Gov. Gavin Newsom’s funding plan for California schools violates the state’s constitution and could endanger school funding in years to come, according to a lawsuit filed today in Sacramento.

The California School Boards Association, which filed the suit, has been outspoken in its opposition to the plan since Newsom introduced his revised budget in May. The state already passed its budget and the lawsuit won’t affect money that’s already been allotted to schools, but the association hopes a judge will strike down what they described as Newsom’s “funding maneuver.”

The governor, trying to preserve funding for schools amid a tight economic climate, made up an $8.8 billion shortfall in the Proposition 98 school funding guarantee by borrowing from the state’s general fund.

“The manipulation … is unacceptable as it removes a funding safety net that has served schools for more than three decades and could be used by future governors and legislatures to avoid complying with the Proposition 98 funding guarantee,” association president Albert Gonzalez said.

Newsom’s office said the accounting move was not only legal, but saved schools from potential budget cuts.

“Because general fund revenues were significantly lower than estimated … the recalculated minimum guarantee for fiscal year 2022-23 is roughly $8.8 billion less than previously calculated,” Joe Stephenshaw, the state’s director of finance, wrote to legislative leaders in July. “To help address this decrease in the minimum guarantee without impacting school district and community college district budgets,” the budget shifts some spending sources.

Proposition 98, passed nearly 40 years ago, sets a minimum funding guarantee for California’s public schools. Based on a complex set of formulas, the guarantee is roughly 40% of the state’s budget, and pays for things such as teacher salaries and day-to-day operating expenses at the state’s 10,000 schools.

Newsom has invested heavily in schools during his stint as governor, funneling billions to programs like community schools, improved school meals, student mental health and other initiatives. He’s said that these programs are especially important as students recover from the pandemic, academically as well as emotionally.

California’s per-pupil spending, which used to be among the nation’s lowest, is now above average, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. In 2022-23, California spent $19,475 per student, counting revenue from all sources.

Overall, the education budget this year was $134 billion.

Schools are facing a precarious budget outlook, as federal pandemic relief money expires, absenteeism remains high and enrollment continues to drop in many parts of the state. California funds schools based on attendance, so fewer students in classrooms equals less revenue from the state.

Meanwhile, schools are trying to find money to maintain programs that have proven successful, such as academic tutoring, after-school programs and summer school. They’re also grappling with teacher shortages in some subjects, and raising salaries to attract and retain staff.

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

Jared Michael Ourique, born on October 7, 1984 in Richmond to Michael Ourique and Nancy Wilcox Coppock, passed away peacefully on September 16, 2024 in Fortuna.

Anyone who knew Jared knew his warmth, his loving smile, his goofy laugh, and his love of sharing knowledge. He moved to Humboldt County to attend (then) HSU, where he acquired a Bachelor’s Degree in Teaching the English Language Arts, a Bachelor’s Degree in Native American Studies, and his Teaching Credential. He spent the majority of his career passing along his love of literature, theater, pop culture, and bad dad jokes to countless students.

Jared was a bright spot for many. He was everyone’s biggest fan and supporter, always encouraging his two children, students, friends and family to try their hardest, be their best, and pursue what made them the happiest. To know Jared was to know his friendship, his unwavering support, his infectious smile and his authentic whimsy.

Much of the center of his heart and his teaching was the wellness of others. He was a safe space and comfort for many. Anyone could count on him to break the tension with his cheeky grin and chuckle, before providing a goofy fact, a corny joke, or a truly excellent recommendation of a book, show, or song. In his short life, he was able to make so many people feel rooted, at home, and an ultimate sense of belonging.

He is survived by many who loved him, including his two beloved children, his father (Michael), mother (Nancy), stepfather (Monty), his three sisters (Kelsey, Lindsey, and Molly), Elyse and Jennifer, and countless other family members and friends.

In lieu of flowers, if you are inclined, donations can be made in the names of his Children at Coast Central Credit Union under the accounts:

Elizabeth Ourique: 388925
Oliver Ourique: 388924

Jared will be missed by many. Please join us to remember him on Sunday, October 13, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Van Duzen River Grange, located at 5250 Hwy 36, Carlotta, CA 95528.

For California political observers, the housing plan that Kamala Harris recently unveiled may have caused a twinge of familiarity.

As a central plank of her agenda to “lower costs for American families,” the Democratic presidential nominee pledged in August to build 3 million additional affordable homes and rentals over the next four years to address “a serious housing shortage across America” — echoing Gov. Gavin Newsom’s platform during his first gubernatorial campaign in 2018, when he called for California to add 3.5 million housing units by 2025.

Housing policy experts are enthusiastic about many of the ideas that Harris floated to promote production, which include creating a new tax incentive for developers who build starter homes for first-time homebuyers, expanding a tax incentive for affordable rental housing projects and establishing a $40 billion “innovation fund” to finance construction, as well as repurposing some federal land for housing and streamlining the permitting processes for projects.

Michael Lens, a professor of urban planning and public policy at UCLA, called it a wonk’s wish list: “This is all of the stuff we talk about at dorky academic conferences.”

But transforming the housing market from the top is difficult, as Newsom’s experience has demonstrated.

While California has increased production during his time in office — about 112,000 units were completed last year, according to the Department of Housing and Community Development, compared to about 70,000 in 2018 — it is still only building at a fifth of the rate necessary to meet his original target.

The governor has since acknowledged that 3.5 million units “was always a stretch goal” and scaled back. His office declined an interview request for this story.

Even with new policy priorities in place, high construction costs, onerous regulations, lack of public funding and community resistance remain major hurdles to supercharging homebuilding in California — offering lessons for a potential Harris administration.

“You’re going to be limited in your ability to change things on the ground,” said Ben Metcalf, a former state and federal housing official who is now managing director of the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley. “Even when you are trying to move carrots and sticks, you find years later, what do you have to show?”

Set manageable goals

The high cost of housing has long been a top concern for Californians, but the problem is spreading across the nation. Industry data indicates that home prices exploded over the past five years, up more than 50% since 2019, while rent surged by about a third during that time, oustripping raises.

People moving from expensive cities to outlying areas for more affordable housing or moving into bigger homes during the coronavirus pandemic has driven up demand in new places, while even many recent pro-growth boom towns are becoming strained by the natural limits of expansion or a dimming taste for development.

“There is plenty of reason to think that it could get worse, in the sense that California is a bellwether,” Lens said.

Construction is constrained in California by pricey land, local zoning limits and fees, lengthy permitting processes and the threat of litigation, all of which drive up the cost of building and make it difficult for many projects to pencil out financially.

It’s unclear where the Harris campaign came up with its goal of 3 million housing units over the next four years — or how exactly it would measure success, given the emphasis on affordability. A campaign spokesperson did not respond to questions seeking a more detailed explanation, though he did clarify that this would be above current production.

That would require a President Harris to immediately boost construction nationwide by 50%, to levels not seen since before the housing market crashed during the 2008 financial crisis. The country built about 1.45 million new homes last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The strategy carries some political risk. Newsom set an ambitious housing goal as a candidate for governor, which would have required California to build 500,000 new homes per year, and then faced criticism for falling short.

Gov. Gavin Newsom during a press conference where he signed new gun legislation into law at the Capitol Annex Swing Space in Sacramento on Sept. 26, 2023. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters

Metcalf noted that Harris’ plan for 3 million homes is more aggressive than the 2 million figure that President Joe Biden was campaigning on before he dropped out of the race this summer, but far below the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, which targeted the construction or rehabilitation of 26 million units over the next decade, including six million for low- and moderate-income families.

“The last time we saw an incoming president really putting a big, bold number on the board was that,” Metcalf said. “She wants to be able to campaign for a second term saying, ‘Hey, we did it.’”

Clear regulatory hurdles

California officials are undertaking a serious push to make it easier to build housing. Over the past several years, they have passed major legislation that allows landowners to add additional units on single-family lots in residential neighborhoods, streamlines the process for turning empty commercial properties into housing, shields certain affordable projects from lengthy environmental reviews and legal challenges, opens up land owned by religious institutions and colleges for construction, and gives developers more tools to speed up permitting in uncooperative cities and counties.

Advocates projected these policies could unlock millions of new homes across the state, but the impact so far has been significantly more modest.

“That’s a precursor to making a lot of these things work,” Lens said. “We have to make housing more allowable in more places.”

New housing construction in Elk Grove on July 8, 2022. Photo by Rahul Lal, CalMatters

A series of laws to encourage more “accessory dwelling units” has been a promising exception, according to Chris Elmendorf, a UC Davis law professor with an expertise in land use and housing law. Since California forced local governments to waive fees and affordability requirements and grant faster approval for backyard cottages and other secondary units, the state has seen a boom of ADU construction.

Elmendorf said Harris’ proposed tax incentive for starter homes — which is not an official category, but generally refers to more modest housing that provides a cheaper entry point into the market — could similarly provide a quick jolt to the housing supply.

“If the goal is to promote small, inexpensive, market-rate homes, that’s really different than what California has been doing,” Elmendorf said. “California has been able to pass a lot of laws, but it hasn’t been able to pass many laws that make housing economically feasible.”

Experts argue that California has not been able to maximize the effectiveness of its new pro-housing laws because it is prioritizing so many other goals — demands to use union labor, requirements for more deed-restricted affordable units to reduce gentrification, environmental considerations to discourage sprawl and climate risks — that it’s still too expensive to build here.

“California has been able to pass a lot of laws, but it hasn’t been able to pass many laws that make housing economically feasible.”
— Chris Elmendorf, law professor at UC Davis

The high costs for workers, materials and local regulations have been compounded lately by elevated interest rates, which drive up the price tag to finance projects and may actually be reversing California’s progress on construction. Metcalf compared it to a straw breaking the camel’s back for the building industry.

“That’s something that we’ve made almost no progress on as a state,” he said. “Once you have the table set, if the costs are too high, then nothing gets built.”

It’s of particular concern for affordable housing developers, who rely heavily on public funding. Chione Lucina Muñoz Flegal, executive director of the affordable housing advocacy group Housing California, said that despite state laws that have made it easier to plan projects, developers continue to struggle to pull together enough money to get them over the finish line.

She is hopeful about a surge in financial support — through the tax incentives and innovation fund in Harris’ plan — that has been unavailable from state or local governments, which she said have not generally prioritized money for affordable housing because constituents do not understand the benefits.

“There’s a narrative challenge that we’re grappling with that often translates into a political challenge,” Flegal said. “That’s a way the federal government could be impactful in a way the state could never be.”

Use sticks as well as carrots

Though Newsom made clear his desire to boost housing production in California, not everyone has been on board with his approach.

Some cities, particularly wealthy or coastal suburbs, have vigorously fought to restrict additional development in their own communities, resisting a state mandate to plan for far more housing and suing to exempt themselves or overturn new laws that make it easier to build more densely. They contend these policies would destroy the character of their communities.

Newsom, who argues that everyone must do their part to solve the crisis, has cracked down by creating a new enforcement unit within the state housing department and suing the most intransigent cities for failing to approve housing plans or even specific projects.

A framer works to build the Ruby Street apartments in Castro Valley on Feb. 6, 2024. The construction project is funded by the No Place Like Home bond, which passed in 2018 to create affordable housing for homeless residents experiencing mental health issues. Photo by Camille Cohen for CalMatters

But the federal government does not have the same legal authority that California has given itself to demand local communities build more housing, and there’s no guarantee that Congress would be willing to step in to play more of a role in what has traditionally been a local matter in most states.

“Plans don’t translate into outcomes if people don’t want to build housing,” Elmendorf said.

So to reach her goal of 3 million new homes, Harris would have to rely more on the proposed incentives, such as the tax breaks for starter homes and affordable rentals and the innovation fund, for voluntary compliance.

Experts believe she has a good political opportunity to actually get her plan passed. Congress will be under pressure next year to extend a series of tax cuts made under former President Donald Trump that are set to expire at the end of 2025, which could be used as a bargaining chip for Harris’ housing proposals.

The federal government also has the power of the purse on a scale well beyond California, which it could amplify through regulations — such as tying transportation dollars to building more housing — that make supporting development the more desirable option.

California has tried this type of regulatory incentive, encouraging local governments to remove obstacles to construction with grant money and creating a “pro-housing designation” for cities that adopt streamlined development policies, which gives them privileged access to state funds.

“Unfortunately, that pro-housing designation is not based on outcomes. So that’s a fundamental problem,” Elmendorf said. “That’s something Harris will have to figure out.”

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

Sandra “Sandy” Lee Heddinger passed away peacefully the evening of September 19, 2024 in Eureka while encompassed by love and family.

A devoted gardener, Sandy brought beauty and life to her surroundings, nurturing not just plants but also those who knew her. She could always be found puttering in her garden, pulling weeds and watering her beautiful flowers. She had a particular fondness for hummingbirds which could be seen at the many feeders set up through her gardens, and Sandy took great pleasure in watching them flit among the plants. The only thing that brought Sandy more joy than her garden were her loved ones.

Sandy had an established career working at Safeway, and she could always be counted on for a cheery greeting and a helping hand. Many of her long-standing customers from Safeway, became customers in a new way when she bought the best pizza joint in town, Babe’s Pizza. Sandy’s hard work was a key to Babe’s success, but her favorite part of owning her pizza joint was always the people she met while there. She was always floating from group to group, telling jokes, offering up toasts. After making the decision to sells Babe’s, she took her infectious smile to Costco, where her open and friendly demeanor was perfect for passing out samples. Throughout her long career, at Safeway, Babe’s and Costco, it was her dedication and vibrant energy that made a lasting impact on colleagues and customers alike.

Sandy will be missed and always remembered by her children Douglas Jr Simmonds (Jody), Carmen Clark (Robert), and Terri Heddinger; as well as her grandchildren Mandy, Joseph, Matthew, Michael, Ricky, Douglas III, Alisha, Katie, and Tyler; and her dear friends Kathy, Chris and Lisa.

Sandy was predeceased by her parents, Santina DelGrande and Hap Churchman and her daughter Angela Simmonds.

Sandy’s memory will live on through her loved ones, any time they see a hummingbird, or hear a Barry Manilow song on the radio. Her family encourages all who were lucky enough to know Sandy to take a moment to reflect on her life and the joy that Sandy brought to those around her.

We’re closing in on the end of September, so now’s the time to look back and reflect on the year that has been. And all told: Pretty damned good year, wasn’t it? Pretty wet!

We’re talking about the “water year,” of course – that period from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30 that meteorologists and other scientists use to talk about rainfall here in the U.S. of A. Look at the LoCO weather report down at the bottom of our homepage. See the line for “year to date” precipitation? On Oct. 2, that number will reset to zero. That’s because we’re talking about the water year, not the calendar year.

Anyway, to repeat ourselves: Pretty damned good! This year, for the first year since 2016-2017, we had a significantly wetter year than average. (I’m arbitrarily defining “significantly wetter,” here, as 20 percent above average.) The year before – 2022-2023 – was about average. Before that: Three years of severe California drought.

Here’s how 2023-2024 has played out:

Started off, in the first three months, just barely struggling to keep pace. But as of January 1, the skies really cut loose! We’re talking flood warnings. Highway closures. Snow packing. Major coastal erosion. Inconvenient in the moment, but we banked some moisture for the summer months.

Hats off to the 2023-2024 water year. But what’s the long-term forecast? Are we going to keep this streak alive, or are we headed back to drought days?

Short answer: No one knows! And that’s because the usual thing the meteorologists talk about when they talk about long-term forecasts are El Niño or La Niña patterns in the Pacific Ocean. And though these patterns can have very dramatic effects elsewhere in the world, it turns out that they have little bearing on the amount of rainfall we get here on the North Coast.

You see that? By far the wettest year we’ve had in the last decade was a La Niña year … but so was the very driest year! Same with El Niño years – they can be wet or dry, at least here in Humboldt.

For what it’s worth, this year they’re predicting a very high probability of a weak-ish La Niña pattern forming sometime soon, which would mean generally a drier-than-average winter for the state of California as a whole.

While we have you: If you’re a real weather nerd, the National Weather Service’s ENSO Blog is a surprisingly lively and fun read that is more or less accessible to the lay reader. (“ENSO” is the acronym for “ El Niño-Southern Oscillation,” the technical name for the El Niño/La Niña cycle.) Also, of course, you should be tuned in to the super-geeky Weather West blog.

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As a scientist with the California Department of Fish & Wildlife, Scott Bauer takes a data-driven approach to his role as the Fourth Ward representative for the Eureka City Council. If there’s a local problem that needs solving – whether it be multimodal transportation needs or increased access to affordable housing – Bauer leans on evidence-based research to guide the decision-making process.

“I deal with data every day of my life,” he told the Outpost during a sit-down interview this week. “I also believe that our laws should be based off of data.”

After having served nearly four years as the Ward 4 representative on the Eureka City Council, Bauer hopes to secure a second term in the upcoming General Election. He’s running against first-time city council candidate Thavisak “Lucky” Syphanthong.

The Outpost met with Bauer in Old Town Eureka on Tuesday afternoon to talk about the upcoming election and some of the city’s most pressing issues, including homelessness and housing, ongoing infrastructure improvements, the importance of renewable energy, and, of course, Measure F. Our conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

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Lost Coast Outpost: Thank you for taking the time to chat this afternoon. I suppose I’ll start off by asking you to introduce yourself to the folks who aren’t familiar with Eureka politics. Can you tell me about the ward you represent and what you do outside of your role on the Eureka City Council?

Bauer: I’m Scott Bauer, I have lived in Eureka for over 20 years and a little over 11 years in the Fourth Ward. I have two kids; one is a Eureka High student and the other is now in college at Montana State in Bozeman. My wife is a nurse at St. Joe’s; she’s been there for over a decade. Both of us have been active in politics for many years; she worked for Congressman Mike Thompson doing fundraising for a few years and I was on the California Association of Professional Sciences Board of Directors for 12 or 14 years. I’ve been politically involved for most of my life, whether it be union work or working to get people elected that we respected. I work for the California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW) as a scientist, and I’ve been working for the state for 25 years. I’m a career civil servant, permitting, enforcement, all that kind of stuff. In my free time, you know, I’m an outdoorsman, so fishing, hiking, hunting, etc. I’ll do anything that’s outside.

Eureka’s ward map. Click to enlarge.

I represent Ward 4, which is full of great people, like the whole city. Eureka is on a “true ward” system, which means you only vote for the representative of your ward, which upsets a lot of people but I think it’s great. All of our wards are very interesting looking, but it’s not due to gerrymandering, it’s just based on population.

LoCO: You’re running for your second term on the Eureka City Council. Can you tell me what drew you to run for the council in the first place?

Bauer: Oh, that’s a great question. My kids hate when I tell this story, but we were driving north through Eureka one day, and they’re like, “This town is so ugly,” you know, along the 101 corridor, and I explained to them – like I’ve explained to a lot of people who want to see things change faster – that we’re a utilitarian community. We were built for mining, timber and fishing. Our economy was based on a hard-working industry, so beautification and having a beautiful city wasn’t the first priority, you know? But my kids would say that from time to time and I’ve always been someone that looks for a solution when there’s a problem. I don’t like when people complain and don’t take action. So, I decided to try and do something about it. I talked to my wife and she said, “You’ve been involved in politics your whole life, why not?”

And that kind of dovetails into why I’m running again – Eureka is my home and I have civic pride and I care about it. That’s why I ran for the first time and that’s why I want to continue to represent this city. I feel like the city is doing a lot; renewable energy is coming, we’re getting really close to breaking ground on some big projects and I want to see more housing built. I want to see people appreciate this city because I think it’s valuable. 

LoCO: Can you talk about some specific obstacles you encountered in your first term? 

Bauer: Well, there are general government obstacles, as well as the speed at which things occur. Having a background in civil service, I understand permitting and how things take time. You want things to happen immediately, but there’s the public process and there’s a permitting process. You know, I want to see the Bay to Zoo Trail built, but these things take time. So, that is an obstacle to me but it’s also a part of society and something we can’t necessarily change. In the last few years, for example, the city has made a lot of progress with Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). The permitting process is way easier now. So, the more we can do to reduce obstacles, the better.

There’s also the challenge of getting people to have the shared vision that, I think, our city council has. I see people in two camps: Those that pine for some other time, like the 50s or something, who feel we should just go back to that, and those that are like, “We have challenges, we have climate change, we have homelessness and addiction, we have all these things that we can’t just go back.” So, what do we do going forward, you know? That’s the fun stuff – well, it’s not fun – but that’s the stuff that I enjoy, you know, solving problems and trying to find solutions. 

One of the things I’ve done during my time on the council is serve on the board of directors for the League of California Cities and we get involved in legislation. I take that as an extension of my council work that I’m going to try and protect Eureka. One of my goals for these next four years is to get more money from the state because relying on our tax base isn’t enough. … So, what can I do at the state level to bring in funds to make sure that legislation doesn’t get passed that affects us in a negative way or prevents our forward momentum? That’s how I see obstacles and challenges getting handled, by taking a proactive look but always looking forward. 

We’ve got a lot to do in Eureka. If you’ve been to the Friday Night Market, it’s insane! People want to hang out in Old Town; they want to enjoy each other’s company. We need to keep moving forward in a way that makes this town super valuable as a place for people to live in the future.

LoCO: That’s funny, I just referred to Friday Night Market as “insane” while talking to some friends recently. It really is amazing to see how many people come out. Eureka has become so vibrant, it’s really cool to see.

Bauer: Well, and some people would say it isn’t. We get comments at council meetings all the time about how horrible it is, and I’m like, “What vision are they seeing?” You know, I can see issues, but they just see darkness. And I feel sorry for them, frankly, because that’s all they see. You know, when I go to Friday Night Market and I see 100 people I know, I walk out of there feeling like life is good.

LoCO: Well, to that point, there are real concerns with homelessness, mental health, needle litter and drug use in Eureka, but these are difficult issues that can’t be solved through a one-size-fits-all approach. There are people in the streets that really need help. That help often starts with access to mental health services and housing. Can you expand on that and talk about what the city is doing and can do to address some of those concerns?

Bauer: Yeah, we’ll start with policing. As you know, we have CSET – the city’s Community Safety Engagement Team – and they’re out there trying to de-escalate situations, which, 10 years ago, would have ended up in someone being hauled off to jail. So we’ve got these incredible law enforcement personnel that are trained in mental crisis like we never would have thought and it’s critical to making our community safer. 

We’ve also hired mental health clinicians, mostly through grant funding, to go out with law enforcement and respond to the person who’s having a crisis. That way there’s a law enforcement presence close by to help them if things go wrong. … We also have these issues that can’t be addressed through law enforcement. That’s what people feel, but I have to remind people that this is a societal problem. It’s not something that’s [exclusive] to Eureka, this is happening everywhere. …

On top of that, the county has MIST [Mobile Intervention Services Team] and we have all these different programs that are trying to address housing. You know, Betty Chinn’s Blue Angel Village is going to be done soon. … We’re building facilities to try and get people a place and then, hopefully, we can address their mental health issues. We’re doing our damnedest to address those issues. And like I said, everything takes time. … The business of the city council is very much like a business. It can be tedious and it can be a challenge, but that’s how the city is run. … I feel like we’ve done a lot with the leadership of our city. Our city staff are great; they’re just human beings trying to make our city better and there’s always more to do. 

LoCO: I’d like to stay on the topic of housing, a key issue in this year’s election. What is your stance on Measure F, the “Housing for All and Downtown Vitality” initiative?

Bauer: I’ll be voting “no” on Measure F. It’s not a question. I’ve had friends tell me, “This seems great! You know, housing for all!” I think the easiest way to get a feel for how authentic it is is to look at how much money somebody puts into an initiative. Who’s behind it? Do they really care about the city? And I would argue, no.

[The city has] done what it can to pave the way for people to build housing. We just need people to come in, get grant funds and do it. These things take time but the reality is, Measure F would not help with that. Some people seem to think that a few parking lots versus housing is a trade-off that they’re not willing to do, and I don’t understand it. I mean, I don’t ever have a problem finding parking in Eureka and I live and work here.

It’s interesting that in this little tiny city, someone has spent over a million dollars to pass an initiative. Why? 

LoCO: Can you talk about how Measure F would impact the city’s efforts to build new housing in Eureka and how it would affect the city’s Housing Element?

Bauer: Well, it kind of upsets those efforts because the overall gist of [Measure F] is to maintain parking. If you build, let’s say, 90 units on top of parking, it makes it cost-prohibitive for the developer, right? So, what do we do? We have a Regional Housing Needs Allocation that says the city needs “x” number of new housing based on its population. If the [the city] can’t do that because it’s restricted by a particular ballot measure, the state could tell us that we’re in violation of state law and we can be sued. … It essentially throws our Housing Element into turmoil. … We just need housing, and this initiative makes it more challenging to build that housing.

LoCO: Keeping with the topic of housing, during a recent city council meeting you voted against the passage of the Vacant Building Ordinance. Can you explain some of your concerns and why you voted against the ordinance?

Bauer: Sure. You know, I have a wide net of friendships and I talked to a lot of people about this ordinance and my feeling was, is this really an issue? Is this something that is actually preventing people from finding housing? And we don’t have the information on that. I deal with data every day of my life and … I also believe that our laws should be based off of data. You know, is there a problem we’re trying to solve? And frankly, I’m not sure I see it right now. …

LoCO: I’d like to shift gears to infrastructure. The city has made a lot of progress in recent years through capital improvement projects, including trail building, repaving city streets and more. Some projects have received near-unanimous support from the community, while others have been extremely divisive, such as the Dolbeer/W Street Couplet Project. Can you talk about the delicate balance between pushing forward new, innovative projects while also hearing constituents’ concerns about too much change too fast?

Bauer: That’s a great question. You know, I like to remind people that there was a time when the city was spending $700,000 a year on roads, which doesn’t do hardly anything. After Measure H passed, which I campaigned on and supported, we’re spending $2.5 million on roads and we’re able to do quite a bit more. And while we’re doing that … we’re fixing the city’s sewer system. Our water system is more than a century old and we’re slowly doing the work that needs to be done to make our city operate efficiently. 

When it comes to things like bike lanes and bulb-outs – which are proven safety measures – it’s about the bottom line. Change is hard, and I totally understand that. At the same time, you get through it and you learn to change your driving habits. I realize that I turn slower because of bulb-outs. If you do hit somebody, the impact’s gonna be a lot less significant because you’re going slower. It is a safety feature, and it’s totally working, even though people still hate them. 

It’s the same as bike lanes, right? We’ve been a car-based culture for about a century, roughly. And to change that, you know, from a historical perspective, is huge. It’s hard for a lot of people but it needs to happen. We should all be able to enjoy the roads that we pay for. If you’re a biker, the road should be safe for you, too. If you’re a pedestrian, there should be a flashing beacon at that busy intersection that people still don’t stop at, you know? 

Right now, we need to move as fast as possible to change how we think of transportation because we are in desperate times with climate change. We need more bike lanes because we need to get out of our vehicles. We have to, for the planet’s sake, for our children’s sake. And some people won’t be able to for health issues or whatever it may be, but those people will still have the same access they’ve always had. 

LoCO: On the topic of climate change, the next few years are going to be really important for economic development in Eureka – and Humboldt County as a whole – with the burgeoning offshore wind industry. Can you talk about this opportunity and what it means for our community?

Bauer: As a scientist who spends a lot of time looking at climate research and trying to understand it as best I can, we literally don’t have another five years to change how we live if we want the world to be the same. If we don’t really care, then by all means, we just continue. (And to be clear, this is me talking, not the City of Eureka, though I believe the city is supportive of all of this.) Life is filled with trade-offs and it’s a matter of human survival, at least in the current state of society, that we figure out alternative sources of energy beyond what we’re currently doing. There’s a huge amount of fuel out [in the ocean] because wind is fuel. We’re still trying to figure some things out, like where does transmission go? The city should get enough to power us with 100 percent clean energy. We can’t bypass Humboldt County and take it to Red Bluff and down the I-5 corridor. We need to fight for that energy to stay here and the excess can be taken somewhere else. I really strongly believe in that.

I’m the vice-chair of the Redwood Coast Energy Authority (RCEA) board and we’re constantly talking about these issues. And again, I understand the concerns. You’ll be able to see wind turbines from all over the place while they’re being built. … There are impacts locally, but the global picture is something that we can’t deny. We can’t pretend that we’re not a part of the solution, you know? So we need to figure it out and do it with the least amount of impact to our community and to the environment. …

LoCO: Shifting back to Eureka’s Fourth Ward, what are some ward-specific issues you’d like to focus on in your second term?

Bauer: I’d love to see the Bay to Zoo Trail get built. I know there are community members in the Fourth Ward who are concerned about that, but there’s some misinformation about trails … breeding crime when the opposite is true. People using trails make it safer. So I’d really love to see that happen.

I would also love to see us take Cooper Gulch Park and completely restore it, which we’re pursuing grant funds for right now. We’re doing a big fish habitat restoration project there, which is super cool. I want to see that park turn into something that people take pride in. It’s really important for us to get more multimodal transportation as well. I have a lot of friends in the Fourth Ward who ride their bikes to town. We gotta make it easier for people to get around in any kind of fashion. 

Then there are also basic issues you hear about all the time, like roads. Paving is just never fast enough and I really want to work with state legislatures on that and find out how we can get more money for cities. You go to Southern California and all the freeways are constantly under construction. They’re adding lanes and spending hundreds of millions of dollars. We get a little bit of funding, but we need to quadruple that so that our infrastructure isn’t beaten up and suffering from 30 years of neglect. We gotta do better. 

Our hospital is also in the Fourth Ward and it needs to be maintained as a vibrant place. It has seismic issues that they’re working on but it’s a huge economic engine. We need to really work with [the hospital’s leadership] to ensure that we have that critical care facility to keep our community healthy. 

LoCO: Thank you for your time this afternoon. Is there anything else you’d like to add regarding your re-election campaign? Closing thoughts?

Bauer: You know, I’ve been thinking a lot about this and I want this campaign to be focused on community resilience. I think there are three pillars to it: housing, transportation and funding. My mission is to hopefully leave this community in a more resilient place after eight years. You know, creating more abundant transportation options, ensuring that we can weather natural disasters. That is my goal, and I hope to get an opportunity to promote that.

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Click here to learn more about Bauer’s campaign. If you’d like to ask him a few questions of your own, head on over to LoCO Elections!

Election Day is Nov. 5.

California State University is anticipating state spending cuts next summer of nearly $400 million and a delay in promised state support of more than $250 million. The projected budget gap may prevent the system from enrolling new students, offering employee raises and spending more money to boost graduation rates.

Cal State’s Board of Trustees heard system senior finance staff detail the grim fiscal outlook Tuesday at a public meeting. They presented figures that show a 2025-26 budget hole of about $400 million to $800 million — a sizable chunk of Cal State’s estimated operating budget of $8.3 billion next year.

“I think we’ve got a lot of broken calculators in Sacramento,” said Trustee Jack McGrory at the hearing. “We’re expected to increase enrollment, fulfill the needs of the labor market and continue to grow the economy, and at the same time, we’re facing these incredibly massive cuts. “What happens to our 500,000 students with these incredibly massive cuts? … We’re talking layoffs. Everybody’s got to face up to that.”

He and others stressed that the system has been in a state of fiscal distress for several years. Last year the trustees indicated that Cal State spends $1.5 billion less than it should to adequately educate its students — a figure that predated the austerity measures that may be on the horizon.

The smaller, $400 million amount is the projected budget hole from mandatory new expenses and state cuts, minus new revenue from the tuition hikes the board approved last year. Those tuition increases — growing 5% annually from this year to at least 2028-29 — aren’t enough to counteract the state cuts that lawmakers said they’d enact next year. The mandatory expenses include $60 million more for health insurance premiums for workers and $55 million in increased financial aid for students.

The proposed $400 million cut is equal to the money the system spends to educate 36,000 students. Cal State enrolled more than 450,000 students last fall.

“What happens to our 500,000 students with these incredibly massive cuts? … We’re talking layoffs. Everybody’s got to face up to that.”
— Jack McGrory, trustee, California State University board

The larger $800 million figure is the budget gap when taking into account spending Cal State feels it should pursue, such as employee raises and more spending on student academic services.

“Cuts would particularly affect the most vulnerable students, limiting their access to academic support tools, advising, counseling and engagement programs,” the agenda document reads. Also at risk is the system’s efforts to improve graduation rates for Black students, a population Cal State has struggled to serve.

A trustees committee approved a budget request to Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday that would largely avoid the projected deficit; the full board is expected to approve it today. In January, Newsom will debut his budget proposal for the next fiscal year. He and lawmakers will negotiate a final budget June of next year.

Why Cal State has a budget problem

That one-two punch of potential cuts and funding delays were spelled out in the budget deal that the Legislature and Newsom finalized this summer. It could have been worse: Initially, Newsom wanted to apply cuts to Cal State this budget year to address California’s multi-billion-dollar deficit. But lawmakers pushed back to buy the university another year to prepare for the cuts and possibly avoid them if the state’s revenue picture brightens. Steve Relyea, the top finance officer at Cal State, said system leaders should get credit for advocating for that reprieve.

Still, Cal State officials are setting a foreboding tone, warning of “severe consequences for students, staff and faculty across all CSU universities” that “could lead to larger class sizes, reduced course offerings, diminished student services, layoffs and hiring freezes,” the system’s 2025-26 budget proposal reads.

Some campuses have already laid off workers this year or plan to. Meghan O’Donnell, a lecturer at Cal State Monterey Bay and a senior officer in the systemwide faculty union, told CalMatters that the jobs of hundreds of lecturers have been totally slashed or reduced because campuses are cutting the overall number of classes they offer.

The lecturer job cuts have occurred at the campuses of Chico, East Bay, Humboldt, Los Angeles, Monterey Bay, San Bernardino, San Francisco and Sonoma. Lecturers have fewer job protections than faculty with tenure or who are on the tenure track.

The union expects to see formal system data about faculty job loss and work reductions in November. O’Donnell said Cal State Monterey Bay put its faculty on layoff notice last year, but the union was able to negotiate and five faculty marked for layoffs instead got voluntary separation agreements. Meanwhile, in her academic department of humanities and communications, four tenured faculty at Monterey Bay took early retirement packages while three others quit and found university jobs outside the Cal State system. Meeting the state’s goals of enrolling a higher number of new students than past years is also at risk, officials said.

“Enrollment growth is very challenging at a time when you’re not getting the resources,” Relyea said. “You can’t bring in additional students if you don’t bring in faculty to teach the students”

Current budget problems

Already the system is working to close an operating deficit of $218 million this academic year — even after new revenue this year from the tuition hikes and some extra state support. It’s a repeat of last year’s situation of ever-higher revenues but even higher expenses. And like last academic year, campuses are coping by pulling from reserves, not filling vacancies and combining under-enrolled classes or outright cutting them.

Several trustees also noted that the system doesn’t adequately sell its story to lawmakers and the public about the impact the reductions have had on the system. “We’ve almost been too effective at making these cuts year over year over year,” said Diego Arambula, vice chair of the board.“A hiring freeze is a hiring freeze, and that does impact students if we’re not bringing someone into a role that we know is important,” he said. “It’s impacting our staff, who are taking on more to try and still meet the needs of the students who are here.”

“No organization can survive with that level of budget cut.”
— Tomás D. Morales, campus president, CSU San Bernardino

Meanwhile, eight campuses are working with even less money because the system began its plan of pulling some funding from schools that are missing enrollment targets by at least 10%. Cal State leadership rerouted the money to nine schools with growing enrollments. Those eight campuses are down a combined $21 million this year — with San Francisco State getting hit the hardest by losing $6 million.

Relyea said the campuses are facing the prospect of pulling money from academic services to afford keeping the lights on. “If you’re going to delay maintaining that electrical system, there’s a risk. Are you going to take that risk? How does that compare to the risk of not funding student counselors.

Even campus presidents with enrollment growth say they’re struggling. San Jose State has cut $55 million from its budget the past two years, in part by not hiring new staff and avoiding replacing non-faculty job openings, its president, Cynthia Teniente-Matson, told the trustees.

To raise revenue, the campus is enrolling 300 new non-resident students — who pay much more in tuition — in majors that aren’t over-enrolled, she said.

Cal State San Bernardino had an average operating budget of $266 million until last year. Now it’s eyeing an average operating budget of $217 million if next year’s expected cuts come through. “No organization can survive with that level of budget cut,” the campus president, Tomás D. Morales, told the trustees.

The system’s reserves also aren’t enough to ride out a large multi-year deficit. Cal State campuses have a combined $777 million in one-time funds saved for economic hardships — enough to sustain operations for about a month. The system’s goal is to have enough saved for at least three months of operations. Other reserves of about $1.5 billion are meant for debt payments, financial aid and contracts.

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