Eureka City Manager Dave Tyson and Eureka Mayor Virginia Bass.
An interesting discussion developed in a thread below regarding power held by Eureka’s city manager vs. the mayor.
While the power dynamic varies from town to town, the city manager holds the power in Eureka. He sets the agenda, manages the staff, and even bosses the police chief. Plus, he makes a higher annual salary than longtime Humboldt County Supervisor Bonnie Neely by about $54,000.
Meanwhile, the mayor holds a ceremonial position, can’t vote, and has to keep a “real” job that often keeps her from city council meetings.
A comment by Humboldt Herald reader EZ Ryder calls for action:
The problem with Eureka and Fortuna managers is they are basically not accountable to anyone. That’s because both have contracts that require a 4/5 vote to terminate. This gives them way too much power and control. I believe Eureka’s manager contract is up soon. The public should rise up and demand an end to this folly!
When Tyson landed the manager job in 2000 he hoped to take the seat and stay there, according to the Journal, because too many city mangers before him had been fired. He said the super majority requirement for termination was a sign the council supported him.
Of course, there’s a different city council in 2009 and whether or not they support him, they are contractually bound to keep him short of a 4-1 vote.
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June 22, 2009 at 6:09 am
Tyson is a good city manager. But he shouldn’t be setting the city’s agenda, the City Council should. But as long as the Council is dominated by Republican lackeys like Bass, Leonard, Jager and Jones, who lack the ability to have an original idea or think outside the box as defined by Tyson, the city will continue to follow Tyson’s agenda. But if we elect two more progressives to the City Council to join Atkins and Glass, Tyson will have to sit up and take notice. He can make the choice then: Either follow the Council’s lead or move on.
June 22, 2009 at 6:19 am
Linda Atkins has been a breath of fresh air with all of Larry’s ideas what a joke she has yet to add anything useful to the mix and Larry does just what Ogden says he should do Larry is everywhere but cannot lead us as he pouts about everything everytime he doesn’t get his way, real leadership. Come on be realistic.
June 22, 2009 at 7:20 am
“Truth” is wrong, Bull is right. No one wants to return to the chaotic days of Harvey Rose et al.
June 22, 2009 at 7:24 am
Don’t you just love the way the Mayor is always injecting her (Tyson’s) opinion in the middle of council debates.
June 22, 2009 at 7:26 am
Truth??? is that Jeff’s mom again?
June 22, 2009 at 7:28 am
David Tyson is a man with the highest work ethic. Nobody works harder for his community than this man and anyone who bashes him clearly has no connections with the problems of the past OR the staff that actually keeps this city running: the guys who work in engineering, the folks at the water department, on and on and on… Staff wide, he is respected for doing an outstanding job and more than earning his salary.
June 22, 2009 at 7:29 am
p.s.
not that it should matter as party plays no role in the council but Bass and Leonard are both Democrats.
June 22, 2009 at 7:49 am
“David Tyson is a man with the highest work ethic. Nobody works harder for his community than this man”
I’ll grant you that. He also works real hard pleasing Rob Arkley.
I think the biggest problem with ol’ Dave is his demand of total control of everything and everyone in the City. It’s particularly revealing to see the The Fire and Police Chiefs argue against their own departments interests, just because Tyson orders them to. Tyson demands unwavering loyalty. Your either with him or against him, just like ol’ GW.
June 22, 2009 at 7:55 am
You must know neither the police chief nor the fire chief. While I do not always agree with any of the three men mentioned I know them all to be men of character and their own minds. To think of either chief having a meeting with Mr. Tyson and getting their “marching orders” is utterly laughable.
June 22, 2009 at 7:59 am
Jeff’s real mother: You have no idea what you are talking about. Just because someone talks to Mr. Arkely does NOT mean they loose independant thought or are automatically his puppets. Stop degradating folks you are obviously quite jealous of.
As for how our City is set up and who is “in charge” Heraldo’s time would be better spent reading the City Charter…and within it are mechanisms for change– but then again, if he actually READ the law he would not have anything to mis represent on his blog.
June 22, 2009 at 8:03 am
The Waterfront Drive extension anyone?
June 22, 2009 at 8:04 am
p.s. Don’t think for one minute that Virginia is NOT well off; she is more than capable of getting a job and KNEW what her powers and responsibilities that come with being Mayor of a charter City would be BEFORE she ran and is NOT complaining.
Who is this dolt EZ Ryder, and where is their brain?
June 22, 2009 at 8:33 am
Just more left wing bull shit. Atkins is a puppet
for Glass and they both are a joke. Larry will do
anything to keep the left wing agenda going all
the while, business and stores keep closing, jobs
leaving, etc. Now alot of social services are
being cut, and the cry its not fair. Yet they do
everything the can think of to drive business out
of Humboldt Cty and out of Calif. It’s not that
difficult to figure out.
June 22, 2009 at 8:54 am
According to the International City/County Management Association, the average tenure for city managers nationwide is about seven years and the current average annual salary for managers of cities between 10,000 and 24,999 residents is about $105,000. My observation is that city managers are most productive in the first 4 to 6 years. After that, the creative edge wanes as paternalism and cronyism take hold. Maybe term limits should extend to the city manager position as well.
June 22, 2009 at 8:55 am
Agreed 8:33
June 22, 2009 at 9:22 am
This is the besetting syndrome of HumCo politics locally and countywide: putative ‘Supervisors’ rely on subordinate staff for the information they need to manage their subordinates’ performance. The city manager job institutionalizes this absence of informatitive feedback, though it easily comes about informally as well, as a glance at our Board of Supervisors will affirm. This weakness is also apparent in many school districts, the Planning Commission, and elsewhere.
So I’m in instinctive sympathy with any proposal to make tiers of administration directly accountable. The lamentations of the old guard that Eureka’s too small and parochial to merit direct representation speaks for itself. Eureka will mature as politics makes maturity necessary. I say bring it on.
June 22, 2009 at 9:47 am
“Just because someone talks to Mr. Arkely does NOT mean they loose independent thought or are automatically his puppets.” Wow, clearly you don’t know Rob Arkley. BTW didn’t Rob list Dave Tyson first, as Friend and “business associate”?
Just look at the way Rob turned on my boy, for not marching lock step.
June 22, 2009 at 11:32 am
What the hell does George Will have to do with this?
June 22, 2009 at 11:50 am
I don’t believe that it is Jeff’s real Mother posting here. She usually signs her name.
June 22, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Quite picking on Jeff. He’s doing his job! If you don’t like it, YOU run for office and see how well you do!
June 22, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Wow, I guess Jeff needs all the help he can get!
June 22, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Thank you Term ‘em out 8:54!
Watching Tyson’s amusing animation during the June 18, 2009 public hearing at the Humboldt Association of Governments was like a volley ball game replete with slam dunks for development-as-usual to delay the process and obscure the critical need to begin building affordable residences within our cities.
After 5 months of no-progress on Humboldt County’s Rural Housing Needs Assessment, Virginia Bass voted to delay it further citing the California Housing and Community Development’s 7% flexibility as being “to little” for individual cities.
Unfortunately, the 7% flexibility figure applies to the total housing number and not to individual cities.
Being prepared for board meetings and knowing the facts are irrelevant when the deck is stacked with mayors and city managers who understand that it’s the developers that finance and win historic political majorities, as in many other cities. Developers avoid discussing actual demographics, that’s the job of our elected representatives who… also never discuss demographics! Instead, they’re fighting ferociously for the “right” to continue building remote developments for one class of citizen. Respect for posterity interferes with short-term profits! Otherwise, they would have begun planning for affordable in-fill residences anytime since 1980, when Eureka began its glut of low-wage, part-time national retailers. Far from wanting the right to live where they please, asserted by CPR, one thousand new employees in Eureka lack the option to live affordably in town. Affordable in-fill residences are the only way for most working people to begin saving the capital to buy the 160 acres of forested land that CPR is “protecting for them”!
Mayor Bass explained her support for unaffordable sprawl, claiming that it’s unjust to deny future residents the right to drive 20 minutes into town from Cutten. (Massive sewage discharges, low water pressure, traffic problems on a single rural road, inadequate public safety, no jobs, and current municipal budget deficits notwithstanding).
One public speaker had the audacity to challenge sprawl, prodding Mayor Bass to arbitrarily announce (wrongly) that the public speaker also lives 20 minutes from town and therefore has “no credibility”!
Ironically, once Bass gets her Cutten sprawl, the multiple $250,000 signals eventually needed on H St, I Street, Myrtle and Harris, will turn thousands of 5 minute drives into 20 minutes!
Reality TV has nothing on this group; it’s like watching a train wreck in slow motion.
As long as city councils remain in developer’s pockets, nothing will change.
June 22, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Here’s and idea = why don’t you disturbed folks run for office? Then others can ridicule you. Have any of you ever met Dave Tyson? Do you actually know him or do you just make up shit about people? What is up with that?
June 22, 2009 at 1:42 pm
We know him and we attend the meetings. Do you?
No one could make this shit up.
June 22, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Tyson isn’t elected. We elect a ribbon cutter, not the agenda setter.
June 22, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Hey, anon 8:33. Virginia Bass made a campaign promise to create more jobs in Eureka. Her campaign slogan was, “Fighting for Jobs.” So, can you name a single job she has created in 2-1/2 years as mayor? And can you tell me why you want to blame Larry Glass for the lousy economy, but not Virginia, who made it the cornerstone of her campaign? Just curious.
June 22, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Reinventing the wheel, Actually, if you read Cal gov. code section 65584.05(g) Spencer was “almost” correct in his response to Virginia. Just a little confused….. The train wreck is the Healthy Humboldt advocates somehow falsely assuming that an Element of the General Plan is the panacea to urban sprawl. If such an assumption were true then the Housing Element is really one powerful document. The truth is that a tool for providing affordable housing and other housing choices has become hijacked by both sides of the argument. So, I’d get off your high horse Mr. Wheel because your actions are about as pure as HUM CPR or HELP’s when it comes to misguided advocacy.
June 22, 2009 at 2:16 pm
You sit in on the meetings. Have you ever sat down with Dave? The reference to running for office has to do with the mud thrown at the elected officials. Give them some credit for spending their time dealing with stuff nobody else apparently wants to. You don’t have to always agree with them (or your significant other), but you can respect their opinions.
June 22, 2009 at 4:33 pm
So mooseboy, short memory. Seems I remember a group called CREG, remember who the president of that group when it was of political value. But like so many of the prog’y off shoot groups it was a smoke screen. How many of Larry’s living wage job’s did that group provide. Fact come to think of it, how many of those living wage jobs did Larry create in 20’s of running the works. For that manner how about George Clark, or Larry’s old partner Pat Higgin’s. All have lots to say out living wage jobs but seem to fall short on follow through. I don’t blame Larry for the poor economic times. However I blame the whole group of prog’s for the poor economic situation in Humboldt county.
June 22, 2009 at 5:06 pm
SECTION 602. DUTIES OF THE CITY MANAGER.
Subject to policy prescribed by the Council, the City Manager shall have the power and duty to:
(a) Supervise the administrative affairs of the city except as otherwise specifically provided in this Charter.
(b) Provide the Council with such information as may be requested or needed for the Council to perform its duties.
(c) Make such recommendations to the Council concerning the affairs of the city as the City Manager may deem desirable, including the proposal of ordinances and resolutions the City Manager finds necessary for effective management or in the public interest.
(d) Keep the Council advised of the financial condition and future needs of the city.
(e) See that the ordinances of the city and the applicable laws of the State are enforced.
(f) Appoint, discipline and remove all department heads of the city under the jurisdiction of the City Manager provided that the appointment or dismissal of department heads shall be subject to approval of the Council.
(g) Act as purchasing agent for the city and all offices, boards, commissions and committees.
(h) Investigate the operations of departments and other agencies of the city, and of all contracts to which the city is a party, and assure proper performance.
(i) Investigate complaints concerning utility operations and see that all permits, privileges and franchises granted by the city are faithfully performed.
(j) When directed by the City Council, represent the City in its inter-governmental relations, and negotiate contracts for joint governmental actions subject to Council approval.
(k) If so authorized by ordinance, perform the duties imposed by law on a City Clerk, Auditor, Assessor, Tax Collector or Treasurer and deputize others to act for the City Manager in such matters to the extent permitted by law.
(l) Exercise general supervision over all public property under control of the city.
(m) Attend all meetings of the City Council unless excused, and such meetings of the boards, commissions and committees as the City Manager chooses, or which the City Manager is directed to attend by the Council, and participate in discussions at such meetings.
(n) Perform such other duties as may be prescribed by this Charter or required of the City Manager by ordinance or resolution of the Council.
(o) Recommend to the City Council such general rules and regulations as the City Manager may deem necessary or expedient in the general conduct of the administrative departments under the jurisdiction of the City Manager.
(p) Devote full-time to the duties of the office and to the interests of the city.
June 22, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Heraldo Says:
“Tyson isn’t elected. We elect a ribbon cutter, not the agenda setter.”
The City Manager follows the agenda set by Council, who are elected by the same people who elect the ribbon cutter.
June 22, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Strange, then, that councilmembers are always asking Tyson to put things on the agenda.
June 22, 2009 at 5:35 pm
Are you being literal?
“in accordance with, involving, or being the primary or strict meaning of the word or words; not figurative or metaphorical: the literal meaning of a word.”
The council sets the agenda Tyson merely produces the product.
Figuratively speaking
June 22, 2009 at 5:48 pm
As I stated on the previous thread, I have lived in cities with a Strong Mayor system, and in cities with a Weak (ceremonial) Mayor / Strong City Manager system.
My experience is that the Strong Mayor cities were generally better run and more responsive to community concerns. This is not surprising given that in a Strong Mayor system the voters get to vote up or down on the person who actually runs the city, whereas in cities like Eureka, the City Manager does not answer directly to the people.
Eureka’s situation, where they agreed to continually renew the City Manager’s contract unless 4 out of 5 councilpeople voted to oust him, is the extreme example of non-accountable government. I don’t have strong feelings about Tyson one way or the other (and I don’t live in Eureka, though I did some years ago) but it’s clear that the system is set up in such a way that increased staff power and lack of accountability is built right in.
Ultimately it’s up to Eureka voters whether they want to keep it that way or not. It’s good to see the issue being actively discussed; that provides some hope for the future.
June 22, 2009 at 5:56 pm
And a strong mayor system would likely mean the person running the city lives in the city.
June 22, 2009 at 6:07 pm
Let’s just change the city charter so that the city manager’s job sunsets after three or four years. His or her employment would simpley not be renewed unless the city council took affirmative steps to renew the contract.
That way no one will be offended and no one’s reputation need be sullied. The holder of the office will expect to move on after 3 or 4 years under normal circumstances and will plan his or her life accordingly.
have a peaceful day,
Bill
June 22, 2009 at 9:01 pm
If ou want a “Strong Mayor”, then they will have to be paid as a full time employee.
June 22, 2009 at 9:22 pm
Tyson needs to move on. It is clear and i’ve only been attending meetings for about one year. He has become a tyrant.
June 22, 2009 at 9:32 pm
I dont get it. Dave & Virginia are good, honest
hard working people. Why do you need to make up
such lies and BS? Does it make you happy to tear
people down for nothing. This is a real sad part
of this country. You do whatever you feel like
doing just so you get your way. How sad!
June 22, 2009 at 9:33 pm
“If ou want a “Strong Mayor”, then they will have to be paid as a full time employee.”
Certainly. But without the City Manger salary it would be acceptable.
June 22, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Sorry. Dave does not even live in Eureka. He lives in Cutten. I have studied his budget proposals and analysis. Even when directed to analyze various options by the Council, his writings are filled with one-sided explanations, misleading statements, and obvious advocacy for his pet areas. He is very much trying to direct the budget process by the way he phrases his so-called analysis. If you don’t think Dave sets the agenda, watch his toady, MJ, crying big tears when Dave’s pet areas are threatened. Now Frank has started crying along with Mike. Put a drum and piano under it and we’ll have the new Everly Brothers.
June 22, 2009 at 10:20 pm
It’s obvious you were not around for the three City Manager’s before Tyson, Dave Tooley, John Arnold and Harvey Rose. Now there was a trio, the council let them all go after a couple of years. Evidently the council has been happy with Dave’s performance he has held the City Manager’s seat for twice as long as any of those jokers.
June 22, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Unlike the others, Tyson has been insulated by the 3/4 vote requirement to remove him. Perhaps some would consider that “happy.”
June 22, 2009 at 10:54 pm
“Truth Says” sounds a lot like Tyson talking. I’d place money on it, if I was a betting person. He has a strangle hold on his job with the 4/5 vote. He protects his buddies on K st. and shafts the police and fire departments. He protects the zoo like it was sacred ground, then turns around and refuses to support the police chief, who has done a very good job in revamping EPD. Doesn’t smell right to me.
June 23, 2009 at 4:10 am
Give it a rest … Tyson is hard working and serves as the CEO of the City organization, while the Council and Mayor act as board of directors and chair. How can Eureka attract and retain competent city managers without adequate salary and reasonable job protection? This is a ball-breaking job that requires encyclopedic knowledge of regulations and public finance.
Few in this comment thread would last 10 minutes in his job. Terms limits for a CEO … get real.
June 23, 2009 at 6:37 am
The whole point of this blog is to try and make something from nothing. A political stage for the prog’s. Election time is drawing near so the attack dogs are out. Just political posturing by the left.
June 23, 2009 at 7:20 am
Anyone who thinks rotating City Managers is the answer should take a look at Vallejo, 7 City Managers in 4 years. Some people always think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.
Maybe we can take a look at Vallejo’s money problems on another thread.
June 23, 2009 at 7:33 am
As long as Mr. Jager, Mr. Jones and Mr. Leonard are forcing us to circulate a petition to restore real democracy to Eureka, we might as well fix the city manager problem too. The effort will be the same, so why waste it on just one little thing.
So in addition to changing the charter to implement a true ward system, lets also install a strong elected city mayor and eliminate the city manager position.
No doubt in this city the mayor will usually be a Democrat due to the 2-1 advantage that Dems have over Republicans, so again for the Demoocrats it should be a no-brainer.
Of course, Mr. Jager or Mr. Jones or Mr. Leanard (any ONE OF THEM) can reconsider and let the voters choose what kind of ward system they want and we won’t have to circulate a petition.
have a peaceful day,
Bill
June 23, 2009 at 8:36 am
City of Vallejo’s $100K-plus Earners
During the calendar year 2007, there were 292 City of Vallejo employees who had total gross wages of $100,000 or more. Find out who they were, what departments they worked for and how much they made by searching that database below.
To perform a search, you can leave the fields blank or on “select” if you want broad results. For more narrow results, you can enter a person’s name or select from the drop-down menus. (The data was provided by the City of Vallejo’s Finance Department)
http://www.sfgate.com/webdb/vallejo/
June 23, 2009 at 8:47 am
Thank you Chris. Someone with a brain!
June 23, 2009 at 1:19 pm
To 1:58
There is no “panacea” to stop sprawl or the greed behind it.
There is the LANGUAGE, however, that “change” always begins with. And that language needs to be in the GP elements. Inclusionary zoning, in-fill development, in-lieu fees, etc. Continuing development-as-usual is nothing short of radical.
To 2:16
I have met with Mr. Tyson and he’s a nice guy. His “encyclopedic” knowledge came in handy when I asked how the $35 million dollar’s needed to update the Eureka sewer system suddenly became $25 million.
Answer: “value-added engineering”. (Cutting corners).
To 5:06
You left out one the of the city manager’s responsibilities:
Section 602(l):
“…ignore neighborhoods and citizens until they obtain a lawyer…”
How is it that the waste water lift station at the Eureka Golf Course recently received nearly $500,000 in updates while Eureka’s worst offending stations on record, in more populated areas, await their next major discharge in our forested wetlands?
No doubt the Golf Course station needed it, no doubt the 30 year-old Martin Slough Interceptor project will help, yet, Mr. Tyson hasn’t spoken much about the sprawl that fellow club-members are downtown clamoring to continue… sprawl that will severely impact Eureka, its decaying infrastructure and underfunded police force.
More unaffordable homes for the majority of working families, (and the associated increases in bankruptcy, foreclosures, poverty, crime, drug abuse and homelessness), more traffic, more sewer spills, and more public safety and traffic signals that our budget cannot afford.
Unaccountable, irresponsible, radical greed….(that has historically financed, won, and maintained controlling interest on the Eureka city council.
June 23, 2009 at 1:27 pm
highboldtage Says:
June 23, 2009 at 8:36 am
“City of Vallejo’s $100K-plus Earners
During the calendar year 2007, there were 292 City of Vallejo employees who had total gross wages of $100,000 or more. Find out who they were, what departments they worked for and how much they made by searching” ….
Maybe you should look in some other places.
“Meanwhile, public safety salaries and benefits have ballooned, demanding an unusually high 74 percent of the city’s general fund budget, which also funds services including street repairs and senior centers.”
I believe the City of Eureka is around 54% for public safety. When will the City reach the tipping point?
June 23, 2009 at 7:36 pm
A weak city manager allows for the strength of the council to come through. Or we could have a city manager the listens to his council rather than trying to blunt their effect.My impression of Tyson is that he wants to control all the decisions, not just council but department heads as well. He will fight any budget cuts that don’t fit into his big picture. The cuts he wants in police and fire are just one example. The zoo is sacred ground to Tyson but we can sure gut public safety to the bone. I just don’t get his priorities. I don’t think he has the the best interests of Eurekans at heart.
The reason public safety is the biggest part of the city budget is because it represents the most basic needs of it’s residents. Do you really want vigilantes administering justice and neighborhood bucket brigades putting out fires?
June 23, 2009 at 9:21 pm
A professionally prepared budget compiled by the CEO of the City (the manager)and his finance director (a trained accountant) and her staff, along with input from the department heads is the correct procedure for presenting a city budget. The chair of the Finance Advisory Committee (Monitor) has overstepped his duties as defined by the municipal code in preparing a different version with the assistance of two council members and their special interests, i.e. shutting down the zoo and gutting Community Development.
June 23, 2009 at 9:24 pm
The Monitor Says:
“The reason public safety is the biggest part of the city budget is because it represents the most basic needs of it’s residents. Do you really want vigilantes administering justice and neighborhood bucket brigades putting out fires?”
Wouldn’t you think the most “basic needs” of the City are sewer and water? If you don’t have clean water coming in and bad water going out… you don’t have much of a city.
June 23, 2009 at 9:30 pm
Where is the list of 100 k earners for the city of Eureka?
have a peaceful day,
Bill
June 23, 2009 at 11:06 pm
9:21 city staff cry baby
“The chair of the Finance Advisory Committee (Monitor) has overstepped his duties as defined by the municipal code in preparing a different version with the assistance of two council members”…..How dare anyone question the all mighty CM.
June 23, 2009 at 11:18 pm
yrallwaky, I agree that among basic services, we need to include water, sewer, and power too. I realize power is not provided by the city, but it is a very basic need. So in times of deep recession these are the areas local governments should concentrate on. It will take some time for Humboldt County to come out of a recessionary economy, so we had better come to grips with it now rather than letting the red ink pile up.
9:21, It is not the professionalism of the city staff I am concerned about. It is where our dwindling public money is being allocated. It is all in the priorities where we disagree.
June 24, 2009 at 9:13 am
The chair of the finace is another puppet of
Larry Glass and has an ego bigger that Heraldo
or Glass
June 24, 2009 at 9:58 am
that’s not a fair comparison Heraldo as more than one ego, how can the rest of them compete.
June 24, 2009 at 10:26 am
Larry Glass is nothing but ego. He is, hands down, the biggest voter error in recent city history.
His indignant displays and comic arrogance in council chambers are pure comedy to watch. The tragedy is this: we are stuck with his antics for a few more years and he may do real damage in that time.
June 24, 2009 at 10:46 am
From what I heard, this new budget proposal will cut the zoo to the point where it may have to close and completely eliminate the planning department and staff. Without planning no Marina Center and didn’t the zoo receive some major funding from the Arkley’s? Hmmmmm
June 24, 2009 at 10:53 am
The zoo should close it is embarrassing to keep wild animals penned up in the 21st century.
June 24, 2009 at 10:57 am
Westside Native,
You have bravely commented, here in this string, on what so many people, from all walks of life in Eureka have seen clearly, that Glass has a blinding hatred of all things contributed to by the Arkley’s. It is pitiful that he persists in his transparent actions, but hell, without the fuel of his anti-Arkley mission what else has he got?
June 24, 2009 at 11:06 am
Why doesn’t big brave honest compassionate and supremely competent (because he runs a business) Rob Arkley run for office against Larry Glass? Put up or shut up.
June 24, 2009 at 11:12 am
Seriously??? Rob Arkley can only show his dedication to his community through public office? Are you that narrow minded in your view of public and community service?
So, he is busy running a business that contributes untold sums to the coffers via taxes but that’s not enough?
He employs dozens, perhaps hundreds, with high paying jobs, that is not enough?
O.K. anon…what have you done for me lately?
June 24, 2009 at 11:25 am
The zoo could become a petting zoo, with goats and chickens. Kids love that stuff. I always hated seeing caged wild animals as a kid. I hated going to the zoo and seeing the elephant chained to the cement floor on a one foot length of chain. Or how about the pacing big cats who look like they have gone totally insane? Zoos are brutal and should become a thing of the past. Housing a retired circus chimp is one thing, but Bill is gone now.
June 24, 2009 at 12:07 pm
I agree and our zoo pretty much IS a petting zoo.
You see no big cats, or small cats for that matter, no elephants, zebras, big caged WILD animals except for the bear and we all know it would have been shot by animal control if it weren’t kept alive at the zoo for educational purposes.
Our zoo is mostly domesticated animals and those that are well suited to a domesticated life like the African deer (or whatever it is). Education is the only good reason for a zoo and my kids have gotten so much out of the little zoo here and its amazing educational staff.
June 24, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Anyone seen the Zoo master plan lately?
June 24, 2009 at 12:38 pm
“He employees dozens, perhaps hundreds, with high paying jobs, that is not enough?”
Do those workers not make him fabulously wealthy? Arkley doesn’t employ people as a service to the community.
I would like to know what the incarcerated bear has taught you, Maude, and those African deer. You seem confused to me.
June 24, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Confused how doom-ist. Do explain.
June 24, 2009 at 1:01 pm
With the finance advisory he committee eliminating the planning department and staff I can understand why it would be a popular cut to make. The department has brought forward some controversial projects as of late (cell towers, Marina Center, Teen Challenge) which have resulted in a negative public opinion and mistrust towards their work. There appears to more public support for the zoo than the planning department and staff and feel that David Ogden will save some portion of the zoo operations but set the planners free.
June 24, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Well, Maude, I mean confused. I don’t know how you came to be so muddled and I won’t speculate – there are way too many possibilities.
June 24, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Getting rid of the planning department is a progressive route to take but the budget has to be cut someplace. I agree set the planners free. When the council decides they need planners again they can hand pick the new staff.
June 24, 2009 at 3:51 pm
I’ll tell you who has a blind hatred and that is the not so sweet Maude. Glass won a seat on council by a solid majority, and he respects and works hard for the folks that live in our fair city. Judging by the lack of call backs by Jones, Jager, and Jeff, I would say Mr. Glass beats them, hands down. I have always received a thoughtful response from Glass, no matter what the issue or whether he agrees or not. Maude is about as hateful as anyone I’ve read here lately. Stick to issues old girl and you will be a lot better off. “In the middle” is really the wrong handle, more like blindly to the right of right.
June 24, 2009 at 4:00 pm
I wonder who signs Maude’s paycheck.
June 24, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Looks like, Maude in the Middle, goes to the same writing school, as Jerry Droz. I wonder where this place is…
June 24, 2009 at 4:10 pm
I sign my own paycheck.
gasp.
June 24, 2009 at 4:26 pm
I still wonder who signs Maude’s paycheck.
June 24, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Hang in there Maude
you must have hit it pretty close to the mark to get ‘em all worked up like that.
June 24, 2009 at 7:30 pm
The Monitor Says:
June 23, 2009 at 11:18 pm
9:21, It is not the professionalism of the city staff I am concerned about. It is where our dwindling public money is being allocated. It is all in the priorities where we disagree.
So Monitor, I’ve done the math and 58% of the City’s budget is going to Public Safety (Vallejo tipped at 62%), 15% is going to Pubic Works (things like parks, landscaped areas, playgrounds, zoo, pot holes, alleys, parking lots, etc) and less than .02% (that’s not 2% it’s less than 1%) for Capital Projects (things like new parking lots or parking structure’s in Old Town and Henderson Center. I believe Public Safety is important but there should be some balance in how the pie is divided.
June 24, 2009 at 8:40 pm
Wow, Maude sounds eerily like Mr. Arkley himself
June 24, 2009 at 10:55 pm
yrallwaky sounds like another cry baby staff member.We citizens of Eureka would rather have the Fire Dept and the Police dept than the Zoo. So go home to Cutten and STFU.
June 24, 2009 at 11:06 pm
It would be interesting to know what other Calif. cities, by percentage, allocate to public safety.
Put that figure together with crime figures for the same cities. A picture would emerge allowing us to see how we compare. It might help in the current budget discussions.
June 25, 2009 at 6:51 am
Westside native, the Planners don’t control what appliant’s apply for. By law they bring the project forward. I hope your knowledge of civics doesn’t match your IQ becuase you are pretty clueless in this topic. Only the dumbest of the dumb citizens will attack the planners processing controversial projects, equating the merits or lack thereof of a private development to the planner. It must be really painful just to get up in the morning. Your world sounds tough Westside native.
June 25, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Virginia Tyson Says:
June 24, 2009 at 10:55 pm
yrallwaky sounds like another cry baby staff member.We citizens of Eureka would rather have the Fire Dept and the Police dept than the Zoo. So go home to Cutten and STFU.
Sorry Virginia, your wrong on three points: I’m not a cry baby, never have been.
I don’t work for the City and I don’t have a home in Cutten.
I also suspect that if the citizen of Eureka knew what they were giving up to give public safety a very large part of the pie, they might not be as willing to give police and fire all that they want.
BTW the zoo only uses 2% of the pie…
June 25, 2009 at 6:04 pm
eco-dufuss the people who work for RA make living wage’s, something that your boys, glass,lovelace, kerrigan, wilson, have never provided for anyone ever in history. Although they always talk about it. Why would RA ever subject himself to public office. Glass by a solid majority, with who’s money. I remember we don’t talk about that do we now. Just a little help from the salzman crowd too. What about GREG and SAFE, by the way SAFE website says Larry lives somewhere besides Eureka. What was the deal on that anyway. Also who’s business is it what someone makes, you want a list HB. How about a list of folks on the receiving end of all the government services. For the record I am not in favor of that either.
June 25, 2009 at 6:43 pm
HumpRed, you miss the point completely. Arkley pays wages for service rendered, so to call those wages a public or community service is inaccurate. The rest of your snotty diatribe is just mean and stupid, but up to your usual standard.
June 27, 2009 at 9:34 pm
I never called those either, just a cost of doing business. Snotty diatribe, What about you answering the questions asshole. That’s reality, just what is even if you don’t like it. Mean I am never, and as far as stupid, get a grip. Just because someone disagrees with you does not make the argument stupid. You just do not have the brain power to refute the points. Who is stupid SFB. As for standards you do not even have an idea of my standards, or any standards for that matter. Just another puppet to the socialist bull.
June 27, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Sticks and stones…
June 28, 2009 at 2:12 pm
“Why would RA ever subject himself to public office.”
I hear that he intimidates elected officials to try to get what he wants. How can he hope to win an election when everybody knows that he would use his office to further his own agenda? What a cracker you are Hum Red. You ought to give sobriety an even break during daylight hours, then maybe we can talk reasonably about your standards.
June 28, 2009 at 4:17 pm
If you go back and read this blog over the last couple years you will see that HumBred is at his best on Sundays – he (or she) can get rip roarin stinkin drunk before noon on Sundays.
During the week she has to stick to maintenance drinking while she “works hard” and “creates jobs” and “pays too much taxes.”
June 29, 2009 at 7:17 am
I must of hit a nerve bringing up old stuff. Maintenance drinking, you have to go through 12-step to learn that stuff. Bet you did. Sorry, on Sunday went to Gym, Church, and family time. Bought some beer at Costco for company at the house next weekend.
June 29, 2009 at 8:48 am
Are you a Hamms drinker HumRed?
June 29, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Probably should have clarified, I have never been to any program except weight watchers to shed a few pounds for a bicycle race and because the doctor told me it would be a good idea. Playdoh just seemed to know so much it made sense that he had done a program. No I have never had a Hamms beer. Mr. Buettner, another Kool-Aid maker. Some of that graphic Shit you did to Charlies was really below the belt, kind of like the shit that was done to Campbell when he was dying of cancer.
June 29, 2009 at 1:16 pm
HumRed said, “Maintenance drinking, you have to go through a 12-step to learn that stuff.”
Oh ho!
June 29, 2009 at 3:13 pm
I also asked several questions that you fail to address. Its OK I never really expected an answer. Either you know to little to provide any answers, or you know enough to keep your mouth shut. Your post with “I hear” shows where you sit in at the party.
June 29, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Drunks.
June 29, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Mouthy. Obnoxious. Over-bearing. Stupid. Drunks.
June 30, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Did you hear Rob Arkley on his KINS radio interview yesterday? Seems Security National has agreed to a full clean-up of the balloon tract.
Now I can get back to C.R.E.G. (Citizens for Regressive Economic Growth) duties and come up with my next excuse to stop Home Depot.
June 30, 2009 at 3:25 pm
I’ll believe that when I see the detailed plan and baykeeper signs off.
June 30, 2009 at 8:18 pm
Eco-doomist and Playdoh. You are becoming more creative with the character names H. I always wonder if you assign the characters to individuals or work on the characters in group.
June 30, 2009 at 8:27 pm
It’s amusing that you think I would waste time playing with you, HumRed. But if it makes you feel better…
June 30, 2009 at 9:00 pm
“But if it makes you feel better…”
Do you know how to cure HumRed’s hangover?
June 30, 2009 at 9:06 pm
Apparently he does it by imagining that he’s arguing with one person who is deviously trying to trick him with multiple pseudonyms.
June 30, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Get ready for the full fledged publicity effort that is about to be released touting jobs and the economy.
Despite George Clark’s assertion a week or so ago that the Home Depot effort was a dead issue, it is about to be front and center once again soon; front page news in August.
June 30, 2009 at 9:42 pm
Yes. Paranoid delusions resulting from alcohol poisoning. Pitiful.
July 1, 2009 at 7:19 am
you guys are doing a fine job trashing humred but you can’t seem to address the points:
1. RA pays living wages, does Glass?
2. where does glass live?
http://www.northcoastjournal.com/083106/towndandy0831.html
July 1, 2009 at 2:56 pm
RA pays living wages. Good for him. What is your definition of living wages? I have lived on $8.00 per hour back in the 1980’s. Does a living wage take into account escalating energy costs. Glass pays the going rate to his employees. So does Arkley. So your point is? Glass lives in a house. Is that a problem? Why do you want to know? He obviously meets the requirements of his office. But, if you don’t like his politics start a rumor, better yet, throw a punch at him in a crowded restaurant.
July 1, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Sound’s kind of like drunk, stupid, paranoid, overbearing, etc. Do you just not know shit, did anyone ever testify that RA pushed Glass, no they did not, whole room full of people and not one stood up. I know RA and frankly he is not that scary. If you made 8 an hour in the 1980’s, as an adult you must have worked in a taco stand or as a babysitter. RA pays his employee’s well above the ” going rate” Glass does not and never has, living wage is in fact a big point that Larry pushed.What the hell do escalating energy costs have to do with shit about living wage jobs. What I pointed out is that there was a problem with Larry living in his district. And there is a website in another area that claims Larry is a resident of that area. You are but a kool-aid drinker, not even a maker. Again I go back to the ” I hear”, try critical thinking.
July 1, 2009 at 6:16 pm
so that would be
1. no
2. decline to state
thanks.
July 1, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Sit down and relax HumRed – Why don’t you have one of those beers you bought last weekend?
BTW, everyone knows that Arkley shoved the hell out of Glass. He should have doubled Gans salary on the spot for saving his ass.
July 1, 2009 at 8:09 pm
I made $8.00 per hour as a department manager for Target in Houston, Texas. I managed the Camera and Sound Dept. as well as Sporting Goods, Book/Magazine and Seasonal departments. All of those departments, while under my management, had sales volume that put them in the top 10 for the southwest region of the U.S. which consisted of 79 stores. For that time $8.00 per hour was the industry standard for Department managers.
Who does Larry Glass employ? Sales clerks. I would expect that Rob Arkley employs lawyers and accountants. No doubt he subcontracts out his low wage maintenance and cleaning work to smaller companies who pay their workers low wages. You are comparing apples and oranges Mr. Critical Thinker.
July 1, 2009 at 8:16 pm
So HumRed and 421, what gives, are you two guys drinking buddies or just a couple of independent critical thinkers befuddling your incomparable minds with the locally made skunk piss?
July 1, 2009 at 8:18 pm
i would ask the same of you and anon @ 6:29
July 1, 2009 at 8:44 pm
you dips, Larry Glass has lived at 2nd and J in Old Town since he’s been on the city council, and before that lived on 2nd St. near his store. Everyone who knows him (which is everyone in Eureka) sees him riding his bike or walking to work every day, or walking his kayak down to the Adorni Center. Sure he has a place on South Fork Mtn. where he’d love to live except that he actually has to make an honest living, so he has to be content to go there when he can.
AND there was a witness to “the shove” who filed a police report. Repeating the bogus nonsense that there was no witness doesn’t make it true…
HumRed/Dr. Bill, you ought to go back to Six Rivers and warm that barstool, you’re better off down there drinking than running your foul mouth on the blogs, everyone knows who you are. How you ever got elected is beyond comprehension.
July 1, 2009 at 8:53 pm
And then you would ask where Larry Glass lives and make reference to a web site that claims that he lives outside of the district that he represents and follow up by comparing the wages he pays with the wages Rob Arkley pays all the while pounding these non-issues with self-righteous moral indignity.
Critical thinkers you may be, but you and HumRed will always take a back seat to Bill the Chimp, may he rest in peace.
July 1, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Your objective evidence is then ” everyone knows “, dispute the fact that there was no charges and no one stepped forward who saw it in a crowded venue. All we have is Larry said, on the side outside to a police chief, he pushed me. Larry’s argument is that all employee’s should make wages that are living wage’s. Just look back at what he was saying. RA employees people at all levels, not just lawyers and accountants. Again you imply something about subcontracting out work to folks that then pay low wages. Where do you get this stuff. Like Larry never used cleaning services etc. If they were paying you 8 per hour to manage those departments and you had that kind of sales volume all I can say is you got hosed and you did not have the brains to get out. Tell me how much critical thinking did it take to manage a dept. at Target. Oh I know, following what the manual told you to do. Kind of like that ” I heard ” stuff.
‘
July 1, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Keep drinking the kool-aid. I’m out.
July 1, 2009 at 9:01 pm
OK, I’ll say it: it’s a matter of public record. It was Mike Wilson who saw the incident and made the police report. He told me about the incident, as did Larry. I imagine you’ll say Mike was lying, Randy Gans was telling the truth, but regardless of your personal opinion of fact vs. fiction, the fact is THERE WAS A WITNESS WHO CAME FORWARD AND MADE A POLICE REPORT, ok?
July 1, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Larry never said all employees should make a living wage. What he said was that the city of Eureka should “stop recruiting out of the area retail giants and start working to develop and grow light manufacturing and high tech based jobs that are environmentally friendly and pay a real living wage.” What he actually said addresses the fact that wages in Eureka are a problem; they still are a problem, now that housing costs have gone up so much.
OK the guy has not lived every second of his life in Eureka city limits, but he has had a business in Old Town since 1971. And he has lived in Old Town since he ran for city council, so what’s the problem?
Virginia Bass campaigned for Affordable Housing through better land use – what has she done about that campaign promise???
Top Priorities if Elected
* Creation and retention of good paying jobs. Consideration of all options
* Affordable Housing through better land use, public/private partnerships, developer incentives
* A safer community – filling of budgeted police positions, continued education and training of public safety personnel
July 1, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Give it a rest anon 9:01, lots of guys on this forum refuse to listen to what they don’t want to hear
July 1, 2009 at 9:30 pm
Keep drinking the kool-aid?
That’s deep. How do you come up with such witty rejoinders? What I can’t figure out is why someone hasn’t tied the hair on your ass to the hair on your head and just kicked you on down the street.
July 2, 2009 at 8:33 am
What have you done to educate yourself about the city council? Bass is not a dictator who magically issues orders that are enacted by staff. You spouted off about Larry’s priorities, but neglected to mention a single thing he has done toward them. That’s just it. You don’t understand how government works and you assail opponents while ignoring identical failings in your golden children.
July 2, 2009 at 9:22 am
I think you are both making the same point.
July 2, 2009 at 9:33 am
Glass promised to a more open public government and to improve public safety. Unless you’ve been out of the country for a awhile, and missed it, that’s exactly what he as done.
July 2, 2009 at 5:55 pm
Glass has a funny way of promoting a “more open public government” when he, Linda Atkins and David Ogden huddle up in private to put together an alternative budget.
Very inappropriate. Period.
July 2, 2009 at 6:14 pm
5:55 Presented at Public meeting for discussion by the public during the two week break between meetings! What is not open about that.
July 2, 2009 at 9:58 pm
Actually working on it outside of open session,or at the very least a workshop, open to the public, 614.
They worked on this alternate budget by themselves and then brought it to the public meeting.
It was very inappropriate. Doesnt matter if it was Larry Glass and Linda Atkins, or Mike Jones and Jeff Leonard. It is something that if Atkins, Glass and Ogden wanted to work on, should have been done in an open, public session.