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During last week’s Arcata City Council meeting, Councilmember Brett Watson revealed that he suffers from a learning disability.

Watson, who has served on the council for nearly five years, has been given strict rules about when and how he can interact with city staff following an undisclosed incident that is currently under investigation. This newly limited access to staff, combined with his disability, is interfering with Watson’s ability to do his job, he says.

Watson made his disclosure as the council was questioning staff about details of the Old Arcata Road Rehabilitation project. He voiced concerns about the cost of the project and potential threats of litigation but said it was important to go over every detail, a task he found nearly impossible on his own.

“I did request several hours of staff time to help me understand this project, being that it is so large and complex,” Watson said during the meeting. “And a lot of people don’t know that I also have a learning disability that makes it so I need a lot more time to read information than the average person. I also need complex information to be explained to me by someone in person or over the phone for me to comprehend it.”

Watson added that he’s been limited to just 30 minutes of staff time each week, “per the council’s request.” After persistently requesting more staff time, Watson said, he was granted another hour prior to Wednesday’s meeting.

Following the meeting, Watson told the Outpost that he has suffered from attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) for most of his life, though he was not diagnosed until about five years ago. 

“I think reading is the biggest thing,” Watson told the Outpost in a phone interview last week. “It’s really hard for me to comprehend information that I get from reading. Your mind wanders a lot. I have to read things multiple times … . And it affects my memory. It’s hard for me to recall stuff sometimes and I need stuff explained by a person. It helps with my focus and engagement.”

Watson

When asked why he had never disclosed this to the public before, Watson said he didn’t consider it an issue. When he was appointed to the council in 2017 he did tell staff and the other council members about his disability, he said, adding that they were very understanding and accommodating.

Although it does take him longer than the average person to comprehend certain written information, Watson was always given as much extra staff time as he needed. When Watson then ran for election in 2018, he said, he felt comfortable with serving on the council and confident that his ADHD did not present an insurmountable problem. He felt that this private medical information wasn’t something that needed to be shared with voters.

So why share it now? Watson told the Outpost that he wanted to explain why he felt it necessary to abstain from the vote until he had more time to review the lengthy text. The one hour of staff time he got wasn’t enough for him to comprehend the material. Watson told the Outpost that, depending on the complexity of the materials, he used to spend about five hours per week with city staff — all in person.

Though last week was the first time Watson mentioned his learning disability, it was not the first time he mentioned not being granted the staff time he requested. Watson brought up the issue during a meeting in January, while the council was discussing the high-profile Valley West hotel housing projects. The conversation quickly turned uncomfortable when Watson asked how the rest of the council felt about him not having access to staff, and Mayor Stacy Atkins-Salazar said she didn’t think the council was “legally allowed to speak on that.”

A few days after that meeting, the City of Arcata announced that it was investigating “potential violations of the City’s Anti-Discrimination and Harassment Policy” by Watson. The council also adopted “special protocols” governing how Watson is to interact with staff as a means of “restricting his contact with potential victims and witnesses.” 

What the “potential violations” are has remained unclear, as no one can comment on the ongoing investigation. Watson said in his response that he did nothing to warrant such an allegation. He has since maintained that he doesn’t know what this is all about.

The whole situation is the latest in a series of unusual and uncomfortable circumstances surrounding Watson. In August of 2021 Watson was arrested for DUI and drug possession, after which he issued a public statement saying he was struggling with the one year anniversary of his father taking his own life. About two months later, the council cast a vote of “no confidence” in Watson, right around the time he entered into a 30-day rehabilitation program.

Since Watson’s return to the council, meetings have often been marked by tension. Several times, Watson has been the lone dissenting voice on city issues. With councilmember Emily Goldstein recently resigning to care for her family, the council will be down to just four members until another new person is elected in June. Some community members worry about the council’s ability to function properly.

Chris Richards – Arcata resident and owner of Chris Richard Automotive – has written emails to the council and city staff expressing his concerns over the drama and apparent confusion at Arcata City Hall. “I certainly feel – and others in the community I’ve been talking with feel – the confidence level in the council is lost,” Richards told the Outpost in a phone interview late last week.

As someone who operates a business in the Gateway Area, Richards is particularly concerned about the council’s ability to vote on the upcoming adoption of the Gateway Area Plan, which will greatly affect future developments in that part of town.

Atkins-Salazar mentioned during a recent meeting that – because she owns property and operates a business in the Gateway Area — she may need to recuse herself from decisions pertaining to the Gateway Area Plan, which would reduce the council’s ranks even further on Gateway-related decisions.

Richards said that in addition to being concerned about the council’s ability to make important decisions, he is also concerned and confused by the issues between Watson and the rest of the council and city staff. Richards recently requested a meeting to discuss the Gateway plan and was told that some staff members couldn’t attend if Watson was going to be there.

Richards says he hasn’t been able to get any answers about why this is happening and people in the community are spreading some pretty serious rumors, especially following the release of a Mad River Union article that published intra-council texts regarding Watson.

As a constituent, Richards said it is stressful to not feel confident in the council and to feel like the public is being left in the dark about what is going on behind closed doors.

“Whatever issues the city is having with communication/information in regards to Brett and staff are a big mystery for the public and I would hope that there is some way to help everyone understand what is happening … ,” he wrote in an email sent to the city council and the Outpost. “I think it prudent that the city shows more transparency with information that moves to help the public understand what is happening.”

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

Reum

On February 22, 2022, at about 7:35 p.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the area of Harris Street and O’Neil Lane, in the county’s jurisdiction of Eureka, for the report of a disturbance between a man and a woman.

According to multiple reporting parties, the man, later identified as 35-year-old Cory Robert Allen Reum, was heard yelling at and threatening the adult female victim. Deputies arrived in the area and located Reum and the female hiding from law enforcement among parked vehicles.

Reum was found to have an active warrant for his arrest. During a search of Reum incident to arrest, deputies located drug paraphernalia and approximately .66 grams of methamphetamine.

Deputies contacted the female, who had sustained visible injuries as a result of the disturbance with Reum. During their investigation, deputies learned that Reum and the female were known to each other, and there was a current Domestic Violence Restraining Order prohibiting Reum from contacting the victim. The two were involved in an argument outside a nearby business. During this argument, Reum reportedly assaulted the victim, made threats against her life, forced the victim to hide from law enforcement, and prevented the victim from contacting 9-1-1.

While detained inside a patrol vehicle, Reum became physically violent and sustained injuries to his head. Reum was transported to a local hospital for medical evaluation and then was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of kidnapping (PC 207(a)), false imprisonment (PC 236), damage/destroy a wireless communication device (PC 591.5), possession of a controlled substance (HS 11377(a)), possession of a controlled substance paraphernalia (HS 11364(a)), inflicting corporal injury on a spouse (PC 273.5(a)) and violation of a court order (PC 273.6(a)), in addition to warrant charges of petty theft (PC 488), violation of a court order (PC 273.6(a)), criminal threats (PC 422) and violation of probation.

Anyone with information about this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.

The next time you make a trip down to the Bay for a Giants game, it might not feel so far from home. That’s because, starting this season, Oracle Park in San Francisco will begin serving several of Mad River Brewing’s craft beers, marking the first time a Major League Baseball team will offer brews from a tribal-owned brewery.   

More details on the deal can be found in the Mad River Brewery release below:

AMONG GIANTS: MAD RIVER BREWING WILL SERVE CRAFT BREWS IN SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS’ ORACLE PARK FOR 2022 SEASON

Yurok Tribe-owned Mad River Brewing makes history as first tribal craft beer partnership in League

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After entering pandemic challenges just weeks after the Yurok Tribe’s purchase of Mad River Brewery in 2019, a bright horizon appears for the award-winning craft brewery.

Mad River Brewery, an independent craft brewery with a 33-year history of innovation and long list of prestigious industry awards, is known by craft beer lovers from across the country for their legendary flagships; Steelhead Extra Pale Ale and Jamaica Red Ale, specialty crafts including barrel- aged vintages of John Barleycorn Barleywine. The brewery has also been recognized for their market-disrupting splash in the world of seltzers with their 2021 release of the Undammed line of hopped hard seltzers.

But all awards aside, Mad River Brewery’s history-making partnership with San Francisco Giants begins with a call to action and mission to promote the never-ceasing effort to advocate for water, land, and wildlife, as well as Indigenous recognition. As part of the brewery’s recent rebrand, the release of each new product is tied to bigger endeavors. Oracle Park will feature a variety of MRB’s craft brews including Historic State Park IPA, Steelhead Extra Pale Ale, and Undammed Huckleberry Hopped Hard Seltzer.

For years the Giants have been bringing people together, pouring into communities, and championing underserved communities through events, investing in youth and education, and building partnerships with purpose. The Giants have also been the first in the league to champion many aspects of diversity and inclusion, making them an ideal partner for the tribal owned brewery.

“There have been dreams that at one time seemed unreachable; finding a tribal product for sale in a professional stadium was unheard of—until now. Never again can we say that it is impossible. Not a statue, not a sign, not just a demonstration, but our own product. Not only will this be the first tribal beer in a professional stadium, but the first tribal product with a tribal certification.” Said Linda Cooley, CEO, Mad River Brewery. “In one swift motion the Giants are helping us secure our sovereignty and opening doors that could have never been opened. This time, we are not being tokenized—we are being supported in our causes, recognized as Indigenous, here and now, in this time and world that we live in.”  

This new chapter for MRB means the sale of these products will truly catapult the efforts they tie back to, putting them in the hands of those they have never touched. Cooley emphasized, “By providing this platform, the Giants are assisting in the fight for water, land and for our story to be told.”

PREVIOUSLY: (AUDIO) HUMBOLDT HOLDING UP: Yurok Tribal Member and Mad River Brewery CEO Linda Cooley is Sharing Her People’s Story Through Beer

Arcata’s Cass Bell and Eureka’s Tyson Miller have signed on to fight in separate preliminary bouts at Bellator 277 in April.

This event be the MMA duo’s first return to a spectator-filled arena since COVID-19 shut down much of the sporting world in 2020.

“I am super excited to be fighting again,” Bell told the Outpost. “Finally the fight will be in front of a crowd, which I love.”

The undefeated Miller (2-0) will face off against an also undefeated Shane Keefe (2-0) of Los Gatos, Calif.

The more battle-tested Bell, meanwhile, will look to rebound from two consecutive losses after starting his pro career with an impressive 5-0 run.

Bell is set to fight kickboxer Gaston Bolanos (5-3) of Dublin, Calif. In his last bout against Jornel Lugo at Bellator 256 in April 2021, Bell was stunned by several powerful leg kicks. This time, Bell said he plans to be more prepared.

“He is a kicking machine,” Bell said. “We’ve had everyone [at our gym] throwing kicks at me all day, everyday.”

Bell, a bantamweight, and Bolanos, a featherweight, have agreed to meet in the middle and fight at a weight of 140 pounds.

As usual, Bell has taken to social media to recruit as many Humboldt locals as he can to attend his upcoming match.

“Being able to see the sea of green of all my family and friends helps me keep fighting,” he said. “Especially when I hear my daughter and son yell: ‘Keep going, you’re not tired.’”

Bellator 277 is scheduled for April 15. The preliminary fights will begin at 4 p.m. and will be available on YouTube and PlutoTV.

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PREVIOUSLY:

• With the State’s Recycling Redemption Program in Shambles, Local Agencies Look to Develop a More Sustainable System
• With No Recycling Redemption Centers Left in the County, Stores Face Fees of $100 per Day Unless They Offer Buy-Back
• New Law Will Offer Relief to the Local Recycling Crisis, Assm. Jim Wood Says
• Crescent City Company Looks to Solve Humboldt’s Recycling Crisis With New Center in Arcata

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Back in August we reported, optimistically, that an employee-owned Crescent City business called Hambro may help fill Humboldt County’s bottle-and-can redemption vacuum by getting a new recycling center up and running in Arcata in a matter of just a couple months.

Well, it wasn’t quite that easy, turns out. The regulatory permitting process proved more complicated than the company expected, and so the opening of the center was delayed, then delayed again and again and again. 

But today brings good news from Hambro. The company says in a press release that it has been granted an administrative permit from the California Coastal Commission, though the permit won’t become effective until the next commission meeting, at the soonest, on March 11.

Once the Coastal Commission permit is in hand, Hambro can pursue a building permit from the City of Arcata. No target completion date is mentioned in the press release below, but hey, we’ll take any progress we can get.

Friday, February 18, 2022, Hambro Forest Products Inc. was granted an Administrative Permit to open a CRV recycling center at 420 S. G Street, Arcata, California.

The permit will not become effective until it is reported to the Commission at its next meeting on March 11, 2022. If one third or more of [the] appointed membership request (has an objection or needs clarification), the application would be set for a subsequent public hearing.

The permit is granted subject to a list of special conditions. No local permits can be obtained until the Commission issues the Notice of Permit Effectiveness.

Upon receipt of this notice Hambro will file a building permit with the City of Arcata to address building, lighting, electrical, noise, traffic, and stormwater issues.

Hambro continues to pursue the objective of opening a recycling center in Humboldt County.

Recessions in California tend to widen the gap between rich and poor. The sharp pandemic downturn of 2020 followed this pattern with low-income workers suffering the most. But unprecedented government relief kept millions from falling into poverty, and demand for labor boosted wages when businesses reopened.

Now with federal and state stimulus payments gone, and the recovery still underway, researchers are combing through employment statistics, as well as large-scale survey data, asking whether the pandemic resulted in a deepening of California’s divide. Three out of the last four recessions — excluding the bursting of the internet stock bubble — increased income inequality in California, the Public Policy Institute of California said.

In coming months the institute expects to have its own inequality measure updated with 2020 data. Many Californians already see economic inequality as a facet of life here, with 69% of residents believing the gap between the haves and have-nots is widening, a November poll by the PPIC found.

“The challenge is that the surveys had a difficult time sampling low-income individuals and households during the pandemic,” Sarah Bohn, a researcher who studies the issue for the PPIC, wrote in an email. “So even though the survey data is available, we are doing extra work to validate the income inequality statistics we typically would have in hand by now.”

‘Further exacerbating inequality’

There are other signs the 2020 recession may have deepened the economic divide, said Somjita Mitra, chief economist for the state Department of Finance. The largest contributor to 2020 state personal income was from government transfers, or essentially stimulus payments. And increases in revenue from high-income earners was enough to offset losses from low-income earners.

“High-income earners are doing exceptionally well, further exacerbating inequality in the state,” she said.

The answer to the inequality question may help shape Sacramento policymaking after a unique recession in which lockdowns resulted in huge job losses, economic stimulus checks buoyed worker paychecks, taxes on capital gains from surging stock market filled state coffers and the rise of remote work reshaped both the state housing market and its economy.

While federal aid may be expiring, Gov. Gavin Newsom said in January that he planned to use the billions of unanticipated tax dollars to help struggling California families. Newsom said he has not ruled out measures such as state-funded stimulus checks like the ones that went to low- and middle-income families last year. Fellow Democrats who lead the Legislature are interested in another Golden State Stimulus, though they have doubts about Newsom’s proposed gas tax “holiday.” Newsom and legislators have already restored paid sick leave for COVID, though workers at smaller businesses are excluded.

In his spending plan, the Democratic governor presented several policies aimed at closing the economic divide, including universal healthcare that includes coverage for the state’s undocumented population, healthcare subsidies for the middle class, expanding paid family leave, establishing a tax credit for families with young children, universal no-cost meals at schools and more money to house the state’s homeless. The state last year also funded a guaranteed-income program, with a $35 million pool to support current or new pilot programs.

California has long struggled with poverty, exacerbated by some of the nation’s highest housing and gasoline costs, though there is evidence progress was notched during the pandemic thanks to government aid. The state had the highest rate of poverty at 15.4%, as measured by the Census Bureau’s supplemental poverty measure, which accounts for housing and transportation costs, as well as government spending and other factors.

Low-income jobs lost during pandemic

From a jobs perspective, low-wage workers bore the brunt of the pandemic recession, the shortest on record. And while low-wage workers are now in high demand, they still have the most ground to make up.

Mitra, of the state finance department, said that before the pandemic, the bulk of the jobs created paid about $20,000 a year, or less, resulting in people needing to work more than one job, or being underemployed. A study last year by the United Ways of California estimated 3.5 million California families didn’t make enough to meet basic needs.

“We were already really seeing a lot of inequality in this state,” she said. “When the pandemic hit, those jobs were the first ones to go.”

There are signs low-wage industries in the state are undergoing important changes. Low-wage jobs such as office administration, security and janitorial services have been slow to recover, likely pushing workers into other low-wage industries, according to an analysis last year by the California Policy Lab, a nonpartisan research center based at the University of California.

Low-wage workers in retail shops, hotels, restaurants, grocery stores and other such customer-facing establishments were hard hit by the pandemic. Meanwhile, the rise in home delivery has accelerated the rise of warehouse jobs, including at Amazon and other online retailers, in pockets of California’s Central Valley and Inland Empire. But there have not been enough of these jobs to make up for the losses, said Till von Wachter, an economics professor at UCLA.

“There are some sectors that have grown, such as transportation and warehousing, but they’re unlikely to have grown enough to absorb that big of a share,” von Wachter said. “They’re also not as ubiquitous as some of these other sectors; if you’re in San Bernardino, that’s a really important industry, but not, say, elsewhere in LA County.”

Inflation, housing hit poor the hardest

A spike in energy prices due to the Ukraine crisis is expected to harm the U.S. economy. Sharp rises in inflation tend to hit poorer residents the hardest, and there is some initial evidence that this is playing out in California.

About 2.6 million California households were participating in the state’s CalFresh program, which provides food benefits to individuals and families with low-incomes. That’s about the same level as the most recent peak in June 2020.

“Even if people are working again, or more people are working, the cost of food is outpacing their incomes,” said Jacob Hibel, co-director of the Center for Poverty & Inequality Research at UC Davis. “Just having a job is not enough to guarantee that you have enough food to feed your family.”

And with housing prices skyrocketing last year, some people are now being cut out of a traditional route to the middle class, which is owning a home, experts said. Housing affordability, as measured by the number of Californians who could afford a median-priced, single-family home, hit 23% in the second quarter of 2021, according to the California Association of Realtors. That was the lowest point since prices were approaching their highs during the last bubble, in 2007, when 11% of Californians could own a home. That measure had risen slightly, to 25%, by the end of last year, according to the association.

High-income workers, homeowners and people who earn investment income have, on the whole, seen their wealth increase over the last nearly two years, experts noted, likely raising wealth inequality in California. Researchers noted in interviews that the pandemic may have increased inequality in other key ways. Disadvantaged children, for instance, fell further behind academically, widening the achievement gap.

“When you see those kinds of impacts, they can really lock in inequality,” said Hibel, of UC Davis. “It tends to take young people who are either in poverty – or who are experiencing inequalities – and just make it much, much less likely that they’ll be able to climb out of that social stratum when they reach adulthood.”

This article is part of the California Divide project, a collaboration among newsrooms examining income inequality and economic survival in California.

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

Today we say a sad farewell to the little Jewish lady in the colorful hat with twinkling eyes and a big smile who died in the early morning hours of February 12, 2022. Ina Lipman Harris and her twin sister Marilyn were born in New York City on January 29, 1923 to Isaac Birkhahn Lipman and Helen Phillips Lipman. Ina grew up on a fruit and then chicken farm in Washington Crossing, New Jersey with twin sister Marilyn, an older sister Norma, and their eldest sibling Bob. The Lipmans were the only Jewish people in that area. Although culturally Jewish, they were raised as Ethical Culturists. Practitioners of Ethical Culture focus on supporting one anther in becoming better people, and on doing good in the world.

With a teaching credential from Trenton State College, New Jersey, Ina taught in New Jersey, Washington State, Kansas, Missouri, and California. She was a good teacher who often had differences with the administrators because of her independent procedures. She liked and respected the students and their parents.

Ina married Noel E. Harris on December 27, 1967 and they were together almost 50 years before his death in 2017. Noel was the business agent for Plywood and Veneer Local 2931 and Ina began working with him as soon as they were married. Ina was a regular on the picket lines sharing her thermos of hot chocolate and supporting striking workers for better wages and working conditions. Ina and Noel shared a loving partnership of ethical and cultural values. They participated in labor activities, peace movements, and the struggles against discrimination and prejudice. Over the years they created a grand community of family and friends and welcomed so many into their home with warmth and love.

In the 1980s Ina and Noel attended Humboldt State University for nearly ten years in the “Over 60s Program.” Ina took classes in journalism and radio programming while Noel was mostly a history and political science student.

Ina called herself a “community activist.” She served 10 years on the Humboldt County Human Rights Commission. She contributed to two KHSU-FM Radio programs: “Through the Eyes of Women” and “Labor USA: Essays for Yesterday and Today.” She co-chaired the Humboldt County “Jesse Jackson for President” campaigns in 1984 and 1988. She was an active member of the NAACP-Eureka Branch since 1959. She was a charter member of the Community Multi-Cultural Education Committee and served as a board member of the Mitchell-Redner Homeless Center. She could be seen many Friday afternoons standing with “Women in Black” at the Humboldt County Courthouse flagpole.

In her later years she loved making and giving bouquets from her garden to the people who helped her. She wanted them to feel appreciated for the work they did every day in jobs where often no special thanks was typically given. When gathering flowers for bouquets became too difficult, she began gaving out fortune cookies.

Ina leaves three children from previous marriages: Niels Pearson (wife Gloria) of San Clemente; Gail Pearson of Helsinki, Finland; and Leigh Bradford of Iowa City, IA. She is also survived by Noel’s daughter, Rachel Harris and her partner Bruce Hobson. She had five grandchildren: Nikki Pearson (husband Ryan Fink), Leif Pearson (fiancé Genie), Lauri Gardner, Esko Gardner (wife Ida) and Cole Bradford Hotek; and three great-grandchildren Sointu and Taito Gardner, and Weston Fink.

Due to an autoimmune disease that developed in recent years, followed by several falls, and then the social isolation brought on by Covid, she eventually became homebound. Fortunately, she had a core group of loyal friends and family who called or visited her often and provided loving support in so many different ways: Rachel Harris and Bruce Hobson, Leigh Bradford, Victoria Onstine, Barbara Kaplan and Dave Woodson, Corinne Frugoni, Kris and John Onstine, Frank Onstine, Darylla Hager, Lesa Coleman, Nancy Mohney, and Jerryl Lynn Rubin. Thanks also to photographer Amanda Devons.

Ina was assisted by the PACE program under the caring direction of Dr. Jennifer Heidmann and nurse Katie Dorn as well as the Hospice of Humboldt team. Special thanks to Ina’s dedicated caregivers Naomi Llerena, Kristy Kissel, and Jacky Molina who held her hand, made her favorite foods, rubbed her feet and did everything else they could to make her last days and nights comfortable. And endless gratitude and love to Rachel Harris who worked tirelessly through many challenging situations to make sure Ina would stay in her home and be lovingly cared for there.

Over the years Ina was an inspiration to others, and her own activism was inspired by one of Jewish scholar Hillel’s philosophies: “If I am not for myself, who will be? If I am only for myself, what am I? If not now, when?”

A memorial celebration will be held at a later date. Donations may be made in Ina’s name to Eureka Rescue Mission, Humboldt Library Foundation, or a charity that reflects Ina’s lifelong dedications.

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