Category Archives: Local Government

Articles, Curry, Economy, Local Government, Transportation

Government Shutdown Threatens Commercial Air Service In Del Norte, Curry Counties

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Thumbnail image courtesy of Border Coast Regional Airport Authority

A day after finding out that commercial air service to Del Norte County may be a casualty of the federal government shutdown, Sean Rosenthal says he’s still searching for answers.

Less than two months after the Border Coast Regional Airport Authority hired him as airport director, Rosenthal said the U.S. Department of Transportation notified him on Monday that if the government shutdown continues, Alternative Essential Air Service funding will end Sunday. 

In an email to BCRAA members Tuesday morning, he said he had hoped to have some information to share, but he’s still working to “fully understand the impact this situation will have on us.”

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Articles, Curry, Local Government

Curry County Commissioners Says Spectrum Agreement Will Increase Public Meeting Access

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

Lynn Coker evoked Abbott and Costello before he and his colleague Patrick Hollinger approved a $6,335 agreement between Curry County and Spectrum Business on Wednesday.

Coker, who was appointed to the Board of Commissioners earlier this year, said he hoped the agreement, which will allow Curry County to televise its public meetings, will help residents better navigate local government.

“They attend these meetings, they listen and they read the news and they’re not quite sure who’s on first and why there’s a first base in the first place,” he said. “What’s the difference between the work a legislator does, like a Court Boyce, and the work the county does? Those kinds of things can be addressed in an educational format using our Spectrum education channels.”

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Articles, Curry, Local Government

Curry County DA Announces Resignation; Joshua Spansail Says His Last Day is Nov. 17

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Thumbnail photo: Curry County District Attorney Joshua Spansail announces his resignation to the Board of Commissioners on Wednesday. | screenshot

Curry County’s district attorney announced his resignation on Wednesday, telling the Board of Commissioners that he made the “bittersweet decision” for his family’s sake and his last day will be Nov. 17.

“I’ve been here going on 10 years now either as a deputy DA or the elected DA, but this is a family decision,” Joshua Spansail told commissioners Lynn Coker and Patrick Hollinger. “I have just had my third child and my wife and I made the decision that with a growing family and aging parents, it’s time to get closer to them, so we are going to be moving on.”

Board Chairman Jay Trost was absent.

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Articles, CC Harbor, Local Government

Former Fashion Blacksmith Owner Airs Concerns About Boat Yard Assessment, Outlines History With Crescent City Harbor

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Thumbnail photo: Former Fashion Blacksmith building at the Crescent City Harbor. | File photo by Gavin Van Alstine

More than a year after he closed his doors, Fashion Blacksmith owner Ted Long said there were data gaps in a recent environmental assessment the Crescent City Harbor District had commissioned of the site.

Long also questioned the need for a structural inspection of the boat yard building itself. He told commissioners on Sept. 24 that a 60-page report detailing the findings of a civil engineer he hired in 2022 was included as an exhibit in an arbitration that led to a settlement agreement between the two parties.

“All of these exhibits from our arbitration are on file with BBK and Del Norte Superior Court,” Long said, referring to the Harbor District’s former legal counsel, Best, Best and Krieger. “They are in fact public record. In good faith and to save scarce dollars for the Harbor District, even if it’s grant money, and for immediate access to current Board members, I would be willing to share the three exhibits from Western Wood Structures exactly as they were filed in the arbitration record. This includes the full 60-page inspection report and the proposed repair plan with all the estimates.”

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Articles, Curry, Local Government

Internal Investigation Clears Curry County Operations Director of Misconduct Against Assessor; Wegner Says ‘It’s Not Over’

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Wegner | Courtesy of LinkedIn

An independent investigation found no evidence that Curry County Director of Operations Ted Fitzgerald engaged in gender discrimination, harassment or retaliation against County Assessor and Tax Collector Kylie Wegner.

Even so, Wegner’s tort claim notice, sent to the Board of Commissioners on April 8, puts them on notice that she could take further legal action against the county and against Fitzgerald individually. On Monday — after the county announced the findings of the investigation — Wegner said she’s yet not at liberty to say what her next steps will be, but told Redwood Voice Community News that “it’s not over.”

“They are not denying they read these things that (Fitzgerald) sent me and they are saying they don’t have an issue with those types of messages being sent to an elected official,” she said. “Don’t I deserve respect? No employee or elected official should have to work in an environment like that.”

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Articles, CC Harbor, Elections, Local Government

Gitlin Unveils Recall Petitions Against Harbor Commissioners Schmidt, Nehmer; Special Recall Election Could Cost CCHD Up To $130,000, Del Norte Clerk-Recorder Says

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Thumbnail photo: Roger Gitlin, former Del Norte Triplicate editor, speaks at a Crescent City Council meeting in June. | Screenshot

Former Del Norte Triplicate editor Roger Gitlin announced that he has begun the process to recall Crescent City Harbor commissioners Dan Schmidt and Annie Nehmer, though he’s not sure if the recall election will take place next June or November.

Gitlin announced his intentions before Nehmer and her colleagues Rick Shepherd and Gerhard Weber on Wednesday. He accused Nehmer of costing the Harbor District about $55,000 in legal fees and Schmidt of trying to persuade the Board of Commissioners to give his brother an executive role at the port.

“These breaches undermine the district’s ability to protect taxpayer funds in litigation and have collectively eroded public trust in (Schmidt’s) capacity to fulfill his duty,” Gitlin said. “Collectively they warrant recall. I have begun the process and will be seeking the intention to recall both of these commissioners in the foreseeable future.”

Continue reading Gitlin Unveils Recall Petitions Against Harbor Commissioners Schmidt, Nehmer; Special Recall Election Could Cost CCHD Up To $130,000, Del Norte Clerk-Recorder Says →
Articles, Infrastructure, Local Government

Del Norte County Finalizes Line of Credit to Airport Authority; Elk Valley Rancheria Chairman Defends Joint Powers Authority Model

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Thumbnail image courtesy of flycrescentcity.com

Del Norte County supervisors approved an agreement that extends a line of credit to the local airport authority, enabling it to weather a cash flow emergency as it completes three grant-funded projects.

The Board of Supervisors’ decision comes after they authorized staff to draft an agreement with the Border Coast Regional Airport Authority in August. 

The agreement also comes after BCRAA members at a meeting earlier this month were dismayed to hear District 4 Supervisor Joey Borges question the effectiveness of the joint powers authority model to operate the Del Norte County Airport, his District 3 colleague Chris Howard told Redwood Voice Community News on Tuesday.

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Articles, Local Government

Del Norte Supervisors Discuss Budget, Challenges of Providing State-Mandated Services, Charlie Kirk

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Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz

District 1 Supervisor Darrin Short was absent. Among the items discussed at Tuesday’s Del Norte County Board of Supervisors meeting:

Board Approves 2025-26 Final Budget: Four county supervisors approved Del Norte County’s 2025-26 final recommended budget about two weeks after they learned that 25% of its positions are vacant and overall base salaries are 10% under market median.

The final step in a process that included a 14-day public hearing window and two budget workshops, the total 2025-26 recommended budget is $249,475,247 with a general fund budget of $45,460,804, according to a staff report from County Administrative Officer Neal Lopez and Auditor-Controller Clinton Schaad.

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Articles, CC Harbor, Local Government

With Triplicate’s Sale, Nehmer Parts Ways With Attorney; Paul Boylan Says He’s Done ‘Everything I Could For Her’

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Nehmer | Courtesy of ccharbor.com

Now that the Del Norte Triplicate is under new ownership, any concerns that Crescent City Harbor Commissioner Annie Nehmer had regarding potential defamation on the part of its previous editor have been resolved.

Speaking to Redwood Voice Community News on Monday, Paul Boylan, Nehmer’s Davis-based attorney, said that his relationship with her has come to an amicable end.

The big danger, he said, had been the Triplicate’s previous editor, Roger Gitlin, potentially damaging Nehmer’s reputation. But with the newspaper’s sale to Nehmer’s colleague on the Harbor District Board, former editor Dan Schmidt, Boylan said he’s “done everything I could for her.”

“It doesn’t surprise me that they would close the Triplicate and sell it to someone else,” he said of Country Media Inc., the newspaper’s previous owners.

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Articles, Infrastructure, Local Government, Transportation

Crescent City Council Discusses Transit Center, Stipends, CCPD’s Alcohol Beverage Control Grant Application

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Thumbnail image courtesy of Crescent City

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

RCTA’s new transit center: City councilors entered into an agreement with the Redwood Coast Transit Authority as it moves forward with plans to build a transit center at Front and K streets.

The agreement comes more than two years after councilors decided that the parking lot near the Del Norte County Library was a suitable home for a transit center. RCTA is building the facility using $2.85 million in grant dollars from the California State Transportation Agency’s Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program. The transit authority’s total grant award was $7.6 million.

“The key reason we have this agreement now is because RCTA needs [it] to move forward with their design and their project steps,” City Attorney Martha Rice told councilors. “We want something in writing that says this is going to be the site, however prior to completing the required environmental analyses they can’t enter into a binding lease agreement. We’re coming to terms on what the basics of the lease agreement will be.”

Continue reading Crescent City Council Discusses Transit Center, Stipends, CCPD’s Alcohol Beverage Control Grant Application →