on the cover / By Japhet Weeks

Views of the Bay

Steven Morris, Second Division candidate.Photo by Yulia Weeks

That’s one of many reasons why Steven Morris, the third Second Division candidate, feels the Harbor Commission has lost its way. Morris and I met on a rainy morning the week before last before the sun had come up — appropriate for a candidate who has remained on the fringe this election cycle. At a recent gathering organized by Citizens for Port Development for Harbor District candidates held at the Somoa Cookhouse, Morris didn’t even bother showing up because he felt he wouldn’t get a fair hearing.

The real reason for our early-morning rendezvous is that Morris, unlike most of the other candidates who are retirees, has a day job he can’t take time away from. Sitting at the bar at Café Marina, I nursed a cup of weak coffee as Morris, who has no endorsements and has spent no money campaigning said, “We’ve kinda lost our perspective on elected offices around the area.” He was wearing a sky-blue shirt embroidered with his name and the name of his Fortuna business, A2ZPC4U Computers. He reminded me that the position of commissioner is a volunteer one and yet you’d never guess it by looking at the campaign machines behind the other candidates. Morris chortles when he laughs.

He moved up to Humboldt County from the Silicon Valley just over a year ago because he’d been offered a job. Upon arrival the job fell through, and he ended up opening his own computer repair business. That’s why Morris feels he understands the need for more living-wage jobs in the county better than other candidates. He’s taken a significant pay cut since moving north.

The Harbor District needs someone with a more “balanced, managed approach,” he said. In particular, public meetings “should be a lot more public,” he said. He suggests installing cameras and broadcasting commission meetings on public-access television. He feels that a lack of oversight has lead to some questionable decisions by the commission in the past: Paramount among these is the NCRA loan. “Some of the loans they gave out should have been reviewed a whole lot better,” he said.

Morris used to be in favor of the deep-channel port, but after having researched the topic he changed his mind. The environmental impact is too great, he said. And it’s important, he pointed out, for public officials to be able to reevaluate their ideas. “I don’t get so focused on one issue … that I’m not willing to see other options,” he said. “This is part of what I see going on. Groups are so focused on port development, they have blinders on.”

These blinders have slowed the Harbor District down on other projects, like fixing the boat dock at Shelter Cove, Morris said. That’s high on his list of things that need immediate attention.

He told me he’s running to win, and yet he’s also a realist. “If I show 10 percent that would be a good showing,” he said. “If I showed 30 percent, I’d be sending a message to the board … ‘you better pay attention.’”

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 SHARE