Category Archives: Local Government

Articles, Local Government

Compensation Study Continues as Del Norte Supervisors Begin Budget Process

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Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

The county’s latest compensation study isn’t yet finished, but from what she’s seen of the preliminary data, Norma Williams said it validates much of what the Del Norte County Employees Association SEIU 1021 has been saying for years.

Still, speaking with Redwood Voice Community News nearly a week after county administration began the 2025-26 budget process with the Board of Supervisors, Williams, the association’s chapter president, said she would urge the public to ask their own questions.

“Regardless of wage increases, Del Norte County is still under market when compared to other similar counties, or the counties they chose to compare ours against,” she said Monday. “We’re still below average. At some point, the rubber has to meet the road and you have to figure out what path you’re going to drive on.”

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Articles, CC Harbor, Infrastructure, Local Government

Harbor District Board Drops Property Insurance On Marina Docks To Save $181,500

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Thumbnail photo by Gavin Van Alstine

Crescent City Harbor commissioners took Sandy Moreno’s advice and decided not to renew property insurance that covers damage to the docks in the marina from fire and collision.

Moreno, who became the Harbor District’s financial advisor in April, urged commissioners to hold off on renewing the Commercial Property — Inner Boat Basin Docks portion of their coverage with Redwood Leavitt Insurance Agency. She proposed taking the $181,500 premium it would have cost, putting $50,000 of it toward maintenance and using the remainder to keep the Harbor District solvent through the fiscal year.

“I’m giving you guys a year to get your shit together and if we do this one thing it does that,” she said Wednesday. “We will get through a year and if revenue generation and our cost savings and all the things we’re looking at doing — you will be in a really good place come July 1 of next year.”

Continue reading Harbor District Board Drops Property Insurance On Marina Docks To Save $181,500 →
Articles, CC Harbor, Community News, Local Government

Following 3-2 Vote, Rademaker Keeps Harbormaster Job Despite Concerns Over His Contract

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Rademaker

Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

Three Crescent City Harbor commissioners let a five-year employment contract with Mike Rademaker stand despite concerns from two of their colleagues that someone had tweaked it after the fact.

During a meeting that lasted more than five hours Wednesday, commissioners Annie Nehmer and Dan Schmidt said the final version of the contract included terms that had been deleted during negotiations the Board held with Rademaker in May.

Nehmer said that paragraphs she and her colleagues had changed when negotiating Rademaker’s contract with the help of attorney Michael Travis, of Best Best & Krieger, had been added back in after it had been sent to the district’s current legal counsel, Ryan Plotz, of the Mitchell Law Firm, for review.

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Articles, Curry, Local Government

Curry Board of Commissioners, Sheriff Agree On Staffing Plan, Commit To Regular Meetings

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Thumbnail photo by Ken Lund via Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons License

Though tensions continued on Tuesday with Curry County’s newest commissioner telling John Ward that his constituents have been fearful for the past year, both sides were able to compromise on staffing for the sheriff’s office.

Both sides agreed to staff a lieutenant in the patrol division who would oversee four deputies, a forest deputy, a marine deputy and a community resource officer. There would also be a part-time civil service deputy working for the sheriff’s office as well as two sergeants working under jail commander Lt. Jeremy Krohn. 

The part-time civil service deputy would also handle animal control cases for the Board of Commissioners, according to Director of Operations Ted Fitzgerald.

Continue reading Curry Board of Commissioners, Sheriff Agree On Staffing Plan, Commit To Regular Meetings →
Articles, Curry, Local Government

CCPD Establishes Volunteer Reserve Officer Program, And Other City Council News

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

Reserve Officer Program: 

Councilors gave their blessing to a program that will rely on volunteers to boost the Crescent City Police Department’s roster.

Police Chief Richard Griffin said two candidates have expressed interest in the program. One is a former CCPD officer who’s looking to maintain her police academy training and police officer status. The other candidate is a former corrections officer who wants to help out with the police department’s negotiations team, Griffin said.

The Council’s unanimous approval of an ordinance creating the reserve officer program will allow volunteers to be 24-hour peace officers depending on their level of expertise, the police chief said. They would be available to cover a shift when a career officer calls out sick and could fill in during an emergency. Their primary duties could also include helping out with traffic enforcement during major events like the Fourth of July celebration, acting as a public information officer, Griffin said.

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Articles, Crescent City, Local Government

Crescent City Expands Downtown Masterplan Project Despite Federal Grant Uncertainty

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Thumbnail photo: Don Arambula, of the urban design and architect firm Crandall Arambula, gave councilors an idea of what a master plan for Downtown Crescent City might look like. | Screenshot

Crescent City leaders are expanding the scope of a downtown master plan project to include work at Lighthouse Cove RV Park, though the federal grant they’re relying on for the endeavor is currently in limbo.

Crescent City was conditionally awarded $186,000 in Economic Development Administration grant dollars, but can’t move forward with the project assuming that it’ll get those funds, City Manager Eric Wier said Monday.

However, the city can use its contribution for the EDA grant to proceed with the master plan, Wier said. 

“If EDA comes through in the next several months as we’re working on that, then our grant match still counts and we just get the EDA funding and we can continue to move forward,” he said. “Worst case scenario is EDA comes back and says, ‘We’re sorry that money’s no longer available.’ At that point in time our grant match doesn’t count as a grant match anymore. It would be us putting forward economic development dollars to pay for phase one.”

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Articles, CC Harbor, Local Government

Schmidt Urges His Colleagues To Resume Crescent City Harbormaster Search; Rademaker Says His Appointment in April Stands

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Dan Schmidt

Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

One of the four commissioners who approved Mike Rademaker’s contract as Crescent City harbormaster late last month is walking back on his decision, saying he questions Rademaker’s judgment on at least two issues.

Dan Schmidt, who was elected to the Crescent City Harbor District Board in November, says his suggestion to negotiate with Rademaker over his contract during a May 28 closed session meeting violated the Ralph M. Brown Act, California’s open meetings law. Though he was one of four who agreed to approve the contract, Schmidt says the Harbor District Board will again be soliciting applicants for the harbormaster position.

“Mike Rademaker has on too many occasions exhibited what I consider to be poor judgment in two distinct hemispheres,” Schmidt told Redwood Voice Community News on Friday.

Continue reading Schmidt Urges His Colleagues To Resume Crescent City Harbormaster Search; Rademaker Says His Appointment in April Stands →
Articles, Infrastructure, Law, Local Government

Del Norte’s Youth Opportunity Center To House Adult Inmates During Jail Rehab Project Next Spring

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Thumbnail photo: Consultants with NMR Architects, of Redding, are proposing a more open dormitory style layout rather than the row of cells that are currently at the Del Norte County Jail. | Screenshot

Though they echoed the probation chief’s sentiments that they didn’t want their employees “living out of a bag,” Del Norte County supervisors green lit a proposal to house adult inmates in the Youth Opportunity Center while the jail undergoes a significant remodel.

It was the less expensive option out of two members of a working group presented to the Board on Tuesday. Those group members, which included Assistant County Administrative Officer Randy Hooper and Del Norte County Sheriff’s Capt. Kyle Stevens, also asked the Board to consider using Measure R and capital improvement dollars to close a funding gap in the jail rehab project.

The Board agreed, but asked staff to continue to work to secure state funding for the remodel. Supervisors also directed staff to make sure Del Norte County Probation has input into where they will be housed when construction starts next spring.

Continue reading Del Norte’s Youth Opportunity Center To House Adult Inmates During Jail Rehab Project Next Spring →
Articles, Curry, Local Government

Hollinger Accuses OSSA, Curry County Sheriff Of Trying to ‘Intimidate and Silence Him’; County’s Declaratory Judgment Petition Gets July 1 Hearing

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Patrick Hollinger

A defiant Patrick Hollinger accused the Oregon State Sheriff’s Association (OSSA) and Curry County Sheriff John Ward of trying to intimidate and silence him “through the deliberate twisting of state law.”

The Curry County commissioner’s statement Wednesday comes after the sheriff’s association issued a letter stating that a presentation Hollinger gave at a May 20 Board of Commissioners meeting incorrectly implied that OSSA supported the commissioners in their ongoing conflict with Ward.

“This is an attempt to discredit an elected official advocating for accountability and transparency, which is all I have ever done,” Hollinger said. “Oregon law is intended to ensure justice and fairness. What we are witnessing is a deliberate distortion of the law intended to discredit an elected official and erode the public trust in those who are sworn to uphold it.”

Continue reading Hollinger Accuses OSSA, Curry County Sheriff Of Trying to ‘Intimidate and Silence Him’; County’s Declaratory Judgment Petition Gets July 1 Hearing →
Articles, Crescent City, Local Government

Crescent City Pursues New Design For Gateway Project Despite Tight Deadline

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Thumbnail: Consultants Don Arambula and Gill Williams convinced the new Crescent City Council last month that the gateway should incorporate redwoods into the design. | Screenshot

Crescent City leaders have scrapped the nautical theme they chose late last year for a gateway, listening to a new consultant who urged them to incorporate redwoods into the design.

Don Arambula, co-founder of the Portland-based architect and urban design firm Crandall Arambula, pointed out that 2.5 million tourists don’t necessarily visit the North Coast for the beach, though it’s important to the local community.

“There’s an expectation for those visitors who are coming from across America and sometimes internationally to see things that they associate with the redwood parks,” he told Councilor Jason Greenough who had misgivings about the new gateway proposal being constructed largely of wood. “If you’re building things in metal and it’s colored and doesn’t reflect that, you’re losing a big opportunity to reinforce this idea that your downtown is the gateway, or the starting point, for any journey that goes into Redwood National Park that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.”

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