online, they expect taxes to go to the local government where the transaction took place – not to some city that could be hundreds of miles away. He told his Senate colleagues it creates a perverse system of “winners and losers.”

“Ninety-three percent of the cities are losers,” he said. “I can tell you that if you live in cities like Los Angeles, you’re a loser; San Francisco, Oakland, you’re a loser; San Diego, you’re a loser.”

A bipartisan group of 17 lawmakers, some of whose districts include cities that were in Glazer’s “loser” category, voted to support his bill on May 23. The supporters included liberal Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco who has a 100% rating from the Sierra Club and 0% from the California Chamber of Commerce, and conservative Sen. Brian Dahle, a Republican from the state’s rural northeast corner with a 100% rating from the chamber and 0% from the Sierra Club.

Dahle, who lost a bid for governor in 2022, split with the California Taxpayers Association on this vote even though he sides with the anti-tax group’s position on bills nearly 90% of the time, according to the CalMatters Digital Democracy database.

“We hear every day on this floor about disadvantaged communities and people not getting a fair break in California and the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer,” he said on the Senate floor. “Think about this: This is not a tax increase or decrease. This is about distribution. These multibillion dollar companies in California are robbing your community and putting in that tax base that I pay in (Lassen County) in their pockets, getting even more rich off the backs of a tax.”But the arguments from the likes of Glazer and Dahle weren’t enough for the bill to pass the 40-member chamber. It got 17 votes in support and just 11 votes against, but 12 senators did not vote, which counts as a “no.”

As CalMatters has reported, lawmakers regularly avoid voting on controversial bills to avoid angering colleagues or to eliminate a record of their opposition on sensitive matters. There is no distinction for legislators who abstain or are absent.

Many of the opposing senators have communities that benefit from the tax agreements, or they sided with cities and counties that argue the tax agreements are valuable tools that help disadvantaged communities promote economic development and create jobs.

Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a similar Glazer bill in 2019, making the same arguments.

Not surprisingly, Cupertino’s senator, Dave Cortese, a Democrat, voted “no.”

Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman, a Democratic former Stockton city councilmember, also cast a “no” vote. She told her colleagues that the current tax system doesn’t necessarily benefit just wealthy Silicon Valley communities.

“This bill is about what local governments can do with the resources they have,” she said. “So I’ll tell you some of the winners, and you tell me if they’re the big guys or not. City of Dinuba, city of Fresno, city of Merced … city of Tracy, city of Stockton. You know who those folks are? The little guys that live on that corridor, that breathe that diesel, that smell that gas, that have a lot of our jobs taken.”

California State Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman, a Democrat from Stockton, listens to legislative testimony at a hearing last year. Photo by Rahul Lal, CalMatters

She noted that Stockton alone receives about $1.5 million to $2 million a year from such an agreement. She didn’t say which company, and her office didn’t respond to CalMatters’ request for clarification. Stockton officials also didn’t respond to CalMatters’ request.

But Glazer told CalMatters those sorts of arguments are shortsighted since changing the tax system would funnel $1 billion in tax kickbacks that corporations receive from these agreements to communities across the state. It frustrated him that the influential League of California Cities opposed the bill, since the organization’s lobbyists regularly complain to lawmakers that “our cities are struggling and our cities are suffering” from lack of revenue, Glazer said.

“You’ve given more than $1 billion away of public money to these wealthy corporations,” Glazer said. “How can you come up here to Sacramento complaining about not having money?”

The League of California Cities told lawmakers in a letter opposing the bill that the proposed regulations were unnecessary since its members had agreed to place a cap on the corporate kickbacks, “provide enhanced transparency and public review, and make equitable changes” to how the taxes are distributed.

Sen. Kelly Seyarto, a Republican and former Murrieta mayor, said the tax-sharing agreements allow little communities like his to compete with bigger cities to lure in major business developers. He told the Senate’s Local Government Committee in April that if the Glazer’s bill would have passed, they wouldn’t be able to.

“And for smaller communities like the one I came from,” he said, “that’s death.”

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The CalMatters Ideas Festival takes place June 5-6! Find out more and get your tickets at this link.

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