Barbara Mae Rice, 80, of Arcata, passed away, Thursday, April 27.

Barbara was born on February 16, 1943 in Cleveland, Ohio to Howard Ludwig and Gertrude Romisher.

Barbara grew up with her sisters Pauline, Debbie, Cher and brother Eddie in Euclid, Ohio.

She attended Ohio State becoming a licensed practical nurse and met her husband, Roger Rice, who was studying to become a geologist. They had a daughter, Vanessa Rice.

She moved to California for the remaining years of her life and lived by her sister Pauline and daughter Vanessa. She worked as a Librarian at Cher-ae Heights Rancheria in Trinidad.

She loved to read, garden, sew and do artwork in her spare time.

She is survived by her daughter, Vanessa Rice, sisters, Debbie DeMarco and husband Dean DeMarco, Cher Pokorny and husband Ken Pokorny, brother, Eddie Romisher and his wife Linda Romisher, niece Chantel Henderson and husband David Henderson and children Jackson, Dylan and Matthew.

Your wings were ready but our hearts were not. Our love is eternal.

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PREVIOUSLY:

• The Ferndale Fairgrounds’ Grandstands are in a Perilous State of Disrepair, So the Board of Supes is Holding an Emergency Meeting Tomorrow to Discuss Possible Solutions

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The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a $1 million funding request this Thursday afternoon to pay for emergency repairs to the grandstands at the Ferndale Fairgrounds that were damaged during the Dec. 20 earthquake.

If the grandstands aren’t repaired soon, the Humboldt County Fair Association will have to cancel the popular horse races.

A few months after the earthquake occurred, the county hired a structural engineering firm to perform an in-depth inspection of the grandstands. The county recently received the initial draft assessment determined that the building “currently appears adequate to support vertical loads, but not lateral (seismic) loads of the type that need to be taken into account for occupant safety,” according to the staff report.

“In a major earthquake, the roof of that facility could fall,” Public Works Director Tom Mattson told the board. “The grandstands will not collapse, but the roof could come off and there’s a fall zone around the entire grandstand of about 66 feet that needs to be protected.”

With opening day less than two months away, staff asked the engineering firm to come up with some options that would allow the county to repair the grandstands in time for the fair. The problem: There are other deferred maintenance and other earthquake-related repairs that the county needs to address.

Mattson | Screenshot

“This project does not do anything for the deferred maintenance or the earthquake repairs,” Mattson said. “We’re just stabilizing the existing facility and not making any real improvements or repairs to the damage that the facility has, but it would make [the grandstands] usable. … We’ve met with a number of contractors on site … [and] we did get a note from one contractor this morning that they could do it if they got the ability to work six days a week and got noticed to move ahead very quickly.”

The temporary fix would cost the county upwards of $1 million. There’s a possibility that a chunk of those funds could be reimbursed through the state Office of Emergency Services (OES), but “that is not a guarantee,” Mattson said. “It does qualify for some OES funding because it was damaged in the earthquake and that is 75% reimbursable but they will not pay for deferred maintenance. … I’m pretty confident we can get some reimbursement but I can’t guarantee that.”

The other option is “a controlled failure” in which staff would essentially control where the roof would fall. “If we can do that and protect the racetrack then the races could still occur, but the grandstands could not be occupied,” Mattson said.

First District Supervisor Rex Bohn asked if there was a possibility that the temporary fix could be able to tie into a permanent fix down the line. “Or are you talking about a teardown [and] a complete rebuild for a permanent fix?”

“We are not talking about a teardown,” Mattson said. “We haven’t even gone there at this point. Our whole focus was looking at how could we get this facility back open for the fair.”

Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell asked what temporary stabilization of the grandstands would entail and if it would involve taking the roof off the facility. Mattson said the contractors would provide metal supports at 25-foot intervals on all sides of the facility to provide extra reinforcement

Bushnell noted that the county isn’t exactly “flush with any kind of money” and asked where the funding would come from and whether the board could afford to allocate any additional funds from the Local Assistance and Tribal Contingency Fund.

“We have $1 million that’s available in the remainder of our 2020 finance plan that could be accessed immediately and I would certainly advocate for that to be the first route for funding,” said County Administrative Officer Elishia Hayes. “We have $2 million in Local Assistance and Tribal Contingency Funds that your board has decided not to allocate to wait to see how the next fix fiscal year shakes out.”

Hayes added that the county would have to continue working with the Humboldt County Fair Association to better understand the total cost of the project and if they would be eligible for reimbursement.

Speaking during public comment, Andy Titus, board president of the Fair Association, emphasized the countywide economic impact of the Humboldt County Fair and urged the board to allocate the funds for a temporary fix.

Titus | Screenshot

“If we cannot use the grandstands and we can’t have horse racing, that eliminates the majority of that revenue that comes from out of the area into [our community],” Titus said. “That helps the small businesses continue, that helps the grocery stores, that helps the gas stations, that helps the taxes that you guys get from. Obviously, it helps us as well. I just think that this has to be a group effort and we have to work together to figure out how to make this happen.”

Michael Gunner, a resident living in the Humboldt County Fairgrounds RV Park, criticized the Fair Association and the county for failing to adhere to ADA compliance standards in the RV park and the restrooms.

“The stadium three years ago got an elevator that’s still sitting on the ground,” he said. “Depending on how the [Fair Association’s board] meeting goes tonight and what they do, my attorneys will probably file for an injunction to shut the fairgrounds down. … You’ve got some major problems and people who are disabled are being discriminated against, so you need to take that into consideration. … I’ve never done this before but I need to stand up and speak at this point.”

Area resident Cindy Olsen described several improvements the Fair Association had made during her 24 years on the board, including ADA improvements to facilities. “We just had a lift installed in our grandstand to accommodate the disabled,” she said. “The cost for this was over $75,000 [and] that amount was covered by a trust. … The fair has constructed a super box just past the finish line to accommodate the higher-end sponsors and the handicapped.”

Following public comment, Bushnell made a motion to approve the $1 million funding request from the county’s 2020 finance plan and directed staff to return to the board should the funding request exceed that amount. She also requested that Bohn join Hayes and Mattson in working with the Fair Association throughout the repair process. Bohn seconded the motion.

Fourth District Supervisor Natalie Arroyo and Fifth District Supervisor and Board Chair Steve Madrone were a little more hesitant to move ahead with the funding request given the nature of the county’s finances. 

“I just have a lot of apprehension about spending more than what we can finance given the state of our county budget,” Arroyo said. “I’m on board with addressing those immediate concerns but what it looks like longer term I think we do have to grapple with. This is not an easy time to consider expenditures above and beyond what we can include in the finance plan.”

Arroyo added that she and her partner had their first date at the Humboldt County Fair and, while it holds a “special place in [her] heart,” she felt compelled to note the concerns of her constituents surrounding horseracing. 

“I gotta say, I’m more interested in maintaining our infrastructure and helping to support all the other things that the fair is and does for people, like the kids that show their sheep,” she said. “I don’t really want to kind of center this around the support of horse racing or the community pros or cons with respect to that. … But that said, I know that it’s a big revenue generator and the Fair has a lot of other aspects that mean a lot to a lot of people. So, I get it.”

Similarly, Madrone expressed his love for the fair but noted that the county is in “a world of hurt with our budget.” He asked if Fair Association staff had an estimate of how much revenue the fair – specifically horseracing – brings in annually. 

“It’s hard to give you an accurate number but I can tell you admissions would be way down,” Titus responded. “I mean, if you go there on Ladies Hat Day or the other Saturday there are 5,000 people there. Would they come without the horse racing? I don’t know. Some may, most probably wouldn’t. The truthful answer is we don’t know.”

“But it’s not a million dollars?” Madrone asked.

“For one year? No. It’s not a million dollars,” Titus said. “But I can guarantee you if you don’t invest this million this year that county is going to lose three to four million dollars that the fair brings in that support the local businesses. I can give you that number pretty confidently.”

Madrone also asked about the status of ADA improvements at the fairgrounds. Assistant CAO Karen Clower said the county completed “quite a bit of work” and “met the terms of the consent decree at the time” between 2016 and 2020.

“There is a large amount of work that still needs to be completed at the fairgrounds,” she said. “It is included in our compliance plan that your board adopted in 2020. We do have a timeline laid out for that and we are looking forward to working with the Fair Association on completing the barriers that remain.”

Bohn noted that he would rather see the money spent on other infrastructure improvements on Mattole Road but emphasized that there is no way around it. “This building is ours,” he said. “We have to fix it.”

After a bit of additional discussion on the merits of horseracing and potential opportunities for reimbursement, the board approved the funding request in a unanimous 4-0 vote, with Third District Supervisor Mike Wilson absent.

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The Humboldt County Fair Association board will hold a meeting to discuss the matter this evening (Thursday) at 5 p.m.

California’s reparations task force delivered its final recommendations to lawmakers in Sacramento Thursday, and some in the audience commented on the absence of one of the early champions of the task force, Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Task force members also noted the irony of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action in higher education on the day the task force’s nearly 1,200-page final document, with hundreds of recommendations, is released to the public.

“I would encourage the Supreme Court to read the interim report,” said Cheryl Grills, a task force member. “I would encourage them to read the final report and understand the legacy of enslavement, and the ongoing harms that are with us to this very day.”

Secretary of State Shirley Weber, whose bill created the task force, called the High Court ruling a “heartbreaking” regression.

“Most of our policy prescriptions are not race-based, but they’re based on lineage. We made the right decision.”
— Kamilah Moore, chair of the Reparations Task Force

The state’s nine-member task force set out in 2020 with the mission to form recommendations for how California could repair the harm from centuries of systemic racism and the legacy of slavery. California became the first state in the nation to have such robust public discussions on reparations.

It wasn’t always pretty. During 200 hours of public meetings, there were some tense exchanges among the hundreds of public commenters and witnesses. And thousands of pages of public documents were written with the help of the state’s Department of Justice.

Now, two years later, Weber and several members of the Black Caucus addressed a full Secretary of State’s auditorium.

“I felt very strongly that if any state could do it, it would be California,” said Weber, during a news conference beforehand.

Proposed reparations

Key parts of the recommendations include reparations payments to descendants of enslaved people, a formal apology, and dozens of policy changes aimed at redressing discrimination against African Americans.

One persistent debate was over who would be eligible for reparations. The task force voted in 2022 that descendants of enslaved people or of Black people living in the United States before 1900 would qualify.

Kamilah Moore, who chaired the task force, said Thursday its decision means the Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling on racial preferences won’t affect reparations payouts, if approved.

“Our work remains unaffected by that decision largely because of the wisdom that we had in consulting with legal experts … and that’s why most of our policy prescriptions are not race-based, but they’re based on lineage,” she said. “We made the right decision.”

If adopted the recommendations could mean hundreds of billions of dollars in payments to eligible Black Californians — the broadest proposal in the nation’s history to address past injustices. Taskforce members noted, however, that the panel did not recommend specific reparations amounts, though its report included calculations of what may be owed to most Black Californians.

“Our goal was to study and expose and educate. We have done that,” said state Sen. Steven Bradford, a Democrat from Gardena who is on the task force. “Now it’s up to Californians and the rest of America to read the report and understand what’s there.”

It’s unclear how those recommendations will be received.

Newsom’s absence

Newsom, who made introductory remarks at the task force’s first meeting two years ago, did not attend this, the final meeting. As the meeting convened, Newsom was in Nevada County meeting with state fire officials and the press to discuss plans for the wildfire season.

“The last thing the fire needs is another politician,” said Jonathan Burgess, a fire battalion chief from Sacramento and advocate for reparations. “If you (Newsom) are not here, I want you to know that Black America is watching nationwide.”

Weber said the reparations report was produced for the Legislature, not the governor.

“I’m not responsible for the governor,” she said. “The governor can only do so much. It is the legislature that has to formulate the programs.”

“A check alone will not repair the injustices done, and it would be an injustice to this nation for reparations for descendants to be just a check.”
— Jonathan Burgess, fire battalion chief

Newsom has not said if he will support the task force’s findings, adding he will evaluate the plan when it is delivered to the state legislature. He has frequently said, however, that reparations are more than just payments.

“That implies a deeper rationalization of what is achievable, what is reasonable and what is right. And that’s the balance that we’ll try to advance,” he said on Fox News’ Hannity show.

He noted that Ronald Regan okayed reparation payments to Japanese Americans affected by internment during World War II.

“It doesn’t have to be in the frame of writing a check,” Newsom said. “Reparations come in many forms, but one cannot deny these historical facts.”

Burgess said his great-great-grandfather was brought to California as a slave to mine for gold. He said he agrees with Newsom that reparations are more than a check.

“A check alone will not repair the injustices done,” he said, “and it would be an injustice to this nation for reparations for descendants to be just a check.”

Bigger than state budget

The reparations task force report, which identifies methods for calculating reparations, suggests Black residents may be owed a total of more than $800 billion for decades of over-policing, disproportionate incarceration and housing discrimination. That price tag is more than two-and-a-half times the size of the state’s annual budget.

California lawmakers recently passed a nearly $311 billion state budget package covering a nearly $32 billion deficit with a combination of spending cuts, delayed spending and borrowing.

Few lawmakers have spoken in support of the preliminary recommendations of the reparations task force, but many have said they were awaiting the final report. In CalMatters’ informal email poll of all 120 state legislators, five lawmakers not on the task force responded.

Those who have expressed support include La Mesa Democrat Dr. Akilah Weber, Moreno Valley Democrat Corey Jackson, Tina McKinnor, a Democrat from Inglewood, and Damon Connolly, a Democrat from San Rafael.

A man in the crowd holds up a sign at the Reparations Task Force hearing at the March Fong Eu Secretary of State offices in Sacramento on June 29, 2023. Photo by Semantha Norris for CalMatters

In opposition is Assemblymember James Gallagher, a Republican from Chico, who in a statement asked: “How can we ask new immigrants and low-wage workers to foot the bill for something done 150 years ago, on the other side of the country?”

Bradford said many lawmakers were understandably waiting to see the final report, out today.

“There’s going to be support there, but again asking people right now to stand up and state definitively that they are in support of that, very few are willing to do that at this point,” said Bradford.

Mixed reactions

Many Californians support an apology, but the idea of payments to Black Californians has garnered mixed support. In a 2023 survey by the nonprofit Public Policy Institute of California, nearly three out of five Californians supported the state issuing a formal apology for human rights violations and crimes against humanity for enslaved Africans and their descendants.

Although most Californians surveyed believe racism is a problem, a majority of adults and likely voters said they had an unfavorable impression of the state having a reparations task force.

Grills and task force member Don Tamaki said more than 300 California-based organizations have endorsed the task force’s work. Attorney General Rob Bonta also spoke in favor of the work of the task force.

At a press briefing before the hearing, task force member Lisa Holder held up the hefty report, saying it’s the collective work of the Department of Justice, hundreds of scholars and the community.

“Only half the story has ever been told; here is a document that tells us the full story,” said Holder. “We are not post-racial … Anyone who says that we are colorblind, that we have solved the problem of being anti-Black, I challenge you to read this.”

The audience of more than 200 people filled the auditorium, and more than two dozen others waited outside, switching with attendees to witness parts of the meeting. Some people came from across the state to attend the final task force meeting.

“After being denied our 40 acres and a mule … our time has come. It’s time to right the many centuries of wrong,” said Sabrina Watts-Jefferson, who was referencing an unfulfilled promise made to newly freed enslaved people in 1865.

Donny Brown declared Thursday “a day of celebration and rejoicing” and led the auditorium in a chant: “What do we want? Reparations! When do we want them? Now!”

Racism is personal

Before and during the nearly 5-hour final meeting, task force leaders told personal stories about how racism affected their families.

Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer, a Democrat from Los Angeles, said when he was a struggling college student his grandmother told him that when he was a baby, a Klu Klux Klan member called her and said, “Get your son out of school or your grandson will never make it.”

Jones-Sawyer said it made him realize “You have absolutely no right to give up (your) education.”

Weber told of fleeing the Jim Crow south because her sharecropper father was going to be lynched because he stood up for himself at a weigh station.

She said her family relocated to California, where her parents “believed in this little girl called Shirley Weber from Hope, Arkansas, and always told me every day: ‘Little girl, you’re going to be somebody, someday.’”

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

Press release from Calfire:

With the 4th of July, right around the corner it is important to understand the dangers of fireworks. CAL FIRE Humboldt – Del Norte Unit Chief Kurt McCray would like to remind everyone to have a safe holiday, considering the safety of themselves and those around them.

Every year fires are caused by illegal and unsafe use of legal fireworks, endangering members of the public and first responders. Those responsible for starting a fire due to illegal use of fireworks can be held financially and criminally responsible. Possession of illegal fireworks could lead to fines and jail time.

The use and sale of Safe and Sane fireworks is decided by local governments like city councils or county of boards of supervisors. Permitted Safe and Sane fireworks will bear a seal from the Office of the State Marshal. Be sure to check with your local government for specific restrictions in your area and take all precautions when using Safe and Sane fireworks if they are permitted.

Fireworks Safety Tips:

• Use only State Fire Marshal approved fireworks
• Local ordinances should be verified before purchasing and/or using fireworks
• Always read directions
• Always have an adult present
• Only use fireworks outdoors
• Never use fireworks near dry grass or other flammable materials
• Light one firework at a time
• Have a bucket of water and a hose nearby

CAL FIRE encourages celebrating by viewing a professionally licensed fire work show. For those using their own fireworks, we urge only the use of Safe and Sane fireworks in a manner that provides for the best safety of persons and minimizes the risk of fire.

California lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom are poised to enact a package of bills that aim to speed up lawsuits that entangle large projects, such as solar farms and reservoirs, and relax protection of about three dozen wildlife species.

Newsom and Senate and Assembly leaders unveiled the five bills earlier this week as they negotiated the state’s $310 billion 2023-24 budget. The deal ended a standoff over the governor’s infrastructure package, which he unveiled last month in an effort to streamline renewable energy facilities, water reservoirs, bridges, railways and similar projects.

The package of bills will make its way through the Legislature on an accelerated schedule. The bills include an urgency clause — meaning they would take effect immediately when Newsom signs but they also will require a two-thirds vote to pass.

Hearings have been scheduled for committees in both houses today. Debate may largely end up being a formality as the package has already been negotiated by Newsom and lawmakers behind closed doors.

The debate and negotiations focused on how California can speed up major projects that benefit the public while ensuring the environment is protected. The wide-ranging collection of bills take aim at broad swaths of state environmental policies shaping how state agencies approve large projects. For instance, the plan to build the Sites reservoir to add dams and store more Sacramento River water has been stalled for years as it undergoes environmental reviews and engineering planning.

The proposals “are really going to help move the needle on water infrastructure projects that are needed to address the impacts of climate change.”
— Adam Quinonez, Association of California Water Agencies

One of the bills sets a time limit for legal challenges for specified water, transportation and energy projects under the landmark California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which can entangle projects in court for years.

Another gives the state Department of Fish and Wildlife new authority to issue permits allowing species that are designated “fully protected,” such as the greater sandhill crane and golden eagle, to be harmed by similar types of projects.

The compromise that Newsom and lawmakers reached seems to have accomplished what compromises rarely do: Environmentalists who initially criticized Newsom’s package say they are satisfied with the changes, and businesses and water agencies, which have backed the package from the beginning, support the changes, too.

The proposals “are really going to help move the needle on water infrastructure projects that are needed to address the impacts of climate change,” said Adam Quinonez, director of state legislative and regulatory relations at the Association of California Water Agencies.

The changes won over the Natural Resources Defense Council, which had pages of concerns about the potential environmental harms caused by Newsom’s original proposals, such as provisions that might have expedited the deeply divisive Delta tunnel.

“It’s good that it’s resolved, and that it’s better than it was and that the budget was able to move forward,” said Victoria Rome, the Natural Resource Defense Council’s director of California government affairs. “But I would say to accelerate clean energy infrastructure, we have a lot more to do as a state.”

Although the wildlife bill would ease some existing protections, Mike Lynes, Audubon California’s director of public policy, hopes that in practice it would actually increase enforcement. “Ultimately, it really will fall on the Department of Fish and Wildlife to make sure that these are good permits, and that the law is enforced,” he said.

So what’s in these bills? And what impact will they have on infrastructure projects and the environment?

What’s happening with CEQA?

One of the bills, SB 149, takes aim at the often lengthy lawsuits brought under CEQA, which tasks public agencies with assessing possible harms of proposed development. Lawsuits by the public and advocacy groups can entangle projects like housing developments, highway interchanges, and solar farms for years.

The bill would set a 270-day limit for wrapping up these environmental challenges for water, energy, transportation and semiconductor projects. The projects must be certified by the governor by 2033 and meet certain criteria. These could potentially include water recycling plants, aqueduct repair, bikeways and railways, wildlife crossings, solar and wind farms, zero-emission vehicle infrastructure, among others.

In a nod to concerns that this would expedite the Delta tunnel, there’s now an explicit carveout saying that particular water project no longer qualifies for the faster timeline.

There’s a big caveat, though: The 270-day limit only applies “to the extent feasible” — a decision that judges would make.

So will the time limit actually speed up cases? That remains to be seen, said David Pettit, senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “I think it sends a signal to the judiciary that the Legislature wants these cases hustled up,” Pettit said.

But in practice, he said, there are other major time sinks for the legal process beyond the length of litigation, such as preparing the paperwork behind an agency’s environmental assessment to create what’s called the administrative record. This is critical ammunition in legal challenges.

“It’s good that it’s resolved, and that it’s better than it was and that the budget was able to move forward.”
— Victoria Rome, Natural Resources Defense Council

Newsom’s original version of the bill sparked a battle over which emails should be disclosed in the administrative record by excluding any internal communications that didn’t make it to the final decision makers. Assembly consultants warned this could allow state agencies to pick and choose which documents to disclose.

Now, under the latest iteration, all emails related to the project must continue to be revealed in the administrative record, and only emails over minutia like scheduling can be excluded.

“The bottom line is most emails that are actually pertinent to the project — not like, ‘How about those Dodgers?’ — they will go into the record,” Pettit said. “That is important, because sometimes people will talk candidly over email in a way that others might not.”

What are the effects on wildlife?

SB 147 would allow projects to receive permits to kill certain wildlife species that are classified as “fully protected.” Thirty-seven species — including the golden eagle, greater sandhill crane, bighorn sheep, several coastal marsh birds, 10 fish and several reptiles and amphibians — are listed as fully protected.

Under the bill, only certain types of projects that are considered beneficial to the public could get the new permits, including repairing aqueducts and other water infrastructure, building wind and solar installations, and transportation projects, including wildlife crossings, that don’t increase traffic.

State and federal Endangered Species Acts would still protect rare wildlife and be unaffected by the bill. But it would alter another, stronger protection under state law: “Fully protected” species began in the 1960s as part of an early effort to protect California’s animals, such as the California condor and southern sea otter. Of those, all but 10 are also listed under the California Endangered Species Act.

Unlike the endangered species acts, which allow wildlife agencies to grant permission to “take” or harm a species, so-called “fully protected” species cannot be killed except in rare cases, such as scientific research.

To obtain the new permits, developers and other applicants would need to show that their plans to compensate for the harm to these species actually improves conservation — a more stringent standard than required by the California Endangered Species Act.

This addresses an enforcement gap: Regulators have little authority to make developers work with them to ensure projects take steps to reduce their impacts on those species. “There’s no hook for the regulatory agencies to demand avoidance and mitigation measures, because they’re unwilling to enforce the laws as written,” Audubon’s Lynes said.

Fish and Wildlife Director Chuck Bonham told a Senate committee that without a permit process to allow harm to fully protected species, project developers are left with little recourse if their projects could disrupt these animals. As a result, “every project proponent faces an unnecessary risk for project planning, financing and construction.”

Three species would also lose their status as fully protected: the American peregrine falcon, brown pelican and a fish called the thicktail chub. The falcon and pelican had been listed as endangered species but are now considered recovered, largely due to the 1972 ban on the pesticide DDT; the chub is considered extinct.

“We certainly don’t want to be reducing protections for pelicans and peregrine falcons, but it’s also understandable to be looking to transition them off the list,” Lynes said.

The latest version overhauls Newsom’s original proposal to scrap the “fully protected” designation entirely, which environmentalists worried would significantly weaken protections for these species. Delta communities were especially concerned, seeing it as one of several moves to push the Delta tunnel project forward by targeting the greater sandhill crane, which winters in the region.

The new version of the bill explicitly says that a Delta tunnel project would not qualify for permits to take the crane or any other fully protected species.

Will this actually streamline projects?

The multi-billion dollar question is will these regulations will actually help California build big things faster.

The Newsom administration said they are critical to bolster California’s chances when competing against other states for $28 billion in discretionary funds from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.

“It’s going to be extremely difficult if not impossible to draw a straight line that if you pass judicial streamlining, we get the federal dollars here in California,” said Adam Regele, a vice president at the California Chamber of Commerce. “But what it does do is it makes us more competitive.”

The Natural Resources Defense Council’s Pettit is skeptical that this will in fact streamline lengthy and litigious approvals under CEQA. He pointed to the loophole establishing a 9-month time limit for court challenges only “to the extent feasible.”

“How do we know that this package will actually speed things up? Because I’m not seeing it,” Pettit said.

Newsom’s deputy communications director, Alex Stack, said he couldn’t name any specific projects that would benefit or ones that had been specifically denied federal funding because of California’s existing laws.

But he said he expects the bills to cut the timeline for major builds in California by up to almost a third. That includes for transit projects, wind and solar installations, semiconductor plants and water storage projects like Sites reservoir.

“It’s climate denial to preserve the status quo — to delay these projects is to delay climate action, clean energy, safe drinking water, and put millions more Californians at risk of devastating climate impacts,” Stack told CalMatters last week.

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

Climate activists and retirees have pushed retirement funds in Maine and New York to sell their stocks in fossil fuel companies. The push is called “divestment”, and it’s a move that the University of California has embraced as well.

Now, divestment may be coming to more pensions near you.

The California Legislature is considering a bill that would require the pension funds for state workers and teachers to sell holdings in the 200 largest publicly traded fossil fuel companies by July 2031. The bill would also stop the funds from making new investments in those companies starting in 2024.

These pension funds aren’t simple bank accounts, they’re big-time institutional investors. The California Public Employees’ Retirement System has about $459 billion in assets, making it the largest public pension fund in the nation and one of the largest private equity investors in the world according to the agency’s website. When it changes tack, the world of finance takes note.

The California State Teachers’ Retirement System is the second largest public pension fund in the U.S. Together, the two pension funds cover more than 3 million Californians and their families.

Proponents of the bill say it’s important that California put its money where its mouth is, so to speak, on climate policy. Foes of the move say anything that might hurt investment returns should be off the table.

Marcie Frost, CEO of CalPERS, at the regional office in Sacramento on June 26, 2023. Photo by Rahul Lal for CalMatters.

“We’re not saying the intentions around this are not good,” said Marcie Frost, CEO of CalPERS, in an interview with CalMatters. “But they’re not coming through an investor lens. It feels like they’re coming through a morality lens. And we can’t use our own personal values, or our personal morals, to be able to decide how we invest the assets of this portfolio.”

Both pensions are underfunded; if either had to immediately pay out all the benefits they owe, they wouldn’t have enough money.

If CalPERS and CalSTRS shed their investments in the largest oil and gas companies, what would it mean for the teachers and state workers counting on their retirement checks?

Why climate activists are pushing for divestment

For some, it would be a relief.

“When I was younger, I was told by the adults around me that I should work toward obtaining a career with the state of California,” said Francis Macias, a state parks employee who called into a pension fund board meeting in March. A member of the advocacy group Fossil Free California, she said those same adults had told her such a job would come with perks like stable hours — and a nice pension.

But now, Macias said, “I feel like I’m living in a nightmare. Every day, I experience great anxiety knowing my hard-earned pension is funding climate collapse.”

The state worker pension fund has an estimated $9.4 billion in energy company investments it would have to divest under the proposed bill, about 2% of the fund. On the list are companies you’ve probably heard of, including Exxon Mobil and Shell, and ones you probably haven’t, such as Ovintiv Inc. and Cenovus Energy. The teachers’ pension fund would have to divest an estimated $5.4 billion, or about 1.7% of its assets.

The bill’s backers include many environmental and climate groups, as well as some unions representing workers who receive pensions, such as the California Faculty Association and the California Nurses Association. But there are other unions, like the California Professional Firefighters and the State Building and Construction Trades Council, that oppose the effort, along with California State Retirees, an organization for retired state workers, and the leadership of the pension funds themselves.

The goal of divestment pushes, climate advocates say, isn’t to directly reduce emissions.

“It’s about calling (fossil fuel companies) out on their immoral activities, and the political consequences of that, which is weakening them politically, so that politicians stop taking their money and politicians stop doing their bidding,” said Carlos Davidson, a retired faculty member of San Francisco State University who receives a pension. He worked on a divestment campaign at the university, and has been involved in the push to divest the state workers’ pension for nearly a decade.

“It is true that divestment does not have direct financial impacts on companies,” Davidson said. “It’s the political effects that really matter. And that is a harder, longer-term, more fuzzy process.”

Davidson lives in Pacifica, off of a combination of his pension and social security benefits.

“I could not have retired and I could not pay my bills right now if I didn’t have my [state] pension,” he said.

What are the costs of divestment?

There’s also a camp that thinks divestment would be a bad move financially. That camp includes the leadership of both pension funds.

At the state worker pension fund, the investment and actuarial teams estimated that if the fund sold off its fossil fuel holdings it would get lower returns on its investments, translating to an extra $327.6 million in costs per year for 20 years for employers, like schools, and state and local governments, to meet obligations to retirees.

The state worker pension fund has divested before — from Iran, Sudan, thermal coal, and more. In 2001, the fund divested its tobacco company holdings, worth about $525 million according to news reports at the time. In the more than 20 years since, that move has translated to about $4.3 billion in lost investment profits, according to a 2022 report from Wilshire Advisors. But some divestments, like those from thermal coal, and Iran, have translated to small gains.

When economists from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland compared the financial performance of investment portfolios with and without fossil fuel company stocks from 1927-2016, they found that divested portfolios “would not have significantly underperformed” during that period.

“It’s not just the oil and gas industry,” said pension fund CEO Frost. “What’s next? Divestment from the airline industry, who uses a lot of oil and gas?” she said. “Pretty soon you get to the point that (the pension) has nothing to invest in” and there’s no way to hit the high investment returns the pension fund is tasked with hitting, she said.

“It’s the political effects that really matter. And that is a harder, longer-term, more fuzzy process.”
— Carlos Davidson, retired faculty member of San Francisco State University who receives a pension

This isn’t the first legislative push for fossil fuel divestment. Last year a similar bill was passed by the Senate, and then died in the Assembly’s committee on public employment and retirement. It might have a better shot this time, thanks to some political musical chairs. Previously, the Assembly’s public employment committee was led by Jim Cooper, an Elk Grove Democrat who was opposed to the Legislature directing state pension funds on how to invest, Frost said. Now he’s left the Assembly, and the committee has a new chairperson, Tina McKinnor, a Democrat from Inglewood.

A complicating factor is that the pension funds have a “fiduciary duty” under California’s constitution. That means that the people overseeing the funds are legally required to invest prudently, and act exclusively to benefit the fund’s members.

Some of the bill’s opponents say that requiring the funds to divest from fossil fuels would conflict with their fiduciary duty to their members, including the California Professional Firefighters, a union.

“Forcing any California pension system to make investment decisions that may harm the fund in an attempt, in this case, to affect global climate policy, violates their fiduciary mandate and puts the retirements of hard-working Californians at risk,” wrote president Brian Rice in a statement.

Already, the concept of fiduciary responsibility is causing legal headaches for divestment efforts. Three New York City pension funds are being sued for allegedly violating their fiduciary duties after they divested $4 billion in fossil fuel holdings.

Ultimately, it’s up to the pension funds themselves to determine whether divesting would conflict with their mandate.

The state worker pension fund hasn’t done a full analysis yet, but, said Frost, “my impression on this is that it would violate the board’s fiduciary duty to do this.”

The bill has an escape clause of sorts, making it clear that the pension funds don’t have to sell off their investments if doing so would conflict with their fiduciary duties. That means there’s a scenario in which the Legislature passes the bill and then the funds say that divesting goes against their responsibilities to the beneficiaries, and nothing changes in practice.

Davidson, the retiree pushing for divestment, says that’s not the outcome he’s expecting.

But it wouldn’t be all bad, he said. What really matters is the politics, and “the vote of the California Legislature to divest is really powerful, and that’s going to get press coverage around the world,” Davidson said. “That is part of the outcome that we want.”

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

Irene Kay Armand was born November 18, 1949, in Paradise, Calif., to Joel and Patricia Pittman and entered her reward peacefully at home on June 19, 2023. Irene was the eldest of nine children between her parents. Irene moved to Hoopa in 1962, living in Jackson’s Trailer court. Irene attended Hoopa Valley High School and worked at the Hoopa Jolly Cone.

Irene met the love of her life through a mutual friend in 1963, John Armand. Irene and John became inseparable and got married in 1966.

Irene graduated from Napa Valley High School, where she and her husband, John, had relocated for a time. After graduation, Irene went to Napa Beauty School and became a licensed cosmetologist. Irene was a hairdresser in Napa, Vallejo, San Pablo, and eventually back in Hoopa. Irene enjoyed hairdressing and maintained her license up until her death.

Irene was a hard worker and maintained employment throughout her life. Irene and John moved to Wisconsin in 1979, where she worked for the Trek Bicycle company. Eventually, Irene and John moved back to Hoopa in 1984, where they resided until her passing.

Irene was hired at Bigfoot Lumber, where she began to learn bookkeeping skills. Irene was a quick learner and self-taught bookkeeper, which became her career. She worked with the Hoopa Valley Tribe until she retired from the Public Utilities Department. Irene loved her PUD crew and especially enjoyed her walks and talks with Mary Biondini.

Irene had a love of the arts and enjoyed drawing and calligraphy. Irene was also very into computers and technology and always made beautiful certificates for the church.

Irene growing up was introduced to the Christian faith and attended church regularly as a child. At the age of ten, Irene gave her heart to the Lord. Irene was a woman of faith. Irene loved the Lord with all her heart and soul. Eventually, God and Irene won over John to the faith, and in 1986, they went into Youth Ministry at the Hoopa Assembly of God.

Irene was invited in 1987 by a group from the church to Japan; this was a life-changing trip for Irene. She often talked about the barriers and how different the plumbing was there. Irene enjoyed her time in Japan, especially with the people from her church.

In 1994 John began pastoring the Hoopa Assembly of God, and Irene was by his side as a helpmate. Irene and Juan didn’t have children of their own, but those that entered the church became their family. Pastoring over a church for almost 29 years in the Hoopa Community has been one of the most remarkable journeys of Irene’s life. (Previously the Assembly of God Church in Willow Creek.)

Irene is survived by her husband, Juan Armand. Irene is also survived by her sister Doris Pittman, brother Brice Rodgers and wife Sandy, sister Cheryl Appel and husband David, sister Terri Ackley and husband Jim, brother Joel Pittman Jr. and wife Lois, sister Holly Pittman, brother Richard Pittman, and brother in law Chester McIntosh and wife Julie.

Irene is preceded in death by her father, Joel Pittman Sr, mother Patricia Rodgers, stepfather Jay Rodgers, brother Phillip Pittman, and brother Douglas Pittman.

Pallbearers: Brian McIntosh, Byron McIntosh, Rodger Sanderson, Wally Morton Sr., Raymond Baldy, Robert Baldy, Raymond Baldy, Riley Baldy, Chago Moon, Antonio Correa, Aaron McIntosh, Brian McIntosh Jr, Gary Riley, Jon Blake II, Rick Sanderson, Chester McIntosh.

We want to apologize if I missed anyone. It was not intentional. Irene loved so many people who were very near and dear to her.

Services will be held at the Hoopa Assembly of God on Tish Tang Road on July 1, 2023, at 11 a.m., with a reception at Pookey’s Park on Loop Road in Hoopa. The reception is a potluck, so please bring your favorite dish.

Irene enjoyed and loved to support Redwood Adult Teen Challenge. If you would like to send donations, please get in touch with Redwood Adult Teen Challenge at info@redwoodtc.com.

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