Category Archives: Local Government

Articles, Crescent City, Local Government

Crescent City’s New Pay Structure Provides Raises, Still Lags Behind Market

February 19, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

After an independent study found that Crescent City’s salaries and benefits were 3-5% behind what’s offered at similar agencies in the region, councilors authorized a pay adjustment for all employees.

But at an annual cost of about $875,000, increasing compensation for city staff so their pay is comparable with the median market is not feasible, City Manager Eric Wier told Councilors on Tuesday.

Instead of implementing the recommendations Florida-based Evergreen Solutions outlined in its compensation and classification study, Wier and his management team proposed a new pay structure that would cost the city a total of $423,000 spread across its different funds.

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Articles, Economy, Infrastructure, Local Government, Transportation

Del Norte Airport Officials Say Flights To Portland May Boost Use, But Will Advanced Air Agree?

February 13, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo by James Brooks}

With another runway project pending, more passengers need to fly into and out of Crescent City for the Del Norte County Regional Airport to be sure of the federal dollars needed to make that happen, Director Sean Rosenthal said.

The Federal Aviation Administration provides grant funding every year for capital improvement projects, Rosenthal told Redwood Voice Community News on Thursday. Increasing the number of enplanements from 7,485 to 10,000 annually could not only speed up the process, it could convince the FAA that the airport needs a longer runway.

Convincing Advanced Air, the airline that serves Crescent City, to offer flights to Portland is a viable option for boosting those numbers, the airport authority director says. But there are caveats.

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Articles, CC Harbor, Law, Local Government

Municipal Law Attorney Says CCHD’s Insurance Policy Satisfies Faithful Performance Bond Requirement

February 12, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo by Gavin Van Alstine}

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.

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Articles, Infrastructure, Local Government

Del Norte County Board of Supervisors Recap For Feb. 10, 2026

February 10, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz}

Among the items discussed at Tuesday’s Del Norte County Board of Supervisors meeting:

Boat Ramp Access: Despite skepticism from a member of the public, District 1 Darrin Short said he and his colleagues did have public safety in mind when directing the county to do repairs on the public access road to Saxton’s Boat Ramp in Smith River.

Supervisors unanimously approved allocating an additional $1,922.11 to the project, which, Short says, is necessary for the sheriff’s office to be able to deploy its rescue boat. This allocation brings the project cost to $8,900 in funds the Board of Supervisors had set aside to make repairs to non-maintained county roads.

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Articles, CC Harbor, Local Government

Harbor Critic Takes Bond Complaint To State; CCHD To Revisit Issue Today

February 10, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz}

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.”

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Articles, CC Harbor, Local Government

CEO Says Crescent City Harbor Will ‘Go Through The Procedures’ To Satisfy Public Concern Over Commissioners’ Bonds

January 29, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo by Gavin Van Alstine}

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.”

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Articles, CC Harbor, Infrastructure, Local Government

CCHD Recap For Jan. 28, 2026

January 29, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo by Gavin Van Alstine}

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

Citizens Dock & Sea Wall: Harbor commissioners unanimously adopted the mitigated negative declaration the California Environmental Quality Act requires to move the two projects forward.

Community System Solutions CEO Mike Bahr, who helped the Harbor District obtain the two US Maritime Administration grants needed to fund the projects, said the district could now focus on obtaining its construction permits.

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Articles, Infrastructure, Local Government, Transportation

After AB 1014, County Supervisors, Residents Seek To Slow Speedsters on Fred Haight

January 29, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo: County supervisors and residents are seeking to potentially lower the speed limit on Fred Haight Drive near the Smith River townsite. | Photo courtesy of Michelle Carrillo}

Michelle Carrillo rejected the idea that hearing a person’s lived experience isn’t data.

Appearing before Del Norte County supervisors about three weeks after a car struck and killed her family’s dog near their Fred Haight Drive home, Carrillo said that she spent a month speaking with neighbors who shared stories of near misses and dead animals. It may be qualitative data, but it’s still data, she said Tuesday, and taking no action to try to reduce speeds on the Smith River thoroughfare was untenable.

“We’re in an agricultural area of the county with multiple uses happening at once from farm equipment, school activities, residential driveways, pedestrians and through traffic,” Carrillo said. “I understand there are certain things we have to figure out there and it’s not going to be a uniform speed across the whole road, that makes sense, but 50 on any section of that road does not make sense.”

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Articles, Infrastructure, Local Government

Del Norte Supes Recap For Jan. 27, 2026

January 28, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

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Among the items discussed at Tuesday’s Del Norte County Board of Supervisors meeting:

Welcome to California: The Board of Supervisors congratulated Caltrans representative Julia Peterson after she unveiled new California welcome signs that they said were far superior to Oregon’s.

Peterson showed supervisors an early rendering of the signs created after a public survey showed that the most favored themes were bears and elk. Three-dimensional bears will grace the sign on U.S. 199 while elk and salmon will welcome motorists driving south on U.S. 101, she said.

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Articles, CC Harbor, Infrastructure, Local Government

Citizens Dock, Seawall Projects Up For Discussion at Wednesday’s CCHD Meeting

January 27, 2026 Jessica Cejnar Andrews Leave a comment

_{Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz}

Crescent City Harbor commissioners are expected to take a final step toward starting a $15 million project to replace Citizens Dock and an adjacent seawall this spring.

The Harbor Board will consider adopting a mitigated negative declaration Wednesday based on a 709-page study of its potential environmental impacts. The study includes two phases of the Citizens Dock rebuild, though the Harbor District doesn’t have the funding to complete the second phase, according to Community System Solutions CEO Mike Bahr.

It also includes a construction project near the small boat ramp off Anchor Way to mitigate potential habitat loss as a result, Bahr told commissioners during a public hearing held Jan. 14.

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