J. Alan asks Kati Moulton, Kenny Carswell…

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What will you do if Measure F fails?

What plans do you have if Measure F doesn’t pass? What will you do to engage this neighborhood in its’ efforts to develop jacobs site? How will you work to help CHP go there if they ask for assistance/guidance? How will you go about collecting feedback from the neighborhood? And I mean the neighbors that are adjacent to the property - not next to Henderson Center…. Is there a road map yet for these conversations?

— J. Alan

Response

Kati Moulton

When Measure F is defeated, first I will breathe a sigh of relief. The City of Eureka won’t have to spend who knows how many years and millions of dollars to untangle the legal mess it would create, wasting precious time and money while people are desperate for a place to live. We won’t be subject to massive fines from the state, and we won’t have to give back millions in grant money the staff worked so hard to secure for housing and improvements to public transportation. Instead of fines and legal costs, our tax dollars would go to our first responders, our parks, and our roads.

 

When Eureka votes No on F, I and the other families of Alice Birney students and the people who live adjacent to the site will be grateful that our voices won’t be silenced about what’s built next to our community school. The Measure F zoning overlay for the Jacobs campus was never going to build housing, but it would eliminate the part of the building process where someone has to talk to us about what they’re planning for our neighborhood. 

 

 If the CHP purchases the property, I will ask them to survey the neighborhood, and to host a townhall similar to the one I hosted that got over 100 neighbors out to talk about what they want to see at Jacobs. The CHP has stated they would take a few years to break ground, so my timeline would be to ask for public outreach as soon as a deal is signed with ECS. That way input could be part of their process early enough for it to make a difference. CHP has promised that they want to be good neighbors. I would hold them to that promise. I would also ask them to fund a traffic study for McCullens and Highland Avenue to look at current and increased traffic impacts on those streets and maintain public safety!

 

Also, after Measure F is no longer a threat, I will continue to enjoy the lively culture of Old Town where I run a retail business. I will have more customers coming in from other places in the County on our improved regional bus system. I will keep meeting tourists who find our unique community charming, and our parking ample. I will have more customers with more money to spend because their rent isn’t taking up 75% of their paycheck. Our whole community, including my business, would benefit from more working folks in town with more money in their pockets … but I run a craft store, not an investment firm.