Kathy Srabian makes an excellent point vis a vis the Marina Center in the Humboldt Herald this morning: Home Depot, the chain that is supposed to anchor the development, is in a state of contraction, not expansion.”The ‘Marina Center has become synonymous with ‘Home Depot,'” Srabian writes, after laying out a raft of research that will give anyone pause. “But do you really think Home Depot is coming here? Convince me with something other than a 2006 North Coast Journal or a pastel picture from the Marina Center website.”
The coming issue of the North Coast Journal will include an interview with Security National’s Randy Gans, in which Gans reiterates that Home Depot is still slated to occupy the big-box store that is planned on the site. But that position does seem to be at odds with the data that Srabian has collected. And it’s worth noting that nothing in the permitting process that Security National is currently undertaking with the city of Eureka and the California Coastal Commission specifies or promises a Home Depot; so far as the permits are concerned, Security National is simply asking to build a big box-sized store.
Meanwhile, the Humboldt Mirror notes, in typically astonished and/or enraged fashion, that Supervisor Bonnie Neely will be holding a pricy fundraiser out in Sacramento tomorrow. As we’ve said before, this year’s Fourth District Supervisor race is in large part a statewide election played out on local turf, given Neely’s chairmanship of the California Coastal Commission, and so far Neely has raised a substantial amount of money from outside the county.
The Mirror faults Neely for not abiding by the stricken-down campaign finance reform initiative known as Measure T, which the Mirror itself opposed.
UPDATE: Fred Mangels, another Measure T opponent, is also astonished and/or enraged.
This article appears in College In Revolt.
Say hello to Walmart Humboldt County!
I cannot speak for HomeDepot, but large business in general find times like these as an opportunity to invest in future growth. You dont look at current market only, but what happens after a downturn…and that would be growth… unless your one of the 2012 crew…then, well…
Hank, Hank, Hank … I am not asking that Supervisor Neeley abide by the ill-conceived rules of Measure T that she supported. Measure T is dead and good riddance …
I merely point out her enormous duplicity in bringing in the outside campaign influences she so decried in an earlier campaign.
I also suggest that Humboldt County adopt campaign donation caps regardless of the source, so that the legitimate concerns about undue influence are addressed.
Chris wrote, I merely point out her enormous duplicity in bringing in the outside campaign influences she so decried in an earlier campaign.
Exactly. That was supposed to be the gist my comment or complaint, depending on one’s perspective.
I might add that, last I heard, the bulk of Paul Gallegos’ donations so far have also come from outside of the county. Last I heard, anyway.
I dunno, homies. Support for Measure T means support for the idea that all candidates be bound by the rules it laid out. It doesn’t mean that you agree to tie your arm behind your back forevermore when your opponent is allowed two fists.
It’s perfectly legitimate to raise eyebrows at the amount of money that Neely is raising outside the county, or from SoCal developers and state political types. No argument there. But Measure T is rules for all or rules for none, so I don’t really see the hypocrisy.
Chris, does this have anything to do with the amount of cash you spent on your run for 1st district Supervisor in 2000?
http://www.northcoastjournal.com/022400/cover0224.html
Jonathan, Home Depot does have plans for expanding but mostly in Mexico, Canada and China. The Mayan Calendar,the 2012 crew and the Marina website, are the same. Show an image, make a story, a myth. Unless you are one of the Home Depot Job Mob,then, well……
Good God, you local proggie yuppies can’t ignore the big gaping hole in your theory. Stupid morons. In Crescent City, there is a locally owned Ace Hardware store right next to the Home Depot STILL. I can even prove it to you on a map. They have been there for many years. A call to a local Ace Hardware store confirmed to me that they are locally owned. Looks like I just popped a huge hole in your bubble huh?
http://insidesunvalley.livejournal.com
I too am astonished and/or enraged. Always.
The most fun part of Bonnie’s Sacto shindig to me is its senior sponsorship by that icon of NCJ credibility, what’s left of Sen. Pat Wiggins.
And its hostess is who’s got the mostest, a fat lobbying firm. Credit where it’s due: when it suits her, Bonnie is nothing if not efficient.
ps, when do we start recognizing the Blue Lake Casino slate? Each of whom received $10k from the trailer-court turned casino-tribe that Roger Rodoni fought to keep off HCAOG, arguing that municipalities which buy politicians at retail shouldn’t be treated like, you know, regular cheap ones. So they bid successfully against him, with Bonnie’s brokerage.
Now that the trailer tribe is by far the largest local bidder for a majority of the Board of Supervisors, Roger’s argument might be worth another look.
I love it when people point to Crescent City when describing the effect big box retailers have on the local businesses. There really isn’t anything left since Home Depot & Walmart moved in. Glad to hear an Ace survived. Too bad for the other 90% of the former local businesses.
In what sense is Sen. Wiggins an icon of our credibility? I’m inclined to take umbrage.
I think, I dont work for HD, the contraction you are seeing are markets that HomeDepot put too many stores too close together. We are pretty remote here, CC is an hour north. Even in time of contraction, you have people that are planning for expansion…otherwise if you are not growing your dying, and I dont see corporate letting HD die. (dont flame me, I did not make the rules of capitalism)
I think it is ‘wishful thinking’ that they are not coming to Eureka, based on your piece.
Anyways Kathy, I got an oceanhorizon view just for 2012…
Sorry Hank, if I’d stayed outraged instead of gleeful I might have been more clear. I meant to be sarcastic and appreciative. I was alluding to your two columns on the fate of the helpless staff hostage formerly known as Sen. Wiggins.
You’ve reported she has no credibility as a sitting Senator. I decided, and I believe you. I’ll concede she’s an eerily appropriate carbon-based personage to front for all those corporate-personhooded interests bagging money for the bash.
Okay, I guess I’m astonished.
Ah, OK.
I wonder if the same community attacking Neely for her ginormous contributions from outside of Humboldt would do the same if Virginia Bass starts tapping outside donors. Would you?
"Caps" on individual contributions would be unfair, I think. The largely development-oriented business wing in Eureka that consistently, and generously, supports favored candidates would greatly benefit from such caps, as they could swarm the coffers of favored candidates with oodles of small contributions.
What’s needed is a straight "cap" on the amount you can pull in, not the amount of each contribution.
And has anyone ever considered that William Pierson, for example, and other large individual donors drop such large amounts of cash in the opposite direction because of this very phenomena?
Just askin’
I think you nailed it Osborn
I wonder if the same community attacking Neely for her ginormous contributions from outside of Humboldt would do the same if Virginia Bass starts tapping outside donors.
I don’t think Virginia Bass supported Measure T, which is the reason at least some of us are annoyed by the hypocrisy.
Fred:
A football coach fervently believes that field goals should only be worth two points. It would improve the quality of the game, he argues, if it took four field goals to trump a touchdown + PTA rather than three.
He takes the proposal to the league. The league disagrees with his analysis, and declines to act upon it.
Is he a hypocrite for continuing to accept three points for his team’s field goals?
Oh come on Hank, there is no use to talk reason with these folks. Their opinions are fueled simply by their political alliances. Same could be said for either side of the argument.
I don’t get the analogy, Hank. Sorry.
I might add that this isn’t just a case of accepting money from non- local sources. It’s a case of actually holding a fund raiser hundreds of miles away from Humboldt County. My analogy for that would be someone running for Eureka City Council and holding a fund raising event in Fortuna.
If she accepts a bunch of non- local money, as do many candidates, (including District Attorney Gallegos) I certainly would of criticized the hypocrisy of it. But actually holding a fundraiser 150 miles or so outside of county and trying to raise funds for her campaign from around the state seems to me to be a rather brazen way of showing this race is all about her salary and her seat on the coastal commission. It’s not about representing her district.
Hypocrisy bothers Fred?
Jonathan, I see you as a man who chooses his words with skill. My piece said nothing about wishful thinking but only asked for further evidence, current evidence, for it is my concern that those who think Home Depot has agreed to plant a store may be caught up in a story with more momentum than fact,or, to recycle your phrase, ‘wishful thinking’.
I voiced no opinion as to if I thought it would be a great idea to have a Home Depot here or not.
Read again which Home Depot stores are closing and why and you will see that it is not clusters they are closing.
2012 unlike Home Depot is coming for sure, it follows 2011. Enjoy your view. 🙂
Fred doesn’t "get the analogy." Perhaps it was too logical.
(From blooberg.com)
"Home Depot Is Adding Jobs for First Time in 4 Years"
April 6 (Bloomberg) — Home Depot Inc., the largest U.S. home-improvement retailer, is adding store jobs for the first time in four years in anticipation of a rebound in sales.
“We have already added to our payroll this year,” Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Frank Blake said in an interview yesterday in Atlanta, where Home Depot is based. “As you have positive transaction growth, you need more associates to handle that in the stores. We are going to lean into our skis a little bit.”
Home Depot made the decision to boost hiring late last year, Blake said. Sales advanced more than the company had anticipated in the fourth quarter, helped by demand for paint, flooring and plumbing items. Home Depot forecast in February that revenue would advance 2.5 percent this year, marking the first increase since 2006.
The company, which had about 317,000 workers as of Jan. 31, eliminated jobs in each of the past three years, according to annual filings. Blake declined to say how many workers the company would add.
“We made a very conscious decision this year to hire into our projection,” said Blake, 60, who took charge in January 2007. “The fourth quarter was more positive than we anticipated so we revisited some of our planning assumptions toward the end of 2009.”
Home Depot and Lowe’s Cos. reported fourth-quarter profit that exceeded analysts’ expectations in February amid signs that the U.S. housing market may be stabilizing. Lowe’s, the second- largest home-improvement retailer, said spending was improving after consumers had curbed remodeling and major purchases during the recession.
‘Calculated Risk’
“Blake is taking a calculated risk, betting that employment picks up as the economy recovers,” said Peter Jankovskis, who helps manage $1.8 billion in assets, including 72,000 Home Depot shares, at Oakbrook Investments in Lisle, Illinois. “That’s the normal pattern of recovery from a recession.”
Home Depot fell 11 cents to $32.55 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have climbed 13 percent this year, almost double the gain of Mooresville, North Carolina-based Lowe’s. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has advanced 5.2 percent.
Blake wouldn’t comment on Home Depot’s sales since Feb. 1. On April 2, the Labor Department reported that U.S. employers created more jobs in March than at any time in the past three years.
“That’s at least positive on jobs creation,” Blake said. “But then, as everybody is quick to add, that amount of job growth just keeps you even. We are still at a point where every positive data point is met by a bit of concern.”
As recent as late January, Home Depot eliminated another 1,000 jobs
http://www.forbes.com/2010/01/26/home-depot-jobs-markets-equities-cuts.html
I’d say Eureka’s chance of getting a Home Depot is slim.
Hello Walmart?
Most telling line from Tyler’s post:
Blake declined to say how many workers the company would add.
First time for adding jobs in four years.
Home Depot forecast in February that revenue would advance 2.5 percent this year, marking the first increase since 2006.
This speaks to a company coming out of a big slump in a still poor economy.
Expansion? They do have plans to open stores in Mexico and Canada. Closing three stores so far this year in the US.
.
Fred doesn’t “get the analogy.” Perhaps it was too logical.
And this from Joel, who couldn’t see any problem with the North Coast Journal turning their publication over to the Obama campaign.
Fred, you’re the one who is getting huffy about hypocrisy, but I suppose that it would be fatuous of me to expect you to understand this or any other point.
I don’t know about fatuous, Joel, but you sure are snotty.
Snotty? oh well, sorry about that. I tend towards sarcasm when I respond to thoughtless comments, and Fred is a prolific producer of staggeringly low-quality comments.
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