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It was early in the morning, two days before Christmas, and Robin P. Arkley II was furious. He said so in an email to Eureka City Manager Miles Slattery: “I am furious.”

Arkley addressing a crowd in 2014. | File photo.

Arkley, the 67-year-old president and chief executive officer of Security National Servicing Corporation, a Eureka-based company dealing in real estate acquisition and management, said he wanted a meeting the following Tuesday, and he directed Slattery to bring along the city attorney, newly seated Mayor Kim Bergel and one member of the city council.

“We have been totally mistreated,” Arkley said in his email. “With 220 eureka employees, 1,400 housing units planned for the city, I am tired of miles ‘misspeaking’ or just misstating facts, we need somebody we can trust.”

Arkley’s frustration with city leadership had been building over the past two years. He vehemently disapproves of the city’s recent efforts to convert municipal parking lots into affordable housing developments, an initiative aimed at promoting infill development while meeting the city’s regional housing needs allocation (RHNA), as outlined in its general plan and required by the state. 

From Arkley’s perspective, the parking lots represent a far more valuable asset to downtown Eureka than the proposed housing developments. He considers parking the lifeblood of a thriving downtown, saying it not only offers easy access to retail and restaurants, it also gives his own employees the shortest possible walk from their cars to Security National’s headquarters at 323 Fifth Street. Walking Eureka’s streets is dangerous, he argues, particularly for women.

In 2021 Arkley appeared on KINS Radio’s “Talk Shop” program and vowed to take political and legal action to block the city’s “crazy” parking-lots-to-housing efforts, saying city officials had tried to execute their scheme “in the stealth of night.”

Over the past year or so, Arkley and his staff have tried to negotiate several deals aimed at preserving one lot in particular, the one at the corner of Fifth and D, next to the recently condemned Lloyd Building. These efforts included an aborted bid to buy vacant property at Harris and Pine streets with the intent of trading it to the city in exchange for the parking lot. The Pierson Company wound up making a similar land-swap deal with the city last year. 

Arkley has also proposed developing housing on his own 43-acre parcel known as the Balloon Track, though that land is not zoned for residential development. After the city announced plans to demolish the earthquake-damaged Lloyd Building in December, Arkley sought to acquire it but couldn’t come to terms with the city. 

These unsuccessful efforts — stymied, in his view, by insufficient cooperation from city officials — fueled Arkley’s fury.

Twenty minutes after sending that early morning email on December 23, he sent Slattery a follow-up:

Miles, 

I would have preferred to have dealt with a capable and creative person. I ALWAYS find a way to yes. You ALWAYS find a path to a snotty and ill thought out no. The people of eureka and this county deserve better. I think that you are well advised to find a different path. 

You should cater and protect your business center’s constituents. Do your council KNOW that we are trying to protect fellow females who work in eureka? It may be time for a female city manager who cares about the safety of women. 

Merry and Blessed Christmas to all.

Vty [very truly yours],
Rob

By all accounts, the December 27 meeting at City Hall did not go well. People who attended say an irate Arkley unleashed a series of expletives before storming out, leaving his daughter and a few Security National executives behind to talk with city officials. 

More than a month later, Arkley tells the Outpost that he’s so fed up with Eureka’s current leadership that he intends to move his company headquarters outside city limits. 

“Will local downtown businesses be crushed when we leave? Yes,” he said in an email sent on Thursday, “but our first duty is to sn [Security National] folks. We have 4 acres in escrow outside the city. I will not deal with them anymore. I don’t want to spend $15-20mm on a new building, but am being left with little choice.”

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Whether Arkley follows through on that threat remains to be seen, but in one of several emails responding to questions from the Outpost he said the real estate deal closes in 60 days and has no contingencies. He declined to give an exact location but said it’s close to Eureka.

Reached by phone on Thursday, Slattery acknowledged that the city is prioritizing affordable housing over parking. 

“That’s true, we are,” he said. “That was part of the general plan update and it was overwhelmingly supported by the community.” 

During community workshops, he said, the public told city officials that they’d like to see Eureka move away from the type of development you see along Broadway, where businesses are pushed back off the property line to accommodate parking lots. Public feedback favored Old Town-style development, with parking requirements waived to allow infill featuring multi-story buildings that accommodate both retail and housing.

“The City of Eureka is considered a built-out city in that we don’t have large tracts of vacant land,” said Leslie Castellano, who represents Ward 1 on the Eureka City Council. She was the council member who attended the December 27 meeting with Arkley and his people.

“There’s a housing crisis in Eureka and throughout California. … ,” she said, adding that in Eureka, parking lots are some of the most viable locations for new housing construction. “We went through a fairly lengthy round of public process in making that determination,” she said. 

Last year the City of Eureka commissioned a study analyzing parking availability and usage rates in Old Town and downtown, a region that runs west-to-east from A through L streets and north-to-south from First through Seventh streets. There are 3,114 parking spaces in that study area, all told, including public and private spots, ​​on-street parking and off-.

The study, conducted by TJKM Transportation Consultants, found that Eureka has more than enough parking. Cities should aim to have a parking occupancy rate of 85 percent, the authors say. If that many parking spots are full during peak hours it indicates “a healthy and balanced parking usage between supply and demand.” 

How does Eureka do by that metric? “During the study period, the findings suggest that the study area reached a maximum of 49% occupancy during peak hours with 1,584 spaces open for parking,” the report says. The off-street parking lots never got more than 55 percent full, leaving about 50 spaces open. On-street parking didn’t even reach 50 percent occupancy during peak hours, leaving 1,154 spaces available.

Nevertheless, members of the local business community and some in the public argue that it’s short-sighted to build housing on city-owned lots. (The Outpost reached out to the Greater Eureka Chamber of Commerce for comment but did not hear back before the time of publication.)

Slattery said city staff delayed work on the housing element of its general plan update for more than six months in an effort to alleviate those concerns. He said city staff looked at “six or seven” properties suggested by Security National employees or Arkley himself as candidates for land-swap deals that might save the parking lot at Fifth and D.

“There were at least two or three of those that were available that we would be willing to trade, similar to like we did with Pierson,” Slattery said. “For one reason or another [Security National] chose not to follow through on that.” 

Some properties suggested by Security National were not viable for inclusion in the city’s regional housing needs allocation (RHNA), Slattery said. In the case of the Balloon Track, the land is not zoned residential, so the state won’t accept it as a potential site for future development.

In 2010, Eureka voters approved an Arkley-organized ballot measure to change the zoning on the property Balloon Track property to allow retail, office, multi-family residential, light industrial, restaurant and museum uses. At the time, Security National had plans to build a major development including a shopping center anchored by Home Depot.

Two local environmental groups sued over the ballot measure, and according to Slattery, Security National has yet to submit required documentation to the California Coastal Commission, so the zoning changes have yet to be implemented.

“It was made clear [to Arkley] at the beginning that in order to do an exchange, [the property swap candidates] had to meet certain qualifications. … ,” Slattery said. “He [Arkley] hates hearing this because he tells us to tell the state to eff off, and ‘Don’t even worry, they can’t do anything to you.’ Well, that’s not true.”

Another bone of contention between the city and Arkley concerns Security National’s plans for a community housing development along the Indianola Cutoff north of Eureka. Slattery said Arkley approached the city to ask about extending its wastewater infrastructure to service the new development.

“What I said to him was, ‘We would be more than supportive of doing that, but we are not paying for it with our ratepayer dollars,’” Slattery said. He added that the route Security National proposed — roughly following Hwy. 101 from the city limits north to the development — would be expensive and complex in terms of permitting. He said he suggested that Security National instead approach the Humboldt Community Services District about extending their services north from Redwood Acres to the development site along Myrtle Avenue/Old Arcata Road.

Arkley, he said, took this as a rejection and lack of cooperation. 

In another interview on KINS Radio, from Jan. 30, Arkley called in from Baton Rouge, La., where he spends much of his time. He told host Brian Papstein that the City of Eureka is “more concern[ed] about the homeless or the very-low income than they are about the businesses and employees.”

Regarding the Indianola development Arkley said that if necessary Security National can rely on non-standard mound systems for septic treatment if necessary, though he added, “That’s a bad long-term fix for the county and the city. So let’s all figure [this] out instead of getting obstacles, instead of having envy. Let’s solve some problems instead of laughing at those who are trying to do things.”

Slattery points to the successful property swap deals with the Pierson Company — which preserved the lots at Fifth and H, Fifth and K and Fourth and G — as proof that city staff and the council were willing to work with the business community. And he said probably half of Arkley’s Eureka employees would qualify for units in the planned affordable housing developments. 

But Arkley wasn’t satisfied, and in emails leading up to his December 27 meeting with city personnel (obtained via a California Public Records Act request), he blamed Slattery personally.

“Miles, you assume that you are smarter than all of us. You are not,” he said in one email. In another Arkley suggested that he would not cooperate on a proposed Caltrans project, which calls for Hwy. 101 south to be re-routed through the Balloon Track onto Koster Street. The City of Eureka supports the Koster couplet project but is not leading it. 

“Find a new route,” Arkley wrote to Slattery. “I like our land the way it is. The city will receive the same cooperation that I have. If people are hurt or die in traffic, I am truly sorry. However, I am trying to protect the safety of sn [Security National] and other women downtown. 

“This is going to be a fun meeting!!!!” he continued. “Get where it is going? I am tired of your bullshit.”

In other emails, Arkley accused Slattery of only pretending to live in Eureka, and he said Security National plans to enlist a public relations firm in this fight.

“There is no point in trying to work with you folks,” he wrote. “You know, you may have the advantage in some pr battles but we have spent over 25 x what anyone in the city has. Regardless of what you say, we have a $50mm portfolio of getting things done, which are ver [sic], very visible.

“Further,” he added, “220 jobs in the city ain’t anything to scoff at,” apparently positioning his employees as leverage. (In interviews, Arkley has alternately cited the number of Security National employees in Eureka at 220, 200 and “nearly 200.” The Outpost could not confirm any of those numbers.)

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Slattery said people were taken aback by Arkley’s behavior during the December 27 meeting.

“[It was] extremely unprofessional and astonishing to me, coming in this professional environment like that, and to start off with cuss words in front of elected officials and start throwing F-bombs out … basically walking out in a tantrum and leaving his employees behind to discuss the rest of it.”

Castellano said she tried to explain the city’s public processes in these matters “because it seemed like he wanted us to create some sort of separate process so he could have access to a city parking lot.”

The city will soon issue a request for proposals (RFP) to develop affordable housing on three city-owned lots, including the one at Fifth and D streets. Castellano said she encouraged him Arkley engage in the RFP process.

“I think he was hoping for something different,” she told the Outpost. Some of the things that Arkley kept bringing up in the meeting related to challenges that Castellano considers systemic in American society and California in particular, challenges such as housing shortages and the resulting populations of unhoused people, including some with serious mental health issues. 

“I kept feeling like there was an assumption that one parking lot could kind of address all these complex issues,” Castellano said. “I just don’t think that’s true, unfortunately. … Maybe there’s just a frustration that there’s not an easy solution to this.”

On the evening after the meeting, Arkley sent another email to Slattery. In the subject field he’d written, “Little boy, don’ t be so foolish as to think this is the end…we have only just begun. The City has far more to lose than we do. Change is acomin’.”

The following morning Arkley emailed Bergel, saying he understood that she would soon be meeting with some Security National folks. He said that he admired Bergel’s efforts but that neither Slattery nor “Julie” were worth his time. (By “Julie” he apparently meant Castellano.) He also mentioned that he was looking to relocate Security National’s headquarters, adding that he would not “deal” on the Koster couplet project and that current uses of the Arkley Center for Performing Arts “will be curtailed.”

Bergel wrote back, thanking him for reaching out and for his dedication to the City of Eureka. But she went on to say:

I was extremely disappointed with the tone and behavior in the meeting yesterday. It is very clear to me that you do not care for our staff, that is your prerogative. However, if we are to work together at any capacity, the kind of belligerent behaviors expressed in the meeting must stop. We are not in the second grade here. 

Treating people with respect regardless of our “emotions” will get us much further in our relationship than calling names and yelling, screaming, and demanding.

Arkley responded with a single sentence: “Laughing at your team and you.”

Reached via email last week, Arkley was still angry. He made an oblique reference to “crime on sn employees” and added, “Walking to farther parking lots, if any are left in the dark. Dangerous? You bet!”

We wrote back to ask what crimes have been committed against Security National employees.

“Crime is almost weekly,” he responded. “If you ever walk downtown, you will live it.”

Asked again what specific crimes have been committed he replied, “The stuff of legend. Almost countless. It is the stuff of a meaningful story.”

We asked one more time what specific crimes have been committed. Were these violent crimes? Assault? Robbery?

“As you can probably guess, our HR director would shoot me if I disclosed,” he replied. He had cc’d two Security National employees and asked one to confirm his information about crimes. Instead, a consultant named Gail Rymer sent a follow-up email, attaching an opinion piece she said Arkley had written in October for publication in the Times-Standard. You can download a pdf of the piece by clicking here.  It mentions his concern about employee safety but does not include evidence of specific incidents.

Asked about his meeting with city officials, Arkley alleged that his reasonable proposals were met with laughter and rejection:

I told them that we have 50 acres in the City on or near the water. We could rezone an acre or two to [RHNA] qualified use and we would save downtown parking. Slam dunk. Miles Laughed and the Mayor and councilmember [Castellano] had blank looks. Parking is the lifeblood of downtown retail and restaurants. I said that we have plenty of toys to make a deal happen. I was then accused of wanting favored treatment. Do I make more selling the land or developing it? Get serious. This was a great solution for all.  They would not even talk. I have never seen less solution oriented people. I guess if you are low income, you are a favored constituency status. Regular workers are on their own.

“I did not laugh at him,” Slattery said. “I gave him an answer that he didn’t like.”

Regardless, Arkley’s relationship with Slattery and other city officials has grown so bitter that he has vowed to all but abandon the city, moving his company headquarters out before construction begins on new affordable housing developments. 

“That’s really unfortunate,” Slattery said, but he added that he won’t bend any rules in an effort to convince Arkley to stay.

“He made remarks during the meeting about how there was an old regime at the City of Eureka that was a lot more business friendly. The way that I took it was there was an old regime that treated certain people certain ways and it wasn’t necessarily equitable, but I can assure you everything that we do is equitable.”

Castellano expressed more of a c’est la vie attitude when asked what Security National’s departure from Eureka will mean for the city. 

“It will mean that there will likely be a vacant building at that location for some period of time,” she said. “Downtown has changed over the last 100 years and will probably continue to do so. Ideally the building is not vacant for a long time. Ideally, [Arkley] finds a place where he’s happy and feels good.”

PREVIOUSLY:

• Federal Plan to Cut Klamath River Flows Threatens Salmon Fishery, Local Tribes and Fishermen Warn

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Press release from the Yurok Tribe:

Today, a federal district court reconfirmed that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation must comply with the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) in operating the Klamath Irrigation Project.  Link to the ruling.

“Once again, the courts unequivocally rule that the ESA is the law of the river,” stated Yurok Vice Chairman Frankie Myers. “Protecting the fisheries we depend on for culture and subsistence comes first when making water allocation decisions.”

Under the ESA, water must be released from the project to provide Klamath River flows to sustain salmon that are on the endangered species list.  But irrigators who obtain water from the project have long argued in court that distributing water for irrigation is outside the scope of the Endangered Species Act.  Federal courts have consistently rejected the irrigators’ argument, the 9th Circuit Court holding as long ago as 1999 (Klamath Water Users Protective Ass’n vs. Patterson, 204 F.3d 1206 (9th Cir. 1999)) that the ESA applies to the project and overrides irrigators’ rights to water. 

The irrigators then turned to Oregon state courts.  They convinced a state court to order the Oregon Water Resources Department to enforce state water rights, even if that meant violating the ESA.  In 2021, the Oregon Department issued an order prohibiting the Bureau of Reclamation from releasing water to the Klamath River to sustain salmon that are on the Endangered Species Act.  That order led instantly to this litigation. 

The United States, joined by the Yurok Tribe, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, and Institute for Fisheries Resources, asked the federal district court in San Francisco to rule on which laws take precedent.  Today, the federal court invalidated that state agency order and ruled that the Oregon order “conflicts with the the ESA, at least because it poses an obstacle to the accomplishment and executions of Congress’ purpose and objective in enacting the ESA: protecting and restoring Endangered Species.”

“This decision helps bring peace and resolution to the Klamath Basin by clarifying the interplay of federal and state laws as applied to the Klamath project,” noted Yurok attorney Amy Cordalis, also a Tribal member.

“This is a major victory for salmon and all the people who depend on salmon for their cultures and livelihoods,” said Glen Spain, for the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA) and the Institute for Fisheries Resources (IFR), both co-Plaintiffs in the lawsuit.  “But really it just reaffirms the existing ‘Law of the River’ that state water rights cannot be used to block the water needs of ESA-listed fish.”

This ruling comes as work to remove four dams on the Klamath River begins. “Dam removal will provide a much-needed boost to salmon runs, but the fish still need water,” concludes Myers.

PREVIOUS LAMBERSON: 

• Wanted Suspect Arrested in McKinleyville in Possesion of Meth and Ammo, Says HCSO
• Five Arrested on Drugs, Weapons Charges in Morning Melee at Downtown Arcata Gas Station

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Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On Feb. 4, 2023, at about 3:41 p.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies on patrol in the McKinleyville area conducted a traffic stop for a vehicle code violation on Central Avenue near Little River Drive. 

The vehicle yielded and a passenger, 25-year-old Andrew James Lamberson Jr., immediately exited the vehicle and fled. Deputies recognized Lamberson, as he was wanted on multiple warrants and had previously fled from deputies the day prior. Deputies pursued Lamberson into a nearby green belt. Lamberson violently resisted arrest and was uncooperative while being taken into custody. During a search of Lamberson incident to arrest, deputies located drug paraphernalia.

Lamberson was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of resisting a peace officer with violence (PC 69), resisting a peace officer (PC 148(a)(1)), possession of a controlled substance paraphernalia (HS 11364(a)) and violation of probation (PC 1203.2(a)(2)), in addition to warrant charges of driving under the influence of alcohol (VC 23152(a) & (b)), driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol (VC 23152(g)), driving with a blood alcohol level over .15 (VC 23578), driving with a suspended or revoked license (VC 14601.5(a)) and Post Release Community Supervision (PRCS) revocation (PC 3455(a)).

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.

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On Feb. 5, 2023, at about 11:27 p.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a grocery store on the 800 block of Redwood Drive in Garberville for the report of an injured man.

Deputies arrived in the area and located a 43-year-old man with significant head injuries in the loading dock area of the business. The man was declared deceased on scene. The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Major Crimes Division was dispatched to investigate.

Upon further investigation, including reviewing surveillance footage from the business, Sheriff’s Investigators determined the man had climbed the fence separating the loading dock from an elevated alleyway. The man was possibly attempting to vandalize the business’ security camera when he appears to have slipped from the fence, falling several feet and sustaining fatal injuries.

The decedent has been identified; however, his identity is being withheld pending next of kin notification. An autopsy is in the process of being scheduled.

Anyone with information about this case 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.

California legislators pass hundreds of laws every year. But sometimes, they free themselves from following them.

On one emblamatic issue, however, this may be the session when that changes: Lawmakers, who have pushed through major bills to support unions throughout California, may finally let their own staffers organize.

For at least the fifth time in the last 25 years, the effort came to an anticlimactic end last year as a legislative unionization bill passed the state Senate, but failed in an Assembly committee on the last day of the session.

This year, there are a lot of pieces in place that could help the new push. For one: the amount of turnover in what is now California’s most diverse Legislature ever .

The legislation was revived — and highlighted as Assembly Bill 1 on the first day of the current session Dec. 5 — by new Assemblymember Tina McKinnor, who leads the committee where it has died four out of the five times it has been proposed.

“It is hypocritical as legislators that we ask our employees to staff committees and write legislation that often expands collective bargaining rights for other workers in California, but we intentionally prohibit our own workers from having the same right,” the Inglewood Democrat said at a press conference introducing the bill in December.

In addition, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon supports the idea of staff unionization. The incoming speaker, Assemblymember Robert Rivas, who is set to take the top leadership post on June 30, is one of 20 Assemblymembers and seven senators whose names were on the bill at introduction.

A wave of unionization in Democratic state legislatures across the country, plus among some congressional staff, could also help the cause. Oregon became the first state to allow legislative staff to unionize in 2021. Similar efforts were started in Massachusetts, New York and Washington state.

Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher — one of the most prominent union champions in the Legislature from 2013 until last year, when she resigned from the Assembly to become head of the California Labor Federation — says there’s no legitimate reason for legislative staff to be blocked from collective bargaining.

“It’s an argument that we hear always in unionizing efforts: Our place of work is special, it’s different, we have unique challenges,” she told CalMatters. “We have unions that are used to dealing with a variety of sticky situations. That’s something that can be worked out.”

At last count, there are more than 1,800 full-time staffers in the Assembly and Senate, including legislative directors, district coordinators, secretaries and aides.

Unionization isn’t the only area where the Legislature exempts itself. The state Senate and Assembly also set rules for other state agencies and businesses that they don’t require themselves to follow: minimum wage, whistleblower protections, public access and more.Dan Schnur, a politics professor at UC Berkeley, USC and Pepperdine University, says there’s “no coherent argument” to be made on why legislators should not abide by the laws they pass for other Californians. He also argues that “rules for thee” damages civic engagement.

“This is exactly the type of double standard that makes voters across the ideological spectrum absolutely despise politics and politicians,” he said.

Legislative staffers unite

State employees other than legislative staff were granted the right to collective bargaining in the Ralph C. Dills Act, signed into law by then-Gov. Jerry Brown in 1977.

Of the 200,000-plus state workers, more than 80% are represented in one of 21 bargaining units; managers, supervisors and some others are excluded. Last week, for instance, the union representing more than 2,700 state scientists rejected a contract offer from the Newsom administration. The union, which has been without an agreement since July 2020, is seeking 43% raises.

Concerns about past staff unionization bills have included treating the Assembly and Senate as one joint employer though they operate independently, as well as potential timing conflicts between labor contracts and legislative terms.

Other lawmakers have also flagged concerns about outside interests such as unions having a say in the Legislature’s operations, where constituents’ voices are meant to be prioritized above all else.

“People are comfortable trying to exploit our passions for public service. That’s why a union is absolutely needed.”
— Aubrey Rodriguez, a legislative director

But staff members say long hours and low pay can also be damaging to democracy.

“People are comfortable trying to exploit our passions for public service,” said Aubrey Rodriguez, a legislative director. “That’s why a union is absolutely needed.”

Unionization isn’t the only labor law the Legislature exempts itself from. Lawmakers also aren’t required to pay minimum wage — though many choose to do so — or to pay overtime. And until 2018, legislative staff weren’t included under the Whistleblower Protection Act, which prohibits retaliation against state employees who report misconduct.

A foggy glass house

The Legislature wasn’t immune from the Me Too movement, which raised awareness into rampant sexual harassment and abuse in workplaces. In 2018, leaders released a decade’s worth of records that included 18 cases of alleged sexual harassment and that named four lawmakers then serving — but only after public pressure and the threat of court intervention.

Also in response, Senate and Assembly leaders created the Workplace Conduct Unit in 2019. Last December, the unit released its first report, which said that since February 2019, 91 cases were substantiated and 86 resulted in disciplinary action, including nine dismissals.

The goal was to clear up the “erroneous assumption that allegations are not being substantiated or that discipline has not been imposed,” according to an August 2022 letter from legislative leaders to fellow lawmakers and staff.

But beyond the high-level numbers, the letter didn’t provide a lot of detail. It did not include names or specify disciplinary actions, other than the terminations.

That’s concerning to Ruth Ferguson, a former legislative staff member who helped start the Stop Sexual Harassment in Politics coalition after her unsatisfactory experience with the Workplace Conduct Unit.

“It appears they haven’t kept that promise of reporting out high-level staffers or members who have been found to have done something inappropriate,” Ferguson told CalMatters. “It makes me wonder: Why hasn’t the public been given an explanation as to why?”

The Legislature is exempt from the Public Records Act that applies to other state agencies. Instead, it’s covered by the Legislative Open Records Act, which does not require the release of misconduct reports.

The anti-sexual harassment coalition will focus this year on trying again to pass a bill to amend the Legislative Open Records Act to require the release of those records, using language similar to a law passed in 2021 that applies to disclosing police misconduct.

“The justification [for those bills] was that there’s this lack of trust and transparency and that greater transparency would result in a fair and more just system,” Ferguson said. “I think similarly that’s really true in this case. For staffers in the legislature and the public, there’s no accountability mechanism.”

Public meetings are another area where the Legislature doesn’t have to be as transparent as other elected officials. The 1953 Ralph M. Brown Act and the 1967 Bagley-Keene Act require local governments and state agencies to conduct business at open meetings, with some exceptions for closed sessions requiring confidentiality, such as personnel issues.

The logic: “The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know.”

But that doesn’t apply to the Legislature. Under a 1973 law, legislators can gather privately in partisan caucuses. For example, Assembly Democrats met behind closed doors for six hours at the state Capitol last spring on the speakership fight, then hammered out the deal for Rivas to succeed Rendon as speaker in another six-hour private meeting in November at the Sacramento Convention Center.

“The most angry and resentful populists in both parties are driven by the accurate belief that most politicians think that they’re better than the rest of society,” Schnur said. “Every one of these double standards reinforces that belief.”

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

Heather Jenae Ash Bishop
March 1, 1969 - November 4, 2022

Heather passed on November 4 after several weeks at UCSF ICU due to complications from a kidney transplant that took place in May 2022. She was surrounded by her husband and children as she passed with love and peace.

When she was young she loved soccer and running. Growing up with five brothers, she was thoroughly a tomboy and proud of it. She grew up in Utah in the 1970s and 1980s and moved to California when she was 16. Summer in Utah was spent celebrating the summer rains by jumping through puddles or floating down the local canal on inner tubes. She moved to the Humboldt area in 1989, attending College of the Redwoods, where she met Clarke Bishop in a photography class. They were married on December 17, 1990.

She would have celebrated 32 years of marriage to Clarke Bishop on December 17, 2022. She was very proud of this commitment and always worked to show that going through life together meant going through many different lifetimes and iterations of self. She was deeply grateful for the support of her husband through the years of kidney disease and especially the care he provided doing in-home dialysis for 3 years. The experience of their challenges is not what defined them, but their great love for each other, their children, and their lives together.

Heather gave birth in 1991 and 1993, first with Shenae, then her son Wohali. She gave her all to her children, sacrificing time and sleep to get them to all their sports practices and travel to races, games, and tournaments. These sacrifices led to many academic and athletic accomplishments for both Shenae and Wohali. Knowing how proud she was of them will give them strength in their lives forever.

The similarities between Heather and her children include a deep and sensitive heart, goofiness, kindness, a strong spirit, a love for cooking, and a love for the world. Along with some healthy stubbornness and a strong sense of self.

She loved to play with clay, making sculptures and designs. She was an artist in many mediums including collage, clay, painting, and photography. Artists and teachers run in the family and Heather was no exception. She constantly taught patience and joy by bringing art into all activities.

Heather was a gregarious joyful person that always strived to see the good in any situation. She spent nearly two decades working with the children of the Humboldt County community, from her time at Healthsport Kid’s Corner to working at a children’s center temporary shelter in Eureka, and everywhere she found some need.

Over the years while attending College of the Redwoods she earned an Associates Degree in Fine Art Photography, an Associates Degree in Business, and a certificate in Addiction Studies.

She worked for the County of Humboldt as a Substance Abuse Counselor for seven years, specializing in women’s groups and group art therapy. Supporting her clients through recovery while dealing with her chronic kidney failure was a major accomplishment. She led her life in a way that always served those in need, leaving a legacy her children are determined to live up to.

She is survived by her husband Clarke Bishop, her daughter Shenae Bishop, her son Wohali Bishop, her brothers Jonathan Ash, Adam Ash, Nathan Ash, Joseph Ash, and William Ash; her father Fred Ash, her step-mother Louella Jean Ash, and her mother Teresa Whitehawk; her nieces and nephews Issac Ashlind, Eliot Ashlind, Genevieve Ash, Jalen Ash, Makani Ash, Jiaxin Ash, Nakai Ash, Mikel Ash, Emma Ash, Esme Ash, Alia Ash, Joey Ash, Olivia Ash, Penni Ash, and Sophi Ash.

The family would like to invite anyone whose life was touched by Heather, to come for the memorial service and reception that will be held Saturday, March 4, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., at the Arcata First Baptist Church 1700 Union St. Arcata. This commemorates her birthday on March 1, 1969.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Heather Bishop’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.

Lisa Carole Feraru was born to Gloria Jackson McDowell and John Levaditis, on February 20, 1959. She was raised in Brisbane, Calif. by her mother Gloria and her step father Jose Reyes Rodriguez. She was called home to her lord and savior on January 23, 2023. She is now reunited with her youngest daughter in heaven, who’s spirit she saw sitting beside her just hours before her passing.

Lisa accomplished many things in her life. She graduated from Humboldt State University in 2005, with a Bachelor of Arts and Major in Psychology. She was an advocate for people with developmental disabilities, and she served as Regional Center President from 1999-2001 and from 2005-2007. She was recognized twice for outstanding service by the Redwood Coast Regional Center as director and president of the board. As well, she served on the executive budget, election, personnel consumer advisory, client benefit fund, and board procedures committee. She also received the C. Raymond Hudson award by the Area 1 Developmental Disabilities Board for outstanding and significant contributions toward the enhancement of education for persons with developmental disabilities.

Lisa was a firm believer in our lord and savior Jesus Christ and was a devoted member of the Galilee Baptist Church. She also served as chief financial officer and Agent for Service of Process for the church. She was baptized by Galilee in 2010. She went to church every Sunday and bible study every Wednesday rain or shine. Lisa had a beautiful singing voice and she often blessed her fellow church members by singing at her church. She made numerous contributions to Galilee Baptist Church during her time with the congregation. The church was like a second home to her, and Pastor Michael Burke was her very good friend.

Lisa loved living in Humboldt County and enjoyed the beauty it had to offer. Lisa enjoyed singing karaoke with her friends. She could often be seen wearing Holly Yashi earrings and her extravagant church hats. She had golden brown eyes and beautiful curly brown hair. She absolutely loved the holiday season and would host family dinners at her home in Arcata. She always made sure everyone she knew got a present on Christmas, and she often bought presents for the children of families who couldn’t afford them.

Lisa touched many lives and her generous soul knew no limits. She will always be remembered for making sure that the people she loved had a place to stay and food to eat, no matter what. Because of her enormous heart her list of family is very extensive. She was known to take people in and add to her family as she had so much love to give.

Lisa was a proud mother to four children: Glenn Whitfield, Amy Feraru, Ashley Davis and Courtney Feraru. She was like a mother to Ella Davis and Jessica Sousa. She was a loving grandmother to Glenn Arthur Whitfield, Logan Whitfield, Annabell Davis, Ripley Davis, Quentin Davis, Kaiya Davis, Luka Davis, Aurora Sousa and Damian Paz. She loved her children and grandchildren with all her heart, and there was nothing she wouldn’t do for them.

She was sister to Sheila Eacret, Deanna and Raymond Anthony Rodriguez, and Jerry Savage. She was Aunt to Ronald Wayne Morrow, Walter Morrow, Leanna Morrow, Jamie Lopez, Angela Reed, Raymond Eacret, Janell January, Kindy Cloaky, Travis Steel, Juston Steel, Brian Steel, Mailisa and Vanessa Levaditis, and Mariah Snowton. She was mother-in-law to Eion Davis and Jennifer Whitfield. Lisa’s extended family includes, Lacy Moore, Shana McLain, Shannon and Tracy Steel, Dixie Savage, Vickey Levaditis, Brenda and William Levaditis, Deon Schori, Victoria Vargas, Arlene Lopez, Robert Feraru, Brian Feraru, Monica O Grady, Arthur and Anne Feraru, Brandi Bettencourt, Malcolm and Lenora Combs, Deenie and Paddy Davis, Megan and Mike Horcasitas, Niamh and Lilliana Horcasitas, Erin Davis, Orlagh Powell, Jennifer Cejas, Megan Cejas, John and Linda Fraley, Gary and Lepeical Upshaw, Monica and Octavia Upshaw, Willie Michael Jr. and Princess Burke, Monique Smith, Malary and Debra Morrow, Zu Kenya Zawadi, Cathy White, Haley Castillo, Tanya Christian, Kym January and her children. Lisa is loved by so many and she is dearly missed.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Lisa Feraru’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.