Monthly Archives: December 2025

Articles, Crescent City, Infrastructure, Local Government

Bill Gillespie Returns to Helm Crescent City Fire & Rescue Until New Fire Chief Is Found

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Thumbnail photo: Bill Gillespie (fourth from left) will lead Crescent City Fire and Rescue as its interim fire chief until the city and the Crescent Fire Protection District can find a permanent chief. | Photo courtesy of the City of Crescent City

Bill Gillespie will return to Crescent City as its interim fire chief, leading a department that has grown into a hybrid agency relying on volunteers and career firefighters to keep the community safe.

Gillespie had led Crescent City Fire and Rescue for about four years after Steve Wakefield retired in 2018. He was chief when voters approved the Measure S tax measure and benefit assessment for the fire district that led to the hiring of three paid fire captains. Under his successor’s leadership the department achieved a Class 2 ISO rating.

“The department, it’s a combination department — volunteer and career — but above all it’s a professional department that serves this community very well,” Gillespie said Monday. “It will be neat coming back, too, with some of the things that came out of Measure S and came out of the fire district assessment to be able to step in now three-and-a-half years later and see where some of this progress has happened.”

Continue reading Bill Gillespie Returns to Helm Crescent City Fire & Rescue Until New Fire Chief Is Found →
Articles, Education, Health, Youth

Trillium Offers ‘Third Space’ For Teens In A Community Where Accessing Mental Health Support Is A Challenge

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Thumbnail Image Courtesy of Trillium Teen Center

Trillium Teen Center didn’t plant the idea for a youth-centered program focusing on online safety, but it did allow Annaliese Carrillo space to think it up.

Annaliese, an eighth-grader at Smith River School, said it was through a summer program at the Trillum Teen Center that she realized sextortion was a problem for kids. She was able to interview Ted Talk speaker Jesse Leon and is working on a program called Cyber Bite to educate families about online safety.

“Trillium feels like a place that can connect us to opportunities and resources like that and help us make our community safer,” Annaliese told Del Norte County supervisors on Dec. 9.

Continue reading Trillium Offers ‘Third Space’ For Teens In A Community Where Accessing Mental Health Support Is A Challenge →
Articles, Education, Local Government

DNUSD’s Budget Shortfall Shrank Since June, Cost Reductions Still Needed, Assistant Superintendent Says

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Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

Del Norte Unified School District is in a better place financially than it was in June when trustees adopted its 2025-26 budget.

But, though he said DNUSD’s budget deficit decreased 20% from about $4.6 million on June 30 to $3.4 million as of Thursday, Assistant Superintendent of Business Greg Bowen said reducing the district’s overall costs need to continue. This includes a potential “reduction in force” as well as an ongoing “hiring frost” this year, Bowen said in his first interim financial report to the Board of Trustees.

This recommendation prompted DNUSD Board President Charlaine Mazzei to call for more transparency about what reductions need to be made and when.

Continue reading DNUSD’s Budget Shortfall Shrank Since June, Cost Reductions Still Needed, Assistant Superintendent Says →
Articles, CC Harbor, Local Government

CCHD’s New Chairman Says He Wants ‘Eliminate’ Nehmer’s Censure

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Rick Shepherd

Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

Though he voted against her nomination for vice chair, Crescent City Harbor District’s new board chairman said he wants to remove Annie Nehmer’s censure.

Rick Shepherd, a long-time commercial fisherman who was elected to the Harbor Board in 2018, took his new seat as its chairman on Wednesday. In addition to working with legal counsel to remove Nehmer’s censure, Shepherd said he also plans to post meeting decorum rules in the Harbor Board’s chambers.

“We’re going to start the year out on a clean slate where we can all work together and get some more work done without the rhetoric of the censureship,” he said.

Continue reading CCHD’s New Chairman Says He Wants ‘Eliminate’ Nehmer’s Censure →
Articles, Local Government

Del Norte Employees Association Rep Applauds New Salary Structure; Changes Take Effect Countywide Dec. 19

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Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

Admitting to initial skepticism in the process, Norma Williams congratulated county administrators and supervisors Tuesday on being able to compromise with the union and employees she represents.

Williams, president of the Del Norte County Employees Association SEIU 1021, said that a side letter agreement implementing recommendations of a recently-completed compensation analysis isn’t perfect, but it’s a first step in making the county competitive and attractive to new applicants.

“Twenty-five years and several salary studies later, you actually heard our message and decided to implement a salary schedule that addresses the chronic low wages, inequity and compaction that has plagued our county employees and departments for decades,” she said. “Is it perfect? Some may say it is not, however the majority of SEIU members agree that it’s definitely better than what’s been the norm for far too long.”

Continue reading Del Norte Employees Association Rep Applauds New Salary Structure; Changes Take Effect Countywide Dec. 19 →
Articles, Environment, Infrastructure, Transportation

Del Norte County Seeks Public’s Help Mapping Out Drainage Trouble Spots

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Thumbnail photo courtesy of Del Norte County

Del Norte County is seeking the public’s help in a $3 million planning effort aimed at identifying where its drainage trouble spots are.

Thousands of assets from small culverts to large bridges are scattered throughout the county, Engineer Jon Olson told supervisors Tuesday. The Community Development Department is asking people to either fill out a survey or drop a pin on a map and describe their problems.

The engineering division can also take the survey information over the phone if people would rather call instead, he said.

Continue reading Del Norte County Seeks Public’s Help Mapping Out Drainage Trouble Spots →
Articles, CC Harbor, Local Government

Faithful Performance Bonds: CCHD Attorney Says Harbor Is Covered, BOS Approval Is Missing Puzzle Piece

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Thumbnail photo by Amanda Dockter

Despite statements made to the contrary at Tuesday’s Del Norte County Board of Supervisors meeting, Crescent City Harbor commissioners do have faithful performance bonds in place, the Harbor District’s legal counsel said Wednesday.

Those bonds have been issued since 2012 and meet requirements set by the California Harbor and Navigations Code, according to Mitchell Law Firm attorney Ryan Plotz. The Board of Supervisors’ approval is the one missing puzzle piece, he said, but that approval doesn’t negate the bond’s coverage.

“We are working with county staff in order to complete that final step,” Plotz told harbor commissioners. “The issue now is we need to provide the county (with) the bond in a format so that it can be recorded and that primarily means the original issued with compliant signatures.”

Continue reading Faithful Performance Bonds: CCHD Attorney Says Harbor Is Covered, BOS Approval Is Missing Puzzle Piece →
Articles, Crescent City, Local Government

Steve Shamblin Appointed To Vacant Crescent City Council Seat

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Thumbnail photo: The Crescent City Council appointed Planning Commission Chair Steve Shamblin to the seat Daran Dooley left behind in October. | screenshot

Three of the four remaining Crescent City councilors on Tuesday chose the chairman of the city planning commission over a former fire captain to fill the seat Daran Dooley vacated in October.

With Mayor Pro Tem Candace Tinkler praising his resume, the Council appointed Steve Shamblin to serve through the certification of the November 2026 General Election.

“I did read Mr. Shamblin’s resume and I have worked with him in previous committees so I do agree that he really does his homework,” Tinkler said. “He didn’t mention this, but I know from his resume that he also has education in urban planning, which I think is very useful.”

Continue reading Steve Shamblin Appointed To Vacant Crescent City Council Seat →
Articles, CC Harbor, Infrastructure, Local Government

Del Norte Supervisors Reject Harbor’s Facilities Plan, Are Wary Of CCHD Proposal To Negotiate Loan Payments With USDA

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Thumbnail photo by Gavin Van Alstine

County supervisors sent a facilities plan back to the Crescent City Harbor District, criticizing its vagueness and stating that the agency hadn’t yet met the plan’s first stated priority — making this year’s U.S. Department of Agriculture loan payment.

The Board was also skeptical that the USDA would agree to a Harbor District proposal to accept 10% of CCHD’s annual $260,000 payment for three years with the remainder of the funds going toward maintenance and being put into a reserve account. 

District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey said she and her colleagues have a legal obligation to voters to ensure that the stipulations of the transiency occupancy tax measure, Measure C, they approved in 2018 were being met. 

“My concerns are you don’t have an agreement with the USDA, you’ve had a conversation. That is all you’ve had,” Starkey told CCHD Fiscal Officer Sandy Moreno who assured supervisors that the federal agency was receptive to the Harbor District’s proposal. “I heard you say at the last (Harbor District) meeting that you need to have $262,000 in a restricted fund, you don’t have that. You don’t have your insurance and you have money this county has collected to pay a loan. I believe that that needs to be paid. That’s the guarantee that we gave this community.”

Continue reading Del Norte Supervisors Reject Harbor’s Facilities Plan, Are Wary Of CCHD Proposal To Negotiate Loan Payments With USDA →
Community News

Citizens Dock, Sea Wall Projects Clear Environmental Hurdle, Harbor District On Track For May 2026 Construction

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Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

Projects to reconstruct Citizens Dock and replace an adjacent seawall have cleared environmental hurdles and are on track to begin in May, according to the Crescent City Harbor District’s grants consultant.

At a special meeting Friday, Community System Solutions CEO Mike Bahr told the Harbor Board that they can expect to see a contract from the U.S. Maritime Administration on their Wednesday agenda. This contract is associated with the 2022 Port Infrastructure Development Program grant that’s paying for the seawall replacement project.

It will be about 30 more days before the Harbor District Board sees the contract for the 2024 PIDP grant that’s paying for the Citizens Dock reconstruction, Bahr said. The Board of Commissioners has to officially commit to meeting match requirements for both grant programs in order for MARAD to release those funds, he said.

Continue reading Citizens Dock, Sea Wall Projects Clear Environmental Hurdle, Harbor District On Track For May 2026 Construction →