It's Back! Dignity on the Dunes project. Mission B & B.

The B & B on the Peninsula is back. Just south of the Samoa Bridge. Please use responsibly. Hopefully no Samoa citizenry complaints. This is healthy for not only the "house poor" people camping on the dunes, but for the peninsula as a whole.

Port of Oakland delays: 'Absolute madness’ threatens business.

Port of Oakland delays  could cripple business on the west coast. Not just in the immediate but in the future once the Panama canal expansion is complete.

Damn EPD! $1 a minute kind of excessive! B & B yanked on Peninsula. Rainy days suck!

I was talking to a client at my office at the Prosperity and I knew the time was getting close but I had to let them finish at their pace. When I went out to my truck, here was there to greet me. So for 42 minutes I have to pay $38 dollars. Almost a dollar a minute! That is San Francisco prices!

The B & B that has been placed by the Harbor District has had to be removed until we consult with our legal counsel on its status. There has been complaints by locals over escalation of nefarious crime type activity since we have supplied a place to poop.

And that almost ends today's rant. I will do the rest off line.

Major James Marks has bad Pearl Harbor visit 73 years ago!

My father James was at Pearl Harbor during the bombing many years ago. He later became a Major in the Army and passed the bar to become a lawyer in the late 50's. He was the first Deputy Public Defender in Humboldt County history. Later he went into private practice and had multiple law firms. He fathered eight children, my mother had seven. How many brothers and sisters do I have? Buy lunch for the first correct guess!

Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) purchasing Green Diamond mills?

My inside contacts tell me that Red Emmerson is completing the process to purchase the Korbel Sawmill and the Brainard plant from Green Diamond. Not only that, but SPI is also buying multiple saw mills in the state of Washington. Workers will officially be notified of this transaction next Thursday with a WARN ACT notice and explanation of the process moving forward. I have been in discussions and tried to organize some folk to do an Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) buyout. That failed. Let us hope this transaction is for real. If not? More jobs lost in Humboldt County. Say it ain't so.

Slumoa project may move forward! 14 years late (r)!

(This is the house I see from my back porch everyday. Lead paint abatement project put on hold I am guessing.) In 2001 Robin and I were so happy to see the town of Samoa sold to the Samoa Pacific Group (Dan Johnson and Lane DeVeres) and their role out of plans for the future were bright. They said they planned to make lot line adjustments and parcel out each house to enable the long time Samoa residents to purchase. We were promised the first chance to buy these homes after there were cosmetic repairs to the outsides such as roofing and painting. There would be parks and trails, grocery store, shopping center and a mix of new houses and affordable housing. (AKA apartments.) Peninsula Elementary School would have an influx of new students and there would be a positive energy for us sandwellers.

Since 2001 there has been many iterations of the original master plans. Dan Johnson has learned one thing. Government can be so slow. While serving as a Director of the Samoa Peninsula Fire Department we had the Samoa Pacific Group come many times to try to form a Peninsula Community Service District so the town of Samoa could provide new infrastructure such as Sewage, Water and Parks. Each time they were met with push back from either the board itself or the residents of Fairhaven.

Now we learn from todays Times Standard that the project is jumping original phases to the project and building the apartments first. They have a 3.8 million dollar grant that needs to be used by 2015. The first most needed piece of the development is a waste-water treatment facility. So the grocery store, fire station, park, trails, campsites and other visitor services will not be in place beforehand as originally proposed. The Board of Supervisors and the California Coastal Commission will have to approve the amendments to the original plan. While I am disappointed in the process looking 14 years back, I am supportive of the project moving forward for the heath and vitality that I hope can be restored for the town of Samoa. That is one long time sandwellers opinion. And I have seen much in the nearly 35 years I have been a resident.  

Measure "S" puts Marks Consulting in the win column again! Bergel? I was told last week of this result.

Eureka School Bond Measure "S" wins! I was part of a large committee that had over 100 volunteers in one capacity or another. Orchestrating this mass of people was Gregg Gardiner and my hats off to him for his tenacity and hard work. I did data base management and it was huge. Around a 1/3 of all voters in Humboldt County live in the Eureka City Schools jurisdiction. Lots of walking sheets and phone banking sheets and then the entry of the supporters and banking them for the Get Out The Vote (GOTV). It wasn't flawless, but this was probably the most aggressive GOTV I have been involved in. The first election report showed us well short of the 55% threshold needed for the bond to pass and panic set in at the victory celebration for volunteers. People were asking me what would it take for victory to be stolen from defeat. I told the room to hope for a 60% poll voting showing to put us back in the game. Thankfully that happened but the volunteers were left at the edge of their seats for 17 days. The GOTV won this election. Went from around 80 votes up to over 300 up after absentee votes at the precincts were counted. Campaigns are controlled chaos. This campaign was successful keeping the chaos controlled.

I had lunch a few days back with a Humboldt political insider. (No, not MIM.) They had voter information of past elections and asked me to evaluate the trends. It concerned the Mike Newman vs Kim Bergel race.  I am a certified para-statistician (Thank you Louisiana Pacific for sending me to this certification process for operators.) and am obsessed with operational and political trends. All of information gathering was sitting in front of me and I offered that Newman was in trouble. The insider said if the Absentee Votes reached around 1,600 that it might be game over. That person was absolutely correct. And they did not want to be. I have told enough people this last week about what was going to probably happen. Not many believed.  I know, Lies, damn lies and statistics.

"Dignity Dump" or "Dump with dignity at the Dunes?"

For years I have brought up the fact the there are many homeless that make the trek to the Peninsula to use the dunes as their home. There are no bathroom services for them and you know they have to go somewhere. I have brought this up to Social Services and other agencies through meetings concerning homeless not having a place to go with dignity. I thought it would be a good low cost solution to have even just B & B's at the end of the 255 bridge at the "T" at the end. Seems that was problematic at levels that seem excuses. Well I was pleasantly surprised to find out the Humboldt Bay Harbor decided to surprise me with supplying one on Harbor property near the Cookhouse. For $80 a month we can feel good about doing something positive for the dunes. As long as people treat this with respect and do not vandalize this is a positive move. Now help me with a proper name.

Ukiah rail with trail update!

Ukiah City Civil Engineer Ben Kageyama gave an update on the 3/4 mile rail with trail project to the North Coast Rail Authority board yesterday. The construction will be complete by January!  KHUM also did a recent update. So there is hope and an actually completed testament to look at.

NASCAR "Good ol Boy" Domestic Violence is all good. It's in their book!

Seems to be a a two sided racist issue when it comes to domestic violence. There is a great  No more program being brought forward using many African American athletes to educate America on domestic violence issues. But NASCAR has totally ignored the issue allowing Kurt Busch to participate today in a NASCAR event in Phoenix where he finished and placed 7th. So Ray Rice is given an indefinite suspension and Kurt is not even considered. Is it a race issue? I believe so. Last week there was an NASCAR brawl that had very little coverage. If this incident happened in the NBA there would be epic media since blood was drawn on two popular athletes. Just saying. For anyone out there needing help with domestic violence, here is the website:  http://hdvs.org/.

Draft land use Ordinance for lawful cannabis cultivation roll out tomorrow at 5:30!

California Cannabis Voice-Humboldt is going to have a public forum and panel discussion rollout of our draft land use ordinance encouraging lawful guidelines to cultivate cannabis. The event will be hosted by the Blue Lake Rancheria tomorrow at 5:30pm, Thursday, 11/6/14 at the Sapphire Palace. This will hopefully prepare Humboldt County to be on the forefront of the potential statewide initiative legalizing Cannabis in 2016.

Voters are dumb! My predictions locally.

A recent survey in California showed that only 42% of the voters know that Jerry Brown is running for another term. Not only that, but only 1 out of 5 could name his Republican opponent Neel Kashkari! Wow. What is the problem? Apathy? Got me, but below is my fearless predictions for some of the local election results. (No science for the most part, although I have been working on Measure "S". And this is not an endorsement for any item. Observations from the peanut gallery only.)

Eureka City Council: Natalie Arroyo over Chet Albin and Mike Newman over Kim Bergel. Natalie has had a strong phonebanking campaign and dominated the debates. Mike Newman has been very active attending community events over the last 4 years and has worked very hard in his first term. I don't always agree with him, but he is always respectful.

Arcata City Council: Sofia Pereira and Mark Wheetley. For the 2 year terms. Both very knowledgeable politically. Be a huge surprise if they didn't win. For the 2 year term I think Paul Pitino will prevail. Great guy and former Arcata City Councilman. Passionate over Transportation issues.

Measure P: I think this will pass. Lots of good arguments both ways.

Measure Q: I am kinda shocked, but I think this will pass. If I lived in Eureka, I would vote against. There had been some questionable spending the last few years. But the Measure Q team has done a good job with this campaign.

Measure R: I predict it will pass, but not in the overwhelming fashion I thought it would. The "No" on R has come on strong, but way too late.

Measure S: The phone banking results seem to show it will pass with over 60%. But that 5% fudge factor could go the wrong way. But the GOTV strategy for the Measure "S" team tomorrow should carry the measure over the top.

Measure Z: From all the people I have talked to this measure should fail miserably. No clear and concise message and just a way late start to the campaign. If I am wrong here I will probably have to quit my election predictions.

Again, no science. Just in fun.

Mark Sprague memorial.

A memorial for Mark Sprague will be at Redwood Park in Arcata tomorrow at 1pm. Went too early.

Samoasoftball only one to vote for Measure Z?

One of my friends jokingly referred to Measure Z as, "Zero chance of passing!" I have talked to quite a few people of varying political spectrum and have heard a resounding "NO!" I voted for the Measure but can't speak for my wife. I find it odd that many I have talked to are for Measure "Q" though. If I were Natalie Arroyo and Kim Bergel I would hope "Q" passes or I wouldn't want to be the new Eureka City Council person with a huge deficit on the horizon!

Mark Sprague hitting homers in heaven. And lifting his teammates up!

Just heard that Mark Sprague is launching Homers in Heaven. I was honored to have Mark as a teammate, coworker and friend. His brother Basil "Bill" went a few years earlier. Dave and Bob are still with us. Played ball with them all and won many games and have great memories, both in slow pitch and fast pitch, here are others. Only a few of the many comments going around:

Gordon Holt Great guy...had some great times! JJ Katri RIP Mark. Hell of a ball player and fun guy to be around. Carlos Avelar He was a tough competitor but always fair person that pulled for success of others as well but you knew you were in for a game if the other team ever had a Sprague on it and sometimes multiple Spragues they all always brought their A+ GAME. Kris Avelar Well said Clos . I remember when he made an unassisted triple play n willow creek. And basil was doing head first slides on a shit field and had a huge raspberry on his chest. Great family and will be missed by many. Doug Weatherbee Had the pleasure of playing next to Mark on some of the best teams I ever played for. We were complete opposites on the field. Mark was always chirping.lol. But always in a good way and made me work harder and be a better player. He was fun to play with and we became good friends. I can see Mark and Bill reunited and already winning together in heaven. I will miss you Mark. Rick Verhulst I concur Doug Weatherbee ! Mark always pumped me up when we played together. Sounds silly but he made me feel like I was the best pitcher out there cuz he was so supportive! Steve Georgianna Very lucky to of known him and played with him. So much fun!

Great Quote by Ryan Sundberg concerning Cannabis Summit.

Great story in Times Standard this morning. But a simple statement by Humboldt County 5th District Supervisor Ryan Sundberg explaining Humboldt County Cannabis Voice-Humboldt type cannabis farmers, "They are saying, 'We want to be regulated, we want to be taxed, help me help you figure out how to make that happen!"

It is not that simple, but it was a huge step forward as yesterday I witnessed 35 stakeholders work together to find consensus on many of the main land use issues. I actually finished a draft of the Ordinance last night and sent it off to our legal "Draft Team" to massage and move forward. I am excited to be a part of the process to help growers who want to do clean growing practices. I am not supportive of trespass grows or grows using illegal pesticides or that divert water illegally. I feel we are headed in the right direction.

Epic Cannabis Summit tomorrow at Wharfinger.

California Cannabis Voice-Humboldt will be hosting 35 cannabis stakeholders (People with interest or concern, in this case Board of Supervisors, Planning Department, Environmental groups, Medical Industry, Business Owners and Cannabis Farmers.) participating in a critical process that will create a Humboldt County Ordinance setting reasonable cannabis agricultural guidelines for growing. Those stakeholders will help craft the guidelines in the form of the Ordinance "on the run" while being lead by Professional Bay Area Facilitator Dr. Debrorah Pruitt. The "Draft" of the Ordinance will be created by committee with renown attorney Dorgi Roberts, a former Deputy City Attorney of San Francisco, leading the process. The "Draft" of the Ordinance will be vetted by the public with the first planned forum hosted by the Blue Lake Rancheria at the Sapphire Palace November 6th in the form of a panel discussion. This is a chance to Decriminalize the reasonable cannabis growers by Legitimizing their processes and letting them be Humanized by coming out of the shadows and contribute taxes to the County.

Please support Measure S. Samoasoftball putting money where his mouth is.

 I am asking you all to support school bond Measure S. It is a benefit to the children currently in the Eureka City Schools system and will pave way to a better quality of education for the future. Yes, I realize there was a bond measure in 2002 that is not paid off, but don't punish the current children or staff for ills of the past administration. Yes, I went to school in Eureka. And I own property in Eureka so I will be helping foot the bill.

Eureka Rotary hosts Eureka City Council Forum!

The Eureka Rotary club with help of the League of Women Voters (LOWV) hosted a Eureka City Council candidates forum.  Challengers Kim Bergel (KB) and Natalie Arroyo (NA) were present as were incumbents Mike Newman (MN) and Chet Albin (CA). Questions were filtered by the LOWV. The first question was:

What do you see as the biggest problem or Challenge in Eureka?

 KB said there were three problems, homeless, addiction and the economy.  She pointed out solutions such as streamlining permitting processes, developing the port and build on strengths. MN pointed out problems doing business in the county.  Spoke about homeless solution through Community Homeless Improvement Project (CHIP).  CA spoke of a recent 4million dollar budget cut. Need to find revenue sources. NA said we need to focus on a diverse economy and not put all our eggs in one basket. She is running on jobs issue. Would like to see a ten year strategy including medical residency, tech jobs and beautifying the area while using targets of opportunity such as using the General Plan for industrial development.

Measure R may send businesses out of town, what will you do?   

MN “This is the elephant in the room and the question of the day!” Pointed out the movement was driven by Occupy Eureka and it was already hard to do business here. NA said there was a need for higher wages and added the need in the county. KB completely supports Measure R and said it would take people off welfare, creates more taxes and empowers people. “What we are doing now not working!” CA “What if they leave? Not much we can do.” Said it could cost hundreds of jobs and lower the tax base and close more businesses. 

Did you or would you have agreed to give Eureka Department Heads a raise considering Eureka budget issues?

NA “We need a talented staff.” Said there was a need for system upgrading.  CA said there was research done several years ago on how to attract department heads. Not many apply to Eureka. He said he would have reluctantly voted for the raises. MN reiterated the need to attract decent workers. That has been the goal the last few years. Said there was police reporting upgrades. KB “Look at what we got!” Said the city was forward thinking.

Do you support crisis training for the mentally ill?  

CA “Yes, we need intervention” Brought up homeless issue and CHIP. KB “Absolutely.”  She said this subject was a black eye to our community for improper training. “Treat people with dignity and respect!” NA “Absolutely.  Need to deal with the challenges and the gaps between County Mental Health and Health care. Don’t put ill people back out in the street! “ MN Was in agreement and said Mental Health working with patrol officers in training important.

Do you support Measure Q?

NA “Yes. It is only an extension of existing tax.” Does not want to see elimination of city jobs. MN “Yes. In 2010 we thought we wouldn’t need to, but we didn’t get new business.” He said that 71% of the Measure “O” money went to law enforcement. Also said that not having the extension would eliminate “POP.” KB “Absolutely.” She has done ride-along with both Police and Fire. Pointed out leaky roofs and need of turnouts. Not a new tax. CA “I support “Q. If it fails we will lose POP, 9 traffic officers and 6 Firemen. Response for services will be slowed down."

What can you do strategically to solve homeless?

MN “We are working on the problems, and now implementing solutions such as Motel Ordinance service calls.” NA Pointed out that Homeless sometimes comes in stages such as living in a car as first step. Need to examine substance abuse element.  CA “CHIP has come a long way.” Need to look for solutions to long term hospital stays with alternate medical housing.  KB “Never going to eradicate the homeless.” Advocates use of Betty Chin programs and rapid housing programs.

Will consolidating Fire Department help?

NA “I need to know more. I thought we were already. Said she will do more homework.” KB Said she was confused by question and would do homework. MN “It has happened and has saved the city $185,000.” CA “Yes. It has happened already and the savings is helping the Fire Departments.

Closing Statements

NA Identified Labor endorsements and other individuals and the Democratic Central Committee. Respectfully asked for peoples vote. CA Lived many years in Eureka and wants to continuing giving back and has served on the Planning, Housing and Parking commissions. MN Wants to keep moving forward and provides “More bang for the buck.” Has been the leader in consolidating departments and promotes more business through developing a deep water port with living wage jobs. KB Promotes change with 21^st Century thinking. Wants to break barriers that separate the community. She says she works well with others and points out the need to work together.  

Sending hair off to Locks of Love. Probably last time.

My hair is getting too thin and silver as I get older. So this just might be my last foray into growing my hair for Locks of Love. It left me looking like this: