Thumbnail photo by Gavin Van Alstine
Crescent City Harbor commissioners were lukewarm about their CEO’s offer to travel to Washington D.C. on his own dime to advocate for the district’s role in the Trump administration’s Maritime Action Plan.
Harbormaster Mike Rademaker said he planned to speak with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, whose father, Michael Greer, is a Del Norte Unified School District trustee.
Rademaker said he wanted to talk about the role the Crescent City Harbor District could play in President Trump’s initiative to expand shipbuilding capacity in the United States with the former Fashion Blacksmith boatyard being a particular concern.
“We lost out on a prospective tenant due to some tax incentives being available in another state,” the harbormaster told commissioners Wednesday. “It seems like if we have the right incentive structure on a federal level we can attract a tenant there.”
At a meeting that barely had a quorum, Chairman Rick Shepherd said he and his colleagues were supportive as long as Rademaker successfully concluded negotiations with potential RV park developers.
“Those RV parks got to get done,” Shepherd said. “I’m adamant. I don’t want to go in a bunch of different directions until those are done. I really feel we can move on as a harbor, but until those RV parks get done and the audit gets done, we cannot move forward.”
Vice Chair John Evans and Commissioner Annie Nehmer were absent. Their colleague Dan Schmidt was about five minutes late to Wednesday’s meeting.
Rademaker introduced commissioners to the Maritime Action Plan last month, asking them to draft a letter of support to Congressman Jared Huffman and U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff. According to the harbormaster, taking advantage of the initiative could help CCHD solve its dredging issues, modernize its boatyard and access grants and financing programs that target smaller boatyards.
Calling it his pet project, Rademaker told Redwood Voice Community News last month that he wanted to provide a pathway for young people to get into the fishing industry by having local workforce training.
On Wednesday, Schmidt said that while giving the local fishing fleet and boat owners a local opportunity to expand their skills is necessary, any proposal that Rademaker can present to Jamieson Greer and other federal officials should be comprehensive and well thought out.
“It’s got to just be more than a show-up and hope we could pop ourselves into some money,” Schmidt said. “What we need, before we go to Washington and meet with Mr. Greer, is we got to really have in mind what it is we offer and why we are deserving of financial consideration.”
Schmidt also suggested bringing up the Crescent City Harbor District’s rebuilds of Citizens Dock and the seawall adjacent to the wharf, which are being funded through about $15 million in U.S. Maritime Administration grants.
Rademaker acknowledged Schmidt’s statement, conceding that such a trip would require a comprehensive amount of preparation for it to be successful. The harbormaster suggested forming an ad hoc committee so the Board of Commissioners could provide further input and, potentially, more direction.
Rademaker said having a firm proposal in place and, potentially, communicating with officials before making the trip would be necessary.
“It’s a very significant, potentially significant meeting,” he told commissioners.
Setting up that meeting would depend on Greer’s schedule as well as Crescent City Harbor priorities, Rademaker said.
Commissioner Gerhard Weber reiterated that there isn’t a commitment on the part of any federal official that they will meet with Rademaker, but he praised the harbormaster’s initiative.
“What you just tried to do is show the public that you’re willing to reach out to whoever is willing to listen,” Weber told Rademaker. “And you have seen that we know somebody (who has) a family connection to somebody who’s super super close to our president and you’re going to go the extra mile and you’re willing to spend your own money.”
