HCAOG (Humboldt County Association of Governments) OCT. 15, 2015

HCAOG (Humboldt County Association of Governments)

OCT. 15, 2015

Eureka houseless children receive funding for after-school and summer programs
Multi-modal corridor plan for H and I streets in Eureka
$30,000 to conduct a countywide poll ?

The HCAOG Board adjourned and reconvened as the Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) – a combination of the HCAOG Board, a representative from Caltrans and one from the Humboldt Transit Authority Board.

After no public comment, the PAC approved the last month’s meeting record.

Consent Calendar

a. Apply for Allocation from the State’s Low Carbon Transit Operations Program (LCTOP)

Motion Passed

b. Letter of Support for City of Eureka’s H & I Street Multi-modal Corridor Plan

The PAC will recommend the Board provide a letter supporting the City of Eureka’s application for a Caltran’s Sustainable Communities Planning Grant for developing the “H & I Street Multi-modal Corridor Plan.”

The Board/PAC moved on a motion to pull its letter of support of Eureka’s H & I Street Multi-modal Corridor Plan because the scope of project will be more than H & I Streets. The City of Eureka is actually looking to expand the pedestrian and public transit friendly area to include J Street to E Street. The PAC approved of amending their letter of support. original letter

6. Action Items

a. FY 2015 – 16 State Transit Assistance (STA) Fund Allocation (encl)

Continued from last month, both HCAR (Humboldt Community Access Resource agency) and the City of Eureka were seeking funding for their respective programs from HCAOG’s State Transit Assistance (STA) funds, $35,000 of which has not yet been spent. The estimated amount of STA funds budgeted to the region for the 2015-16 fiscal year is $797,863.

The funds are provided by the state to local agencies for the development and support of public transportation needs. The City was seeking $25,000 in order to provide bus fare for houseless children to after-school and summer programs, while HCAR was asking for $35,000 to supplement their services [see last month’s HCAOG post for more details and links].

The PAC voted to grant $25,000 to the city program and held off from awarding the remaining $10,000 to HCAR until they could submit a goal oriented contract for services provided.

b. Local Transportation Revenue Options Workshop Update

(encl) The PAC will consider recommending an allocation of $30,000 for a local transportation sales tax public poll.

This is a continuation of last month’s discussion on whether HCAOG should use $30,000 to conduct a poll on voter sentiment towards a tax increase for county transportation needs, in particular the likely sales tax would go towards road improvements [see last month’s HCAOG post for more details and links].

HCAOG Executive Director, Marcella Clem, said the $30,000 thousand comes from two places:

HCOAG’s Local Budget, of which $10,000 has not been spent. The funds were originally earmarked by The Board to audit third party operators last year, however under the Transportation Development Act (TDA), California only requires cities to be audited, so the surplus funds have yet to be spent.

The remaining $20,000 would come from a 1997 allocation that not been repaid to HCAOG. As Clem explained in a follow up email with The Witness, a recent audit found that $50,000 had been allocated by HCAOG “to prepare for the enactment of Senate Bill 45 (Kopp). SB 45 gave regional agencies a say in how 75% of State Highway Improvement Program (STIP) funds are spent. Before that, Caltrans made all of the decisions.”

The funds originated from HCAOG’s annual Regional Surface Transportation Program (RSTP) budget, which “are required to be kept in a separate account until used. The HCAOG Board then allocates the funds to our local agencies. Once used, RSTP funds should have been transferred into HCAOG’s administrative account to repay what was spent. Our auditor identified $50,000 that has been in the RSTP account since 1997. It was never transferred out. He will make this an audit finding in this year’s audit that will allow us to transfer the funds.”

One of the first to speak up was County Supervisor Ryan Sundberg,who said his fellow Boardmembers voted 4 to 1 in favor of taking the poll, but didn’t think any one was overly excited about it.

Don Hindley, Mayor of Ferndale, was definitely not excited about spending $30,000 for on a poll, “Just because we have money, we don’t have to spend it. There’s a reason we didn’t spend it in 1997, because we didn’t need it.” He added that Ferndale was sure to vote down any new tax.

Fortuna’s City Council also voted 4 to 1 in favor of the poll, but they have a lot of concerns said Councilman, Doug Strehl. “We’ll have to wait to see what survey says, but somewhere along the line it’s going to have to be sold as a better project. We’ll need someone to run this campaign and figure out where funding for the campaign will come from. We gotta to sell it to the public.”

Strehl also implied that Fortuna citizens should play politics and back a new transportation tax or be left out in the cold when it comes time to dole out tax revenues, “We didn’t pass county’s sale’s tax (Measure Z) and didn’t get any funding.” Hindley then chimed in that Ferndale did vote in favor of Measure Z, but the out come was the same” We voted for it and didn’t get a penny.”

Sunberg added that he wanted an accurate poll because, “It’s a sales job at the end of the day and if you don’t trust the information your not going to get buy in from anybody.”

The rest of the board members all said they needed more time and the issue was tabled until next month.

7. Reconvening of the HCAOG Board

Requested Action: By motion, reconvene as the HCAOG Board and approve PAC recommendations.

Passed

8. Personnel and Administration

a. HCAOG Personnel Policies and Procedures

Held over from last month, The Board voted in favor of limiting new HCAOG employees from including accumulated sick days as added time towards their retirement compensation. [See our September post for more details].

All voted to approve the motion except for Don Hindley, Mayor of Ferndale, who said there was already a policy in place prohibiting HCAOG employees from using sick days for anything other than sick days and Board should not allow exceptions for current employees.

Eureka Transportation Safety Commission Tuesday Oct. 13, 2015

Headlines:

Church goers to lose two handicapped spaces
Arkley Center gains a permanent curbside loading/unloading zone
Logging Trucks using 6th & 7th streets instead of 4th & 5th streets
EPD grant funds overtime traffic safety, not service calls

This month’s meeting started with Eureka resident Lynn Gerber asking the Commission to implement safety measures in front of Washington Elementary.

The K-5th grade school located at 3322 Dolbeer Street, lacks familiar traffic safety features like a 25 mph school zone, radar speed signs or speed bumps.

Project Manger, Sheila Parrott, from the Eureka Engineering Department also mentioned looking into a 15 mph zone like the ones the City of Fortuna set in 2012.

The matter will be on next month’s agenda. The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 10 from 3:30pm – 4:30pm in the Council Chambers on the second floor at 531 K Street, Eureka, CA 95501.

Along the same lines, at next month’s meeting, members of the Commission will also hear from Kim Trevillion in regards to speeding concerns on Summer Street, north of Buhne Ave.

New Business:

Relocation of Parking Space by USPS Facilities

There was a request brought forward from Mark Gutierrez on behalf of the United States Postal Service to remove an on-street parking space across from the Eureka USPS office on Summer Street north of Simpson Street (1125 Summer Street).

Gutierrez explained that larger mail trucks have a hard time maneuvering out of the facilities when vehicles park across the street and would like the commission to paint the 65 ft long curb red.

Commissioner Bernie Haraldson noted that the facilities have been there for 50 years and wondered why this was an issue now and asked “what’s changed?”

Gutierrez, who has worked at the facility since 2008, said he believes there are just more people utilizing the parking space.

However, one thing that has changed is that semi trucks are much bigger today than they were 50 years ago when the facilities were first built. In an article by Ian A Williams on CurbsideClassic.com, he notes that today’s trucks feature an “ enormous wheelbase on the tractor, due to very generous overall vehicle lengths allowed…[by a] regulatory regime that emphasized spreading a larger amount of allowable weight over a longer span to reduce damage to the road.”

Tight squeezes for USPS trucks aren’t new and drivers are talking about the situation among themselves. Take this post from THBatMan8 on TruckersForum.net, who points out that USPS requires three years of experience and for a good reason: “The Post Office offers some of the toughest backing I have seen. After a while here and after bumping 12+ docks a day, if you weren’t good at backing before, this will help. You’ll have no choice but to get good at it.”

Project Manger Parrott noted that the current tenant doesn’t mind losing the space, however the owner of the property (Littlefield) was concerned about losing the spot and would like to be provided with a parking space a bit further down the street.

The Commission voted to approve the request upon verification of the need.

Arkley Center Seeks Permanent Loading/Unloading Zone Curb

The Arkley Center said it’s in need of a passenger loading and unloading zone for elderly and physical disabled persons.

On behalf of the Arkley Center, Kris Marquez, North Coast Dance Executive Director is seeking to change a curb-side parking spot on G Street into a loading/unloading zone, which comes with a three minute time limit.

Commissioner Bernie Haraldson asked if there were any other temporary solutions available. Project Manger Parrott said the Arkley Center currently gets special permits for events and performances from the city, “which is OK if an event is for a whole week,” she said, but for shorter engagements special permits aren’t a good solution, especially when special permits require specific days and times for each instance, but also require purchasing insurance.

Parrot added that letters were sent to residents and businesses within a 300 ft radius and no one has contacted her office to complain. Rather, it’s been elderly patrons in favor of the new zone whom she’s heard from the most.

Commissioner Ron Kunhel said he saw no reason to wait and the rest agreed. The motion was approved.

Commission Reports and Communications:

Commissioner Charlie Bean said the city is lacking a bicycle safety brochure and the Publicity Committee is working on putting one together. He also thanked the Commission for “fixing the curb at 7th and P.”

Student Commissioner?

Project Manger Shiela Parrott asked about the status of trying to “get a student on the commission.” As she pointed out, The Commission changed meeting times in order to accommodate a high school schedule.

Commissioner Bernie Haraldson asked what their role would be.

“They would be a non-voting member,” replied Commissioner Brad Albee. The position would also be a way for students to learn about local government, he said.

The issue will be on next month’s agenda.

Residents Complain about Logging Trucks Using 6th and 7th Streets

David Morgan, Chief of Traffic Safety for Caltrans, District 1 was there to speak about congestion on R Street between 4th and 5th Streets (where the 101 HWY and Route 299/Samoa Blvd meet).

Apparently too many trucks are bypassing 4th and 5th streets in favor of 6th and 7th streets to avoid traffic congestion and are using R Street to get there. But with a short turn signal and about 50 ft between 4th and 5th, trucks using R Street are causing backups on HWY 101 and Route 299/Samoa Blvd.

Commissioner Patrick Gilmore said that residents have been complaining about trucks using the alternate routes, “the logging trucks are the main concern.”

In a follow up phone call with The Witness, Project Manager Sheila Parrott, said residents felt it was “inappropriate” for trucks to use the alternate routes and were also concerned with pedestrian safety issues, increased noise levels and the wear-and-tear on the roads, “but there’s no law against it,” she said. “We can’t arbitrarily say no to truckers without providing an alternative route.”

Having said that, Parrott pointed out that it makes no sense for trucks to use 6th and 7th streets if they don’t have destinations on those routes. She also pointed out that 4th and 5th street were specifically designed to be wider and more durable to accommodate for heavy loads, while 6th and 7th streets were not designed with the heavy loads in mind and can cause greater road damage in a shorter amount of time.

On a side note, Parrott mentioned that the City of Arcata currently prohibits large trucks on certain streets and said that may be one of several options solution Eureka could implement.

Staff Reports:

Eureka Police Department

Officer Tim Jones of the Eureka Police Department said the they have started using this year’s Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) grant.

Last month the department used the equipment portion of the grant to

buy a new DUI checkpoint trailer and this month the department is

using the personnel portion, which will be used to pay for officer’s focusing on “primary collision factors.”

In a follow up phone call with The Witness, Jones explained that primary collision factors include speeding, using a cell phone while driving, bicycle infractions or even issuing citations to pedestrians for things like jaywalking.

During primary collision factors shifts EPD officers do not answer regular service calls. Jones said it makes them “more effective that way.

Also worth noting, officers on primary collision factors shifts, usually do so in addition to their regular hours, so it’s all overtime pay for them. As Project Manger Shiela Parrott said, “Officers want to sign up because it’s overtime. It’s a good deal for everyone.”

Disabled People lose Parking Spots

Scott Ellsmore, Engineering Technician for the City of Eureka spoke about getting rid of of two handicapped parking spaces at the corner of H and 15 th streets, adjacent to the Christ Episcopal Church. Referred to as ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) parking spaces, Ellsmore said the stalls were not being used and could be converted to three conventional parking spaces

Commissioner Charlie Bean noted that the next closest space is a couple of blocks away, which can be a far way to travel for some people.

Project Manger Shiela Parrott added that two additional ADA spaces had been added to the parking lot at 5 th and H streets.

Road Repairs

Eureka will be painting over 17 miles of center lines, crosswalks, bike lanes and more. There will also be a layer of a slurry seal applied to Myrtle Ave. ( between Harris and West) as well as S Street/West (between Buhne and Myrtle Ave.)

Ma Issues What Could Be California’s First Seller’s Permit for Cannabis Farmers to Local Farm

In an apparent first, Fiona Ma, District 2 representative on the California Board o f Equalization, hand delivered a California seller’s permit to a cannabis farmer in Humboldt County on Monday.

As written in ye sterday’s p ost, Representative Ma came to Humboldt not just to hold a small business/nonprofit seminar geared towards cannabis entrepreneurs, she also came to personally hand over the framed permit – complete with an image of a cannabis leaf – to Ziggy from Wildcat Farms, who had promised her to do his part to become a legitimate business (including paying taxes), if she would do her part to push state regulators to provide a path for cannabis farmers to do so without fear of prosecution.

In a phone interview with The Witness, Ziggy said while he can’t be sure he’s the first cannabis farmer to be granted a seller’s permit in California, every indication points to him being the first to be officially recognized by the state.

“I’m not saying my way is the right way, but I will praise those that [get seller’s permits],” said Ziggy, who has grown cannabis for 30 years. “Change is inevitable. It’s here and we have an opportunity to move forward.”

Ziggy credits Ma with showing a lot of courage for being open to working with cannabis farmers and standing up for them at a state level. He hopes that more growers will apply for seller’s permits in order to have a voice with local and state legislators. “If 25 percent of Humboldt’s supposed 30,000 farms speak up, we can let them know if they’re on the right track,” he said.

An example of being on the right track for Ziggy is the way California law makers have built on some of the shortcomings found in states like Colorado and Washington. For example, eliminating vertical integration (one company controlling all aspects of production, distribution, marketing, etc.), as well as designating Humboldt as an appellation region, where only cannabis grown in Humboldt can carry the Humboldt name – similar to the way that only sparkling wine produced in Champagne, France can be called champagne. “We already have international brand and horizontal integration will maintain the stability of the family farm,” said Ziggy.

Paying taxes and fees may not seem like a high priority for cannabis growers, but it should, said Ziggy, “Just look at our roads.” The majority of growers aren’t the international criminals pulled from headlines, but rather Humboldt residents who have children and need to pay their fair share in order to benefit the community as a whole.

Asked if he worries about being singled out via his new permit and made an example of by the feds, Ziggy said, “I’m certainly not doing this to be a martyr. Every day is fearful, I always wonder is today the day [I get raided]? I just took it upon myself to take the risk, besides, can you imagine the political fiasco if I was?” ”

Ma Calls For State-Wide Cannabis Initiative

Monday Sept. 28, 2015

Yesterday in Eureka, Fiona Ma, District 2 representative on the California Board o f Equalization called on Humboldt County citizens to help put a cannabis initiative on next year’s ballot.

Representative Ma, who previously served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors (2002–2006) and in the California State Assembly (2006–2012), was in town for a small business/nonprofit seminar that while not overt, was geared toward cannabis growers.

At the onset of the meeting, “Ziggy” from Wildcat Farms was presented with a personally delivered seller’s permit from Ma that was framed and featured a 5-6” green cannabis leaf. Ma credited Ziggy with being a trailblazer (the permit may be a first for cannabis farmers) and serving as an example for other farmers to move towards legitimization.

As Ma explained in an email to The Witness, “Any business selling a tangible personal property in California is supposed to get a seller’s permit and collect and remit sales taxes to the SBOE. I cannot say if Ziggy is the first farmer to apply for and get a seller’s permit (since we don’t have a specific code for this industry), but I appreciate that he is willing to come out of the shadows and into the mainstream to lead the way for other farmers in this industry.”

Ma first met Ziggy during her first cannabis tour in Humboldt last April where, “Ziggy was very honest with me,” she said.

As stated in one of the seminar handouts, Ma and the state want access to “the underground economy which deprives California of approximately $8.5 billion in tax revenue.” Her solution is for voters to by pass the state legislature and the governor by putting an initiative for legalization on next year’s ballot.

The big hitch in the taxman or in this case, woman’s plan are those pesky feds. As many know, even with voters passing Prop. 215, California’s Attorney General, Kamala Harris continued to prosecute citizens based on federal laws.

However, now that Harris is running for State Senator next year, her stance has dramatically changed to one of support for cannabis and if Colorado and Washington are indicators (not to mention mandates by Congress and Obama), once California legalizes cannabis, the feds should back off.

In a voicemail to The Witness, Ma recommended using caution when using real names and photos in cannabis related articles because “the federal government gets its leads from articles about cannabis,” at least until our Governor signs the state bill currently sitting on his desk.

Fortuna City Council Monday Sept. 21, 2015

The evening started with a couple of public speakers. The first, Don, spoke out against the proposed district parcel tax that would increase single-family residence fees from $12 to $72.

As reported in the Ti mes-Standard, the 140 percent increase was proposed by the Fortuna Fire Protection District — which serves Fortuna, Alton, Fernbridge, Hydesville, Metropolitan and Palmer Creek — which pointed out that the last increase was in 1997.

The speaker, Don, then went on to ask about the status of water c onservatio n efforts in Fortuna saying, “We’re not meeting our numbers, who’s not paying attention?” He was also concerned that the port-a-potty at Storm Creek was attracting a homeless population.

Don had also wanted to know about Vansell Road. He said the city made it a temporary one way street and promised the road would be better, but to date, nothing has been done. According to Don, a neighbor of his was told by a city employee that the reason for the delay was because the city was out of money. Fortuna Mayor, Sue Long, said the city was on top of the situation and that road construction would be done by Mercer-Frazer (the same company who settled a federal fraud case out of court in 2009 for $1.3 million).

Under the Business portion of the meeting, there was a Public Hearing to consider the Approval of a Proposed Abandonment of a Public Right-of-Way. Council Member Tami Trent excused herself due to a potential conflict of interest.

Randy Anderson was seeking to have part of Sunset Ave be abandoned as a public right-of-way in order to build a “little shop.” The segment of Sunset to be abandoned was part of an old subdivision which was never developed.

In return for access to the former street, Anderson said the city was getting part of his land along Rohner Creek as part of Fortuna’s Prop. 1E to widen the creek in order to prevent future flooding (like the one last year) along Fortuna Blvd., where Council Member Trent’s Tangles Salon is located.

CITY MANAGER REPORT

Fortuna’s City Manager, Regan Candelario, began his report with the Jameson Creek Project and a meeting between Public Works and Caltrans to find short-term solutions and environmental concerns regarding a culvert that failed last year.

Candelario then informed everyone that the 330 acres of the Strong Creek Annexation (behind Newburg Park) was progressing, making it the third of four planned annexations. As reported by Kiem TV, “the project is moving forward with the help of the McLean Foundation. The organization has purchased 36 acres in that annexation area and plans to build a community center.” The previous two annexations include the Riverwalk Area and the Ninth Street area, as noted in the 2014 Fortuna State of the City report.

Candelario also said he met with a financial adviser from Edward Jones, who recommended that the city look at refinancing their 2007 bonds at today’s rates. Candelario said the city stood to save money that could be used towards the city’s water treatment plant.

FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS

Items to keep an eye out for:

Council Member Douglas Strehl said he wanted city input in regards to HCAOG looking , “I could do it by myself, but it’s an important thing.”

Council Member Linda Gardner spoke about looking at fire assessment and Candelario said he was still working on best practices guidelines.

Mayor Pro Tem Tami Trent reported on the Senior Advisory Committee, who’s top priority is the new Fortuna Community Health Center. Scheduled to open in 2017, the $12 million facility was funded through a combination of federal loans, grants and local residents. As reported in the Times-Standard, Open Door was seeking $5 million from the community and received a five-acre site on Renner Drive in Fortuna from The McLean Foundation, who won approval from The Fortuna Planning Commission to split the 10 acre site prior to purchasing and donating the property.

The new center will be Open Door Community Health Centers’ 14th clinic, they also have three mobile clinics.

As noted on Open Door’s website – and something we should all keep in mind – local “primary care providers have been overwhelmed and more of our colleagues are expected to retire or relocate in coming years. Those health care practitioners who remain will be stretched beyond capacity.”

Finally, Mayor Sue Long — who earlier cried while speaking about the rece nt downtown fire and how community members stepped up to help — observed that the recent Humboldt County LAFCO (Local Area Formation Commission) meeting she attended “was pretty much all Arcata.” As posted on their website LAFCO’s are responsible for reviewing and approving proposed jurisdictional boundary changes including annexations and detachments to/from cities and special districts, incorporation of new cities, formation of new special districts, and the consolidation, merger, and dissolution of existing special districts.

HCAOG Wed. Sept. 17, 2015

This month’s HCAOG (Humboldt County Association of Governments) meeting started out with Board Members (acting as the Policy Advisory Committee) facing a Sophie’s Choice scenario: give $25k to provide services for people with developmental disabilities or give $30k to provide free bus rides for homeless children.

The free bus rides to after school programs is a pilot program in the city of Eureka that would serve homeless children up to the age of ten. “Focusing on youth is one viable place to start breaking the cycle [of homelessness],” said Charles Roecklein, who was there as a representative of the city and serves on the HCAOG Technical Advisory Committee.

The other group seeking funding was HCAR, (the Humboldt Community Access and Resource center). Their website defines them as “a private nonprofit agency that serves citizens with developmental disabilities by promoting individual independence, community inclusion and family unity through a wide variety of services and supports.”

Board/PAC committee members were wary about people abusing the free bus ride program as well as a lack of clearly defined expenditures from HCAR.

It was resolved that each entity would receive partial funding and The Board/PAC committee would revisit the matter at a later date for further funding based on their progress.

A New Sales Tax in Humboldt ?

Speaking of $30k, the Board (once again acting as the Policy Advisory Committee) discussed a proposal to allocate up to $30k for a county-wide poll in order to gauge public sentiment for a countywide sales tax increase of .25 to 0.5 percent for local transportation needs.

The last poll for a transportation tax was conducted in 2008 where 59% were in favor of a sales tax increase, 31% against, with 10% undecided. Today it’s a much harder sell, especially with all the backlash towards the 0.5 percent countywide sales tax increase in 2014, otherwise known as Measure Z.

First to speak out against the poll was Eureka Mayor, Frank Jager, who said the public is weary of a new tax. Don Hindley, Mayor of Ferndale, said he didn’t need a poll to tell him how people felt, “People are mad about Measure Z” and added that at least 67 percent of his constituents would vote against the hike.

Marcella Clem, Executive Director of HCAOG, said support for a tax increase could possibly be higher than seven years ago, especially if voters are educated in the needs of the county. HCAOG Board Chair and Arcata City Councilwoman, Susan Ornelas, agreed saying the county can’t wait 10 years for the feds to get their act together in regards to America’s crumbling infrastructure, but cautioned that voters “need specifics, not just a new tax. We need to educate the public.”

County Supervisor Ryan Sundberg pointed out that negative public sentiment towards a new sales tax increase wasn’t a problem of education, but rather that people are weary of another tax increase, “I think people know what the problem is. It’s a huge, huge ask,” he said.

Current Mayor of Arcata and Humboldt Transit Authority representative to HCAOG, Michael Winkler, noted that other sources of revenue, besides a sales tax increase, have been considered. Alternatives include, an increase in property tax, a gas tax or DMV and developer fees.

In a bit of refreshing candor, Robert Class, Arcata Public Works Director, (who was there to speak in support of a new poll) pointed out that all HCAOG needs to do is get the increase on the ballot and then the private firms who stand to benefit from new construction can oversee the promotional and educational aspect for getting voter approval.

The issue was deferred until the following meeting (Oct. 15) after members have had a chance to discuss the matter with their respective governing bodies.

So Humboldt, what do you think? Take our poll.

http://vote.pollcode.com/62681369

$100,000 to Fund Overtime CHP Patrols

on SR 36 & 96

While on the subject of money, Captain Adam Jager of the California Highway Patrol (and brother of Eureka mayor Frank Jager) attended the meeting seeking an additional years’ worth of funding in the amount of $99,969 for patrols along State Routes 96 and 36 where there are no call boxes and cell phone service is limited or non-existent.

A potential hurdle, for which Jager apologized, was the fact that this years’ funds have not yet been fully spent. “The fires got us,” said Jager. In a follow-up email with The Witness, Jager explained that due to the monster fires closing down both State Routes this summer, his department was not able to schedule patrols on highways.

Also, potentially controversial, is the fact that officers who provide the extra patrols do so on overtime shifts.

Fortuna City Councilman, Doug Strehl, said the extra patrols were working and that “people who live along 36 have noticed [the difference]. Speeds seem slower.”

Jager’s numbers from the “officers working this Grant” include 148 citations on SR-36 and SR-96, 101 verbal warnings, 8 arrests (5 for DUI) and 116 “motorist services.”

Except for one fatal collision at Swimmer’s Delight this year, there have been no fatalities on either State Route. Last year there were four fatal collisions (two each on 36 and 96), one being a quadruple fatal crash and previous to that, in 2013, there were eight fatal accidents, seven on 36 and one on 96.

In the end the motion was approved. If the funds aren’t all used, the remainder goes into the call box fund.

Sick Days for HCAOG Staff Compared to “Cashing Out” as County Continues Struggle to Fund CalPERS

Rounding out the business end of things, HCAOG staff asked the Board to change their sick day policies and not “be treated differently from city and county employees.” As Clem explained in a follow up email to The Witness, “We represent the region, all of the cities in addition to the county. We are still a local government though as HCAOG was formed under a Joint Powers Authority in the late 1960’s.”

HCAOG staff members were seeking to earn one day of sick leave for one month of work (12 days a year). Those who had not used their sick days would be reimbursed financially rather than miss work, because why not take a paid day off if you’re just going to lose it anyway?

Arcata City Councilwoman, Susan Ornelas, said she supported sick leave, but didn’t like the idea of “cashing out” when leaving or retiring from HCAOG and feared people would take advantage of the new policy. “People are going to game it, that’s just how they are,” she said.

Ornelas apologized to the staff and explained that CalPERS, the California public employee pension, was already a burden to the county and cities and they must make cuts where they can. In her case, she explained that in Arcata, the Council can’t make as many cuts as needed due to unions and contracts, “we had to finagle in order to pay past employees without stealing from the future.”

Rio Dell City Councilman, Gordon Johnson, who after almost 30 years as a civil engineer receives retirement payments from Cal PERS said when he retired, his sick days were added to his time-worked portion of his pension.

After first declaring that “sick leave is not a retirement plan,” Mayor of Ferndale, Don Hindley, agreed that adding the number of sick days to an employees’ retirement plan was preferable to cashing out.

The matter was held for further discussion.

Miles Traveled to replace State Gas Tax?

The evening concluded with staff reports, one of which invited people to join a pilot program funded by the state where the state gas tax would instead be based on the number of miles traveled. With more electric and hybrid vehicles on the road, state coffers are taking in less taxes from gasoline and law makers are looking for alternative revenue streams.

Besides keeping track of the number of miles traveled via GPS or some other means, other suggestions include a flat rate and using the DMV to note mileage on the vehicle’s odometer.

Federal gas taxes (so far) will still be based on gasoline consumption.

Humboldt Communities Receive Grants

to Improve Safety

Finally, several Humboldt communities received funding from the Safe Routes to School program, a national program that is geared “to create safe, convenient, and fun opportunities for children to bicycle and walk to and from schools.” Recipients did not need to contribute matching funds.

The awards were as follows:

Hoopa- $1.3 million

Fortuna- $893,000

Trinidad- $714,000

Rio Dell- $1.5 million

Arcata- $526,000

Hum. Co. (Manilla) $1.7 million

* Note: HCAOG also approved Local Transportation Fund claims (LTF) for Blue Lake and Ferndale. Ferndale received $44, 170 for city streets and maintenance, while Blue Lake received $43,062 for bus service and a bus shelter. The funds were drawn from Humboldt’s local transportation fund.

The Humboldt Witness

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