I have my curmudgeon hat on today, an effect of reading this morning’s papers and blogs. Any of you wanting sugarplum fairies should be reading elsewhere. To begin-
Eureka City Schools, Loleta Union School District Sued for racism, sexism. Is this a surprise to anyone, especially considering the ongoing festering situation in Ferndale? When I was attending Eureka High, the Native American kids were almost completely segregated, to Hoopa. Sounds like things haven’t changed much. If ANY of these allegations are true, and I suspect these may be just the tip of the iceberg, some heads should roll.
Chet Albin Appointed to Eureka City Council- Anyone who has to take down his Facebook page out of fear that his constituents might see it does not have the moral fiber to hold public office. Nor do the folks who orchestrated this outrage.
Jason Singleton Vilified for ADA Suits- Both his letter to the North Coast Journal, reprinted this morning in the Times-Standard and Chris Jones’ My Word in the Times-Standard this morning (links not available for either) tell it like it is. As I posted here last week, if the city/county staff were tasked to do MEANINGFUL ADA reviews before issuing permits, poof! Problem solved. The most distressing news is that otherwise rational businesspeople are trying to address their issue through demonstrating at the courthouse, a useless circle-jerk. Gee, those “Occupy” demos worked out so well…
The GPU has been hijacked and thrown back to the Planning Commission and the Planning Commission is one vote away from being controlled by HumCPR. Not good news when any special interest group has this much clout, especially when the voters are demoralized and disorganized (in comparison.) I happened to notice yesterday while driving on 5th Street in Eureka that the CPR has a storefront now, where the Republicans’ office was. Don’t know how long they’ve been there.
Finally, Two Good People Have Left Us. Leon Berliner and Silas Morrison the younger both had obituaries in the Times-Standard today. My first job in rehab was at Redwoods United, Inc. long after Leon had moved on to the Cornucopia. No agency helped more people with disabilities in this county and that program is sorely missed. Silas was a friend and an unforgettable personality. I will miss him a lot.
Sincere wishes for a happy holiday, despite the foregoing. You can’t ALWAYS have a Merry Christmas. There’s always next year.
Julie – thank you for mentioning the GPU.* I was beginning to think this was all a dream – I haven’t seen it mentioned anywhere else have you?
Arcata Porter Street is in a very poor location for Arcata when most are walking. 3 or 4 blocks is a big deal. HSH is simple and the food is good, it will do well. Eventually the novelty will wear out and there will be a new equilibrium. Porter Street Eureka is too successful to suffer the same fate. All imho. Merry Christmas!
* SO MUCH! OMG, what the heck? Where is everybody on this? I think those in the know on the left have given up and are just waiting to sue? I hope there is some strategy because the right’s strategy is working great AND the media and the left are complying by playing dead. ugh! (sorry for the vent)
It appears the GPU action is back with the Planning Commission now, which is of course a different Planing Commission that before. I’m worried that 60 Minutes is going to broadcast that the drug-addled denizens of this county are too incompetent to do a General Plan Update in 14 years. Gotta try HSH, very soon. Thanks for your thoughts.
Julie, I missed any reporting on the GPU moving back to the Planning Commission. Where did you hear about it?
Jon, I may be mistaken. I thought they had definitely referred it back, or maybe that’s just my fatalistic feeling that that’s where it’s going. Sorry if I misinterpreted, which it look like I did.
This marginal life:
As the price per pound of bud plummets, so does the micro economic unit of Eureka/Arcata/Fortuna
There is a huge economic impact to have a show like Pink Martini the band in the Van Duzer Theater at HSU packing the restaurants in Arcata. Reminded me of when Eureka would be packed when the tourist train showed up on a weekend, with hotels filling up overnight. We ate at Mazzotti’s on the Plaza seeing China finally!.
Unfortunately, the doorman was turning people away right and left instead of inviting them in to wait at the bar. I observed tables very slowly waiting to be cleared and set back up. We were seated at a tippy table in high chairs, such that when I was forced to bend over to reach the table to eat I would start to tip out of the chair. This lack of attention to the details, ruining otherwise good food and good service will hurt other marginal operations. Seems to me like ADA guidelines are just good feng shui that has the potential to improve all of our lives.
Perhaps when Alex S. acted on the Arcata City Council to relax the rules for food carts, stands and trucks, she made it harder on the restaurants that had to compete, while being tasked with providing parking and restrooms. Porter Street was selling a commodity. According to the owner, something happened in the middle of the great recession 2 or 3 years back for his downturn. Unfortunate he could not afford the tax deductible ADA improvements. Tenants, work with your landlords to keep current on the ADA. Otherwise, the landlord and the tenant will have an abandoned building and business. When Arcata proposed easing requirements for parking and potties for food trucks and stands, I assumed this was going to hurt restaurants that still had these expenses. So, what happened in the last two or three years to make the Porter Street BBQ less than profitable?
Another marginal business that comes to mind is Carl Johnson Company. If we went the 50 mph speed limit between Eureka and Arcata we wouldn’t have had to spend our entire roads budget on this safety corridor. I am sure Carl Johnson is well managed; I am just not sure what they are trying to do or be. It is going to be a hard row to hoe when access is further cut off. Good people, good jobs, good luck. Even chain stores make mistakes, like the BevMo or Safeway parking lots in Eureka.
Trying to stay focused on not getting in an accident precludes even noticing businesses right on Central Avenue in McKinleyville. People want to drive too fast going by Six Rivers Brewery. Good luck trying to go the speed limit. People want to treat me like the criminal. I would like to see pedestrian and further sidewalk improvements, like a true school zone for the Middle School on Central Avenue. One obscure small sign in each direction advises a 25 mph zone when children are present. Good luck not getting tailgated or worse. Unfortunately, the County didn’t get the memo when they designed into the new concrete ADA violations right down the sidewalk on School Road. PG&E has been dragging their heels for years, refusing to move a half dozen power poles in the way of road improvements there in a timely manner. Did the County really have to plant the mail boxes and their poles into the sidewalk No! A close by location with a set of secure boxes would have worked just fine, even better given the history currently of mail theft.
Meanwhile, the Public Works Director is in charge of putting Aviation in cruise control moving at stall speed. Currently, ACV is foggy below minimums spring, summer, fall and winter, leading to SFO/ACV cancellations. There are things that could have been done to improve the chances of a legal landing at 0.25 visibilities. Laying off the workers has only increasingly made worse the hideous span of control issues of the ratio of managers and supervisors to workers that have not been addressed by the CAO. Ryan S., if you think you have done all you can, please think again. We have family driving to Redding to pick up one of our stranded passengers.
Instead of fixing HW36 into two lanes, and the HW101 slide issue south of Crescent City, we expend all of our energy following our resident megalomaniac into east/west railroad port battles that will go nowhere fast. We spent our wad in Iraq wars and continue to spend our blood and treasure in an endlessly long war in Afghanistan—like it or not we are broke and continue to run a trillion dollar annual deficit addition to our debt despite the minor grand deal to agree to disagree.
Tenants, work with your landlords to keep current on the ADA. Otherwise, the landlord and the tenant will have an abandoned building and business. When Arcata proposed easing requirements for parking and potties for food trucks and stands, I assumed this was going to hurt restaurants that still had these expenses.
So, what happened in the last two or three years to make the Porter Street BBQ less than profitable?
Appreciate your insights. I guess the real question is: what happened to the Arcata Porter Street that didn’t happen to the Eureka Porter Street ?. Here are some guesses: Luke’s, general competition from lots of new Arcata restaurants, disillusionment which is often sets in when a restaurant has been around a while. I’m curious to see what impact the new Humboldt Smoke House has on the Eureka location. HSH seems to be very busy despite the lack of parking. Don’t know if you’re familiar with the Northwest Committee? I tried for years to get them to publish a directory of accessible businesses but they couldn’t get it together. I still think its a good idea.
Be of good cheer, for this too shall pass.
Thanks, Turtle. And you have a great season and New Year!