Feb. 24, 2005
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On the cover:
Arcata City Council candidates. Front: Mary Scoggin.
Second row from left: Andrew Lord, Nicholas Bravo, Mark Wheetley.
Back row: Michael Winkler and Greg Allen.
Scene from Arcata Plaza in background.
Photos by Bob Doran
by HANK SIMS
LAST WEEK, JUST AS THE Arcata
City Council prepared to spend a few hours debating whether or
not to offer its support to U.S. military refuseniks, Mike Harvey,
former chair of the Humboldt County Republican Party, rued his
inattention to the current City Council race in that city.
"I think we screwed up,"
Harvey said. "If we had the foresight to run a Republican
in that race, we would have had a shot at having a voice on the
City Council. Not that we could win a vote, but it would have
given a chance to have opposing viewpoints expressed."
Arcata electing a Republican?
That hasn't happened since 1992, when Carl Pellatz and Lou Blaser
were elected. The GOP is now the third party in Arcata politics,
with Greens outnumbering Republicans 1,717 to 1,620. The Democratic
Party dwarfs them both, with 5,101 members, but many Democrats
clearly feel comfortable voting Green on the local level -- for
the second time in a decade, the city returned a Green Party
majority to the City Council last fall.
Still, Harvey may have been
on to something. It's not just that, with the special March 8
election to replace former Councilmember Elizabeth Conner, the
progressive vote may be split amongst the six candidates who
did enter the race. It's that there is also something of a backlash
brewing in the town -- something candidate Mark Wheetley calls
"compassion fatigue." Business owners and residents
concerned about crime and inhospitablily on the Plaza were once
too cowed to voice their concerns at council meetings. Many are
still shy, but others are no longer afraid of being booed down
by the crowd.
Other local residents are fed
up with the many "symbolic resolutions" the city finds
time to pass -- most of them aimed at the policies of the Bush
administration. Some decry them as ineffective and time-wasting,
as Mayor Michael Machi suggested at the last council meeting,
while others say that they are downright harmful to the community's
image.
The size of the backlash is
impossible to measure, but judging by the current crop of council
candidates, one thing is clear: Would-be council members are
taking it seriously in a way that they haven't before. With the
exception of candidate Greg Allen -- a dyed-in-the-wool civil
libertarian -- all of the current candidates advocate some form
of what candidate Michael Winkler calls "tough love"
with the city's indigent population. And most of them think that
there needs to be some reform in the way the city goes about
taking a stand on international issues.
While they differ in their approaches,
the tough-love candidates all agree that it is time to "take
back the Plaza" from disruptive, sometimes violent, members
of the homeless community.
For candidate Mary Scoggin,
some of the solution lies in the larger community -- older folks
and parents of children -- vanquishing their fears of inhabiting
the downtown. The fact that everyday people have given up on
using the Plaza relinquishes the space to aggressive panhandlers,
drug-dealers and other undesirables, she says.
Winkler and Wheetley both advocate
deconstructing what people generically think of as the "homeless"
population into its various components -- the truly needy, the
addicts, the lazy -- and using police to aggressively target
the unrepentant criminals. Winkler wants to simultaneously institute
Allen's proposed Police Review Commission to ensure that abuses
do not take place. Wheetley sees the problem spreading to Redwood
Park and other public spaces, and would like to see stepped-up
enforcement there.
Candidate Andrew Lord thinks
that local businesses may be willing to chip in to fund a stepped-up
police presence in the downtown, and adds that citizens should
be ready to work with the police in alerting them to problems
on the Plaza.
On the symbolic resolutions,
there is widespread agreement that the city has to slow down
and consider more carefully what it is doing. Wheetley argues
that the power to call out the national government should be
used more judiciously, and that council members should take into
account whether their action is likely to have any effect. Winkler
says that he would want to be sure that a "wide majority"
of the town supports a resolution before he votes for it. He
says he would specifically reach out to the town's conservatives
to solicit their views.
Scoggin says that although the
council has a long, admirable tradition of voicing the concerns
of its residents to those in higher office, the process can be
a distraction from the city's other business. She said that she
would be loathe to spend scarce city funds on town hall meetings
or advisory ballot measures except in cases of real emergency,
such as a draft.
Taken together, the emergence
of the tough-love candidates gives hope to Gene Joyce, owner
of the Arcata Exchange furniture store on the Plaza and chair
of the Arcata Chamber of Commerce's government affairs committee.
"I think we've got some
very good candidates in there," Joyce says. "I'm hoping
that filling that fifth seat will finally balance the council."
Joyce says that he draws customers
from southern Humboldt to Weaverville to the Oregon border --
and that whenever Arcata makes the Fox News Channel for its latest
blast at the president, he gets phone calls. Some callers regretfully
say that they cannot justify giving the Arcata city government
any more sales tax revenue; others express their gratitude and
promise to make their next purchases in the town. But Joyce,
like many California business owners, has been working with ever-smaller
profit margins in the last few years. Any disturbance to his
business brought on by the symbolic political stands of his town
government causes him to worry.
He knows he's not the only one.
"There's a frustration level in town -- citizens getting
fed up with nothing changing," he says. "I would hate
to see what happens next if nothing gets done."
Greg Allen
AGE: 52
OCCUPATION: Attorney
NEIGHBORHOOD: Sunny Brae
YEARS IN ARCATA: 6.5
PARTY: Green
He's reportedly a hot guitarist
and soulful singer of the blues, but as a candidate Greg Allen
doesn't have to rely solely on the votes of Arcata music lovers.
As chair of the Humboldt County Green Party, a defense attorney
and director of the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties
Union, Allen embodies a certain strand of Arcata progressivism.
And though his fundamentalist
interpretation of the U.S. Constitution may be out of favor in
certain quarters -- at least when it comes to electing new city
council members -- he's sticking to his guns.
"God knows I'm not suggesting
the homeless are saints," he says. "I'm saying they're
people like you and me."
It's not that he doesn't respect
the concerns of local business owners or residents who dread
a trip downtown, Allen says. But he says that there are limits
to what can be done about unpleasant but legal behavior. He thinks
that moving the Arcata Endeavor, the downtown nonprofit that
provides services to the homeless community, might be a partial
solution. He has high hopes for the recently formed Arcata Homeless
Task Force. But he doesn't want to hear people petition the council
to address things it has no control over, such as, say, someone
getting abusively yelled at for refusing to provide spare change.
"You can't enjoin speech,"
he says. "Hello?"
Allen is deeply critical of
recent ordinances designed to clean up the downtown. The last
council passed a number of such laws, banning sitting on the
sidewalks and booting dogs, smoking and alcohol from city parks.
Though he approves of the alcohol ban, he feels most of the other
ordinances are counterproductive because these moved the homeless
out of the park and onto the sidewalk, increasing tensions in
the community.
"Maybe I'm missing something
here, but I think that the relationship between the police department
and the public started deteriorating when the council passed
these ordinances," he says.
At the same time, Allen says
he is deeply concerned about the high cost of housing and stagnant
wages. He wants to see more clean industry in the town. He says
that he wants to use his connections in Silicon Valley -- he
grew up in Palo Alto, and still commutes to the area for work
occasionally -- to lobby software companies to locate in the
city.
"I think software is a
natural fit for Arcata," he says.
Nicholas Bravo
AGE: 30
OCCUPATION: Environmentalist
NEIGHBORHOOD: LK Wood
YEARS IN ARCATA: 5
PARTY: None
Nicholas Bravo is back, sporting
a new look -- and it's not just the beard. As a candidate in
the fall council election, he amused and exasperated the town
with his strange antics, once appearing at a campaign event in
a Superman T-shirt. He won headlines, but finished last in a
field of 10.
Perhaps in keeping with the
tenor of the times, Bravo has made a pledge to accentuate the
positive and eliminate the theatrical grandstanding this time
around. In debates and going door-to-door, Bravo has been talking
issues and handing out compliments to his former competitors
from the Nov. 2 election, Paul Pitino and Harmony Groves.
"I've gotten a good response,"
Bravo says of his new campaign style. "People are happy
that I've been a lot more positive, more focused on the issues."
Bravo even has the beginnings
of a civic accomplishment to his name. He has led a movement
to rebuild the information kiosk, a community bulletin board
that used to stand outside City Hall. He has met with city staff
and members of the Design Review Commission, with whom he has
reportedly been working cooperatively.
Despite this effort, some of
the trademark Bravo oddities remain. It's likely that more than
one eyebrow was lifted when the sample ballot came out: In the
line below the candidate's name, Bravo, a Humboldt State theater
arts student, described his occupation as "environmentalist."
His accomplishments in that field may have hitherto been obscure,
but Bravo insists they exist.
"I am a supporter of the
Mattole forest defenders," he explains. "I have written
letters to various lumber companies criticizing their practices.
I supported the HSU recycling program when it was threatened."
Bravo's political affiliations
also remain murky. One year ago, he was a registered Republican.
Sometime before the Nov. 2 election, he changed that to "decline
to state." Then, on Feb. 13, it was announced that he had
been elected to the steering committee of the Humboldt County
Green Party. In an interview before the party's meeting that
weekend, Bravo stated that he hoped to gain the Greens' endorsement.
But as of last Friday afternoon,
the Humboldt County Elections Office still had him down as a
"decline-to-state" -- making Bravo a leader of a party
that, at least at the time, he did not actually belong to.
Andrew Lord
AGE: 31
OCCUPATION: Environmental analyst
NEIGHBORHOOD: Westwood
YEARS IN ARCATA: 6
PARTY: Green
When he was studying for his
master's degree at Humboldt State University, Andrew Lord took
a particular interest in the economics of rural development.
After finishing his thesis, which centered on Humboldt County,
he felt it was time to put his learning to work.
"One thing that inspired
me to run this time is that I just finished my degree,"
he says. "I feel that gives me a certain obligation to give
back to the community."
Since entering the race, Lord
has positioned himself as a budget hawk. After hearing residents'
complaints about the chronically poor condition of the city's
streets -- potholes being high on the list of neighborhood annoyances
-- Lord went to City Hall and purchased a copy of the town's
budget. He's been going through it line by line, and is beginning
to identify items where the city could squeeze out a few extra
dollars.
Perhaps surprisingly for a Green
candidate, he thinks that the city should increase its rate of
logging in the Community Forest -- or at least return it to historic
levels. Lord says that he supports sustainable forestry, but
over the years, as logging has become more and more politically
contentious, the city has harvested less in response to political
pressure.
"You can see the numbers
-- they shoot down," he says. "It's politically based
decision-making, not economic decision-making." An increased
rate of harvest would not only help the city's bottom line, he
says, but would pump money into the region's private sector.
Lord also favors looking into
the idea of asking local entrepreneurs and businesses to donate
to the city, in order to help fix the roads and pay for increased
police enforcement. He believes that business people might be
amenable to this idea, as a way of giving back to the city after
it has helped provide them with years of prosperity.
Currently, Lord is self-employed,
working a few different professions. He's a freelance carpenter
and he picks up work taking environmental samples for an out-of-town
chemical analysis firm. He says that the fact that he works for
himself gives him another advantage -- he is beholden to no one,
and wouldn't have to recuse himself on issues that come before
the council or resign, as Councilmember Elizabeth Conner did
last year.
"I think it's important
that the city doesn't have to spend the money for a special election
again because of conflict of interest," he says.
Mary Scoggin
AGE: 42
OCCUPATION: Parent, professor
NEIGHBORHOOD: Marsh Commons
YEARS IN ARCATA: 7
PARTY: Democrat
HSU anthropology professor Mary
Scoggin says that running for City Council is "an anthropologist's
dream." Who else but a political candidate has the license
to quiz strangers about their concerns for the community? Who
else has a reasonable excuse to learn the details about the city's
sewer system and the pros and cons of police tasers?
But if a campaign is proving
to be of professional interest, that's not why she decided to
run in the first place. On the ballot, Scoggin chose to list
herself as "parent," first and foremost, and it's clear
that her two children -- ages 10 and 5 -- are never far from
her mind.
"Part of my motivation
in running for City Council is having kids that I'm going to
launch into this community," she says.
An avid bicyclist, Scoggin's
main campaign theme has been to improve the city's trail and
bike path infrastructure. Inspired by the "model" park
and pathway system of her native Minneapolis, she has floated
the idea of removing auto lanes in the downtown in order to make
Arcata more trail-friendly. She sees fostering alternative transportation
not only as a service to local residents, but as a way of meeting
Arcata's commitment to reduce greenhouse gases.
Scoggin may have little experience
in local government, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have accomplishments
to point to. She cites her experience organizing an academic
exchange and research program between the California State University
system and Peking University -- work for which she received a
special commendation from CSU's Long Beach headquarters.
"I am on record as someone
who can see things through," she says. Having simultaneously
negotiated the bureaucracies of the CSU and the Chinese government,
she feels prepared for whatever the council can throw at her.
Scoggin says that her familiarity
with the workings of Humboldt State and the entire CSU system
give her a distinct advantage in helping foster town/gown relations.
Most people don't realize the extent to which campus doings are
influenced by the state university system headquarters, she says.
"People have likened the
Arcata/HSU relationship to a marriage," she says. "But
it isn't just a love marriage -- it's an arranged marriage, and
the parents live in Long Beach."
Mark Wheetley
AGE: 46
OCCUPATION: Natural resource planner
NEIGHBORHOOD: Bayview
YEARS IN ARCATA: First moved here in 1977, but spent several
years since elsewhere in California
PARTY: Democrat
For Mark Wheetley, who got a
job with the city after graduating from HSU in the early '80s,
it all goes back to the Arcata Marsh.
"Having a chance to work
in the city in those years, when the Marsh was getting up and
running -- that really set my career path," he says.
Since then, Wheetley has gone
on to work for the California Coastal Commission, the Coastal
Conservancy and the state Department of Fish and Game, his current
employer. His job title has usually been "planner"
-- in actuality, his expertise is bringing together private interests
and various government bodies to get things done.
One defining accomplishment
of his career is pertinent to the situation the city finds itself
in today, he says. In the '90s, he was named project manager
for the South Spit, which at the time was home to an encampment
of more than 300 people, many of them children living in unsanitary
conditions. Wheetley was charged with coordinating the various
local, state and tribal governments that had an interest in the
site.
After years of work, the spit
was cleaned up and assistance was found for the indigent residents.
Nowadays, with camping in the Community Forest on the rise, Wheetley
says he sees a similar problem beginning to crop up in Arcata.
"I think as the city takes
on the Sunny Brae forest and other public lands, it's something
we're going to have to deal with," he says.
At the same time, Wheetley is
concerned about other issues that seem to be flying under the
radar. With the budget outlook increasingly bleak, he says that
he wants to make protection of the city's recreational programs
for youth a top priority. One solution would be to seek a tighter
partnership with Humboldt State, which has excellent facilities
and a cadre of eager student volunteers.
Deal-making like this has solved
seemingly insoluble problems, Wheetley says, but to pull it off,
you have to think creatively and know where everyone is coming
from.
"If you don't understand
the challenges that everyone is up against -- from the maintenance
man to the mayor -- you can't develop solutions," he says.
Michael Winkler
AGE: 55
OCCUPATION: Energy research engineer
NEIGHBORHOOD: Downtown
YEARS IN ARCATA: 8
PARTY: Green
Michael Winkler conducts his
campaign like the scientist he is. When he first announced his
candidacy, he heavily played up his experience as an engineer
at HSU's Schatz Energy Research Center and laid out a platform
of making Arcata and the region energy independent by 2055.
When he first went door-knocking,
though, he discovered that people were more interested in hearing
his position on other issues entirely. How did he plan to bring
housing prices down? What was his economic development plan?
And, traffic roundabouts -- pro or con?
Winkler used this feedback to
develop a list of the top six priorities of Arcata voters (the
roundabouts placed a surprising fourth). He then went back to
the books, studying up on the issues and thinking through the
arguments on both sides to develop positions.
"I started out from a renewable
energy perspective, but I've broadened myself," Winkler
says.
Not that he had that far to
go, on some issues at least. For the last five years, Winkler
has been a member of the Arcata Planning Commission -- the second
most important governmental body in the city -- and through it
he has gained considerable experience in the day-to-day workings
of city government.
His work on the Planning Commission
has led him to be a strong proponent of "smart growth"
-- denser development in already populated areas and protections
against sprawl. He favors mixed-use developments that include
space for businesses and housing, and he supports city policy
requiring developers to devote a certain percentage of new units
to affordable housing.
But Winkler still sees his main
strength as his knowledge of energy issues. He says that as it
stands, Arcata government and residents spend an undue amount
of resources on securing power. Given the likely decline in world
oil supply, he says, it is more important to begin to think about
turning Arcata into a net energy producer.
"Even if people are not
interested in energy, it will affect them," he says.
Winkler says that the city is
admirably positioned to develop new sources of energy, such as
wind, wave and solar power. The city could look at forging partnerships
with HSU and the Schatz lab to help build some very forward-thinking
projects (he says that he will recuse himself if any such deals
come before the council).
And, roundabouts? Though he
critiques the design of some of the smaller ones, he says that
"they're generally working."
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