Crescent City Harbor commissioners were lukewarm about their CEO’s offer to travel to Washington D.C. on his own dime to advocate for the district’s role in the Trump administration’s Maritime Action Plan.
Harbormaster Mike Rademaker said he planned to speak with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, whose father, Michael Greer, is a Del Norte Unified School District trustee.
Rademaker said he wanted to talk about the role the Crescent City Harbor District could play in President Trump’s initiative to expand shipbuilding capacity in the United States with the former Fashion Blacksmith boatyard being a particular concern.
Thumbnail photo: Bayside RV Park is one of two the Crescent City Harbor District is looking to lease for redevelopment. | By Jessica Cejnar Andrews
Crescent City Harbor commissioners say they’re in the final stages of their negotiations with potential developers for the district’s two RV parks.
But their experience with the last developer who sought to revamp Bayside and Redwood Harbor Village RV parks still haunts them, they say. Responding to a member of the public Wednesday, Chairman Rick Shepherd said he’d like to present a bottomline to the developers by the Harbor District’s April 8 meeting.
“I’m done with it and I’m ready to move on,” he said.
Thumbnail photo courtesy of Andrew Goff; Right: Most recent rendering of Citizens Dock/seawall project. | Image courtesy of the Crescent City Harbor District
Harbor commissioners gave staff the green light to seek a general contractor, project manager, accounting firm and a grants manager as construction for the seawall and Citizens Dock rebuilds loom.
Commissioners unanimously approved releasing requests for proposals on Tuesday after Mike Bahr, CEO of Community System Solution, gave a rundown of what they and the public can expect over the next roughly two years.
“We’re looking at this as one project,” he said. “These two elements are two separate grants, but it really is one very large construction project that’s all taking place at the same time.”
Among the items discussed at Wednesday’s Crescent City Harbor meeting:
RV Park negotiations: Harbormaster Mike Rademaker will be traveling to Los Angeles this weekend to meet with Orange County developers seeking to lease Bayside and Redwood Harbor Village RV parks. Rademaker said he will be working through the weekend to get a final agreement before the Board of Commissioners and the public.
“I know everyone is so anxious like we all are to close this deal,” he said following a closed session meeting. “Keep in mind it’s potentially a 25-year deal. We are extremely close, we’re working on the finer points of the contract.”
Thumbnail photo: Former Fashion Blacksmith boatyard facility at the Crescent City Harbor. | Photo by Paul Critz
The local harbormaster on Wednesday unveiled a desire to open a satellite campus of the Cal Poly Maritime Academy at the Crescent City Harbor District.
Mike Rademaker included that hope in a letter to Congressional representatives supporting the Trump administration’s America’s Maritime Action Plan, which seeks to revitalize the nation’s domestic shipbuilding capacity. But he acknowledged that the idea is just a concept at this point.
“It’s kind of my pet project,” the harbormaster told Redwood Voice Community News. “We’re just trying to be very creative and identify new revenue sources. The average age of fishermen, it’s getting up there, and we want to provide a pathway for the younger generation to get into the fishing industry. A huge part of that is workforce training and having something local that’s affordable so they can get hands-on experience.”
Thumbnail image: Crescent City Harbor commissioners chose a preferred option for Citizens Dock back in 2024. | Image courtesy of the Crescent City Harbor District.
Among the items discussed at Wednesday’s Crescent City Harbor District meeting.
2026 MARAD Grant: Harbor commissioners agreed to contribute 20%, or $2.8 million, toward the construction costs associated with the second Citizens Dock reconstruction phase.
Associated with a $11.25 million U.S. Maritime Administration Port Infrastructure Development Program grant, the Board unanimously approved a resolution agreeing to the match. The federal agency has increased the amount of funding small ports can apply for, Bahr said, but it means that the required contribution is larger.
The preferred alternative among six options Harbor commissioners chose for the Citizens Dock project in 2024. | Image courtesy of Moffatt & Nichol
Thumbnail photo courtesy of Andrew Goff
Federal officials are urging the Crescent City Harbor District to pursue the grant dollars needed to finish the Citizens Dock reconstruction.
The U.S. Maritime Administration is offering about $11.25 million in 2026 Port Infrastructure Development Program dollars, Community System Solutions CEO Mike Bahr told harbor commissioners on Wednesday. Bahr, who manages the Harbor District’s grants, said he and Harbormaster Mike Rademaker are nearly finished with the new application and will have to go before commissioners before submitting it.
If the Harbor District is successful, that money would pay for the second dock the Citizens Dock reconstruction project calls for, Bahr said.
Harbor commissioners thought the word of a highly credentialed attorney would put the faithful performance bond issue to bed.
But while Michael Colantuono, who has practiced municipal law since 1989, pulled back the covers and plumped up the pillow, at least one commissioner and two members of the public weren’t quite ready for sleep.
Commissioner Annie Nehmer, who obtained an individual faithful performance bond and filed it with the county in December, said she had been asking to see proof that the Crescent City Harbor District has protection against crime and fraud for its elected officials for months.
Linda Sutter says she has taken her concerns that a majority of the Crescent City Harbor commissioners are unlawfully occupying their seat to the California attorney general.
Sutter, a recent participant at public meetings whose 2024 run for the Crescent City Harbor board was unsuccessful, told Del Norte County supervisors on Tuesday that she has filed a quo warranto complaint with the California Attorney General’s Office. Her filing comes ahead of a renewed discussion scheduled for Wednesday’s Crescent City Harbor District meeting on a proposed resolution affirming that the district’s insurance coverage complies with a state requirement that each individual commissioner hold a $5,000 faithful performance bond.
Sutter told county supervisors that evoking the legal proceeding challenging an elected officials’ right to hold public office is the last lawful mechanism she has to “address what is happening at the Crescent City Harbor District.”
A former county supervisor called it a red herring and the harbormaster said it was silly, but Del Norte County Clerk-Recorder Alissia Northrup reminded commissioners that the public’s concern about whether they have a faithful performance bond is real.
Northrup said she has an insurance policy that was meant to act in lieu of commissioners’ individual bonds, but it’s not signed and it’s old.
“It could have been canceled years ago,” she said Wednesday. “All I wanted was a complete current policy. That’s what I asked for and I’ve been unable to get one to date, so I want to make sure that we put it out there, it’s not silly. The public has an interest.”
