We wanted to ask how the collapse of the deal will impact the measure given the fact that its Security National-funded backers, the Citizens for a Better Eureka, have consistently held up the now-vacant 8.3-acre Jacobs Middle School parcel as an ideal site for affordable housing development — far superior, they say, to the City of Eureka’s plans to convert a subset of downtown parking lots into apartment buildings.
Development of the Jacobs site has been a key plank of their pitch to voters. “Just imagine what is possible for Eureka,” the Citizens for a Better Eureka website says. “Envision a future where the economic vitality of Downtown is preserved, the availability of affordable homes in [sic] tripled, and the vacant Jacobs site is revitalized for family-friendly homes.”
Glossy, full-color mailers sent to Eureka residents have even included conceptual drawings of a suburban-style neighborhood development on the Jacobs site. This despite the fact that, according to both the Citizens for a Better Eureka and their deep-pocketed financier, Security National, they have absolutely no connection with AMG Communities.
Now that the AMG Communities deal has fallen through, Eureka City Schools officials say they will go back to the drawing board and bring other options for the Jacobs parcel to the district’s Board of Trustees. The last, best offer the district had received, prior to AMG’s $6 million bid, was a $4 million offer from the California Highway Patrol. The state agency hopes to build its new regional headquarters there.
So we emailed both Gail Rymer, a hired spokesperson for Security National, and Mike Munson, co-sponsor of the “Yes on Measure F” campaign to ask: Isn’t the premise of Measure F contingent the development of affordable housing on the Jacobs site?
Here are their emailed replies.
Rymer:
The Housing for All measure is not “contingent” on a private developer acquiring the Jacobs property. The Initiative would allow housing development on that property regardless of its ownership. The measure would create optionality for the property even if another public entity ultimately purchases it.
As the Initiative campaign has made clear, the City of Eureka’s plan for downtown development is flawed—the ballot measure enhances the City’s plan by providing a better alternative for affordable and market-rate housing.
Munson:
The Housing for All Initiative rezones the Jacobs site for hundreds of badly needed housing units. Nearly 3,000 Eureka voters signed petitions to put Housing for All on the ballot because of the acute housing shortage in Eureka.
Once the initiative passes, the Jacobs site will be available to become a planned, family-friendly community. Eurekas voters want this change instead of the School District’s plan to give the site to the state.
It’s unfortunate that AMG was forced to abandon its purchase. We understand this was due to the uncertainty generated by the unfounded opposition of certain City officials to our Initiative. Once the voters approve Housing for All, we expect AMG and other developers to eagerly line up to build the housing Eureka’s voters so badly want.
Best regards, Mike Munson Yes on Measure F, co-sponsor
It’s official! Eureka City Clerk Pam Powell confirmed at 4 p.m. today that four Eureka City Council nominees have officially qualified for the November ballot. These folks will be vying for two open seats in the November general election. The nomination period is now closed for all council positions.
Here’s a list of the candidates who have qualified for the race:
Ward 2 - Kati Moulton – A current Eureka City Council member and Old Town business owner. Moulton secured a seat on the council in November 2020.
Ward 2 - Kenny Carswell – A Eureka resident and project manager for Security National. Carswell has served as a Rotarian and as a member of the Humboldt County Workforce Development Board.
Ward 4 - Scott Bauer – A current Eureka City Council member and senior environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish & Wildlife. Bauer was elected to his seat on the council in November 2020.
Ward 4 - Thavisak “Lucky” Syphanthong – A Eureka resident and commercial real estate broker. Syphanthong is also the founder and owner of Eureka Skate Shop in Henderson Center and president of the Rotary Club of Eureka.
Check out the stories below to learn more about the new candidates. Check back next week for the highly anticipated launch of LoCOElections, the subsite we made for you, dear reader, to put your questions directly to the candidates in all the major races in Humboldt County.
Apparently the implosion of the Jacobs Middle School property deal between Eureka City Schools and the anonymous AMG Communities - Jacobs, LLC, won’t dissuade Security National from positively dumping money into the passage of Measure F, the “Eureka Housing for All and Downtown Vitality Initiative.”
Quite the opposite, it seems! Sometime yesterday, Security National Properties Holding Company, the real estate servicing firm founded by periodic Eureka resident Robin P. Arkley, cut a check to the “Yes on F” campaign for a whopping $285,710.98, according to a campaign finance form just uploaded to the City of Eureka’s elections website.
Add that to the $710,644.65 that the company already spent on the campaign and SN’s grand total comes to just shy of a cool mil: $996,355.63. And there are still nearly three months to go before Election Day.
On August 9, 2024, at approximately 8:36 a.m., Eureka Police Department
Officers along with personnel from Humboldt Bay Fire, were dispatched to
the report of an injury traffic collision at the intersection of Henderson and
K Streets in Eureka.
The investigation revealed a Ford Bronco was traveling on Henderson
Street when a Toyota Tacoma failed to stop at the posted stop sign on K
Street and collided with the Bronco. The Bronco then left the roadway and
came to rest in the yard of a residence adjacent to the intersection. The
driver of the Tacoma suffered minor injuries and the driver of the Bronco
suffered moderate injuries and was transported to the hospital by City
Ambulance. The residence and landscaping suffered some damage but no
injuries were sustained inside the residence.
As a result of the investigation, the driver of the Tacoma, Henry Zaragoza
(20 years old from Eureka), was arrested for Felony Driving Under of the
Influence and Driving on a Suspended License. Zaragoza was transported
and booked at the Humboldt County Jail.
The inaugural Rumble Over the Redwoods Air Show will be taking place this weekend, Saturday, August 10th and Sunday, August 11th. Times are weather dependent however as of now, the aerobatics and pyrotechnic shows are scheduled from 11am - 5:30pm.
The Tora Bomb Squad will be providing large-scale pyrotechnics at this year’s airshow. These walls of fire and explosions may appear dangerous, but rest assured that emergency personnel (ourselves included) will be present at the airshow in case of emergency.
*Central Ave. behind the airport will be CLOSED to through traffic while the airshow is happening.*
With just hours left before the scheduled close of escrow — and half a day after the Eureka City Schools Board of Trustees declined a request for another delay in completing the deal — the anonymous corporation AMG Communities - Jacobs, LLC, issued a statement saying it was actually their idea to back out of the land exchange agreement.
The statement, which was sent in response to emailed questions from the Outpost, goes on to accuse the City of Eureka of working to actively repel affordable housing development.
Back in January, Gov. Gavin Newsom designated Eureka as one of 37 “Prohousing” communities in the state, officially recognizing the city’s efforts to cut red tape and speed up housing approvals. A month later, Attorney General Rob Bonta lauded city leaders for acting “swiftly and fiercely” to address the housing crisis and climate crisis through its plans to convert downtown parking lots into apartment complexes.
When reached by phone, Eureka City Manager Miles Slattery said that AMG’s allegation that the city is to blame for this deal falling through is false.
“That is the most laughable statement I’ve heard from any agency in a very long time,” he said.
Slattery insisted that, if anything, city staff members went out of their way to expedite AMG’s request to rezone the former Jacobs Middle School property. The Eureka City Council approved a “Mixed Neighborhood” overlay zone for that property in April.
“We made sure we did everything in our power to make this happen,” Slattery said of the rezone request.
Here’s the statement from AMG:
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AMG Communities has decided to withdraw from the exchange agreement with Eureka City Schools for the former Jacobs Middle School property, and to wait until the passage of Measure F, the Housing for All and Downtown Vitality Initiative, on the November ballot to reconsider purchasing the property if it is still available at that time.
We sought this property and were willing to make a substantial investment in the community because we believe the community supports the construction of badly needed housing at this site. Our investors were willing to pay an above-market price for the property in order to provide as much benefit as possible to the School District.
However, the strident opposition of several City officials, including certain members of the City Council, to efforts to rezone this site for family housing has created a political climate that is too risky for the size of investment needed to bring our vision for the Jacobs site into reality.
With a few exceptions in southern California, nearly every city in the state is working hard to attract developers interested in providing housing that is affordable to average working residents. The City of Eureka, by comparison, has been working hard to repel this type of investment. That is unfortunate and a loss to City residents.
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NOTE: This post has been updated from its original version to include comments from Slattery.
Longtime Sun Valley Group CEO Lane DeVries recently sent the following message to his colleagues in the floral industry explaining the factors that led to the recent closure of the company and the elimination as many as 700 local jobs.
A Message from Lane August 2024
Dear Floral Industry friends,
Now that the news of Sun Valley closing has reverberated through the floral industry and our local community, I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on good times, but also the journey through the dark valley.
I wish to express my gratitude to the fantastic team we had in our company with dedicated team members. The Sun Valley team spirit and the agility of the Sun Valley team have been a cornerstone and integral to the success of the company throughout the years. It was incredibly painful to say goodbye to this wonderful team in the last 2 months.
The sense of being a Sun Valley family was at the core of our company culture. We had fun building this company with a mission to make a difference and leaving a legacy of a commitment to quality in product and service and advancing the American floral industry at large.
Thank you to our customers and industry friends, many of you have sent messages, emails and phone calls, we very much appreciate these expressions of concern and comfort.
Originally Sun Valley started in 1948 in Southern Oregon, and the company has been doing business in Humboldt County California for 65 years. I have been blessed to be part of this great company since i arrived here in January of 1984.
In the last 40 years, Sun valley went through a period of phenomenal growth. The Sun Valley team continued to expand, and many customers across the USA were eager to buy our flowers. Meanwhile Sun Valley’s involvement in the local community, and its employment base of over 400 team members, were a vital part of the North Coast economy.
Starting 16 years ago our company encountered several serious setbacks:
For instance, in 2008 we lost 75% of our workforce in Arcata due to an immigration action by the government. The ensuing domino effect on operations lasted for nearly 18 months and left the company with a huge financial hole, and lasting scars.
In 2019 “FTD/Proflowers” one of Sun Valley’s largest customers at the time, filed for bankruptcy right after Mother’s Day and several million dollars never were paid. The pandemic in the Spring of 2020 left us with millions of flowers blooming in the greenhouses.
At the same time business conditions in California have made operating a greenhouse flower company very challenging.
The rising cost due to a series of rapid minimum wages increases, and the phased-out elimination of the agricultural overtime exemption has seriously raised the company’s unit cost in recent years.
Insurance expenses have quadrupled in the last 5 years. Natural gas costs have gone up dramatically and electricity expenses have nearly tripled in the last 10 years.
These cumulative factors had a dramatic impact on our competitive position in the marketplace. In many cases our customers were unwilling to accept price increases needed to offset the cost increases.
These conditions have put the company deeper into debt and with the current interest rates, it has deteriorated the financial state of the company.
As owners we reached the point of having difficulty seeing a viable way out on our own accord.
In the last 12 months the company has searched for a suitable investor or a buyer for the entire business. While there were some leads, no buyer for the entire company materialized.
This left us at the point of closing the doors, many have asked what all this means to the supply of core Sun Valley crops.
We are pleased to announce that Continental Floral Greens has assumed the leases of the Willow Creek farm. This assures the continuity of the well know Sun Valley crops like “Spirit Series” Ilex, Rosehips, Cotinus, Snowberries Flowering Cotinus and Snowball Viburnum.
The other core Sun Valley crop that will continue are the Butterfly Ranunculus, and possibly Iris, Continental Floral Greens will be growing these at their Watsonville location.
After finishing winding down Sun Valley, I will be involved in an advisory and consulting capacity to Continental Floral Greens to lend my experience in growing and bringing these crops to the marketplace. Tim Crockenberg, Sun Valley’s lead grower will also come on board.
Many of you know that I’m a man of faith and I trust that our Lord has a plan, and good things are in store for those who believe.
Thank you for all the kind words, prayers, emails and calls of support and encouragement.
I know it is hard to accept but I trust there will come a time that all of it starts making sense.
pyrotechnics
at this year’s airshow. These walls of fire and explosions may appear dangerous, but rest assured that emergency personnel (ourselves included) will be present at the airshow in case of emergency.
