With all the recent talk about creating more housing in Humboldt and projects like Arcata’s Gateway Area Plan, Eureka’s Waterfront Plan and the McKinleyville Town Center Plan in the works, you’ve probably heard the term “walkability” thrown around a bit, and keep hearing how these plans are being designed to prioritize bikes and pedestrians over cars and parking. 

But how exactly do we make our communities more walkable? Well, that’s where Dan Burden comes in. Burden, an internationally recognized transportation and walkability expert, has more than 45 years of experience in transportation planning/ engineering, urban design and public engagement and has hosted thousands of walkability audits and transportation studies across the country.

And Burden’s next stop just happens to be our own cozy corner of the world. On July 22 through 25, Burden will host walks in several Humboldt towns, helping city planners and members of the community with ideas on how to make our communities more pedestrian-friendly. He’d like you to walk with him. 

“Walkability is really about building communities so that people have a choice in transportation and aren’t always forced into getting into a car to make a trip,” Burden told the Outpost in a phone interview on Thursday afternoon. “For many people that’s not affordable…And it’s a huge cost to society to have to build the full systems for cars that just keep getting bigger and longer and wider.” 

Burden

Burden, who currently resides in Port Townsend, Wash., has been pursuing his field since he was a teenager who loved bicycling and realized that he wanted to help build other people’s love for bicycling too. After studying recreation sciences and interpersonal communications at the University of Montana, Burden eventually landed a job as the first State Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator for the Florida Department of Transportation. In 1996 Burden started his own organization, Walkable Communities, Inc., focused on building cities that prioritize people, rather than cars. He has since visited more than 3,500 cities around the country, helping policymakers create more walkable environments. You can view Burden’s impressive resumé here.) 

Burden was recently invited by the Humboldt County Association of Governments (HCAOG) to bring his expertise to some of our local communities – Arcata, Eureka, Blue Lake and McKinleyville. Each town’s officials selected an area they wanted to focus on and provided Burden with background information on the various projects planned for these areas and some of the traffic and pedestrian-related issues the towns are facing. Burden will host separate walking audits in each of these areas, followed by presentations he will compile to lay out his recommendations. 

The first walk will be held in Arcata on Saturday, July 22 from 10 a.m. to noon, and will focus on the area surrounding 11th and K Streets, in the part of town that has come to be known as the Gateway Area, after the town’s ambitious Gateway Area Plan, which aims to bring rezone the area to facilitate the development of high-density housing and mixed-used developments.

Later that day, from 1 to 3 p.m., Burden will host a walk audit in McKinleyville, focusing on Central Avenue. The McKinleyville Municipal Advisory Committee (MMAC) has been working to develop the McKinleyville Town Center Master Plan, which aims to create a thriving town center, with retail shops, parks and that encourages bicycle and pedestrian travel. 

On Sunday, July 23, Burden will make his way to Eureka, hosting a walk from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. that will focus on the Old Town Area, and on Tuesday, July 25, Burden will guide a walk in Blue Lake from 12 to 1 p.m. 

Burden said that his expertise and outsider perspective helps him notice issues that might have been overlooked. He’s also familiar with a wide range of tools that can be used to address these challenges and often provides communities with options that had not been previously considered. 

“I teach people to see things with a new set of eyes that they walk past all the time but don’t notice,” Burden said. “Once we know what the issues are we’ll be able to start a robust public engagement process.” 

What exactly will Burden be looking for during these walks? Well, he focuses on a range of issues, including traffic flow and safety. One of Burden’s frequent approaches is what he refers to as “road diets,” which is an approach to traffic management that focuses on taking things away from the roads, rather than adding more. 

One example of a “road diet” is reducing the number of lanes on a road. Often when traffic has become congested in an area, planners will decide that the best option is to add more lanes. However, while adding more lanes does sometimes calm traffic initially, it does not usually help in the long run. Burden often recommends removing some of the lanes, making more room for bicycles and pedestrians and slowing traffic.

Burden says that when it comes to reducing traffic congestion, it is actually more effective to focus on the intersections. One approach that Burden often suggests is converting traditional four-way intersections into roundabouts, which have been shown to reduce traffic congestion. “A roundabout can carry 30 to 50 percent more traffic per lane than a signal can,” Burden said.

Another way Burden suggests improving intersections and calming traffic is through curb extensions. Expanding the size of curbs and sidewalks, Burden said, can slow down drivers when they are taking turns (making the intersection safer) and also create a shorter distance for pedestrians to cross the street. 

Burden also focuses on parking issues, something that has been a hot-button topic, especially surrounding some of Eureka’s and Arcata’s development plans. Burden said that many cities will tell him they have a “parking problem,” when what they really have is a “parking management problem.” Burden often works with cities to identify ways to better manage parking by finding spaces that can be used for parking and encouraging cities to install meters in busy areas. 

Of course, Burden supports the idea of deprioritizing parking in general, and wants to encourage people to visit areas by walking, biking or using public transportation. Encouraging people to walk in communities not only supports healthier lifestyles, but also encourages more social interaction and helps encourage patronage of local shops and other businesses. 

“When we do the wrong thing with traffic, we’re destroying businesses,” Burden said. “We’re destroying the social life of our communities.” 

Burden’s walks and presentations are free and open to the public. If you’re interested, you can view a complete schedule of Burden’s walks and presentations and contact information for each city here. 

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Big changes are coming to the Samoa Peninsula. 

The Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District held a public scoping meeting at the Wharfinger Building on Wednesday evening to provide an overview of the state-of-the-art “heavy lift marine terminal” that would support offshore wind development all along the West Coast. 

Last year, the Harbor District entered into an agreement with Crowley Wind Services, a private marine solutions and logistics company, to build and operate the full-service marine terminal at the old pulp mill property in Samoa. Once it’s fully built out, the facility will have the potential to produce and ship the gigantic components needed for floating offshore wind turbines, everything from the blades and nacelles (the generator house) to mooring lines, towers and transmission cables.

If everything goes according to plan, the floating offshore wind development will bring the United States one step closer to meeting the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of deploying 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy – enough to power 10 million homes – by 2030, and 15 GW of floating offshore wind energy by 2035.

“It’s a very ambitious goal because it’s nearly double what the world currently has,” Harbor District Development Director Rob Holmlund said during Wednesday’s meeting.

The Port of Humboldt Bay is in an ideal position to become the epicenter of offshore wind energy manufacturing and distribution on the West Coast. In fact, our humble port is the only port on the West Coast that has the capacity to host all three of the primary port needs of the offshore wind industry: staging and integration, onsite manufacturing and operations and maintenance. 

Holmlund

“Each port has the opportunity to do component manufacturing, staging and integration and/or operations and maintenance,” Holmlund said. “The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has evaluated all these ports and found that there are really only two spots [where] staging and integration can happen – Humboldt Bay, Los Angeles and Long Beach – because you need specific parameters to be able to do that particular stage. You need to have the right channel width, depth and no vertical draft restrictions.”

Among those three ports, only Humboldt Bay has immediately available developable space to accommodate the offshore wind industry, he said. And, because of its proximity to Morro Bay and other proposed wind energy lease areas in Oregon, Humboldt Bay is the only port capable of shipping the fully assembled platforms and turbines out to sea.

“These turbines have to be manufactured in a port,” Holmlund said. “You can transport the blades of a certain size by train, but after they get too large they have to be on a truck – each blade individually. Transport logistics become more and more difficult until, at some point, it’s just too big to transport on land. … Ocean-based turbines can only be moved by large ships, so they can be much, much larger than land-based turbines.”

To give you a better idea of the sheer scale of these things, the wind turbines that will be spinning off of our shores will be taller than the Eiffel Tower. The triangular platforms the turbines will be mounted on would cover the entire Arcata Plaza.

Despite their colossal size, Holmlund said the turbines would be barely visible from shore.

“I was in Trinidad the other day with my wife and children and we were hiking on Trinidad Head. It was a particularly clear day and I could actually see the smokestack on the Samoa Peninsula,” he said. “I looked it up later – that’s 17 miles – and it was really tiny and very, very far away.”

The big takeaway from the public comment portion of the meeting was the importance of community involvement. Lonyx Landry, Humboldt County Planning Commissioner and STEM advisor at Cal Poly Humboldt, said he is “all about” the transition away from fossil fuels but expressed concern for “how that happens in our community.”

“Perhaps by going slower [we can] make sure we are taking care of the fears and concerns of our community and maybe in the long run [that will] allow us to go faster with rolling out these new technologies and abilities,” Landry said. “I want this to be happening with us, not to us. … In some respects, this is a sacrifice, and I believe it’s a sacrifice that many people are prepared to make. But we absolutely want to make sure that we’re getting something for us. I don’t believe that corporate America needs any help and fast-tracking their agenda.”

Fourth District Supervisor Natalie Arroyo urged Harbor District officials and Crowley representatives to advocate for the community’s “specific concerns” as offshore wind development efforts move ahead.

Arroyo

“I know there are things that aren’t exactly in your jurisdiction that are going to take a regional approach, and I want to really encourage you to include those and document them in your EIR,” she said, noting that her comments do not reflect that of the entire Board of Supervisors. “[That] include[s] things like housing, possible transportation impacts, visual and sound impacts, green portfolios, emergency response, etc. … That allows me – although the county has a somewhat limited role in the project – to advocate to Sacramento or D.C. and ask for these infrastructure changes to be funded in a way that allows us to really address these concerns.”

When nuclear power plants are developed, there are entire towns built around them to support the facilities, Arroyo said. “The level of investment is off the charts. I will go and ask for that, but I ask that this document is robust enough to give the framework for those big asks,” she said.

Jennifer Savage, a 20-year resident of the Samoa Peninsula, emphasized the importance of keeping the public involved throughout the planning and development process.

Savage

“If we’re going to reindustrialize the peninsula, you really need to do it right,” she said. “This proposed marine terminal project provides a unique opportunity to reduce planetary harm by assisting in the transition away from fossil fuels while providing living wage jobs – which should be local – for our struggling region. And these are really noble goals that deserve support, but the communities that live and recreate on the peninsula should not be forced to suffer unnecessary negative consequences as a part of that deal.”

Savage paused for a moment and said she was trying to think of a “respectful, delicate way” to phrase what she was about to say. “Even the most cursory Google search of Crowley will show that there is a disappointing record when it comes to environmental impacts and human rights,” she said. 

She also questioned the legality of moving ahead with a lease agreement, which is likely to be signed before the end of the year, before the completion of CEQA compliance. 

“I think it’s really concerning that we may be signing the lease agreement before the environmental review is complete,” she said. “My understanding is you’re legally required to complete CEQA prior to signing the lease. I thought that’s the way the law worked. If not, it would be great to have some clarity around that.”

A quick Google search indicates that final CEQA documents must be completed before decision-makers commit to a project and prior to leasing, selling and acquiring property. However, Holmlund says it’s “standard procedure.”

“It’s absolutely not in conflict with CEQA,” Holmlund told the Outpost during a brief phone interview on Thursday afternoon. “The normal procedure for development throughout California – and for this region – is for the property to be leased before the CEQA process is complete.”

Holmlund pointed to Nordic Aquafarms’ proposed land-based fish farm as an example. “They’ve had a lease with the Harbor District for three years. They’ve got their [final] EIR but they’re still working on various permits. They have to pay for the right to hold onto the land throughout the permitting process. … A lease is an agreement between two parties over how much they’re going to pay to use the land. CEQA is the process used to minimize environmental impacts.”

Holmlund acknowledged that there “seems to be a lot of confusion” surrounding the issue and invited community members to reach out to the Harbor District with questions. He added that there will be many more opportunities for the public to offer their two cents on the project in the coming months. 

Want to learn more about the project? Holmlund gets into the nitty gritty of the proposed development, the lease areas, shipping, logistics and manufacturing in this hour-long YouTube video.

The Harbor District’s Notice of Preparation of Draft Environmental Impact Report was released at the end of last month. The document will be circulated for a 30-day review and comment period. If you weren’t able to make it to Wednesday’s meeting you can submit comments by emailing Rob Holmlund at districtplanner@humboldtbay.org.

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PREVIOUSLY:

• Harbor District Announces Massive Offshore Wind Partnership; Project Would Lead to an 86-Acre Redevelopment of Old Pulp Mill Site
• Offshore Wind is Coming to the North Coast. What’s in it For Humboldt?
• ‘Together We Can Shape Offshore Wind for The West Coast’: Local Officials, Huffman and Others Join Harbor District Officials in Celebrating Partnership Agreement With Crowley Wind Services
• SOLD! BOEM Names California North Floating and RWE Offshore Wind Holdings as Provisional Winners of Two Offshore Wind Leases Off the Humboldt Coast
• California’s Aging Electrical Infrastructure Presents Hurdle for Offshore Wind Development on the North Coast
• Crowley — the Company That Wants to Build a Big Wind Energy Facility on the Peninsula — Will be Opening Offices in Eureka
• Harbor District to Host Public Meeting Kicking Off Environmental Review of Offshore Wind Heavy Lift Marine Terminal Project

It was a perfunctory committee hearing on a day full of them in the Legislature. The measure in question on Tuesday wasn’t novel, just another in a long list of attempts to reclassify a misdemeanor as a felony. Like most attempts before it, it met a quiet and undignified end.

The bill was new, but what it sought to do was not. Lawmakers from both parties had made numerous previous attempts to reclassify human trafficking of a minor for purposes of a commercial sex act as a “serious felony,” which would be treated as a strike under California’s Three Strikes law.

In 2007, twice in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2017 and three times in 2021, legislators tried and failed to reclassify child sex trafficking. But then something strange happened after the latest effort went down.

A backlash swiftly took shape on social media. Comments ranged from “What on earth were these Democrats thinking?” to accusations that they were siding with pedophiles — and at least one Democratic member of the Assembly Public Safety Committee that quashed the bill reported receiving death threats.

Soon the bill, which had already passed the Senate unanimously, began collecting new, high-profile allies. Gov. Gavin Newsom at a press conference expressed dismay at its failure, telling reporters that he’d reach out to the bill’s Republican author, Sen. Shannon Grove of Bakersfield. Newly seated Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, a Salinas Democrat, also said he was “very much engaged” in trying to move the bill forward.

So on Thursday the Assembly Public Safety Committee took it up again. And on the second go-around, it passed.

Human trafficking of a minor for purposes of commercial sex under current law incurs a sentence of up to 12 years in prison. If the crime involved force, fear, fraud, deceit, coercion, violence, duress, menace, or threat of unlawful injury to the victim or to another person, the sentence is 15 years to life. If the person is convicted of inflicting great bodily harm on the victim while trafficking them, a judge can add up to 10 years to a prison sentence.

If the child trafficking bill passes the full Assembly and Newsom signs it, people convicted of the crime would face longer prison terms and potential life sentences.

The 48 hours between Tuesday’s original vote and Thursday’s session was yet another collision of California’s goals of reducing incarceration by moving away from tough-on-crime laws, and the political reality of negative advertising.

More than a decade ago, then-Assemblymember Richard Pan tried to add five new offenses related to human trafficking and the abuse of a child to the serious felony list.

The 2011 measure never made it out of committee. Pan, a Democrat who was in both the Assembly and Senate, said he was not sure what was different this time.

“Sometimes you never know what gets the attention of the public,” Pan said. “There are these tensions (between reducing the prison population and harsher sentences).

“But we don’t start off by saying abusing children is not a serious crime.”

Some progressive lawmakers have opposed toughening penalties for sex trafficking because they were persuaded that it would contribute to the over-incarceration of Black people, and needlessly extend already-significant prison sentences — costing taxpayers more money while demonstrating little public benefit. Opponents also have contended that harsher sentences may end up being applied to people at the lowest rungs of trafficking, who may be trafficked themselves.

“There is no evidence that long prison sentences deter or prevent crime,” the advocacy group Sister Warriors Freedom Coalition wrote in opposition to the bill. “If anything, low-level individuals involved in human trafficking will be prosecuted under this legislation, many of them will be prosecuted for conduct done under duress or other pressures, and they will be easily and swiftly replaced.”

But nuance like that can be difficult, if not impossible, to persuasively convey in a political campaign — and this was an issue conservatives knew they could weaponize against Democrats. The fallout was quick and fierce after Democratic members of the Assembly Public Safety Committee abstained from voting on the bill Tuesday, effectively blocking it.

“You can choose a team, pick pedophiles or children,” Assemblymember Heath Flora, a Ripon Republican, said Thursday morning.

Insults, threats to California Democrats

“I think certainly the thousands of social media texts we got, and me personally, the two death threats I got and the death threats made against my children certainly raised a level of concern in terms of making sure we had some resolution to this bill at this moment right now,” Assemblymember Mia Bonta, an Oakland Democrat, told CalMatters.

The volume from Twitter, Republicans and some Democrats led at least one committee member to change her mind.

“On Tuesday, I made a bad decision,” Assemblymember Liz Ortega, a Hayward Democrat, wrote Thursday on Twitter. “Voting against legislation targeting really bad people who traffic children was wrong. I regret doing that and I am going to help get this important legislation passed into law.”

Ultimately Bonta and Assemblymember Isaac Bryant both abstained from voting on the bill in the Assembly Public Safety Committee hearing on Thursday. Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer, a Los Angeles Democrat and chair of the committee, said the vote on Thursday was so markedly different from Tuesday’s vote because questions he had about the bill were answered in the interim.

Republicans on child trafficking bill

Noting the death threats against Bonta, Jones-Sawyer said in a hallway interview that the “Trumpian hate … is just wrong.”

“You can have an honest debate, but, my god, you should not threaten a woman because of her personal feelings on an issue,” he said.

After the bill cleared the Assembly Public Safety Committee, Republican legislators celebrated the victory in a state where they rarely get to do so.

“In the end, my Democrat colleagues in the Assembly Public Safety Committee did the right thing and passed (the bill) that will make sure repeat offenders of child sex trafficking are held accountable,” said Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, a San Diego Republican. “If it were not for the extraordinary pushback from figures around the state and nation, I fear the Democrats’ one-party rule and some of their radical ideologies would have prevailed.”

The bill’s author, Grove, said in a statement that she expects the cooperation of Assembly Democrats should the bill reach the floor – its next stop is the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

“Protecting victims of child sex trafficking should not be a partisan issue,” Grove said. “Today is a victory for every survivor.”

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CalMatters newsletter writer Lynn La contributed to this report. CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

William Arthur Rush passed away peacefully on April 17, 2023 in Eureka. He was 86 years old. He was well cared for and comfortable when he died. He loved life with passion, enthusiasm, and vigor in his early life. He was brave, bold, had a strong personality, and was multi-talented.

William was born on August 25, 1936 in Hollywood. His mother, Mary Jo was an actress during the early Hollywood heyday. Arthur, his father, was a talent manager for many celebrities, including Roy Rogers, Nelson Eddy, Mario Lanza, and others. Both of his parents descended from signers of the Declaration of Independence. His genealogy connects him to knights in the old British Isles, as well!

His brother, Robert Rush, who lives currently in southern California, says, “Bill loved flying. He got his pilot’s license on his 16th birthday. He had three big auto accidents before he was twenty. He had his driver’s license suspended for six to eight months. He could not drive but he could still fly. He was a good artist. He did some medical drawings of surgeries on human bodies that were published for medical articles.”

Bill Rush explored many other skills throughout his life, such as being a leader in the ROTC and owning a bike repair business as a youth. He studied landscape design, and was a US Air Guard fighter pilot in the 1950s. He also studied architecture at University of Southern California. While he was there, he also provided the N.A.S.A. Space Medicine Program with the creative flow of ideas and answers that made such a success of this country’s manned space flights. During his work with NASA, his mentor, Dr. Patrick Meehan, encouraged Bill to pursue a career in medicine. He graduated from George Washington University with a medical degree in 1967.

William was a general surgeon, performing mostly gastrointestinal procedures. He loved his work, and wanted to share his passion for how the human body functions and heals. He excelled in his field and was famous for designing and cutting custom, artistic surgical bandages that made his patients smile. His amazing drawings intrigued all as he expertly explained the intricacies of his practice and knowledge.

In addition to his duties at the hospital and as President of the San Jose Surgical Society, he was also a volunteer first responder to several hundred car accidents on one of the most dangerous roads in California, Highway 17, in the Santa Cruz mountains. He listened to emergency radio channels on a police scanner under his pillow at night! When he heard the responder code, he was off to the rescue, no matter what the hour. He had a portable red flashing light on his car to disperse traffic in order to save lives. Paramedic, police and fire departments in the area dubbed him “The White Knight”, as his white car was often the first on the scene. (See San Jose Mercury article, written by Steve Lopez, from September 2, 1984, “A Good Man on a Wicked Road”, attached.)

He developed and coordinated disaster preparedness plans and large-scale disaster preparedness events in the Bay area. His emergency preparedness works were published in regional phone books.

He loved collecting tools, gadgets, innovative inventions, and the newest tech. His favorite slogan was, “He who dies with the most toys wins!”

Later in life, he developed many health challenges, but he was well cared for by his family and teams of caregivers.

William is survived by his wife Linda, who was his primary caregiver for many years, as well as his children, Ben and Annalisa, his younger brother, Robert, and five grandchildren, Makena, Kai, Leif, Noa, and Loren. They are grateful that he saved so many lives, including family members. They are so thankful for his ethic of service, hard work, and responsibility. They will cherish many fond memories of summer parties, family adventures, harrowing tales, survival in the mountains, his goofy side, his resourcefulness, wealth of knowledge, passion for life, healing hands, and his many talents.

Thanks from family to the many heroes with whom he partnered. The Rushes greatly appreciate all the emergency personnel who worked with him to make our Santa Cruz mountain community safer and more connected through preparedness, rescues and trauma responses. Thanks to all of his patient and wonderful caregivers in his final months. Thanks to all the Eureka Timber Ridge Assisted Living staff who helped him be as comfortable as possible in the final four months if his life. Bill’s family also extends special thanks to Hospice of Humboldt, who helped immensely; Molly, Katelyn, Dylan, and Scotty provided so much support and loving care to Bill and his family.

At one time, Bill’s original wish for his memorial service was to have an air force flyover and a 12-gun, military, formal salute, which he deserved! However, Dr. Bill (as he preferred to be addressed late in his life), eventually decided he not want any service. His family will conduct a private one in the future.

His family does not want any gifts, but suggest that donations be made in Dr. William Rush’s honor to Hospice of Humboldt, located at 3327 Timber Fall Ct, Eureka, CA 95503. Local volunteer fire departments, neighborhood emergency groups, HAM radio operators, or other first responder or disaster preparedness organizations of choice would be other worthy sources to which honorary contributions can be made.

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Harry Eugene (Gene) Davenport
January 26, 1942 – July 4, 2023

Where do I begin? I guess at the beginning of my journey:

I was born and raised in Eureka. I went to Marshall Elementary, Eureka Junior High and Eureka Senior High School. I had a paper route when I was young and later worked for my Dad who was an Exxon jobber and also owned Davenport Marine. When I was old enough to work, I drove truck delivering fuel to local gas stations (Humboldt & Del Norte) and worked on the Davenport Marine docks fueling fishing boats and selling product in the store. Thankful for my opportunity at the family business. One of my passions and hobbies was hot rods and spent time hanging out at Red’s Rod Shop as a kid. Of course, the guys gave me the nickname “Pube” since I was much younger. After becoming of age to drive, I got my own hotrod and went to the drag strip to race it. Man, I loved that speed. I was a member of the “Heaps” car club. We had great camaraderie and also got into some mischief.

I met my wife Joyce at her cousin’s wedding practice in July of 1961, where we walked down the aisle together as usher and bridesmaid. We were the ripe old age of 20 and 19 when we married the following January 27, 1962. We moved to Redding the following Labor Day, (whew it was hot). I went to Shasta Junior College for a time and worked for Standard Oil and then for Lytrell Welding Supply. I bought my first ski boat with a 4-cylinder outboard motor on it. It worked fine BUT not enough speed and upgraded to an inboard boat that was a monster. It pulled four single skiers at a time. I felt like top dog.

Our daughter, Jill, was born in January of 1967 in Redding. In April of that year, we moved back to Eureka and in December of 1968 our daughter Joy arrived. I went back to work at Davenport Marine. In my off hours I bought fixer uppers to renovate and sell, hopefully for a profit. I also partnered with Tom Farr to build a townhouse complex and with Ben Carroll to build a four-plex – hard work but man I loved it. Looking for my own thing, I studied Real Estate and received my license. At that point, I left Davenport Marine for a new venture and experience to sell real estate.

I worked for Coldwell Banker Cutten Realty for 36 years. There was 12 months during that time (1989) that I had the opportunity to manage, with the option to buy, a wire rigging shop in Kodiak, Alaska. That was some experience as the Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound just happened; I became an expediter of goods for the oil clean-up. Busy Times! Kodiak was a tough sell for me and Joyce, certain times of the year it seemed like the sun never went down or never came up – after that year we came back to Eureka for “normal” sun-up and sun-down!

My love of hot rods and speed never abated. I started acquiring old cars to renovate as show cars. I did some of the work and farmed out what was not of my expertise. From 1999 through 2021 we traveled to car shows in Washington, Oregon, and Nevada and of course numerous in California. When the cars were fresh new builds and in inside shows, we trailered them. After having them awhile we drove them, to the shows, more fun that way. We joined Redwood Vintage Rods car club during this period. Made good friends and traveled to many rod runs.

NASCAR was another favorite of mine. SPEED. We traveled to two Championship races in Phoenix with our friends Vic and Dolores Blanc. Whoa what fun we had. Also had Race Day get togethers at our homes, with a little betting on the side. J

I was a member of NSGW Humboldt Parlor #14 in Eureka for 13 years. What a great group of guys. We put on some great dinners at the Parlor and enjoyed cocktail hour to the fullest.

My life was full of love, laughter, travel, and fun times. My grandchildren kept me busy going to their sporting events year-round – I loved watching them, they were great athletes! Skylar gave us two great grandsons, Kayce and Kane, boy were they fun. They gave me such joy and pleasure. We actually babysat them twice a week, imagine that! I was so blessed to have them in my life. My one regret is that I won’t be voting in the 2024 elections to do my duty as a patriotic republican. Those of you who know me best know where my vote would have gone.

“HAPPY DAYS” – Gene

Gene was preceded in death by his daughter Joy and his parents Bob and Midge Davenport. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Joyce, daughter Jill (Joe) Rice, grandchildren Skylar, Taylor (TJ) and Mackenzie Rice; great grandsons Kayce and Kane Rice; granddaughters (by choice) Helen Houx and Lauren Schrimsher; sister Janis Erickson and family, his aunt Dorothy Orford and many cousins.

Thank you to all of Gene’s friends and family who came by to visit with him. He so enjoyed the conversations, laughter, and reminiscing. A special thanks to Kevin Christie (our rock) who was here am and pm when needed to help; to George Smoker, The Coldwell Banker Cutten Realty family and countless friends who filled in the gap when I needed to run errands.

Thank you to the Hospice team of caregivers. They were so compassionate and caring and were able to respond in kind to Gene’s sense of humor. They were wonderful.

Please save the date, Sunday, July 30, 2023, for Gene’s Celebration of Life to be held at the Moose Lodge, 4328 Campton Rd., Eureka, California from 12 pm – 5 pm. BBQ lunch/dinner will be served. Those of you “hot-rod’ers” please drive your pride and joy to the event. We will have room for a hot-rod display at the entrance of the lodge – Dad would love that!

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Press release from the Eureka Police Department:

On July 12, 2023, at about 3:30 p.m., officers with the Eureka Police Department responded to the 400 block of A Street for the report that a male had been lit on fire by an unknown male suspect.

Once on scene, officers located a 43-year-old male victim with major burns to his upper body. Humboldt Bay Fire and City Ambulance arrived and the victim was transported to the hospital with significant injuries. The victim is in stable condition and receiving treatment at an out of the area hospital.

Officers and Detectives immediately began a search of the area for the suspect and video surveillance. Based on the investigation at this time, it appears the suspect used a liquid accelerant to light the victim on fire then quickly fled from the scene.

Based on the investigation at this time we believe this was a targeted attack. Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the Eureka Police Department at (707) 441-4060.

The campaign text messages have stopped, and your recycling bin is finally empty of mailers. But while it’s not election season anymore, California lawmakers are still tinkering with how voting happens.

The number of election-related bills introduced this session — close to 50 — is average, election officials said. But that number has been whittled down since January, and this week’s policy committee deadline may narrow the active proposals more.

Some bigger measures failed early on — including a constitutional amendment, inspired by the 2021 failed recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom, to limit a recall ballot for statewide officials to only asking voters “yes” or “no” on removing the official. Under the proposal, a recalled governor would be replaced by the lieutenant governor and others would be replaced in a special election.

Another constitutional amendment that fell by the wayside would have changed the state superintendent of public instruction from an elected position to one appointed by the governor.

Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat, dropped his effort to provide more detail to voters on who is funding ballot measures after the bill was heavily amended in committees. The amendments “reduced the impact to the point that it was no longer worth passing,” said Erik Mebust, spokesperson for Wiener’s office.

And a bill that would speed up vote counting by changing how mail ballots are processed is in limbo, having passed the Assembly but been sent to the Senate appropriations “suspense file.”

That issue has been a key focus for Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation, who says the state’s notoriously slow results are not just embarrassing but bad for representation and voter confidence.

“The longer that it takes to determine a winner in a contest, the less time that winner has to prepare an agenda for their stint in public office,” she told CalMatters. “The longer that it takes to get the results out to the public, the more suspicious people become.”

She’s not surprised, however, that momentum for bigger election changes has diminished: “Unfortunately, people get really excited about election issues during and immediately following elections. And then you get to the start of the new year and folks might put that behind them.”

But there are still some proposals that could impact voting in 2024. Here are some of the key bills:

Making sense of the ballot

Ballot language can be confusing. Look no further than Proposition 8, which asked voters to ban gay marriage. Voting “no” meant voting “yes” on gay marriage, while voting “yes” meant gay marriage would be disallowed.

The 2008 measure was approved by 52% of voters, then superseded by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2012 ruling legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide. But it’s not the only example: Propositions 6 and 10 on the 2018 ballot — a repeal on the state gas tax, and a rent control measure, respectively — drew similar confusion.

Assembly Bill 421, authored by Culver City Democrat Isaac Bryan, would simplify language on the ballot to make more clear what voters are deciding. When he introduced the bill, Bryan said its aim was to curb abuse of the ballot measure process — increasingly being used by wealthy corporations to overturn laws.

The 2024 ballot already includes two such measures: one by the oil and gas industry to overturn a ban on new oil and gas wells within 3,200 feet of homes, schools, hospitals and other “sensitive” facilities; another by the fast food industry to overturn the law creating a state council to set wages and other workplace standards.

But the current version of the bill is vastly different than what was first introduced.

Originally, the bill sought to curb disinformation by requiring signature gatherers to disclose whether they are paid or volunteers; mandating training and registration with the Secretary of State’s office; and instituting a three-year ban if someone violates the law.

In its latest form, the bill focuses on one primary fix: clarifying ballot language for referendums to either say “keep the law” or “overturn the law.” It’s also now an urgency bill, so if it becomes law, it can take effect for new measures added to the 2024 ballot.

Bryan’s office did not make him available for comment on the amendments.

SEIU California, part of the Empower California Voters coalition backing this effort, says while it plans to continue fighting for further reforms to signature gathering, the bill still “responds urgently to pain points reported by voters: confusing ballot language that is easily exploited by corporations spending their vast wealth to veto policies they don’t like,” Tia Orr, the union’s executive director, said in a statement to CalMatters.

“Under AB 421, voters’ ballots will match their intent,” she wrote. “We know that the best way to do this is a clear statement of what a voter is choosing: to keep or overturn the law. ”

Clearing up the language has strong bipartisan support among voters, according to a poll published in June by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies: 81% of registered voters said they supported clarifying whether a referendum’s intent is to uphold or overturn a law.

Poll respondents also supported other aspects of AB 421 that have now been gutted: requiring a portion of signatures for a referendum to be gathered by volunteers, a requirement that the top three funders of a referendum be disclosed on the signature pages and requiring paid signature gatherers to sign a statement saying they are giving voters accurate information.

Who draws your districts

Redistricting is the once-a-decade process of redrawing election districts after each Census to make sure each has the same number of people. But without guardrails in place, those who draw the maps can use the process to preserve their own power.

For legislative and congressional maps in 2010 and 2020, California adopted an independent commission to take the power out of the hands of elected officials. The idea has trickled down to some counties and cities, but because state law doesn’t require local independent commissions, local redistricting has varied widely, leading to some allegations of gerrymandered maps.

That’s why, this year, we’re seeing more bills to require independent redistricting — though some may overlap. The bills are scheduled to go before two different committees today and must pass to stay alive this session.

Long Beach residents participate in an independent redistricting commission meeting at City Hall on Oct. 20, 2021. Photo by Pablo Unzueta for CalMatters

Building on ordinances in Los Angeles, San Diego, Fresno, Riverside and Kern counties, legislation this year proposes independent redistricting commissions for Orange and Sacramento counties.

Sen. María Elena Durazo also introduced a bill for the city of Los Angeles, though that was later amended to any charter city with a population of at least 2.5 million.

But is this piecemeal approach best? Assemblymember Bryan argues that a statewide bill is needed.

That’s why he introduced two bills. The first is AB 1248, which would require independent redistricting commissions for cities and counties with more than 300,000 residents by the next round in 2030 and would include school and community college districts.

“This is an approach that really answers the question and calling that’s coming statewide,” Bryan said at a July 5 Senate elections committee hearing.

If the statewide requirement fails, though, Bryan has a backup plan: AB 764, which strengthens rules around redistricting, regardless of who draws the maps.

Officials from Common Cause California, a good government advocacy group that is co-sponsoring AB 1248 and AB 764, said they’re excited to see the “groundswell of support” for independent redistricting this year.

“There are some technical amendments to do to make sure the bills don’t conflict with each other,” said Laurel Brodzinsky, legislative director for the organization. “But definitely on a policy level, it’s really exciting to see.”

The bills are opposed by groups representing local governments, including the California State Association of Counties, the Urban Counties of California and the Rural County Representatives of California.

In their opposition letter, they wrote that commissions needed more financial resources and support to achieve the goals of the bill and without it “we are concerned that counties will be set up for failure and such a failure would only serve to validate public distrust in the redistricting process and in our democratic systems that are already under intense public scrutiny.”

Who funds campaigns

Where there’s talk of election reform, you can expect talk of campaign finance.

A bill by Democratic Sens. Tom Umberg of Santa Ana and Ben Allen of Redondo Beach that cleared the policy committee deadline last week proposes expanding public financing of campaigns. The intent of SB 24 is to level the playing field for candidates against those backed by wealthy corporations or interest groups.

If passed, the bill will ask voters to decide in November 2024 whether to lift the ban on public financing of campaigns for state offices and those in counties, most cities and districts. Currently, only charter cities permit public financing programs.

California voters have previously rejected similar ballot measures — though, unlike the current legislation, all three of the failed bills proposed a specific public financing program for state offices.

Some opponents say the legislation would make no change to the status quo because unless public money is the only source of campaign financing, candidates would still face the same financial disadvantages.

Another bill, AB 83, to prohibit foreign-influenced businesses from contributing to California campaigns, was shelved by its author.

Keeping elections secure

While California’s 2022 elections went off without major incidents, some lawmakers aim to ensure that remains the case ahead of the 2024 election.

AB 969, introduced by Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, a Santa Cruz Democrat and the new chairperson of the Assembly elections committee, is a response to Shasta County’s termination of its contract with Dominion Voting Systems over unproven allegations of fraud by the company, which provides voting machines.

The bill bans jurisdictions from terminating contracts for a certified voting system without having a plan in place for a replacement. It also seeks to prevent elections officials from choosing or being required to manually tally ballots in elections where there are more than 1,000 registered voters. After passing the Assembly, the bill has made it through the Senate committee process.

Another bill aimed at election integrity is from Assemblymember Mia Bonta, an Oakland Democrat. Her AB 37 would allow candidates or elected officials less restricted use of campaign funds to pay for security expenses.

Bonta cited threats against fellow legislators in her introduction of the bill, which is before the Senate appropriations committee.

“As public servants, there is a lot we humbly and willingly sacrifice to serve, including spending time with family and our privacy,” she said. “However, the one thing we should never be willing or expected to give up is our sense of safety, or the safety of our families, and those who work closely with us.”

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