Category Archives: Local Government

Unable to hire a chief public defender, Del Norte County Supes shift tactics, call for traditional indigent defense office

October 16, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

With Del Norte County still lacking a chief public defender despite creating the position three years ago, District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey urged her colleagues to consider a different model.

Instead of the managed-assigned counsel model the Board of Supervisors approved in 2023, which consisted of a county public defender overseeing a department of contracted attorneys, Starkey hoped that establishing a traditional office would attract more applicants.

“We’ve leaned into a different model that hasn’t really been effective for us. We’ve recruited for it, but we haven’t been able to find someone,” she said Tuesday. “If we were to lean into a new traditional office — and that is the notice that’s going out, that’s what we’re marketing (for) — I feel we would get more of an applicant pool of people that have those career ambitions, to come in and create an office and establish permanency.”

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Articles, Infrastructure, Local Government

Del Norte County To Inspect Sewer Lines North of Crescent City Limits, Initiate a Rate Study

October 16, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail image: The red triangles are areas within the sewage system within County Service Area 1 north of Crescent City limits that have defects. Image courtesy of Del Norte County Engineer Jon Olson}

Noting that staff has identified more than 100 defects in the sewer collection system north of the city limits, Del Norte County Engineer Jon Olson got the green light to get an inside view of the pipes using closed circuit television.

Olson told supervisors on Tuesday that his goal is to document the location of each defect in Assessment District 2 of the County Service Area, or CSA. Assessment District 2 includes the unincorporated part of Crescent City North as well as Northcrest Drive north of Washington Boulevard and the area surrounding Sutter Coast Hospital and Walmart.

The county engineer showed a picture of one of the classic defects — a mowed-over sewer cleanout cap in a low area of the yard. That defect allows rainwater to enter the system, Olson said. Another photo was from the outside of a commercial building, he said.

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Articles, Crime, Local Government

Del Norte Supervisors Greenlight Narcotics Enforcement Position at the Sheriff’s Office; 33-year Employee Norma Williams Retires; SEIU 1021 Raise Concerns About ICE

October 15, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz}

District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey joined her colleagues in approving the creation of a narcotics enforcement position at the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office.

But after questioning County Administrative Officer Neal Lopez and Human Resources Director Kerri Vue about the cost and how it will be paid for, Starkey noted that there’s no guarantee the position will be permanent after the three year funding commitment was up.

“I think they were going to do a year-by-year assessment to see the benefits of this particular position,” Starkey said Tuesday, referring to the Community Corrections Partnership.

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Articles, Crescent City, Infrastructure, Local Government

City Pilot Project — A Response to State Water Board Fine — Aims To Reduce Groundwater Infiltrating Sewage Pipes, Treatment Plant During Wet Season

October 8, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo by James Brooks}

Noting that Crescent City has five to 10 years to ensure its sewer plant meets stricter regulations governing its effluent, City Manager Eric Wier introduced a pilot project aimed at fixing the system’s defects.

The pilot project involves making spot repairs to a handful of areas within the city’s 17-mile network of sewage pipes to prevent groundwater from getting into the system during the rainy season.

It’s this groundwater infiltration coupled with aging equipment that prevents the plant from meeting National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit rules governing total coliform and enteral cocci bacteria, according to the city manager. But instead of paying a $258,000 fine, the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board is allowing Crescent City to apply that figure to the pilot project, Wier said.

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Articles, Crescent City, Local Government

New Swimming Pool ‘Modesty Policy’ Discourages Nudity In Locker Rooms

October 8, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail image courtesy of the Fred Endert Municipal Swimming Pool Facebook page}

A new policy requiring patrons to go behind curtained off partitions in the Fred Endert Municipal Pool locker rooms to undress is about safety and comfort, not discrimination, Crescent City Manager Eric Wier said.

Wier introduced the public to the pool’s new modesty policy, or “no-nude policy,” at Monday’s City Council meeting. The policy was implemented about two weeks ago, he told Redwood Voice Community News on Wednesday.

“There have been some concerns just over the course of time and as things change,” Wier told Redwood Voice. “You have a mixing of ages, especially young children with adults and strangers and you have them changing together — that’s really what is driving some of this. It’s about the comfort for all the patrons and a little bit about safety for our youth.”

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Articles, Crescent City, Infrastructure, Local Government

Crescent City Council Recap, Oct. 5, 2026

October 7, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo of the Fred Endert Municipal Pool by Andrew Goff}

Among the items discussed at Monday’s Crescent City Council meeting:

City Attorney employment agreement: City councilors unanimously approved a five-year extension to an employment agreement they have with City Attorney Martha Rice.

Rice became the city’s full-time lawyer in January 2022 though she had already worked for the city as a contract deputy attorney and attorney since 2009, according to City Manager Eric Wier. Calling the decision to authorize an in-house attorney a game changer for staff, Wier praised the work Rice has been doing as well as her innate knowledge of the community as a Del Norte County native.

According to Wier, the new agreement will be extended through January 2032. Rice’s continued employment also comes with a step increase in the salary schedule from Step 5 to Step 6, according to a staff report from Human Resources Manager Sara Barbour.

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Articles, CC Harbor, Infrastructure, Local Government

Three Years After Getting Grant To Build Restrooms, CCHD Commissioners Can’t Agree On Location

October 5, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{A proposed new location for public restrooms and showers — shown in green — is on Starfish Way about half a block from South Beach. | Images courtesy of the Crescent City Harbor District}

Three years after receiving a California Coastal Conservancy grant to build public restrooms near South Beach, the Crescent City Harbor District may have to abandon the plan if commissioners can’t agree on a location.

Not building a public restroom was “the other alternative” to a proposal to build the facility on Starfish Way across the street from Redwood RV Park, Community System Solutions CEO Mike Bair, CCHD’s grants manager, said at a special meeting Wednesday.

But with Commissioner Annie Nehmer arguing that the new location benefits RV park leaseholder Daniel Dahan more than the public, the Board was unable to reach an agreement.

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CC Harbor, Local Government

Crescent City Harbor Recap, Sept. 30, 2026

October 2, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo courtesy of Mike Bahr}

Among the items discussed at the Crescent City Harbor District special meeting Wednesday.

Past censures: Resurrecting an old grievance, Harbor Commissioner Dan Schmidt said he’d been waiting “well over a year” to confront the accuser who sought to censure him — his colleague Gerhard Weber.

Schmidt included the censure in a list of procedural issues he said had been pushed aside for a year. Though he was puzzled, saying he had eliminated the censures of Schmidt, Nehmer and the three other members on the Board, current chairman Rick Shepherd agreed to put it on the Oct. 14 agenda.

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Articles, CC Harbor, Local Government

Crescent City Harbor Board Reduces Restricted Funds, Freeing Up $125,000, According To Fiscal Officer

October 2, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo by Gavin Van Alstine}

At the recommendation of Fiscal Officer Sandy Moreno, four Crescent City Harbor commissioners on Wednesday agreed to reduce the amount of money set aside in a restricted reserve account from $181,000 to $56,000.

The Board’s decision comes after Moreno had proposed creating a restricted reserve account in May to satisfy a loan payment to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and address its maintenance issues.

The Board’s action on Wednesday unrestricted about $125,000, according to Moreno.

“It allows us to have use of that money,” she told commissioners.

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Articles, Business, Crescent City, Economy, Housing, Infrastructure, Local Government

Workshops Delve Into Potential Architectural Styles For Downtown Crescent City

September 28, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail image courtesy of ccdowntownplan.com.}

Before launching into a presentation of the different architectural styles that would preserve Downtown Crescent City’s small-town character, Don Arambula mentioned the opposition some have to the city’s plans.

Arambula, principal planner and urban designer for Portland-based Crandall Arambula PC, spoke at a workshop Wednesday for business owners, nonprofit and other government representatives — members of a steering committee driving the development of Crescent City’s Downtown Specific Plan.

During the workshop, Arambula urged steering committee members to think about context. The city’s architectural guidelines and standards need to reflect its “Redwoods to the Sea” motto, he said.

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