HUMBOLDT TODAY: Eureka High’s old gym is getting a long goodbye; Englund Marine is set to open its sparkly new location; plus, Tuesday’s commotion on the Eureka Waterfront turns out to be… not as reported. Those stories and more in today’s online newscast with John Kennedy O’Connor.

FURTHER READING: 

• Costs Up, Revenues Down: Measure Z Revenues Are Tanking After a Year of Economic Downturn
• Eureka High Athletics Boosters are Gonna Send Out The Glorious Old Jay Willard Gym in Style Before it is Torn Down
• CONVERSATIONS: Raelina Krikston Still Thinks the Rent is Too Damn High, and That’s Just the Start of the Problem

HUMBOLDT TODAY can be viewed on LoCO’s homepage each night starting at 6 p.m.

Want to LISTEN to HUMBOLDT TODAY? Subscribe to the podcast version here.

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The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors took its first look at this year’s list of Measure Z spending priorities for the upcoming fiscal year during this week’s meeting. Unfortunately, it looks as though the county is in for another year of financial distress.

“This year is a difficult year,” said County Administrative Officer Elishia Hayes said during Tuesday’s meeting. “We [don’t] have a lot of money to go around and [there are] a lot of tremendous needs across our communities.”

By the end of the meeting, everyone agreed — the money the county is taking in through Measure Z is dropping, the bulk of it is already committed to ongoing projects, and there’s no obvious corner to be cut.

Since its inception in 2014, Measure Z, the county’s half-cent sales tax for maintenance and enhancement of public safety and essential services, has proven to be a success. The measure has helped to fund hundreds, perhaps thousands of programs and individual projects over the years.

However, the last year has had a significant impact on the Measure Z fund. Due to a reduction in economic activity across the county, sales tax revenues have dropped, cutting millions of dollars from the county’s projected income. To make matters worse, inflation and rising costs have increased county expenses, including higher employee salaries and more expensive benefits, leaving significantly less funding for Measure Z allocations.

The county is expecting to bring in $12.67 million in Measure Z revenue for fiscal year 2023/24, $1.8 million less than staff’s estimate for the current fiscal year, according to Deputy CAO Sean Quincey. Current expenditures are expected to exceed $12 million, leaving approximately $623,429 for discretionary spending.

Quincey floated a possible idea that the staff had come up with: Eliminate some county jobs that have remained empty for some time.

Quincey | Screenshot

“I will note that in the current year, when we went down the list and allocated more projects or funded more projects, the board allocated 16 additional county staff positions and of those positions, only one of them is currently filled at the time,” Quincey continued. “A topic for your board to consider as we look ahead to [fiscal year] 2023/24 is what to do with those positions that were allocated in 2022/23.”

Deallocating all of the positions would save the county approximately $1.6 million in the coming fiscal year, according to the staff report. Public Works is the only department that has used one of the vacant positions. 

During public comment, Public Works Director Tom Mattson chose not to speak to the current funding allocations being discussed, noting “it is what it is” and “there’s just no money for anything extra.” Instead, Mattson asked the board to keep its word and continue to fund positions that were allocated last year.

“It’s not for lack of recruiting that we have not been able to hire equipment operators or maintenance workers,” he said. “The mowing crew – we have ordered the mowers already and they are being constructed. … This is going to leverage significant additional funding if we can get these positions filled. … We believe we have a solution that’s going to make us very competitive in the market and within our budget. I would just caution you … to not cut the positions that were already allocated last year.”

Meanwhile, several representatives from organization that are receiving ongoing funding from Measure Z — particularly those that deal with emergency services like policing and fire protection — made the case for continuing those programs, rather than cutting back.

Several representatives of the City of Fortuna and the Fortuna Police Department also spoke during public comment to advocate for Measure Z funding. Citing the dramatic rise of fentanyl abuse and overdose-related deaths in Humboldt County, Fortuna Mayor Tami Trent underscored the need for a robust drug task force. 

“I know you have a very tough job ahead of you with very little money to fund the deserving applications,” she said. “Tracking [the fentanyl] mortality rate … Humboldt County is significantly higher than any other California county. Fortuna is one of the agencies that has been able to have [an officer on the drug task force] for eight years now and it’s been funded through the county. … The drug task force has been very successful in the whole county and it does save lives getting these drugs off the street.”

Fortuna Police Chief Casey Day echoed Trent’s concerns and emphasized the importance of having a school resource officer on duty to facilitate drug education in schools throughout the Eel River Valley, not just Fortuna.

Representatives of the Humboldt County Fire Chiefs’ Association and local volunteer fire districts advocated for their chunk of funding but also questioned the sustainability of Measure Z amid increasing county costs.

“There are no salaries involved [for us], so every year we have to queue for funding,” said Telegraph Ridge Volunteer Fire Chief Peter Lawsky. “We come hat in hand every year to try and adequately fund the volunteer fire departments. We provide emergency services in all the rural areas. … We continually need funding to be able to provide these services.”

Lawsky added that the $1,066,051 supplemental budget request for the Humboldt County Fire Chiefs Association would contribute to dozens of separate agencies across the county. 

Many of those districts, especially in rural Southern Humboldt, have been using the same engines and equipment for decades. 

“If we asked our sheriff’s deputies to ride the calls in 1990s trucks and then do it for free, they’d have a hard time doing that. That’s arguably what we’re going to have our volunteers do,” said Shelter Cove Volunteer Fire Department Chief Nick Pape. “If we only have 15 sets of fire turnout gear, we’re not going to be looking for [additional] firefighters until the funding is available. We have fire departments in our area that are literally funding their department by selling blackberry pies and hamburgers. … If we do not get the funding for that, these departments don’t have a plan B or C.”

But several people intimately involved with the spending of Measure Z funds over the last few years questioned whether this was the best mechanism to fund these service. Before returning to the board for discussion, Justin Robbins, chair of the Measure Z Citizens’ Advisory Committee, urged the board to reevaluate the sustainability of Measure Z.

Robbins | Screenshot

“And that’s really, really difficult to do … given all of our challenges,” he said. “What we need for stable funding is stable economies and economic growth in our county. This last year was very, very challenging given the amount of funding that was available, and I support the recommendation that was made by the committee. I also want to say that I would want to advise my fellow committee members … and the Board of Supervisors that I think what’s important going forward …  is that we fund projects that leverage other funding sources that leverage creativity and leverage in-kind labor.”

Glen Ziemer, vice-chair a former member of the advisory committee, warned that increasing payroll expenses and other county expenditures will inevitably “consume the totality of the fund.”

“Unfortunately, there have been two factors that have advanced that process,” Ziemer explained. “The first being the significant compensation package that was offered to the county’s law enforcement officers. Certainly, they deserve it … but the simple fact is you raised the cost of your law enforcement component somewhere north of 30 percent. The second factor that complicates Measure Z specifically is the fact that during the period of time that you didn’t have a functional auditor-controller, the fund balances were never identifiable.”

To avoid exhausting the Measure Z revenue and to “bring back a representative and transparent process,” Ziemer suggested that the Board of Supervisors divvy up the fund into internal and external divisions. “You are already at the point … where there is no capability for external agencies to be funded,” he said. “If, in fact, the goal of Measure Z is to provide the best service to the community, you cannot make a credible argument that that’s accomplished simply by using it as a payroll funding mechanism for the county position.”

One by one, each member of the board acknowledged the difficult decision at hand. 

“All of these applications are worthwhile,” Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell said. “[This is] painful work, especially when there’s not enough funding.”

Hayes noted that the county had “roughly $200,000 to $300,000” in addition to the $623,429 in projected available funds for the next fiscal year. However, “due to the volatility of the revenues of Measure Z,” she asked the board to hang onto those dollars for the time being.

“We’re in there looking every single month to see what kind of change is occurring and a swing of a half million dollars is commonplace right now,” she said. “It’s very difficult for me to say that we will definitely have funds to roll over and carry forward from the current year.”

Fourth District Supervisor Natalie Arroyo also expressed her support for the ad hoc committee’s list of recommendations and acknowledged the difficult decision facing the board. “You know, to sit here and go through the list of projects and decide which is the most needed or wanted in their community really is like cutting the baby in half,” she said. “I sort of hate that euphemism, but it really speaks to how difficult it is and how valuable all of these projects are.”

Arroyo said she would be in favor of a percentage-based spending allocation plan that would be reflective of years past to help guide the decision-making process and suggested staff bring back additional information on the subject at a future meeting.

Third District Supervisor Mike Wilson agreed with Ziemer’s previous comments, noting that, while Measure Z has been “very successful,” it has also backed the county into a corner.

“I wouldn’t mind some analysis around that to really take a look at where we’re at … and see what we’ve allocated and kind of consider permanent these days, especially if we’re going to be going into more budget discussions. … I would recommend that there be some interface with some members of this board [and the ad hoc committee] to have those conversations about the long-term elements of this.”

Wilson added that he didn’t feel comfortable making a decision on the list of Measure Z recommendations just yet.

Fifth District Supervisor and Board Chair Steve Madrone said it “would be foolish” to move ahead with the ad hoc committee’s recommendations without further information. However, Madrone said the board could take a couple of smaller actions to move the process forward, such as approving staff’s recommendation for the supplemental budget for the Humboldt County Fire Chiefs’ Association. He also suggested appointing two board members to the Measure Z Citizens’ Advisory Committee to “really look at how to fix what is obviously becoming somewhat broken.”

“This is kind of the start of our delving into our whole budget in a way,” he said. “Even though it’s not, it’s just Measure Z, we are delving into our budget and we already know that our revenues are way down, and our expenses are up. That’s not a pretty picture. We’re going to have to dig deep to deal with that and often that requires us to use our reserves.”

After some additional discussion on the matter, Arroyo made a motion to approve the supplemental budget request for the Fire Chiefs’ Association and authorize the CAO to allow flexibility within the spending plan. She also asked the CAO’s office to bring back recommendations about policy to establish guidance for one-time projects, a percentage-based allocation plan and to appoint two members of the board to the ad hoc committee. Bushnell seconded the motion.

The board agreed to appoint Bushnell and Wilson to the ad hoc committee. The motion passed in a unanimous 5-0 vote.

The board will revisit the remaining Measure Z recommendations at a future meeting.

Inside the Jay Willard Gym at EHS | Photos Shayna Matteoli submitted by

After more than 70 years of hosting Loggers’ games, rallies and other community and school events, Eureka High School’s historic Jay Willard Gymnasium will soon be torn down, and a series of special events will be held this weekend to give the gym a proper farewell. 

The event, put on by the EHS Athletic Boosters, will span across three days and includes a basketball shoot-out contest on Friday, a “Last Classic” dinner with special guest speakers on Saturday and a final walk through the memory-filled gym on Sunday. 

Shayna Matteoli of the Athletic Boosters has been putting a lot of effort into the goodbye event, tracking down alumni and hall-of-famers to speak during the Saturday night dinner. As an EHS alum and past athlete, with two children at the school now, Matteoli said it’s important to pay homage to the gym that holds so many memories.  

“It’s a historical gym,” Matteoli told the Outpost over the phone on Wednesday morning. “I think it’s really important to people — not only people who went there but also other people in the community.” 

The event meant not only to commemorate the gym itself but also to honor the person for whom it’s named, the late EHS coach Jay Willard (1898-1973). Willard taught physical education at the school from 1927 to 1963 and coached football, basketball, baseball, track and golf for various lengths during that time. Willard received many honors over the years, including being named teacher of the year, and he was added to the California Coaches’ Association Hall of Fame. You can read more about Coach Willard’s legacy in this tribute article from the Humboldt Historian. 

Willard’s granddaughter, Melinda Sheridan, will be speaking during the Saturday night event after traveling all the way from British Columbia to honor her grandfather. There will also be many speakers, including past coaches and athletic directors, Loggers hall-of-famers and other alumni. 

Coach Willard

Though many folks are fond of the Jay Willard Gym, which was built in 1950, Eureka City Schools had seismic and economic concerns with the aging building and determined that it would be best to build an entirely new gym. After breaking ground in 2020, the new facility is nearly complete and expected to open by the beginning of the next school year. Demolition of the old gym is expected to begin after school lets out in June. 

Matteoli said it’s bittersweet to say goodbye to the old gym and welcome in the new. “Our new gym is beautiful, but it’s nothing like the old one,” she said.  

The farewell event will take place this Friday, April 28 through Sunday, April 30. The Saturday night event costs $60 per person and includes a dinner and silent auction, in addition to the guest speakers. All of the proceeds from the tickets will go directly toward supporting the EHS athletics department. But, if the cost is too steep for you, the Friday night basketball event and the Sunday farewell visit are both free and open to the public. 

You can find tickets and more information at this link. You can email any questions to  eurekahighboosters@gmail.com.

Last year, local small business owner Raelina Krikston ran for Arcata City Council on a pro-housing, pro-renters’ rights platform. She ended up third out of six candidates running for two open seats, finishing behind an incumbent and a longtime member of the city’s planning commission.

Shortly after the election, Krikston and her partner were evicted from their home in the Westwood Garden Apartments, after leading a fight against the owners of the complex, who had been looking to expand the number of buildings and housing units available on the property. (The City Council had approved the expansion, with a couple of concessions.)

No doubt the experience of being evicted informs Krikston’s current work with Renters United Humboldt, a tenant’s union that’s looking to organize local renters and make sure they’re aware of their rights.

Recently, Krikston took some time to have a Humboldt Conversation with the Outpost’s John Kennedy O’Connor about Renters United Humboldt and the problem with being a renter in Humboldt County. Video above, conversation below.

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JOHN KENNEDY O’CONNOR:

Welcome to another Humboldt Conversation. I’m here today with Raelina Krikston. We’re actually in her beautiful studio. Raelina recently ran for office for the Arcata City Council. During that time she made housing one of her priorities if she was to be elected. And since then, Raelina, or rather at the time, you have actually created a new organisation.

RAELINA KRIKSTON:

I have, yeah, and thank you so much for the opportunity to talk about Renters United Humboldt. So Renters United Humboldt, or RUH, as we’re starting to call it, is an organization of tenants and small landlords that is focused on bringing more equity to the relationship between tenants and landlords, as well as pushing through more tenant protections, as well as protections for landlords as well.

So when you look at the state of affairs in our housing crisis, it’s such a multifaceted issue that we need a lot of tools that aren’t yet available to us. And I’ve heard some pushback to the idea of having a tenant union, that renters have so many rights. But the way that I like to think about it is, yes, there are rights, but if we think of these like objects on a shelf, and it’s a really high shelf, if you’re down, it’s a bit unobtainable to access those rights and reach them. So the place of a tenant’s union is really like a ladder to help tenants not only know about their rights, but also access them as well. So I think that’s a really good point.

O’CONNOR:

How are you attracting people to join the union and how much success have you had so far?

KRIKSTON:

Quite a bit. So it’s been a grassroots movement so far and for better or for worse, my own personal publicity has helped to spread the word a little bit more. We have just a simple website up right now and have been gathering people on a monthly basis. Our first meeting was with LSNC or Legal Services of Northern California. We did a Know Your Rights session and this was a really broad conversation about renters’ rights in general.

So just a brief overview. Because we don’t have specific rights in Arcata, Eureka, and Humboldt in general, our protections are under AB 1482. And so this is a statewide policy that was enacted in 2020, which gives us blanket protections such as your rent can’t be increased more than 10 percent. Other laws around eviction proceedings, as well as some other blanket protections that were being pushed for. But our argument is that it doesn’t go far enough. What we’re seeing right now in Humboldt with the gross expansion of population and with the housing shortage already, is we will be seeing a mass exodus of many of the people who make this place as special as it is.

And so first and foremost, we have to establish protections for those people. And that could look like a number of different ways. But some of the things that we’re most focused on in the beginning is pushing for more protections for evictions. I don’t want to say loopholes, but there’s a lack of protections when it comes to evictions, such as if your landlord wants to make remodels. Well, that’s fine. And I’m sure there’s instances where that’s definitely necessary, especially if you have longstanding tenants. However, there aren’t any checks and balances in place to verify whether or not, OK, does the landlord have permits to do these remodels? Are they actually necessary? And are they done after the tenant has been evicted?

So in many instances, while it’s, let’s say, illegal to evict someone for renovations, not do the renovations and just move someone else in, nobody’s checking that. And even if they were, to hold someone accountable in that aspect really relies on the individual to personally pursue a lawsuit. And so in my own experience, I see a very large gap also in terms of what protections are available, what resources are available, and depending on your income level, how you’re able to access those. Legal Services of Northern California, for instance, is a really excellent tool, but it’s only available for the most vulnerable population. And so there’s this wide gap, which we see time and time again in different instances where you’re too poor to be rich and not, yeah, too rich to be poor, I guess, is the term.

O’CONNOR:

Yes, no, I understand.

KRIKSTON:

Yeah, it’s a big leap to have a budget for a lawyer for just about anyone. And so, yeah, there’s a lot of, like I said, it’s a multifaceted issue, but to bring it back to some of our immediate focuses is creating more accountability for evictions, for instance, limiting the amount of rent that can be increased between tenants. So there’s a protection if you’re a current tenant, but let’s say I move out, you move into what used to be my apartment. Well, you could see a 200% increase the way that things are now, and that’s quote unquote, following the market.

And so our goal is to bring in more of a socially minded, I guess, parameters around housing in general. And for something that is a basic human right, we shouldn’t let the free market decide. So other than limits on increases between tenants, more accountability for evictions, we’d also like to see more progress be made around rent ceilings for landlords with over 20 units. And so this is one of the first steps that we can make to helping as many people as we can, first and foremost, but also targeting landlords that already have economies of scale in their favor to create more equitable housing solutions. Now, these are all questions that we’ve been asking for a long time. And we’ve been asking for a long time. And we’ve been asking for a long time.

O’CONNOR:

These were all things that you advocated when you were running for office for Arcata and I think really, we’ve talked about this before, you’re now seeing that by forming this union, by forming this alliance, you now have a better opportunity to implement these things than perhaps you would have done in an elected capacity. Thanks for that.

KRIKSTON:

Correct. This gives me a more focused outlet. So, I mean, to answer your question from before, we have had an overwhelming response for people interested not only in leadership, but also joining the membership. So over 200 people so far have joined together just in the past couple of months in, I think it was January, where we kind of first put out the call. It was unintentional, an unintentional launch, but I think it was good timing all around. And so I’m really excited to share some of the progress that we’ve made. And I’ll definitely check back in with you guys, but there’s some things I can’t talk about yet. Fair enough. But…

O’CONNOR:

And how do people reach you?

KRIKSTON:

So, rentersunitedhumboldt.com is the best point of contact. That’s our splash page website right now. There’s a form where you can get in touch, get on our mailing list. We’ll be having our next leadership meeting on May 21st. So, if you are interested in leadership in any kind of capacity, whether it’s grant writing, organization, things like that, we do have a grant writer on staff now and we’re coming together. But these are all really good skills and ultimately, you know, if you just want to be part of this movement, that’s, you know, that’s who we’re looking for.

Because ultimately, you know, there’s a majority of renters in Humboldt County. And even if you look at home ownership, the majority of homeowners own more than one home. So, in order to help create a more equitable future, it’s starting with creating more protections and more equality and a better relationship between landlords and tenants. Because at the end of the day, you know, we’re all in the same boat. We’re all human beings and if we can come together to help each other succeed and create a more resilient and sustainable community, we’ll see the benefit of that across the board.

O’CONNOR:

I definitely agree. Well, Raelina, it’s always good to see you. It’s great to hear your passions. Congratulations on starting this organisation. I hope it’s a success for you.

KRIKSTON:

Oh, thank you so much.

O’CONNOR:

Thank you for joining us for a Humboldt Conversation. Thank you for joining us and we’ll join us again soon for another Humboldt Conversation on the Outpost.

California’s trucking industry is bracing for state regulators this week to enact unprecedented rules that would ban sales of new diesel big rigs by 2036 and convert large companies’ existing trucks to zero emissions by 2042.

“The amount of chaos and dysfunction that is going to be created by this rule will be like nothing we’ve ever seen before,” said Chris Shimoda, senior vice president of the California Trucking Association, an industry trade group. “The likelihood that it is going to fail pretty spectacularly is very high. It’s very unfortunate.”

The state Air Resources Board will hold a public hearing on its proposed regulation on Thursday, then is expected to vote on Friday.

The proposal aims to clean up noxious diesel exhaust and greenhouse gases spewed by big rigs, garbage trucks, delivery trucks and other large vehicles by converting them to models powered by electricity or hydrogen.

Trucking companies and local government officials call the deadlines in the rule unachievable. They say the new technology still has major drawbacks, including the high cost of electric trucks and their low vehicle range. The state also has not yet developed a charging network to support electric trucks, and the existing chargers can take hours to recharge, industry officials say.

A worldwide first, California’s rules would transform how goods are transported throughout the state, adding millions of new, pollution-free trucks on the roads. The state currently has very few large, zero-emission vehicles: only 1,943 in California — and nearly all of them are buses.

Unveiled last September, the air board’s proposal would set aggressive timelines for the purchase and manufacture of zero-emission medium and heavy-duty trucks. The move is considered a critical part of California’s strategy to clean up its severe smog, switch to clean energy, end its reliance on fossil fuels and become carbon neutral by 2045.

Under the proposal, in 2036, 100% of new sales of medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks must be zero emissions in California, scaling up from phased-in timelines that vary by the type of truck. The rules also would force companies that operate 50 or more trucks to gradually convert their fleets into electric or hydrogen models, reaching 100% zero-emissions by 2042, with these timelines also based on the type of truck.

The earliest requirements would be for drayage trucks, which carry cargo to and from the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland and cause severe air pollution in nearby communities. All of them must be converted to electric models by 2035, and new sales beginning in 2024 must be zero emissions.

The state requirements to switch existing truck fleets to zero emissions by 2042 would apply to “high-priority fleets,” which are owned or operated by companies with 50 or more trucks or $50 million or more in annual revenue, and to federal trucks.

Included are all vehicles weighing 8,500 lbs or more, as well as package delivery vehicles, including U.S. Postal Service, FedEx, UPS and Amazon fleets.

The proposal builds on a previous state clean trucks regulation, enacted in 2020, that mandated the number of zero-emission trucks that manufacturers must sell from 2024 through 2035.

California’s truck rules are “going to have significantly positive implications for both air quality and for pushing the market forward,” said Sam Wilson, a senior vehicles analyst in the clean transportation program at the environmental group Union of Concerned Scientists.

Still, he said the air board “missed an opportunity” to strengthen the rule, by failing to set stricter requirements for fleets with fewer than 50 trucks.

“We want to be mindful of the concerns of those who are regulated, but we also know that we have health benefits that we need to achieve. Getting that balance is a really critical part.”
— Air Resources Board Executive Officer Steven Cliff

Trucking companies and local governments say fundamental changes are needed in California to help them meet the proposed timelines to stop buying new diesel trucks and phase out their existing diesels.

Large trucks are more difficult and expensive to convert to electric models than cars because of their size, weight and long distances that they’re driven.

But air board officials said they are confident that the truck market can adjust in time to speed the transition to electric models.

“All of the provisions are intended to address those concerns that stakeholders brought forward, including needing to move more aggressively in some areas and needing to provide flexibility in others,” said Air Resources Board Executive Officer Steven Cliff.

“We want to be mindful of the concerns of those who are regulated, but we also know that we have health benefits that we need to achieve. Getting that balance is a really critical part of the overall approach,” he said.

The proposed rule could put about 510,000 carbon-free medium and heavy-duty vehicles on California’s roads in 2035, increasing to 1.2 million in 2045 and about 1.7 million in 2050, according to the air board.

The trucks that would be affected by the new rule make up just 7% of the vehicles on California’s roads — about 1.8 million out of 30 million. But they are the single largest source of air pollution from vehicles, representing about 70% of smog-forming nitrogen oxides and 80% of carcinogenic diesel soot, according to the air board.

Communities near ports, warehouses ‘suffer a lot’

Truck emissions hang heavy in the air in much of the Inland Empire, Los Angeles County and the Central Valley, where many disadvantaged and low-income residents like Ada Trujillo live. Trujillo is a 42-year-old Guatemalan immigrant who has lived in San Bernardino for more than 20 years. The region is home to explosive growth of warehouses, where air pollution comes from idling trucks that transport goods.

Trujillo said diesel pollution has been increasingly causing health problems for her family. She doesn’t allow her children to play outside for long periods of time due to the headaches, eye and skin allergies, nose bleeds and breathing problems that they experience.

Diesel exhaust is one of the most harmful air pollutants, since it is a known cause of cancer, and it contains fine particles that can trigger heart attacks and asthma.

Trujillo said in Spanish that her children “do suffer a lot,” adding that “as a mother, it worries me. We live close to these warehouses and we keep seeing more of them in our communities.”

California has been cutting emissions from diesel and gas-powered vehicles for decades. The new proposal comes less than nine months after California enacted another far-reaching mandate that bans sales of gas-powered cars by 2035.

California often prides itself on being a leader in setting stringent vehicle standards that other states follow. Six other states adopted the 2020 California trucks rule, with Colorado and Maryland being the most recent states to enact them, just this week.

“If the rule moves forward…you are going to see a lot of the same problems that we had during the pandemic. It’s a supply chain crisis of our own making.”
— Chris Shimoda, California Trucking Association

The trucking industry said unresolved issues could pose serious challenges for an already strained supply chain and the state’s economy.

“If the rule moves forward and is implemented the way that it’s written today, you are going to see a lot of the same problems that we had during the pandemic, but we created the problem,” Shimoda of the California Trucking Association said. “It’s a supply chain crisis of our own making.”

The air board staff earlier this year made some minor changes in their proposal for garbage truck operators who raised concerns at a public hearing in October. They issued a revised version of the proposal in March that delays electrification phase-in dates for fleets that run on biogas captured from landfills, wastewater facilities and compost.

But the most significant change in the proposal actually toughened the rules after an appeal by environmental justice advocates: The original proposal required 100% zero-emission truck sales in 2040; the air board staff accelerated it by four years at the request of some board members.

Local governments call the deadlines ‘impossible’

It’s not just the trucking industry that is vehemently opposed. Local governments are opposed, too, since they own truck fleets. With some exceptions, half of the specified truck purchases for public agencies must be zero emissions by 2024, ramping up to 100% by 2027. Some exemptions apply if there are a lack of available models.

In a letter to the air board, the League of California Cities, California State Association of Counties and the California Special Districts Association said the air board is “overlooking some important realities” and that fulfilling the timeline would be “impossible.”

The coalition of local officials is urging the board to delay the rule’s deadline by four years, adopt more exemptions and impose price caps on the electric models to keep them more affordable.

The local leaders wrote that the proposal “ignores existing market realities and the time needed to develop and ramp up an infrastructural system that can support an electrified fleet of essential vehicles.”

“The vehicles don’t exist, the infrastructure does not exist, grid reliability is sketchy, there’s nothing to protect public agencies from price gouging, and no one seems willing to discuss where the money will come from — other than raising rates on consumers,” their letter said.

The rule banning diesel and gasoline truck sales would not apply to emergency vehicles like ambulances and fire trucks.

“The vehicles don’t exist, the infrastructure does not exist, grid reliability is sketchy, there’s nothing to protect public agencies from price gouging.”
— League of California Cities, State Association of Counties and California Special Districts Association in a letter to the air board

Some entrepreneurs are hoping to ramp up construction ion truck charging stations in time to meet the timeline.

The technology exists, it’s just a matter of getting it ready, said Scott Fisher, a senior vice president at Voltera, a company developing medium and heavy-duty truck charging stations.

To help bring some costs down for trucking companies, Voltera and similar companies have been developing new business models where they build the charging stations, and own and operate them so the trucking companies do not have to make those investments, he said.

“We’re mindful of the challenges in terms of fleets complying with this rule and we think we have a way to help,” he said. “The fleet basically doesn’t have to spend the money… They get this charging infrastructure as a service, which is more of an operational month-to-month cost rather than an upfront capital investment.”

Companies and other fleet owners affected by the rule could choose to comply in two ways: They could only purchase zero-emission vehicles beginning in 2024 while retiring diesel trucks at the end of their useful life. Or they could phase in zero-emission trucks as a percentage of their fleet, starting with 10% of delivery trucks and other types that are the easiest to electrify in 2025, then ramping up to 100% between 2035 and 2042.

The requirements for converting fleets would not apply to smaller companies unless they were using a larger company’s trucks.

Air board officials plan to create a future rule for smaller operators with fleets under 50 vehicles, according to Tony Brasil, chief of the air board’s transportation and technology branch.

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

Garrett James Sturdivant
March 15, 1980 - April 21, 2023

Garrett left our earthly presence way too soon. He loved and enjoyed his family, both the one he was born into and the group of friends known as the Thic Family. He was one of a kind and like his older brother, Rick, who passed away a few years ago, he did march to his own drum. The difference is that Thic Man was leading the band.

He wasn’t able to pursue his music interests for awhile because of his breathing problems, but his legacy lives on with the many people he met and encouraged over the years. His own shows were always well attended and enjoyed by all. He loved to perform.

Garrett was seriously ill as a baby but he fought hard and became a happy, healthy, rambunctious kid.

Everyone whose life he touched will keep him in their hearts.

He leaves behind his father, Del Sturdivant; his mother, Julie Wilks; and his brother Brian Sturdivant. He also has aunts, uncles, cousins, a nephew and a special niece in California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho who mourn his loss. He also left his treasured companion, his cat Rainbow, who shared his world.

He is leaving a void in our lives but he left many fun and happy memories to remember him by. Gone but not forgotten.

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Carolyn Oletia Lee
January 3, 1975- April 2, 2023

Carolyn was a lifelong resident of Humboldt and surrounding areas, proud member of the Mono Tribe in Big Sandy, Calif. She was always the life of the party, and she never met a stranger. She enjoyed many hobbies in her free time. She was always at the beach and spent a lot of time outdoors. She was a free-spirit person who ran to the beat of her own drum. She loved her family, friends and her fur babies, talking to anyone who knew her and had a great story about her.

She lived in Eureka and Orleans.

Preceded by Sherrill Esteves and Donnie Barber

Carolyn is survived by her sister, Crystal Huffman and her brothe,r Eric Barber Sr.; her nieces and nephews, Brianna Huffman, Alvretta Huffman, Kendall Huffman, Brittney Harvey, and Eric Barber Jr.

Loved by many family and friends: John Huffman, Linwood Jackson, Kathy Jackson, Harris Jackson, Jennie and George Wilson, Kenneth Jackson, Steven Petty, Angela Swain, Allen Chappell, Edward Esteves, Susie Barber, Johnny Barber, Sirrena Harvey, Brenden Harvey, Brian Rhodes, Doug Reynolds.

Celebration of life is to be held at a later date.

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