When the city of Eureka took the bold step in February of putting out a request for proposals for a lucrative marketing contract — one that for decades had been given to a single organization — the request itself outlined a bold vision. Referencing the council’s 2018 strategic visioning session, the request noted that the […]
Rob Holmlund
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Eureka Staff Repeatedly Provided Council, Public Inaccurate Information About Marketing Contract Process
During a tense May 21 Eureka City Council meeting, council members lamented that what they deemed a flawed process used to select finalists for a $370,000 annual marketing contract had broken the public’s trust. Things have since gone from bad to worse amid new revelations, including that staff has repeatedly and materially misrepresented key facts […]
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Eureka City Council Says Yes to Some Expensive Items
Eureka police officers will be getting a raise, two parcels near the Samoa Bridge are inching closer to development as an RV park, the Greater Eureka Chamber of Commerce is on the move and residents will soon be paying a little bit more for garbage collection. These are just a handful of key items the […]
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Business Owner Doxxed Over Utility Box Art Spat
In the week since she stood before the Eureka City Council to lament the brightly painted utility box out in front of her business, Molly Green has received a lot of backlash, some from thousands of miles away. The rift began when Green showed up at her business near Fifth and G streets in Eureka […]
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Cool! Eureka Wants You to Create Heatmaps of Chill Spots
If you caught our cover story a few weeks ago, you might have noticed that Eureka’s Community Development staff really loves maps. Whether it’s the 1902 map of the city that adorns the wall of Development Director Rob Holmlund’s office or the online architecture map developed by the department, which you can find at www.eurekahistory.com, […]
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Eureka Welcomes Recreational Pot, Embraces Ward Recommendations
After a lengthy presentation by Eureka Development Services Director Rob Holmlund, a series of clarifying questions by the councilmembers and a largely positive round of public comment, the Eureka City Council approved a broad set of staff recommendations that essentially welcome recreational marijuana businesses within city limits. The decision came in advance of the implementation […]
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Eureka City Council Set to Expand Boundaries, Redraw Wards, Fight Mold
On Tuesday, the Eureka City Council will tackle several topics that could have long-lasting impacts on the city. First, the ward redistricting ad hoc committee, which has been meeting for two months to discuss where the lines for the city’s five wards should fall, will present its findings. With two current city councilmembers (Natalie Arroyo […]
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TL;DR: Our Favorite Quotes From This Week’s Cover Story
Hey readers, we know that reading 4,500 words can be a slog for some in the fast, digital world. Even if that 4,500 words is about something as fascinating as the city of Eureka’s many, varied attempts to address the entrenched homeless camp in the PalCo Marsh and the accompanying emails we obtained from public […]
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Key Players and Their Emails (A Companion to This Week’s Cover Story)
This week’s cover story, “Swept,” takes a deep dive into the Eureka city government’s collective thought process as it planned to clear the PalCo Marsh of homeless encampments over the course of more than a year, culminating in the May 2, 2016 sweep that resulted in the relocation of more than 100 homeless people. To […]
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Parklets Waiting for Droplets to Stop
Those parklets, the tiny, public, Old Town outdoor spaces that were supposed to be completed in September, got held up a little, but we’re assured they’re on their way. Eureka Community Development Director Rob Holmlund says the parklet plans for two of the four participating businesses have been approved by the city. Ramone’s Bakery owner […]
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Eureka PlanCo Says Don’t Re-zone Woodley Island
The Eureka Planning Commission has recommended that the city not change its zoning of Woodley Island, as the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District recently requested. The city is in the process of updating its general plan, a process that Community Development Director Rob Holmlund says will take another year or so. In doing […]
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Camp On, Camp Off
Police Chief Andy Mills denied Monday that his department is wholly scrapping plans to create a temporary city-sanctioned campsite for Eureka’s homeless. Instead, Mills said, the plan has been put “on a back burner.” “We ran into several issues with oversight and funding. Unfortunately, this is just one of those deals where it’s tough to […]