Elvi Niemi of Fortuna passed away on June 18, 2023. Elvi lived a long and good life.

Born in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to immigrant parents in 1923, she was the youngest of seven children. Elvi enjoyed life and shared her appreciation of her life experiences with her family and friends. She grew up on a farm during the Great Depression, and the experiences she had during those years guided many of her life’s pleasures and choices. Elvi and her husband enjoyed fishing, hunting, hiking and camping in the woods and the high deserts, farming, and raising a family. She was an avid antiques collector, reader, and crossword puzzle player, as well as an accomplished shorthand stenographer and typist, and a meticulous bookkeeper.

Elvi was widowed in 1993, and after that enjoyed camping and visiting with her daughters and their families, long daily walks, and playing pinochle at the Fortuna Senior Center.

Elvi had a great sense of humor, and told stories of her early family life that made us all belly laugh until we cried. She loved the three daughters she and her husband raised together here in California, and the sisters and brothers and their children that she left behind when she and her husband moved from Michigan to the West Coast. She is survived by three daughters, eight grandchildren, and four great- grandchildren.

Elvi was a wonderful and loving mom and friend. We miss her greatly, and have wonderful memories of her that will last our lifetimes.

Special thanks to First Choice Care Home in Fortuna, where Elvi comfortably spent her last years, to Angela Murray FNP for caring and attentive medical care, and to Hospice of Humboldt.

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Colley Blair Baird was born on September 26, 1951 in Scotia to Harvey and Juanita “Fame” Baird. He joined older brother Jesse and soon after became the big brother to Griff and Tana. He was raised in Rohnerville and attended Fortuna High School, graduating with the class of 1969. During this time he was figuring out who he was and demonstrated his character many times, even refusing to cut his long hair to remain on the football team. He also found his love for music, picking up his brother’s guitar one day and never looking back. He played in bands all throughout high school, quickly growing in skill and it was clear to all around him he had a gift, not only in music, but also in entertainment. He knew how to WOO a crowd, and created an atmosphere everywhere he went that only he could.

After graduating from high school he was drafted to serve in the Vietnam War. Upon his honorable discharge, he returned home a young man looking for love. He met Kathy Bice and together they welcomed Colleen, their first child into the world and he immediately felt the change that fatherhood brings. He loved being a father and it was clear to those all around him. Several years later, after the relationship with Kathy had ended, he met Patti Mogni. Colley and Patti brought his son Chandler, and youngest daughter Keely into this world. His kids were everything to him. They enjoyed many adventures and created memories in their many years together. He coached Chandler’s soccer and t-ball teams and pushed Chandler to pursue tennis and various scouting ventures. When Keely was young he coached her in softball and traveled with her to all her games, near and far! He loved watching her play and was, to this day, her biggest fan.

Colley finally found the woman he would spend the rest of his life with one day as she was picking weeds out of her gutter, Phyllis was literally his girl next door! She remembers him being her “Tom Selleck” – his mustache and dark features made us all do a double take! Colley and Phyllis each had three children from their prior relationships, but they never let on that they were step-parents. Colley loved her kids, Roxie, Reena and Ross as if they were his own. They were married on July 1, 2000 and with their combined 6 kids became the “Baird Bunch” (even though no one called them that!).

Colley and Phyllis traveled the world together, collecting spoon rests wherever they went. His favorite place to visit was the New England coast. He even had lobster from Maine shipped out several times over the years so he could enjoy it again. During these years he never stopped being the outdoorsman he was, often taking trips with his best friend and father, Harvey, to go fishing, abalone diving, and hunting. He loved to come home and feed his family his prized bucks, or chukars he would disguise as “baby chickens” so his picky daughters would eat them. Each day he learned how challenging, and yet rewarding fatherhood was, and in having all of their children in one house he developed his love language of cooking for everyone. In the midst of all the chaos and life and sports and activities that six kids brings, he reserved Wednesday nights for family dinner often welcoming in his children’s friends as well and sharing his delicious meals with them. In retirement he would cook lunch for his wife every day, and would make special meals for each grandchild when they would visit.

In addition to being the most talented chef and musician, he stayed physically active all throughout his life, playing tennis and golf and going to the gym.

As the years went on he welcomed his grandchildren, and quickly fell in love with being known as “Papa”. His oldest daughter Colleen brought him his first grandchild, Cari, and his other children soon followed suit bringing more grandbabies. For a few years he found himself with two sidekicks, Grace and Hope, where he’d drag them around on every errand he had with Grace reading aloud from the backseat. He created their tradition of getting ice cream at Rite-Aid on the first Tuesday of the month, but because he was the best Papa, he would splurge on other occasions as well! When taking his three grandsons to the fair he complained about the price the entire time, but spent it anyways and didn’t have any regrets. Colley loved being a Papa more than anything else in the world, and it was clear to those all around him. He had a soft spot for his family and spread his love with every act.

Colley took his last breath around 1 a.m. on July 2, 2023, surrounded by loved ones and hand-in-hand with his wife. We will be gathered to celebrate his life on July 23, 2023 at 1 p.m. at Calvary Chapel in Fortuna, California.

Colley is survived by his wife, Phyllis Baird, and his children Colleen Baird, Chandler Baird, Keely Baird, Roxie Christiansen (Zach), Reena Powell (Brent), and Ross Young, his siblings Jesse Baird, Griff Baird (Wanda) and Tana Bryan (Jerry), his grandchildren Cari, Kelly, Shania, Raime, Cole, Grace, Hope, James, Max, Sam, Emma, Jacob, Nicholas, and Jesse, and his great-grandchildren Bladen, Baylon, Brighton, Ashton, and Aiden, and numerous nieces and nephews whom he loved very much. Colley is predeceased by his mother Fame and father Harvey. We love you Papa.

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John 6:39-40

And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.

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Press release from the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office:

Today, a Humboldt County jury found Frederick Adams (43) of Eureka, guilty of the six felony charges brought against him by the District Attorney, including two counts of continuous sexual abuse of a child against different victims.

Adams faces a sentence of over 15 years to life in prison. 

On May 13, 2021, 16-year-old Jane Doe disclosed to an interviewer with the Child Abuse Services Team that her father, Adams, had been sexually abusing her since she turned 11. Additional investigation by the Rio Dell Police Department uncovered another victim, Adams’ step-daughter, whom he continuously abused from the time she turned 11 years old.   

During the trial, jurors heard testimony from both survivors, now aged 18 and 21.  District Attorney Stacey Eads commends the victims who showed incredible bravery testifying in front of their abuser.
Adams is scheduled to be sentenced on August 25 by Judge Christopher Wilson, as he presided over the trial.       

Deputy District Attorney Luke Bernthal prosecuted Adams with assistance from District Attorney Investigator Ryan Hill and Victim Witness Advocate Caitlyn LaHaie.   Deputy Public Defender Zack Curtis of the Conflict Counsel’s Office represented the defendant. 

PREVIOUSLY:

• Fortuna Police Investigating Alleged Carny Kidnapping Attempt

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Press release from the Fortuna Police Department:

The original story regarding the alleged attempted kidnapping of an individual at the carnival event in Fortuna, California has gained some traction in the media, causing unnecessary fear and panic. After conducting a thorough investigation, the Fortuna Police Department has yet to find any credible evidence to support that any crime or attempted crime occurred.

During follow-up investigation by Fortuna Detectives, a clear case of mistaken communication between parent and child was confirmed to have occurred. Police now know through extended interviews that there was no grabbing or attempt to grab at any of the involved juveniles. In addition, no proper identification of any suspect(s) was made and there is a high probability of a real time misidentification of the carnival employee that was listed previously as a “person of interest”.

In addition, the aforementioned person of interest has been identified and contacted by Fortuna Police and has been fully cooperative.

The employee is no longer in the Humboldt County region and there is no immediate threat to the community. Members of the public and/or witnesses can still reach the Fortuna Police Department at 707-725-7550 with any information on this matter.

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PREVIOUSLY: Justice Samuel Alito Took Luxury Fishing Vacation With GOP Billionaire Who Later Had Cases Before the Court — With Help From Eureka’s Rob Arkley

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On the heels of last month’s bombshell investigative story from ProPublica, which revealed that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito accepted and failed to disclose lavish gifts from Republican donors, a pair of powerful U.S. Senators is asking occasional Eureka resident Robin Arkley II and other donors to submit itemized lists of gifts they’ve bestowed on justices of the Supreme Court.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), who is chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, authored the letters. The Judiciary Committee is currently considering legislation aimed at strengthening the ethics rules and standards that apply to the Court.

If you missed the ProPublica story, by all means, go back and give it a read. It detailed a luxury Alaskan fishing vacation that Justice Alito took in 2008. The trip was planned and attended by conservative activist Leonard Leo, and the VIP guests reportedly stayed for free at a luxury fishing lodge owned by Arkley.

The ProPublica story also found that Arkley gave valuable freebies, including lodging and a trip to Kodiak Island on his private jet, to Justice Antonin Scalia, who also failed to disclose the gifts. Arkley attended that particular trip, according to the story.

In the letter to Arkley, which you can download via a link at the bottom of this post, the senators also ask Arkley for:

An account of how you came to provide Justice Alito with a gift of free lodging in July 2008, including who invited Justice Alito, when you learned of that invitation, when you learned that you would be attending the trip to Alaska, and the names of other attendees.

The Outpost sent an email to Arkley seeking comment. We’ll update this post if we hear back from him.

In the meantime, below is a press release from Senator Whitehouse’s office:

Washington, DC – Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today announced that they sent three letters seeking information from Leonard Leo and two right-wing billionaires implicated in recent reporting on the Supreme Court’s ethics crisis.  The senators are seeking to identify the full extent of payments or gifts of travel and lodging given to Supreme Court justices as the Committee considers legislation to fortify ethics rules and standards at the Court.

“To date, Chief Justice Roberts has barely acknowledged, much less investigated or sought to fix, the ethics crises swirling around our highest Court.  So if the Court won’t investigate or act, Congress must.  Answers to these questions will help the Committee’s work to create reliable ethics guardrails at the Court, under Congress’s clearly established oversight and legislative authority,” said Whitehouse and Durbin in a joint statement.

The letters follow a bombshell report by ProPublica last month that found Justice Samuel Alito accepted and failed to disclose a luxury Alaskan fishing vacation with Republican billionaires Paul Singer and Robin Arkley II.  According to the report, Justice Alito’s billionaire-funded vacation was planned and attended by Leonard Leo.  Leo is the orchestrator of right-wing influence campaigns around the Supreme Court.  A subsequent New York Times report raises to six the number of right-wing billionaires that have provided services and benefits to Justices Clarence Thomas and Alito.   

The senators’ letters are the latest in a longstanding oversight effort by Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats to ensure transparency and accountability at the Supreme Court and in the federal judiciary.  On Monday, Whitehouse and Durbin announced that the Committee will mark up Whitehouse’s Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act on Thursday, July 20.  The bill would require Supreme Court justices to adopt a code of conduct, create a mechanism to investigate alleged violations of the code of conduct and other laws, improve disclosure and transparency when a justice has a connection to a party or amicus before the Court, and require justices to explain their recusal decisions to the public.

Congress has an appropriate and well-established role in oversight of the judiciary and updating ethics laws that apply to federal officials, including justices and judges.  Congress passed the Ethics in Government Act, which the justices are subject to, and created through statute the Judicial Conference, which administers that law.

The senators’ letter to Singer can be found here, the letter to Arkley can be found here, and the letter to Leo can be found here.

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DOCUMENT: Letter to Arkley

Josephine Silva at her booth at the Redwood Acres Fair on June 22, before the accident | Submitted

Josephine Silva, an 87-year-old Eureka resident and children’s books author, was recently injured in a bizarre accident when she was hit by “The Choo Choo Train” – a small train-like shuttle vehicle – at the Redwood Acres Fair on June 22. 

Reached by the Outpost on Tuesday, Silva said she had just been released from Providence St. Joseph Hospital on Monday after a more than two-week stay, during which she received stitches and multiple blood transfusions. 

“It’s gonna take a while still,” Silva said weakly over the phone. “I’m just gonna lay low for a few days and get back my strength.” 

The incident occurred in the afternoon on Thursday, June 22, when Silva was walking near the exposition building and  the train, which ferries kids around the grounds, struck her from behind. Silva fell, striking her head on the pavement, and the vehicle came to a stop on top of her legs. Silva was conscious the entire time, she said, but was unable to see everything that was happening. She did say that someone lifted the vehicle off of her and EMTs transported her to St. Joe’s.

According to Talia Flores, public information officer for Humboldt Bay Fire, a call came in at 2:02 p.m. that a pedestrian had been “struck by a small train ride [that was] a similar size to a golf cart.” One HBF engine and a City Ambulance responded to the fairgrounds to find Silva on the ground. The report, Flores said, stated that the vehicle had already been lifted off of Silva by a group of bystanders by the time responders arrived on the scene. 

“She had a deformity of the lower right leg and heavy bleeding,” Flores told the Outpost, reading from the incident report. “[The responders] did place a tourniquet above the right knee until the bleeding stopped.”

Flores added that, according to the report, Silva also had a small cut on her forehead, but most of the damage was to her right leg. Silva’s vitals were pretty regular, Flores said, and she “denied losing consciousness.” Silva was transported to the ER via City Ambulance with no further incident. 

It is not exactly clear how Silva was hit by the train, since she was hit from behind and did not see the vehicle or who was driving. But she can only assume that the driver was unable to see her. Though she was wearing a bright pink jacket at the time she was hit she is a very small woman – only about four feet, three inches tall, she said. It does concern Silva, however, that the driver could not see her at a fair, where a lot of small children are running around. 

“If I had been a child, he probably would’ve killed me,” Silva said. 

One of Silva’s books | Submitted

The timing couldn’t have been worse for Silva, who had a booth at the fair where she was selling her recently published “Baby Berry Bear,” a series of five children’s books Silva has written about the adventures of a teddy bear.

Silva has a great love of teddy bears and also sews stuffed teddy bears, dressing them in different costumes. This was Silva’s first time selling her books in public, she said, and she was very excited to be making her big debut.

Of course, following the accident, Silva’s booth – which was being manned by her son at the time she was hit – had close. Silva also had a booth booked at Eureka’s Fourth of July Festival, which she had to cancel because she was still in the hospital. 

When asked if she planned to press charges, Silva said that she has hired a lawyer but is not sure how she wants to proceed. She believes this was an accident and said she’s not even mad at anyone. She mostly just wants to focus on getting better. 

It’s also unclear if any type of investigation is being done into the incident. Multiple attempts to reach Redwood Acres CEO Mic Moulton were unanswered by the time this article was published. The Outpost will update if we hear more. 

Though the incident was very difficult, both physically and emotionally, Silva is maintaining a surprisingly positive attitude and is hopeful that she’ll be good as new in no time. Silva said she is getting her stitches taken out tomorrow and is already feeling much better than when she was released Monday.

“I was scared, very scared, and I’m still very weak,” Silva said. “But I’ll be all right. I’m a tough little cookie.” 

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The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday gave its final stamp of approval to a $1 million funding request to pay for emergency repairs to the earthquake-damaged grandstands at the Ferndale Fairgrounds.

The board authorized the initial funding request during a special meeting at the end of last month and directed staff to return to the board if additional funds were required. Despite a bit of confusion on the matter, yesterday’s agenda item was not a request for additional funding but a bookkeeping item to document the increase in expenditures to the Department of Public Works and approve a construction agreement with Aquatic Designing, Inc. and Mobley Construction.

Speaking during Tuesday’s meeting, County Administrative Officer (CAO) Elishia Hayes reminded the board that the funds would come from the 2020 Finance Plan and would, essentially, serve as a loan from the county to the county.

Elishia Hayes

“These are dollars that are grown from ourselves,” Hayes said. “These dollars are pretty strictly available for county infrastructure repair and replacement needs. … This is the last remaining availability in the Finance Plan, and there are no other foreseeable needs immediately on the table at this point in time where these funds could be utilized.”

Hayes added that she is “very cognizant [of] the current budget situation” and emphasized that the funds could not be used to fund county road improvements, “retain staffing or to reduce the General Fund structural deficit.”

“They do – very explicitly at this point in time – have to be used for infrastructure needs,” she said. “I just wanted to make that clear because I think there’s some confusion in the community on the purpose of these funds.”

Fourth District Supervisor Natalie Arroyo noted that the supplemental budget request attached to the agenda totaled $2 million and asked if staff could offer an explanation or correct the item. Hayes explained that the document accounts for $1 million in the revenue line and another million in the expenditure line, “so it nets to $1 million in overall increases in the budget but the overall transaction totals to $2 million.”

“Rest assured, it is a $1 million expenditure from the 2020 Finance Plan,” Hayes added. “Revenue from the 2020 Finance Plan [is] offset by a $1 million expenditure in fixed assets.”

Third District Supervisor Mike Wilson, who was not present during the June 29 special meeting, asked if the Humboldt County Fair Association has done any private fundraising to raise money for repairs to the grandstands. 

“I mean, if you think about when Food for People had their disaster occur at their facility, there was a lot of private fundraising around that,” Wilson said. “The reason I ask it in this in this context is also because …  I heard that Supervisor Arroyo was really adamant [that] the $1 million [would] not go over … that budget amount [and] if there’s work being done to prepare for the possibility that there may be the need for private funds [in addition].”

From a government standpoint, Hayes said the Fair Association could seek potential support from the Headwaters Fund for potential support, but deferred the question to Jill Duffy, interim general manager of the Humboldt County Fair Association.

Jill Duffy

“The short answer is no,” Duffy said. “Does that mean it is not being thought about? Absolutely it’s been thought about, [but] this is the short-term fix. This isn’t the final project. We’re gonna have to [put] together a more comprehensive capital campaign for the purpose of making all of the upgrades to the facility, and that’s going to include ADA and other types of amenities. When that time comes, it’s not going to be a million-dollar fix – it’s going to be significantly more.”

Right now, Duffy said, the Fair Association is focused on getting everything in line for the fair, which opens on Aug. 17. “I’m just moving forward with a lot of contracts at the moment,” she said. “After we get through the fair – provided that the structure is stabilized [and] we’re able to utilize them – we’ll need to sit down with the CAO’s office … and we will have to work out what some form of a repayment structure is going to be.”

There’s a possibility that the California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) will reimburse the county for some of the money spent on repairs to the grandstands because it was damaged during the Dec. 20 earthquake, but it’s not a guarantee. CalOES will not pay for deferred maintenance at the fairgrounds.

Speaking during public comment, fair board member Clint Duey thanked the Board of Supervisors for moving so quickly to address the repairs to the grandstands and reiterated his board’s commitment to “working to repay our portion over time.”

“I just want to express our commitment to continuing that relationship,” Duey said, referring to the memorandum of understanding (MOU) the board was poised to approve. “I completely agree with you [that] there is deferred maintenance that needs to be addressed on the fairgrounds, but we’re not here again because of deferred maintenance issues. We’re here right now because of a major earthquake that caused significant damage across the county into a county building that is, quite frankly, beyond our means to do on our own.”

Following public comment, Wilson asked for more consistency in communications between the county and the Fair Association moving forward.

“It seems like a lot of the times when we’re talking about the fairgrounds and the fair board’s issues, it’s always [an] emergency [or] some issue has popped up,” he said. “Although we may have a relationship – and some would say it’s good – it doesn’t seem to be consistent. … I want to make sure that whatever MOU is structured here really speaks to that. About our …  fiscal relationship but also from an infrastructure perspective.”

Wilson added that he would like to see some “visioning” from the fair board surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion, noting that he has seen vendors flying confederate flags flying at the fair. “That is something we have to deal with,” he said.

Duffy acknowledged Wilson’s concerns and agreed that there are “a number of items to be addressed” surrounding fiscal sustainability and diversity. “It’s not for me to have that conversation, but for the two boards to have that,” she said. “The question that we’re here for today is to do the authorization of the funding, in addition to the contracts. That’s the important stuff that needs to move forward.”

Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell made a motion to authorize both the construction contract and the MOU with the Fair Association. First District Supervisor Rex Bohn seconded, and emphasized that contractors have already broken ground on repairs to the grandstands. He reminded the board: “If we don’t vote for this today, we’re liable for all funds spent up into this point.”

“The big iron showed up today, it’s custom cut, so it’s not a return possibility,” he said. “If you remember, the motion that was made on [June 29] was that all structural fixes that we do now have to tie into the permanent fix. … So there’s so much more to this.”

The motion passed 5-0.

Expanding Telework Opportunities

The board also considered a request, brought forth by Bushnell, to revisit the county’s telework policy and potentially expand the availability of remote work to provide rural residents with better job opportunities. 

Michelle Bushnell

“As we all know the rural areas – especially in my district  [in] Southern Humboldt – [are] having an economic downturn and there are not a lot of jobs that are available down there for people who are wishing to stay in their communities,” Bushnell said. “Throughout our organization, there are a lot of jobs that aren’t necessarily forward-facing or public-facing, that could be very well served with teleworking. At this time, it is discretionary to the department heads, so my idea behind this is just to have a discussion and to ask the department heads’ input.”

The county’s existing telework program, adopted in February 2022, notes that “eligibility for teleworking is based on both the position and the employee and is subject to department approval” based on several guidelines surrounding productivity, dependability and responsibility. On top of that, teleworking agreements vary from regular/recurring to occasional/temporary, depending on the position and the individual employee. 

Bushnell acknowledged that more teleworking opportunities often mean more work for department heads who would have to monitor their remote employees but asked if there would be any interest in revisiting the topic to accommodate people experiencing “transportation hardships” who live more than 20 miles from their place of work.

Human Resources Director Zachary O’Hanen noted that the county’s existing policy “doesn’t preclude us from doing this,” but reiterated the point that it is up to department heads.

Zachary O’Hanen

“I can speak about my department,” he said. “One of the considerations that I’ve made is when gas prices were $6 a gallon, I said, ‘Hey, does anyone want to telework?’ So we have a number of employees in HR who telework at least one or two days a week.”

But Bushnell was asking for specific language that would guarantee teleworking opportunities for an individual in the future. “You’re not going to get someone to apply for a job if some if the department head says, ‘Well, I can take that back anytime’ and there’s no policy that accommodates it [to] ensure that they won’t be living two hours away and all of a sudden the department head says, ‘No, you can’t tell work anymore because I’m done with that and I don’t want to do that in my department anymore,’” she said.

Hayes noted that “there’s not necessarily a surety” that a prospective employee would be a good fit for a given position or someone who would be an effective employee.

“In my mind, this is more of a policy statement from the board that you want to encourage that this be utilized in a more robust fashion for those folks who do reside in those areas,” she said. “I think that this could be a separate policy statement whereby you keep intact the current policy, which does allow for revocation of telework if an individual isn’t meeting certain performance standards. I do think that’s important that we still retain that ability for an employee who has proven over time to be somewhat ineffective in the telework situation.”

Bushnell said she knew of existing county employees that want to telework but their supervisors will not let them “and they have no criteria for saying no, they just don’t want to do it.” 

Bohn felt as though the vast majority of department heads were willing to accommodate remote employees in certain situations but expressed concern for a drop-off in productivity.

“I just remember hearing one time that the [effiency rating of people in the office] work[ing] at home was like 65 percent,” he said. “I don’t want to put the department head on the spot but I think that’s what John Ford said.”

Several department heads offered their perspective on the matter. County Clerk-Recorder and Registrar of Voters Juan Pablo Cervantes said he would be open to additional teleworking opportunities in his office but said there are currently too many variables.

“We’re a small county and our departments are lean, we’re scrappy and we’re having to do more with fewer resources, and that means that the nature of the job can change,” he said. “I see positions in my departments that I’m wanting to move towards telework [but] the hesitancy is, what happens when the ground under me changes and I’m having to redeploy them in a different facet that would require them to come into the office? …  I can’t fathom, you know, the next few months or the next year or two allowing me that kind of discretion, even though I’d like to find those opportunities.”

Public Works Director Tom Mattson said he supported the county’s current policy of allowing department heads to decide where teleworking is appropriate.

“I would hate to get into a situation where it becomes a right and it’s grieved over who can do this and which position can and cannot,” he said. “I have a lot of people that do telework that operate very effectively. I have some that don’t operate very effectively teleworking – myself included. … Financially, structure-wise it is good for the county and it is good for employees, but don’t let it become a right that can be grieved.”

Speaking specifically to his department, Planning and Building Director John Ford raised the quality control issue. 

“We can have people answering phones remotely, we have done that,” he said. “We can have people answering emails remotely, we have done that. One of the things we experienced when we do that is a lack of quality control, whereby the people who are remotely saying things aren’t being overheard by a senior staff or by a manager and are giving wrong information. Then we have a problem with somebody coming back in and saying, ‘You told me I could do this,’ and they can’t.”

It’s not a one-size-fits-all issue, he added.

Connie Beck, director of the county Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), said she agreed completely with Mattson, adding that some of her employees are effective teleworkers while others are not. 

“There [are] some programs that we work mostly in the field and having the ability to telework when you’ve been out in the field all day is a nice gesture for people,” she said. “And then we have people that have actually moved to other areas and are still working for us. So, because our staffing levels are so critical, we need to have the ability to do that. We are actually even looking at having training available in different areas of the county because one of the things that we worry about is the support and training that happens with individuals when they’re first hired.”

Following a brief public comment period and a bit of additional discussion from the board, Arroyo made a motion to keep the teleworking policy as is for the time being and directed staff to look into ways to strengthen the policy in a way that could accommodate more teleworking opportunities. She also asked staff to return to the board in roughly six months with some data on county employees who are already working remotely. Bushnell seconded the action.

The motion passed in a unanimous 5-0 vote.

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Other notable bits from the meeting:

• The board unanimously approved a letter of complaint to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) regarding recent local service interruptions with Frontier Communications. The letter was prompted by a recent four-and-a-half day outage that took out telecommunications – including 911 services – throughout the Mattole Valley. The letter calls upon the CPUC to address Frontier’s negligence. The item was approved in a unanimous 5-0 vote.
• The board also reviewed and approved several grant awards from the Friends of the Eel River (FOER) Mitigation and Remediation Grant Fund to fund sediment reduction programs associated with roads that serve cannabis cultivation sites and/or are located in impacted watersheds. FOER Executive Director Alicia Hamann said the grant funds would further projects that will “improve water quality for our native fish” for years to come. The board approved the list of grant applications in a 5-0 vote. You can read more about those projects here.
• The board also approved two amendments to the General Plan – a transitional and supportive housing zoning ordinance and an emergency shelter zoning ordinance – to conform to state laws surrounding housing projects and shelter. Both items were approved in 5-0 votes.