Calling all volunteers! Need a good cause?

Humboldt Domestic Violence Services (HDVS) is looking for new board members. I am sure everyone has either family or friend experience in Domestic Violence. I would like to request your help in this important organization. Call 444-9255 and ask for Brenda Bishop and request an application to the board. We sure could use the help!

What's in a Nickname? Do you have any?

Most people I know have some sort of nickname that people bestow on them and some are funny. I have had a few placed on me over the years. Here are some and there history.

"Tooter": My oldest sister Kathy was said to be the first to start using this name on me. Don't know why. But it stuck to me to the point that all of my family and all who knew me (even teachers!) used this name exclusively. Most my immediate family still use this to this day! When we moved to Myrtletown when I was 11 years of age and I went to Lafayette school I purposely told everyone my name was "Richard". No more "Tooter the Turtle has lost his girdle!"

"Pooh Bear": Rick Mitchell was to blame for this. I was then 12. Some bastardisation of his walking around saying "I don't Care Bear!" and stolen by the Sugar Pops Bear. Still have some old timers from Myrtletown call me this. Makes me smile to this day.

"Dick": My co-worker Cap from Duck's market started calling me this for a few years. Luckily it did not catch on.

"Awesome": Brenda Hogan my co-worker at Louisiana Pacific came up with this. I think it was because I used the phrase alot in the early 80's. It held for a nearly a decade.

"Skid or Skidney": My workout partner and co-conspirator Ron Conley branded me with this. Married to "Stretch" of course. Came up with some great quotes for my 1998 Supervisor campaign; "You always get, what you always got, when you keep voting for the same old lot!"

Miscellaneous: "Mad Bomber" for basketball. "1978 Home Run Champ!" (It never happened but younger players in tournaments joke about this for the last 15 years at least.) And many derogatory names I won't mention.

Epic Hoopa Meeting on Cannabis March 10th!

There is an open public meeting on “Cannabis Agricultural Planning” being held at the Hoopa Community Center on March 10^th at 6pm. It will have a Pot Luck for everyone in the valley.  Some of the topics will cover California’s 215 laws, Humboldt County current cannabis regulations and proposed new permit ordinance, National trends, Best practices and how to address environmental concerns and potentially establishing a Cannabis Collective.

But the hot button topic should be the Repeal of Title 34 Campaign.  

In 1999 the Hoopa tribe created an ordinance called Title 34 which banned; “The open and notorious cultivation of marijuana within the exterior boundaries of the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation under the guise of permissive use in light of the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 is unacceptable and endangers the general welfare, health, and safety of residents of the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation.”

With the Department of Justice decision to allow tribes to farm Cannabis with the blessing of the Feds, this is a great time for the Hoopa Community to take advantage of situation where cannabis is legitimized and the positive medical affects can be actualized.

 It should be a very interesting meeting nonetheless.

Press biased against Cannabis? Apologies to Will Houston.

Very interesting on what the Times Standard, North Coast Journal, The Lost Coast Outpost and local television stations deem worthy of covering. (Not blaming the Mad River Union yet. I don't get that paper until next Wednesday.) Yesterday the California Cannabis Voice Humboldt team showed up in force and packed the afternoon session of the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors while presenting a power point presentation concerning the need to regulate cannabis.

Why very little press? Got me. The TS did a short clip on the morning session headlined "Groundwater, Cannabis" The written story had no reference of Cannabis in the article! Read for yourself.  Our item has been on the agenda for an ample time. I spoke too soon! Will Houston of the Times Standard did a great story today!

When is the last time that chambers have been over-filled for an afternoon session? I can safely say, without the subject being a popular person retiring from the county, not very often.

Our presentation was a reality based synapse of the positive potential of having a written ordinance that protects small farms in Humboldt County and creates revenue for the General Fund shortfalls. . The presentation also outlines our concerns of trespass grows, water diversions and pesticides.

Seriously, if this were another meth, weapon, cash bust that included cannabis, all the media players would be there. Just kind of surprised that a agenda item of interest that generated a packed Board of Supervisors chambers would be ignored.

Humboldt County Cannabis topic at BOS meeting tomorrow 2/24/15 1:30pm!

The California Cannabis Voice Humboldt (CCVH) will be presenting a power point discussion at the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors chambers tomorrow 2/24/15 at 1:30pm. Let your voice be heard!

North Coast Rail Authority (NCRA) update. Billboards & Locomotives down, Trail, Parks and THA up.

I had two NCRA sub committee meetings this past week and varied topics. Just thought I would update.  

The first item of the week concerning Property Committee business was a licensing agreement with the Loleta Community Chamber to build a Loleta Park Project on NCRA property in the Rail Corridor. The NCRA property committee unanimously agreed to endorse the project to the NCRA board as a whole. Emily Sinkhorn from the Redwood Community Action Agency and Loleta Community Service District Marcus Drumm gave details to the exciting project for Loleta.

The second item was concerning a billboard on NCRA property. The sign itself is owned by Geoff Wills and he respectfully requested reconsideration or at least a “trade” of sign placement somewhere else along the rail corridor, even to maybe another county.  He agreed to remove the sign and 2 others close by at the request of the other signs owners.  

The third item was a licensing agreement with the City of Arcata for the Rails With Trails Project.  Doby Class and Netra Khatri from Arcata Public Works updated the project and the Properties committee unanimously voted to move this licensing agreement forward to the NCRA Directors . This project will start in April! Only a few months away!

On Thursday I chaired the Trial Ad Hoc Committee and two items were before us. The first was a City of Eureka Abatement notice sent to CUE, VI LLC (Security National) to remove all locomotive engines on their property. The City said they would remove and dispose and charge the land owners. Security National representative Dane Grytness was present to explain his research and his willingness to entertain all resolutions to the issue. North Western Pacific Co. (NWPco.)  President John Williams had three different solutions to the issue. 1. Hide them somewhere else. 2. Move them. 3. Put a decorative fence around them. The City of Arcata volunteered to dismantle as scrap. The board will discuss this item at a later date.

The last item was to allow NWPco. to do the inspections for the “Speeder” train excursions. We voted unanimously to endorse this item to the full board.

The next NCRA meeting will be February 11^th at 10:30pm in Healdsburg, California.

Ha ha. But, the toilet is there for a reason!

This is kind of a funny take of the B & B the Harbor District has provided for the Samoa Peninsula. It is across the street from one of the trail heads to Samoa Dunes. Yes, people are sleeping overnight and using the dunes for a homeless camp. Yes, they have no where to defecate with dignity. This is just a small gesture of our Conservation side to help the environment around the bay. Again, I wish the City of Eureka would move forward and doing the same for the "Devils Playground" behind the Eureka Mall. Just a small step in helping the homeless/housepoor conundrum.

Lets protect the Humboldt brand and small farms. Before we don't have that option.

The Redwood Times did a story on a PowerPoint presentation I did recently for the Garberville Rotary Club. California Cannabis Voice Humboldt is getting close to have an Ordinance that is a completed document. There is a huge need in Humboldt County to eliminate trespass grows, stop water diversions and use Best Management Practices preserving small Cannabis farms.

Have the youth of this county lost the ability to organize?

This last Sunday it was nearly 70 degrees and just beautiful outside. I was going to relax from a busy week but got ansy and hopped in my truck to do something active. I went to the Hammond park with hopes to hook up with some tennis, but there were no people. So I drove to Hartman and Kennedy to maybe hit some softballs, but again, nobody there. I then hoped that by this time guys would be hitting in Samoa so I headed home. Yep, no one to be seen. So I hooped it alone at the Samoa outdoor courts. What happened to the younger generation getting out and doing sport stuff? When I was in my teens, 20's, 30's, 40's or even early 50's people were out and about. The town of Samoa used to be bustling with youthful activity. Now silent. So is Eureka. Sad times.  

Mad River Watershed worth 1/2 Billion in Cannabis revenue!

Scott Bauer, an environmental scientist with the Department of Fish and Game did a comprehensive study of the effects of Cannabis cultivation on the Mad River watershed and reported results to the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District. He identified pollutants as petroleum products, fertilizers and pesticides. Fish predominate in the watershed were identified as Coho and Chinook salmon, Steelhead and Cutthroat Trout. He used Google maps from 1998 to 2014 to measure changes in the landscape. A majority of the farms were on private property, much on Green Diamond lands.

The study found that there were 14,414 outdoor plants and 42,512 indoor plants in 438 greenhouses totaling 56,926 plants representing about $500,000,000. (Yes; a half of Billion Dollars!) It was estimated that 51,233,250 gallons were used a day for cultivation in 431 sites total. There has been a 170% increase of grows in the Mad River watershed from 2009 to 2014.

There are currently 41 permitted water diversions in the watershed. There has been no comprehensive water quality monitoring due to lack of funds. There was a discussion of “Team” efforts by different affected agencies. Maybe have the Mad River serve as a “Pilot Project” for permitting and monitoring. This is an opportune time to consider regulatory compliance in the form of a Humboldt County Land Use Ordinance to allow a permitting process to do things in order. Stay tuned.

Jocelyn, Papa and Grandma's little joy.

My granddaughter Jocelyn turned 2 recently and we spent X-mas with the little bundle of joy. She dragged me around the house and introduced me to her stuffed animal friends and read her books to me. I was surprised that she knew her ABC's and how to count. She identified numbers on a clock and loved to draw. Just made my heart melt. Man I am getting old!

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.