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.
“I was hoping it was over and done with,” he said. “But evidently there are still some bitter people on the Board with it and how can we put it to bed?”
Weber had asked his colleagues to censure Schmidt on Nov. 12, 2025 as one of his final acts as the chairman of the Board of Commissioners. He accused Schmidt of nepotism for trying to get his brother a job as a CCHD executive employee. Weber said Schmidt also publicly spoke about confidential items that had been discussed during closed session meetings.
Weber wasn’t able to go through with his censure, however. At that same meeting on Nov. 12, commissioners agreed to hear a proposal to censure Weber, Shepherd and CCHD Vice Chairman John Evans brought forth by Nehmer.
Nehmer herself had been censured on Sept. 16, 2025 and stripped of her title of vice chair. Evans became vice chair.
At Wednesday’s special meeting, Board Chairman Rick Shepherd was puzzled at Schmidt’s insistence on resurrecting the censure discussion. According to Shepherd, one of his first acts as chairman was to eliminate all censures.
Schmidt asked if that act included restoring people to their previous positions.
“That means Annie should take her rightful place as vice chairman of the Harbor District,” Schmidt said.
When Shepherd succeeded Weber as CCHD Board chairman on Dec. 10, 2025, he said he wanted to eliminate Nehmer’s censure as well as post meeting decorum rules at the Harbor District office. After they approved Shepherd for chairman, commissioners voted for Evans to continue as vice chairman.
Harbor Light Festival A Go: The Crescent City Harbor will get in on the holiday festivities this year, though it won’t be the floating parade harbor staff tried to hold last year.
Commissioners unanimously green lit the Harbor Lights Festival, which will be held from 5 p.m.-9 p.m. Dec. 12. CCHD Office Manager Kristina Hanks said her goal is to get boat owners and business owners involved. Participants’ vessels and buildings will be illuminated for a week after Dec. 12 to allow people to vote for their favorite display, she said.
“We really want the harbor to be like a beacon of light,” Hanks told commissioners, asking them to approve a $20 credit on participants’ electricity bills as well as the idea of sponsorships for vessel owners. “If, say, a boater wants to light up their boat, but they can’t necessarily afford to do so, we want to offer them the ability to put online in a Facebook post, ‘Hey, this boat wants a sponsor.’”
The sponsor would receive recognition for their support, Hanks said.
In addition to the $20 credit, the Board approved moorage and rent credits of $100, $50 and $25 to serve as first-, second- and third-place prizes. There will be prizes for boats and prizes for businesses, Hanks said.
Commissioners also approved a discounted rate for vendors as well as an expenditure of $750 for marketing the Dec. 12 event.
Hanks said she also had about 10 vendors who are interested in participating.
“We are wanting to change the vendor fee from 6% of their sales to $20 for a 10 by 10 space and $40 for a 10 by 20 space,” she said. “I would hope that the Board would approve that as well.”
Halloween Fun Run: Harbor commissioners also green lit a proposal from the Del Norte Distance Running Club to hold a 5k and a 10k run on Halloween.
The proposal came from Kim Cisneros, a club representative, which held a fun run in May. But, while the Board of Commissioners approved the Halloween fun run and agreed to waive the Harbor’s event fee, they declined to waive the insurance costs associated with the event.
The Del Norte Distance Running Club is made up of families with students attending Crescent Elk Middle School and Sunset High School. The fun run will start at 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 31 at Whaler Island.
