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October 27, 2005
![TO THE POLLS](cvr-hed.jpg)
Humboldt Bay | McKinleyville
| NoHum High Schools | Klamath-Trinity
Schools | Prop. 77
Which
way, McKinleyville?
Candidates for the newly empowered
CSD look at options
by BOB
DORAN
SIX CANDIDATES ARE VYING FOR
THREE AVAILABLE seats on the McKinleyville Community Services
District board, a body that oversees water, sewage treatment
and recreation in the unincorporated town, which, with a population
of around 14,000, is bigger than the city of Fortuna.
Right: McKinleyville's
famed totem pole. Photo by Bob Doran.
Sacramento threw a curve ball
into the middle of the race in September when the governor signed
Senate Bill 135, a revision of the state code governing community
service districts that offers boards like the MCSD the potential
for an expanded range of powers.
As Javan Reid, minister for
Grace Good Shepherd Church, explained, "What 135 does is
change the law [so that] the board doesn't have to go to the
community to take on powers. Before we've always had to have
a vote. But 135 only gives you the power; it doesn't give you
the mandate of the people," or money to implement new services.
According to chiropractor Bill
Wennerholm, the sole incumbent in the race, SB 135 "will
affect what the board can do quite a bit. You can take on almost
all of the duties of a regular city," said Wennerholm. "You
can take on cemeteries, you can take on planning, roads and parks
[which is] a duty we already have."
Said Dennis Mayo, a self-described
horse trader, "Planning is at the top of the list,"
when it comes to powers the board could add. "That seems
to be the thing that everyone, rightly so, is upset about. The
county planning folks have let us down just immensely. They've
done a poor job."
To a man, the candidates cited
planning as a problem that needs improvement. Reid and Humboldt
State lecturer Jeff Dunk both think the MCSD should make adding
law enforcement oversight a priority.
But, said Dunk, "Ultimately
the buck stops with the citizens, inasmuch as [the MCSD] can
only do things they're willing to pay for. I'm willing to pay
for added law enforcement here, and it's actually quite cheap.
I talked with the Sheriff, and we could do it."
Despite that fact that he's
a retired highway patrolman, candidate Jim Fritz does not see
a need for more law enforcement presence in McKinleyville. "I
think it's pretty close to adequate," he said.
While he is still studying SB
135, he figures, "The [board is] not going to be able to
take on too much more because we still don't have a tax base."
Fritz thinks the MCSD is "doing
a pretty good job under [MCSD General Manager Tom] Markings'
guidance, there. I'm not looking to change the direction."
Local Solutions
Asked if he thinks the board
is headed in the right direction, Wennerholm quickly answered
yes, then launched into an attack on Local Solutions, the progressive
political action committee that endorsed two of his opponents.
"Both Javan Reid and Jeff
Dunk are running as part of Local Solutions, which has an agenda,"
said Wennerholm, who proceeded to raise the specter of political
consultant Richard Salzman. "Certainly the political ideology
is very, very similar," he said, conceding that Salzman
has no apparent ties to Local Solutions and has not really been
a visible presence in the MCSD race.
Dunk was surprised to hear that
Wennerholm sees a Local Solutions endorsement as a negative thing.
Like all of the MCSD candidates, Wennerholm was invited to meet
with the group and present his views. "In fact, my interview
was right after Bill's," said Dunk. "He walked out
of the office as I was arriving. I don't see it as a negative,
really. I think it's great that some folks I really didn't know
thought my ideas were good."
Wennerholm suggests that the
MCSD is already "progressive" and points to the district's
two recently built treatment marshes as examples. "Everybody's
loving [the marshes]. They're real proactive things and, believe
it or not, those candidates [Dunk and Reid] are against them
because they think they're going to promote growth."
Dunk disagreed with Wennerholm's
characterization of him as "anti-growth," and, he emphasized,
he never opposed the marshes. "In fact, I pushed for the
marsh 13 years ago, before Bill even lived here, at a time when
the board effectively said, `Arcata has a marsh; we can't have
a marsh.'"
"I'm not for unrestrained
growth," Dunk continued. "I'm for developing the town
in a way that does not degrade McKinleyville's positive attributes.
You have to ask, what is the cost to our quality of life?"
While Wennerholm claims Reid
voted against both marshes when he was on the board, Reid says
that's not true. He did not oppose the marshes --- what he opposed
was a proposal to finance the system by selling capacity in the
storm drainage marsh to developers.
"I think we need to plan
for growth and [the board should] play a more responsible role
in growth," said Reid. Noting that the population of McKinleyville
has tripled since he moved here in 1985, he characterized the
town growth as "haphazard," due to a lack of coherent
planning from the county. "A lot of the growth was not guided."
Of late, Dennis Mayo is best
know as a leader in the battle against limiting access to Clam
Beach. "I get colored as being some kind of anti-environmentalist,
and that's absolutely insane," he said, pointing out that
he worked to pass Prop. 20, the "Save the Coast" initiative.
"What I'm looking for is balance. Independent thought and
an honest give-and-take aren't valued much any more."
Incorporation
Jaime Christopher is the only
candidate who has said that incorporation should be a top priority.
He sees SB 135 as a step in that direction. "It's phenomenal.
What it does, instead of having communities be either unincorporated
or take on all the responsibilities that come with incorporation,
you can do it in stages. Essentially, you can take it a duty
at a time and pay for it yourself."
Does SB 135 preclude the need
to pursue incorporation? "Absolutely not," said Christopher,
who feels that the MCSD board should take the lead in the move
toward city-hood.
A registered Libertarian since
1972, Wennerholm says he prefers "less government,"
so it's no surprise that he does not favor incorporation. "Everybody
I ever talked to was in favor of incorporation --- until you
told them it's going to raise taxes. Then they want nothing to
do with it."
"I can't see it,"
said Mayo regarding incorporation. "How are we going to
pay for it? We just don't have the tax base to cover the immensity
of things that come with incorporation. But I know there's a
lot of people that want it. And I want to be clear, I'm an opinionated
S.O.B., but if I get elected to this position, it ain't gonna
be the Dennis Mayo show. I'm working for the community."
l
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