#56. Kim Bergel’s Journey of Service: From Childhood Challenges to Leading Eureka

Scott Hammond: Ladies and gentlemen, friends and neighbors, it's Scott Hammond with the 100% Humboldt Podcast, voted number two by Loco just now and on, uh, online, with my special guest- … and new best friend, Kim Bergel.

Kim Bergel: Hi, everybody.

Scott Hammond: Hi, Kim. How are you?

Kim Bergel: Hi. I'm great.

Scott Hammond: It's good to see you.

Kim Bergel: Yeah, you too.

Scott Hammond: Tell us, tell us the whole Kim story. But tell us what's your job. What do you, what do you do? What's your day job?

Kim Bergel: My day job is I work at a middle school.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: And I work with SPED kids, or special ed-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … one period, and then I have, uh, resource kids the other periods.

Scott Hammond: Very nice.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Is it Montessori school?

Kim Bergel: This is not Montessori school. I started in Montessori school, but this is not Montessori school.

Scott Hammond: Is it county schools?

Kim Bergel: This is Eureka City Schools, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Oh, very cool.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. We have special… We have nine kids, one of… Couple… My oldest goes, "Dad, aren't we all special needs?" And I go, "Pretty

Scott Hammond: much."

Kim Bergel: I think we all have our own spe- yeah.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah.

Kim Bergel: To a degree.

Scott Hammond: Es- especially these days. It's, like, in the water. But different story.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So, uh, and then you-

Kim Bergel: Everybody's got their something.

Scott Hammond: And your night job is?

Kim Bergel: I'm the mayor.

Scott Hammond: You're the mayor. Hey. Oh.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Madam… Is it Mrs. or Madam Mayor?

Kim Bergel: It's Miss Mayor because I'm not a m- married mayor.

Scott Hammond: It's Miss Mayor.

Kim Bergel: I believe. You can call me Madam Mayor. I like Madam Mayor better.

Scott Hammond: You like Madam? Okay. Ladies and gentlemen, Madam Mayor.

Kim Bergel: Hello, everyone.

Scott Hammond: I like it. So-

Kim Bergel: Thanks for being here.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So tell us about your early life, where you came from. We're gonna talk about that, a little bit about your public service. Stick around, we got a whole bunch of cool stuff to learn about Kim because, uh… And me, too. So tell us about where you came from, where you were raised, where you went to school.

Kim Bergel: So I grew up here in Eureka.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: Over by the zoo.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: And, uh, I went to Washington Elementary. I went to Winship, and I went to Eureka High.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Kim Bergel: Uh, we're fourth generation. My kids are fifth generation.

Scott Hammond: Cool. Hun-

Kim Bergel: Humboldt County. Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Might, might say 100% Humboldt.

Kim Bergel: 100%. Homegrown, some people would say.

Scott Hammond: Homegrown. I like it. I like… Homegrown and Humboldt, they go together.

Kim Bergel: They do.

Scott Hammond: So, uh, what'd you do after high school?

Kim Bergel: Oh, I did a lot of things after high school. I took a different tack than a lot of people.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: Um-

Scott Hammond: Tell, tell us more.

Kim Bergel: Tell us more, he says. So yeah, I moved around a lot. Um, I'd had a, a, a family, um, incident that

Kim Bergel: happened-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … in my senior year of high school.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Kim Bergel: My mom died.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Kim Bergel: And, um, you know, I kinda went off the rails with that. And I moved around a lot-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … um, just trying to see where I fit and who I was and-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Kim Bergel: … running away from that situation, clearly.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Sure. Who wouldn't, at 17?

Kim Bergel: Yeah. 17.

Scott Hammond: That's so rad. So, uh, early journey.

Kim Bergel: Early.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So how did that… I, I see how that's

Scott Hammond: resolved.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: How did that go? What, what, what turned it around? What… How did that cycle?

Kim Bergel: So I had moved around a lot. I'd tried a lot of different things. I'd tried a lot of different things that were very unhealthy.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: And I got to a place in my life where I just couldn't do it

Kim Bergel: anymore.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Kim Bergel: And I asked the universe for guidance, and somehow I got that guidance.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Kim Bergel: And here I sit before you today.

Scott Hammond: Cool.

Kim Bergel: Mm.

Scott Hammond: So family, kids?

Kim Bergel: Family, I have two kids.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Kim Bergel: One's at UC Santa Cruz, and one is just graduated from Redwood Coast

Kim Bergel: Montessori.

Scott Hammond: Very nice.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: So proud mom.

Kim Bergel: Proud mom, absolutely.

Scott Hammond: So the San- UC Santa Cruz are the banana slugs.

Kim Bergel: They are.

Scott Hammond: Sweet.

Kim Bergel: Have you ever licked a banana slug?

Scott Hammond: I have s- I have never licked one. Have you?

Kim Bergel: Oh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: How does it taste?

Kim Bergel: It, oh, it doesn't taste very good, but it makes your tongue numb.

Scott Hammond: Oh, I bet.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, 'cause they're super sticky.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: But I don't think the brown ones do that for you.

Scott Hammond: I think when we were at Humboldt State, we were in a, a alternative GE program called Cluster, and some, some people watching may remember. But it was no tests, no grades, uh, hippy dippy, woo woo, uh, but a great way to learn. And one of the, um… I think a student made a banana slug casserole.

Kim Bergel: Oh my gosh. Wow.

Scott Hammond: I know. And I'm not sure if they revealed it before or after we ate it, but anyway,

Scott Hammond: we digress.

Kim Bergel: Yeah, we do.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. D-

Kim Bergel: I had a story about that as well, but I think we'll just-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Kim Bergel: … pass.

Scott Hammond: And then the, uh, UC Irvine are the anteaters, so we have some weird mascots.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Here's a weird one. Where I'm… Uh, my brother is from M- Missouri, in Columbia, where the university is. The high school in Columbia High is the Kewpie dolls. How do they win in a football game?

Scott Hammond: I-

Kim Bergel: That must be interesting

Scott Hammond: … just don't know. Anyway.

Kim Bergel: Do they have the little thing on their…?

Scott Hammond: I think they have a little thing. And then-

Kim Bergel: Little heart right here.

Scott Hammond: We love you.

Kim Bergel: We love you.

Scott Hammond: Don't tackle us too hard.

Kim Bergel: We're all about love.

Scott Hammond: So tell us about early, early years. Uh, so you got married and, and got, got, got kids.

Kim Bergel: And got kids. Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Did… Were you an educator then?

Kim Bergel: I, well, uh, when my kids were born, after my kids were born. So prior to that, I did a lot of landscape things like that.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Kim Bergel: Um, worked at Ten Window Williams for quite a while.

Scott Hammond: For Bill.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Kim Bergel: Yeah, with my daughter. She came to work with me when she was an infant.

Scott Hammond: I bet I met you when I was calling on Ten Window, 'cause I used to be in advertising at the Tri-City Weekly.

Kim Bergel: You probably did.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: Yeah. And I had a baby in my sling or on my back or…

Scott Hammond: Bill was a different, cool, old-school dude.

Kim Bergel: He really is.

Scott Hammond: He hung- Is he still living?

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Oh, wow. He's gotta be in his 90s, right?

Kim Bergel: I believe he is, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Wow. I th- wow, I, 'cause I haven't seen him in decades. It's been a minute.

Kim Bergel: He has a lot of great stories.

Scott Hammond: Oh, he's great. He's-

Kim Bergel: I hope somebody captures those stories-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Kim Bergel: … before he leaves-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Kim Bergel: … transcends, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Podcast. Who knows?

Kim Bergel: Who knows?

Scott Hammond: He was telling me he, he, uh, hunted with… Who was the guy that broke the, uh, the astronaut?

Scott Hammond: John Glenn.

Kim Bergel: Oh.

Scott Hammond: That John and his team came up, and he got to, I think, fish with him maybe.

Kim Bergel: Fish-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Kim Bergel: … would be more likely.

Scott Hammond: He was a fisherman.

Kim Bergel: Absolutely, 100%, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Wow. Yeah, he was telling me these stories one day. I go, "What? John Gl- the astronaut? The guy the movie was about?" He goes, "Yeah." I go-

Kim Bergel: I'm not surprised. He lived such a charmed life. It's really, like I said, if you ever get an opportunity, he's really great to talk

Kim Bergel: to.

Scott Hammond: Mr. Relax. So you sold jewelry.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: I did.

Scott Hammond: So what, uh, how about bodybuilding?

Scott Hammond: Do, did you- Wait, see, that was a hard tran- Do you see that transition where-

Kim Bergel: That was kind of a hard transition. So yeah, back in my 20s, um, I worked out at Classic

Kim Bergel: Gym.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Kim Bergel: And I had been working out with this woman, Susie Zugumbi, and she was an aerobics instructor.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Kim Bergel: And it came out that they were having a, an event in Redding. And so we decided, "Well, we'll train for that."

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Kim Bergel: And at that time there were people at Classic like Sal Palaci, who was

Kim Bergel: just-

Scott Hammond: Sal

Kim Bergel: … a rock star. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: He was huge. Man, S-

Kim Bergel: Oh my gosh. I saw them recently, and they both look amazing.

Scott Hammond: They're great.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: But-

Kim Bergel: But anyway, he… So he kind of coached us along to do that, and we went to Redding-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Kim Bergel: … and we did a competition there, and we did one for Debbie Davis here. Um, I did a couples, a couples one as well, and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … yeah, it was a good time. The dieting part of it was really miserable.

Scott Hammond: Brutal.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Is Debbie still around?

Kim Bergel: I haven't seen her. I don't know. I don't know.

Scott Hammond: So I remember seeing Sal and I think Debbie in the day competing at

Scott Hammond: Eureka High.

Kim Bergel: I was there.

Scott Hammond: Were you there? Were you in the show-

Kim Bergel: I, I was

Scott Hammond: … competing?

Kim Bergel: I was. I was competing with Daniel Heiple.

Scott Hammond: Oh, that was you. Okay.

Kim Bergel: Yeah. We were the couple. Well, there were other couples, but we were a couple.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And Sal and Judy, uh, were very kind and taught me pickleball-

Kim Bergel: Okay

Scott Hammond: … down at CR, College of Re- Redwoods, which is located on the map. Do you see how I'm doing the shtick here?

Kim Bergel: Yep.

Scott Hammond: The, uh… It's right over here on the South Bay of Eureka. College of the Redwoods. Shout out to Col- CR. Love you guys down there. And, and shout out to Sal and, and, and, um-

Kim Bergel: Absolutely.

Scott Hammond: Judy

Kim Bergel: Judy.

Scott Hammond: Sorry, Judy.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Gosh. Anyway, I get kinda nervous. Yeah, they're great. S- super. And he was yoked, man. He, like-

Kim Bergel: He really was.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: And both of them were just so engaged and just in it, you know? And they were, they were inspiring. And when I saw them at Costco, I was like, "Oh my gosh, you guys, what are you doing?" And, and she said, she said, "Pickleball."

Scott Hammond: And every bit as sweet.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And they're funny 'cause they, they're really, like, coaching and coach approach and kind and, and then she, and then after a while she'd really get on my

Scott Hammond: ass.

Kim Bergel: Yeah, she-

Scott Hammond: Just, "Hey, what are you…" You know, and she would just like… 'Cause she- that's love language, but whatever.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So bodybuilding, how… So did you go, did you ascend through the ranks?

Scott Hammond: And-

Kim Bergel: Uh, no. It was never really my thing.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: I just did it a couple, a few times.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: And, um, my partner, Susie, she had trained as a gymnast, so she was, like, this fabulously, like-

Scott Hammond: Right

Kim Bergel: … lean, like, cut. And, um, they told me I should do Miss Fitness. I just wasn't big enough. So.

Scott Hammond: I know her name. Is she still around?

Kim Bergel: No. She moved to, um, Texas.

Scott Hammond: So my son, Mike, our 20-year-old, youngest of nine-

Kim Bergel: Oh, boy

Scott Hammond: … he can put up 455 pounds on a bench.

Kim Bergel: Wow.

Scott Hammond: And he's, he's yoked, and he's, uh, cutting, so he cut 30 pounds off and… The problem with cutting and dieting is he's just a crab. He's a grouch on the couch.

Kim Bergel: Oh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: He's just a total jerk.

Kim Bergel: 100%.

Scott Hammond: 'Cause he's, like, you know, starving.

Kim Bergel: Well, and we dieted down where towards the end, like the last two or three days, and we didn't have water. We were… I was eating, like, two chicken breasts a day. We'd have to wash them and then put like, season 17 'cause no

Kim Bergel: sodium.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Kim Bergel: I mean, we were… It was-

Scott Hammond: Hardcore

Kim Bergel: … off the hook.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Kim Bergel: Off the hook.

Scott Hammond: So do you know Ross Creech at Quality Body?

Kim Bergel: Mm-mm.

Scott Hammond: He's a, a-

Kim Bergel: I know I've awarded him for business of the year, which is incredible.

Scott Hammond: You would know that.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: His wife is amazing. She's a really good bodybuilder.

Kim Bergel: Oh, good.

Scott Hammond: And I should know her first name, and I don't offhand, but, um, hi, Creeches. You guys are amazing. They do a good job. So you know a lot of businesspeople probably in town as the mayor.

Kim Bergel: I know some. Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. What… Let's talk about Eureka business. That's a, that's a fun tangent. Then we'll talk about some of your, your, um, your passion, your community involvement stuff-

Kim Bergel: Okay

Scott Hammond: … you wanna, past, present, future, that you wanna fix in, in the universe-

Kim Bergel: Sure

Scott Hammond: … and in Eureka. Um, so business in Eureka, what, what are you, what are you seeing right now?

Kim Bergel: Seeing a lot of change, a lot of good things.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: Um, I, I wanna just sh- do a shout-out to-

Scott Hammond: Please

Kim Bergel: … some of the Old Town businesses that have really stepped up. You know, during COVID they all, many of them went the extra mile. They worked together collaboratively, um, to create this kind of group that works so well together.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: And it brings people to Old Town, and I just really appreciate that. And Belle Star is one of those.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: Sue is amazing.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: Um, The Book Legger was another one.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: You know. Th- those two come to my mind, but there are plenty of others as well.

Scott Hammond: They've been there forever, Book Legger.

Kim Bergel: Forever, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. And so is Friday Night Market a result of some of that energy? 'Cause that seems to have gone really well.

Kim Bergel: Yeah. It has. No, that's put on by Humboldt Made-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … so that's not even a city-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … event necessarily.

Scott Hammond: But you guys have to bless it.

Kim Bergel: Oh, absolutely.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: And I've heard from business owners, you get a mixed review, but a lot of b- business owners that I've talked to have been really happy with the Friday Night

Kim Bergel: Market-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Kim Bergel: … and have felt like it's really boosted business during the summer.

Scott Hammond: What's amazing, so at Friday Night Market during the day, having a salad at Los

Scott Hammond: Bagels-

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … hey, Dennis, um, there's no one in to- there's, like, you know, 10, I saw 10 people eating lunch, walking by. But five hours later-

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … oh my gosh, there's like th- a thousand plus people, just like packed streets. One, one night it was just like, uh, I think it was one of the last nights, and it was like you couldn't find parking in Old

Scott Hammond: Town.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Like, you'd have to really truck, truck in there. So yeah, good job on that. Uh, tell us about your political career. How'd you get started?

Kim Bergel: So I got started, um, because of a resentment, actually.

Scott Hammond: Most, many things start there.

Kim Bergel: Yeah. Yeah. I, um, I loved the council meetings. I would watch the council meetings. My kids would watch the council meetings. In fact, they thought a TV dinner was on Tuesday night because we'd watch TV during dinner, 'cause we never watched TV during dinner.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Kim Bergel: It was pretty cute, actually. Um, so I watched the meetings-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … for a very long time, and, um, I watched the whole progression of the Jacobs, I meant Jacobs, excuse me, I digress. Jefferson Project

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: Um, and how the city was gonna support them, and there was all these things, and then a new council came on, and they just put the complete kibosh to it.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Kim Bergel: So that was the first resentment I had. It was financial-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … and maybe they were being responsible. But I just wanna shout out to Heidi Benson Elleni and her team, Richard Evans, the

Kim Bergel: whole group-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … because they have turned the Jefferson Center into this incredible, incredible place-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Kim Bergel: … for the community to be at. They're, they hold events. They hold classes.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Kim Bergel: Just an incredible event. So that, uh, the city had nothing to do with that.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So they just did it.

Kim Bergel: They just did it-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Kim Bergel: … which is amazing. And that's the, one of the things I love about our community

Kim Bergel: so much-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Kim Bergel: … is there's so many people out there that have a dream-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … and they just do it.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Kim Bergel: You know, I'm thinking of the Humboldt Bay Marathon right now.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Right.

Kim Bergel: You know? Looking at Teri and how she's brought that forward and-

Scott Hammond: Hi, Teri

Kim Bergel: … Teri and Rich. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: So, um-

Scott Hammond: Do you know Teri Vroman?

Kim Bergel: I do.

Scott Hammond: She's amazing.

Kim Bergel: Teri Vroman Little.

Scott Hammond: Little.

Kim Bergel: She is an incredible person.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: She's incredible.

Kim Bergel: One of my heroes, for sure.

Scott Hammond: She's been on the show. She's amazing.

Kim Bergel: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: Great. Great.

Scott Hammond: So you guys were at Montessori together.

Kim Bergel: We were. We were. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: You guys started the school?

Kim Bergel: Yeah, we were one of the founding families-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … over in Cooper Gulch. Um, there were, I can't remember now. I thought there were 19 kids. There may have been a few more kids.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Kim Bergel: And now what's incredible is we started one grade at a time.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: And we have high school now. My daughter was the first graduating class of-

Scott Hammond: Oh, wow

Kim Bergel: … Redwood Coast Montessori High.

Scott Hammond: Wow, just, just recently.

Kim Bergel: Uh, well, she's in college.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: She's a fourth year, but yeah.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Kim Bergel: It hasn't been that long.

Scott Hammond: Four years. Okay.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So how did Maria Montessori do things different in a nutshell? We, I didn't really dig deep with Teri in that, but how… Just fundamentally, it's a different modality, right?

Kim Bergel: It is. It's, it's, um… So it's more about following the child-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … um, within limits.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: Within limits.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: Some would think that it's just chaos.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: Um, but it's not. And I l- the thing I love about the program, the Montessori program, is it teaches grace and courtesy.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: And it teaches people how to, um, communicate-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Kim Bergel: … in healthy ways. And unfortunately, I think in our other schools, whether they're too big or there's just not the curriculum for it, we don't learn that, you know? And, um, I think that can be challenging-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Kim Bergel: … in the long run.

Scott Hammond: Wait, grace and courtesy?

Kim Bergel: Grace and courtesy.

Scott Hammond: And communication.

Kim Bergel: And respect, yeah.

Scott Hammond: And respect. Hear that, folks?

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Hear that, rest of the world?

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Oh my gosh.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So when you were watching, uh, council meetings-

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … what was the source of your resentment?

Kim Bergel: The source of my… Oh, yes. Back to that. I'm sorry, I digress.

Scott Hammond: No, that's okay.

Kim Bergel: Back to that, was that they put the kibosh on the Jefferson Project.

Scott Hammond: Was that it?

Kim Bergel: No.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Kim Bergel: No.

Scott Hammond: Oh, wait. There's more.

Kim Bergel: Oh, there's more. And so- And then, um, I don't know if you remember, but Frank Jaeger had written this apology letter to the Wiyot tribe.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: And growing up in Eureka, that is something that we're very, very aware of.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: You know, the massacre. And as we got older, we learned more about what the massacre was really about.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: And horrible.

Scott Hammond: Oh, unacceptable.

Kim Bergel: Horrible.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: Absolutely. So Frank wrote this, uh, excuse me, Mayor Jaeger.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: He wasn't the mayor. Yeah, he was the mayor at that time. He wrote this letter to, as an apology to the tribe.

Kim Bergel: And so-

Scott Hammond: Kind of an open letter?

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Kim Bergel: Just an open letter. And the Ti- the Times-Standard had published it, um, prior to the council meeting.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Kim Bergel: So everybody kind of read it.

Kim Bergel: So it got up to council, and they were worried about

Kim Bergel: litigation.

Scott Hammond: From-

Kim Bergel: Litigation.

Scott Hammond: From whom?

Kim Bergel: From 100 years ago. They didn't wanna get sued, was the, was the topic that I was hearing. And I was like, "Are you kidding me?"

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Kim Bergel: "If you're gonna do the right thing, you're gonna do the right thing for free and for fun. You're not gonna do the right thing because you're worried about being sued." It just-

Scott Hammond: Right

Kim Bergel: … it made no sense to me.

Scott Hammond: Or not do it, yeah.

Kim Bergel: So, so I'm grateful to say that when we, when I did get on council-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … we had unanimous-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … council, uh, approval to return the island to Tuluwat-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … uh, five different times.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Kim Bergel: Yeah, because it was a process. It's not an event, right? Well, it ended up being an event.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: And that'll be coming up on October 18th. We'll be… I was thinking about this today.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Kim Bergel: I believe it's five years. It was 2019.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Formerly known as Indian Island, right?

Kim Bergel: Formerly, yeah, formerly known.

Kim Bergel: So-

Scott Hammond: Do you know, you know Lynette Mullins, right?

Kim Bergel: Uh-huh.

Scott Hammond: So in Toastmasters where we speechified, she gave a really cool speech on,

Scott Hammond: um, on that event and what transpired and why, and she was super well-read and super well-spoken about it.

Kim Bergel: Okay.

Scott Hammond: In seven, eight minutes, it was, like, just shocking. Wait, that happened across the bay?

Kim Bergel: Right.

Scott Hammond: Quarter mile away? What?

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: When? By whom? And it was women, mostly women and children, right, that were killed?

Kim Bergel: And elders.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: Yeah. I mean, they just took, you know, hatchets to heads and-

Scott Hammond: Just crazy.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And for what purpose? It was for land?

Scott Hammond: Who knows?

Kim Bergel: What is the purpose?

Scott Hammond: What is the pu-

Kim Bergel: Because they were upset because they thought somebody was stealing their cattle, or there was something going on.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: You know?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: Is there ever a reason-

Scott Hammond: To do that

Kim Bergel: … for that?

Scott Hammond: Yeah, no.

Kim Bergel: No.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, no.

Kim Bergel: Absolutely not.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: So, um-

Scott Hammond: So you're aggravated watching this stuff go down on-

Kim Bergel: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … public TV.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Access TV.

Kim Bergel: Yeah. Very much so. And so when, um… Oh, but I do wanna say this. So when the island was returned, the beauty of that was that Frank could read his letter in entirety.

Scott Hammond: Oh, that's cool.

Kim Bergel: Former Mayor Jaeger. Excuse me.

Kim Bergel: Yes.

Scott Hammond: He's-

Kim Bergel: So that was really cool

Scott Hammond: … also a good man.

Kim Bergel: Also a good man. I totally agree.

Scott Hammond: Big in scouting, right?

Kim Bergel: Absolutely. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Were you on the same council as he was?

Scott Hammond: Did you-

Kim Bergel: He was the mayor.

Scott Hammond: So you were, you were appointed by then.

Kim Bergel: I was elected by then.

Scott Hammond: You were elected.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Okay. Thank you.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I appreciate that correction. That's a big difference. So, uh, how did, who, who suggested that you start campaigning?

Kim Bergel: Right. So I was on the Transportation Safety Commission, which I really loved. Um, I got on that because I would ride my kids all around on my bike, and I had a tag along and a trailer. It was pretty long.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: And the way people drove back then was just incredibly

Kim Bergel: scary.

Scott Hammond: Oh my gosh. Still is.

Kim Bergel: Uh, w- well, yeah. Uh, but when you have your kids towing along behind you, it, it's makes it a lot more scary. So anyway, I got on the Transportation Safety Commission because I wanted to see a change there.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: And in that time, I met Linda Atkins, who was-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … the liaison for a short period there.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Kim Bergel: And so when it came to run for office, she, she'd come to me and

Kim Bergel: ask me-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Kim Bergel: … if I would run, and I was like, "I don't… No. I can't do that. I have little kids. I can't, you know, can't do that." And so, um, I had a discussion with my then husband, and we decided that that was something that would, would be all right. We could do this.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: So that's what we did.

Scott Hammond: And r- ran and won.

Kim Bergel: And I won.

Scott Hammond: Did you win the first time?

Kim Bergel: I did, but you know, it was so crazy because I didn't at the first night. At election night, I didn't win, so because there were ballots that were sent in-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Kim Bergel: … that weren't counted yet.

Scott Hammond: Oh, right.

Kim Bergel: So I lost by a really small margin. I, I can't remember. It was like 100 votes or 46 votes. And then when they did the final count, I'd won by 46 or 100. I always get those numbers b- like… Probably I won by 46.

Scott Hammond: A whisker. Yeah.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Good for you.

Kim Bergel: Yeah. That's why it's so important to vote.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: No matter who you decide to vote for, please vote.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That's good.

Kim Bergel: E- exercise that right.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. No, there's been some close ones.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: So you, that was council in, what year was that?

Scott Hammond: 2014?

Kim Bergel: 2014.

Scott Hammond: '14.

Kim Bergel: Yeah, I had to put my coat on. It's cold in here.

Scott Hammond: Go for it. Yeah. Pop your coat on. Hey, look at me over here. She's putting her coat on. That's Humboldt County. We live in Humboldt County. It's in the way-

Kim Bergel: We live in Humboldt County

Scott Hammond: … it's the one of the most northern coastal counties in California. Uh, the original God's country invented by God-

Scott Hammond: … and has rivers and streams and culture and arts and people and folks like-

Kim Bergel: Ocean and bay

Scott Hammond: … an ocean and bay, and woods and trails, mountain biking, fishing, hunting.

Kim Bergel: Running.

Scott Hammond: Running. Hmm.

Kim Bergel: Agate hunting.

Scott Hammond: Oh. And it goes on. And the food's great usually.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm. It's great.

Scott Hammond: Um, uh, back to Kim. Hi, Kim.

Kim Bergel: Hi.

Scott Hammond: You got your co- are you…

Kim Bergel: I got my coat on.

Scott Hammond: Got the coat on. So 2014, so you're on that council. What are you guys dealing with in 2014 through that first term?

Kim Bergel: That was a rough year for a lot of folks. Um, we were dealing with the Pelco Marsh, um, you know, removal of people.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Kim Bergel: Um-

Scott Hammond: Behind Bayshore Mall-

Kim Bergel: Yes

Scott Hammond: … or that whole city.

Kim Bergel: Yeah. And then we were also dealing with, um, syringe

Kim Bergel: exchange-

Scott Hammond: Right

Kim Bergel: … and, um-

Scott Hammond: What were they called? The h- h- they weren't haters. They were… What what was the needle exchange program called?

Kim Bergel: Hatcher.

Scott Hammond: Hatcher.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Not Hater.

Kim Bergel: Not Hater.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. That was problematic, though.

Scott Hammond: It sh- they-

Kim Bergel: That was problematic. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: That would, that would be an understatement.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: You have a bunch of free needles.

Kim Bergel: Well, the science backs that up-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Kim Bergel: … when it's distributed properly.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And so that, that's kinda gone, right? That, Hatcher got the hatchet?

Kim Bergel: No.

Scott Hammond: Sort of?

Kim Bergel: They still have their, um, building in Arcata.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: Brick and mortar, and then they do go to different areas. They do mobile.

Scott Hammond: It's a little different now.

Kim Bergel: And we have one spot in Eureka now.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. I found a lot less needles in my business in the last, say,

Scott Hammond: five years.

Kim Bergel: Good.

Scott Hammond: It used to be, they, I mean, it was like, what's going on in… Oh, are they at the playground?

Kim Bergel: Hmm.

Scott Hammond: It's like, oh, and this is not good.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: And so that seems to have, uh, abated of a lot, at least subjectively on my, my watch and my little turf, so whatever.

Kim Bergel: Yeah, I'm happy to hear that.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Not, um, not fun. So what e- what else is going on in that first term?

Scott Hammond: You, Pelco.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Um, is this beyond the balloon, a balloon truck-

Kim Bergel: No, that was-

Scott Hammond: That went away before

Kim Bergel: … before. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That was a, a bygone thought.

Kim Bergel: Yeah, long before.

Scott Hammond: Okay. The lot's still there, and there's still… Hey, the trains are gone. I saw that off the boulevard.

Kim Bergel: Yes. Isn't that awesome?

Scott Hammond: Kinda looks good, yeah.

Kim Bergel: Way better.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. I like trains, but I just don't like them, you know-

Kim Bergel: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … there.

Kim Bergel: Right.

Scott Hammond: I live in McKinleyville, so we, I don't have a say at… I guess I do. It's the plan- my planet too.

Kim Bergel: Exactly.

Scott Hammond: Anyway, so, uh, so, so-

Kim Bergel: Everybody has a voice

Scott Hammond: … every- everybody does.

Kim Bergel: Everybody gets their three minutes. We don't care where you're from.

Scott Hammond: So speaking of which-

Kim Bergel: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … so I, I watch these meetings, and I see the same obstructionist, uh, folks come on and say your piece. Get out. You got two minutes, go.

Kim Bergel: Three.

Scott Hammond: Three minutes. And sometimes it's the same, same tune. It's, uh, anti-vax or it's whatever and-

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … um, and every, like you said, everybody's got a voice.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Um, one theme that I've had in this podcast is, like, a lot of people have their voice, say it. So, uh, let's take We Are Up with Mary Keen, who's grassroots-

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … like, you know, I'm big fans, both of us.

Kim Bergel: I've got to get out there. Yes, I know.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Oh, it's so cool. She's a-

Kim Bergel: I've heard, yes.

Scott Hammond: Hey, Mary, you're doing a great job. But what I, first time Joni and I ever went to anything to testify, went to that meeting. It was great. And they approved it that night, and don't you know, they, they rolled over backwards on e- turned, like compromised, helped the neighborhood, and you know, there was a couple of jerks, it just wasn't enough, and it's never enough.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: And so it's you guys out there that I'm speaking to, and you know who you are. Um, probably the same people that troll on local and just say crap,

Scott Hammond: just-

Kim Bergel: Could be

Scott Hammond: … for fun.

Kim Bergel: Could be.

Scott Hammond: And I wonder, you know, you could have your say-so, and then you, it's over, and we all voted, and there was consensus. And, uh, come on, move on, dude. And it's, so it… So there's my little rant. Thanks for listening.

Kim Bergel: Yeah, you're welcome.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. There's a place… I mean, so those are the guys that agitate and aggravate me when I watch over my TV dinner and, and city council meetings to go.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Dude.

Kim Bergel: Well, they're every- everybody is welcome, and everybody gets their three

Kim Bergel: minutes.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: Some people feel the need to be disrespectful.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: But they still get their free three minutes. And you know, to be honest with you, I'm glad that they're there-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … because we need to hear all opinions, whether we agree with them not, or

Kim Bergel: not.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Kim Bergel: Sometimes it's very rough to sit there and listen to

Kim Bergel: them.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: Um, at times it's been, there have been some times in the past where it was really scary.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Kim Bergel: But you know, you, you come to a place where it's like, "You're welcome here."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: "Follow the rules, and we're happy to have you."

Scott Hammond: Yeah. And then, and then I would think, "Please hit the door," but that's

Scott Hammond: just me. So-

Kim Bergel: Yeah, no, I wish to-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Kim Bergel: … can I just be honest with you about this? I wish that they would not hit the door.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: Because what happens in the meeting after public comment, there's so much great work happening all the time.

Scott Hammond: And they could be part of that.

Kim Bergel: And folks come, and they list- or they come, and they share their three minutes, and then they leave, and they don't hear all of the great things that are happening in

Kim Bergel: the city.

Scott Hammond: I love that. That's good.

Kim Bergel: So you know, I encourage people to stay in the meeting if you can because it's just y- you never know, and well, you can look at the agenda and see what we're talking about, but there are so many opportunities to hear great things and to put input on what we're doing. This is our city. This is our community. This isn't five people sitting up there directing everything.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Kim Bergel: We need our community to step up and be a part of that.

Scott Hammond: I love that.

Kim Bergel: Yeah, it's true.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. I like that perspective. So stick around, learn something.

Kim Bergel: Yeah. Please.

Scott Hammond: And adapt. Yeah.

Kim Bergel: And share, like, like instead of c- I mean, I, I shouldn't say instead of because everybody gets a right, but what I'm saying is stick around and h- and be a part of our community. Like, put your input in. Like, if you don't-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … if you like that or if you have s- a way that we could do it differently-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … please come and share it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: You know? And listening to some of the presentations, like we had a great presentation from J- uh, Jacob from Care.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: Um, actually I think he was at the beginning. But we've had some other presentations which are at the end-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … that are incredible, talking about what we're doing about the issues that people are complaining about-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … during public comment.

Scott Hammond: Right. I c- I, I love and admire you and all y'all to sit there and go, and no one's doodling or on their phone on Facebook. It's like there's, there's e- the board of supervisors, same thing, you know, Rio Dell, city council, whatever.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Uh, I just don't think I could do it. It's like I couldn't be a doctor and just deal with blood. It would be just brutal all day long.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It, so bless you for that gift. Um, I, I think again to reiterate my aggravation, it's those who, who are, are aggro and mad and weird for no reason. It's just not necessary. You can be passionate without being attacking, and, and those that won't let it go after the decision's made, dude. Just move it on. Move on, bro. Anyway. Hey, there's my two cents.

Kim Bergel: Thank-

Scott Hammond: So what are you com- what are you passionate about in terms of what's going on

Scott Hammond: today-

Kim Bergel: In our city?

Scott Hammond: … in this council, and what do you… And you guys all report to Miles, by the way?

Kim Bergel: No.

Scott Hammond: Is that true?

Kim Bergel: No.

Scott Hammond: He reports to you guys?

Kim Bergel: Yes.

Scott Hammond: Let's g-

Kim Bergel: Yes. Yes.

Scott Hammond: No. No way. Let's get that right, Scott.

Kim Bergel: Really.

Scott Hammond: Get your facts right.

Kim Bergel: So, uh, the thing that I'm really passionate about is I do have a mental health initiative that I've been working on throughout my term as mayor.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Kim Bergel: And so with that we've had our first, my first year we had four town halls. Last year we had two because I had an injury so, and I was off work. So we had, um, a small one, and then we had a really big one to kick off May is Mental Health Month, and currently we're working on restructuring what we're doing, and we'll be releasing shorts instead of, um, having a whole town hall where people come and sit.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: We'll be doing short little videos with different agencies-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … so that folks can understand what's happening in our city. Like, people don't under- I, I think people don't g- well, they don't understand 'cause they don't know, right? When you know better you can do better.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: But there are so many opportunities to be involved, to be, um, if you've got something, an issue going on-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … people to reach out to. There's just so much access and so much opportunity for people.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: And I think we get so caught up in our day that we don't realize that. So that's something that we're gonna be do- moving forward as well.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Kim Bergel: And then in May we'll have another big huge event for May is Mental Health

Kim Bergel: Month.

Scott Hammond: So the initiative has to do with incorporating folks to volunteer more and get involved with-

Kim Bergel: It more has-

Scott Hammond: … mental health issues?

Kim Bergel: Mm-mm. It more has to do with education.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Kim Bergel: So I guess what I meant by that is that if you ha- need a

Kim Bergel: resource, we're trying to show what is actually out there.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: And also to remember that, you know, um, mental illness is not, uh, a moral issue.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Kim Bergel: Right?

Scott Hammond: Right.

Kim Bergel: Nor is addiction-

Scott Hammond: Ca- or cancer

Kim Bergel: … or cancer or any of those things. And I think it's really a challenge sometimes because we see the

Kim Bergel: behaviors-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Kim Bergel: … and they can be scary, and they can be a lot of things. But to remember that that too, that person too, is the child of somebody-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … maybe a parent.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: Um, and that there are, there are, um, places that they can go and be to get the support-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … that they need. And that's what we're trying to bring out more to

Kim Bergel: folks-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … so that we can get the help people the help they need.

Scott Hammond: It's a cool reminder. Mago Day, child of God, human being.

Kim Bergel: Human being.

Scott Hammond: It's, it's all pretty important.

Kim Bergel: 100%.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. 100% Humboldt. Um, I had office… Hey, wh- where'd you get that plug? Uh, Officer Lenny LaFrance was on the show.

Kim Bergel: Okay. Yes.

Scott Hammond: Is he, is he the MIST officer?

Scott Hammond: Is-

Kim Bergel: No, he's-

Scott Hammond: But he's been l-

Kim Bergel: … actually Commander LaFrance now.

Scott Hammond: Oh, he is? Yeah.

Kim Bergel: And he began the CSET program, which is Community Safety Enhancement Team.

Scott Hammond: Nice guy.

Kim Bergel: Excellent. He is, yes, compassionate.

Scott Hammond: Good cop.

Kim Bergel: 100%. His whole team. His whole team.

Kim Bergel: And I swear, if you get an opportunity to watch one of them interact with someone

Kim Bergel: who's-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … having a crisis or all this-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … you'd be blown away.

Scott Hammond: So he trains other units and cl- p- individuals-

Kim Bergel: He does

Scott Hammond: … and teams-

Kim Bergel: He does

Scott Hammond: … to deal with the mentally ill-

Kim Bergel: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … on the street.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That's so cool.

Kim Bergel: You know, that's one thing about our city. We have a lot of innovative people, right?

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: So he created that program. He's sharing that program.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: Um, the city created Uplift Eureka, which is a program to help homeless people or, I call it homeless. Some people call it unhoused. I don't know what term is appropriate these days.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Kim Bergel: But, um, to support them in getting help. And they won an award from the League of Cities-

Scott Hammond: Nice

Kim Bergel: … uh, for that program. But you know, up here behind the Redwood Curtain, we really do have to get creative and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … innovative with our ideas 'cause we don't have LA's money or-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … um, access to a lot of the things that bigger cities do.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.Yeah, Deborah Garnes was talking about that a little bit.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Mayor of Rio Dell. Your fellow mayor.

Kim Bergel: I know.

Scott Hammond: How many… Who else is mayor?

Kim Bergel: I so appreciate it.

Scott Hammond: Is Alex Stillman mayor? No.

Kim Bergel: No, it's, uh, Meredith Matthews.

Scott Hammond: Meredith. And who else is the, the other mayors? Trinidad has a mayor. Anyway, we'll, we'll, we'll close you on that one later.

Kim Bergel: Thanks.

Scott Hammond: You're, you're welcome. So achievements that… Have you, have you gotten, uh, accolades or for some of the initiatives and stuff you've done?

Scott Hammond: I mean,

Scott Hammond: um-

Kim Bergel: That's not why I do it.

Scott Hammond: No, I d- I did- wouldn't think so.

Kim Bergel: Oh, okay.

Scott Hammond: I don't, I don't get th- But have you been recognized as, um… Maybe I should not ask that.

Scott Hammond: I don-

Kim Bergel: Not, not that I'm aware of.

Scott Hammond: Do you get, do you get medals?

Kim Bergel: No. Only when I run.

Scott Hammond: Okay, good. Good. So how's your running? Have you been running?

Kim Bergel: I've been running off and on.

Scott Hammond: Did you do the marathon?

Kim Bergel: I did the half.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Kim Bergel: And I bested my time-

Scott Hammond: Nice

Kim Bergel: … which was awesome, and then I started running again, and then I had this other injury, and it created a problem with my equilibrium and-

Scott Hammond: Oh, no

Kim Bergel: Oh, yeah, it's delightful.

Scott Hammond: That's fun. Yeah, Jodi got to finish with, uh, Sarah.

Kim Bergel: I saw the pictures.

Scott Hammond: Sarah Starr.

Kim Bergel: I saw the picture.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, she, she walked. They walk, walk/ran and had a good finish, and I like the Humboldt Bay Marathon. Then Scott Q. Marcus, who we all know and love.

Kim Bergel: Yes.

Scott Hammond: Scotty Q.

Scott Hammond: Um-

Kim Bergel: Richard

Scott Hammond: … he made it through.

Kim Bergel: He did.

Scott Hammond: He got it. He-

Kim Bergel: He did

Scott Hammond: … couched a 5K to, to 13.2.

Kim Bergel: So proud of him.

Scott Hammond: No, sh- actually, she did a race for him. She did a 10K for him.

Kim Bergel: She did a 5K.

Scott Hammond: Uh, was it a 5K, I guess?

Kim Bergel: It was a 5K.

Scott Hammond: Was it a 5K?

Kim Bergel: It was.

Scott Hammond: Okay. Yeah.

Kim Bergel: Yeah, because we, um, we ran… Terry and I ran with him-

Scott Hammond: That's right

Kim Bergel: … one day, just to-

Scott Hammond: Uh

Kim Bergel: … kinda get a feel for what the course was.

Scott Hammond: I saw the pictures.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: To get what, uh, the course was and all of that.

Scott Hammond: He's been a big part of my life and good friend of mine.

Kim Bergel: Very.

Scott Hammond: Taught me how to public speak and write a book and be, uh, generally cool like Scott Mar- Scott Q.

Scott Hammond: Marcus.

Kim Bergel: And don't forget the Q.

Scott Hammond: I got the Q.

Kim Bergel: Q.

Scott Hammond: Actually, Q started, uh, in Toastmasters many years ago, and I got invited to a, a meeting and went, and I thought, "You know, my dad always said public speaking would be a good thing." And I did, and I, I really loved it and got kinda hooked, and I started, he quit kind of at the similar time and but went through it, and really kinda hooked up with him and got part of the NSA, National Speakers Association-

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … and how to do, um, how to be a more better speaker. Some- 'cause some people have a way with words, and others no

Scott Hammond: have way.

Kim Bergel: More better.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, more b- That was a Steve Martin line that didn't go over too well.

Kim Bergel: Mm.

Scott Hammond: So, hey, part of the show where we, uh, have fabulous prizes.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And a bell that actually works.

Kim Bergel: Very nice.

Scott Hammond: So here's your, your Humboldt quiz.

Kim Bergel: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Are you ready?

Kim Bergel: I'm ready.

Scott Hammond: You sure? There's-

Kim Bergel: Pretty sure

Scott Hammond: … it's pretty important stuff. So question number one, Kim Bergel, for 10 points. Uh, you have an entire day to do whatever you wanna do with a healthy body, and you can go anywhere you want in the county and do whatever you want. Where do you go? What do you do?

Kim Bergel: So I would run on the trail.

Scott Hammond: Which one?

Kim Bergel: Our trail.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: The, um, waterfront trail, actually all the way out. That, it's so beautiful, that new s- the new part. Have you been out there?

Scott Hammond: Yeah, to the, to the, uh, nuclear plant?

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Kim Bergel: Or Humboldt Hill actually.

Scott Hammond: Humboldt Hill.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Does it go… It goes to the, up to the plant at this point, right?

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: And then it'll be extending.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah.

Kim Bergel: So it turns off-

Scott Hammond: Very nice

Kim Bergel: … yeah, it's so beautiful. So I would do that, and then I would look for low tide, and I would go out to the beach. I would either go to… I love to go to King Salmon. I used to go there with my kids all the time-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … and save the starfish, but only at low tide.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Kim Bergel: So, um, I would do that or go agate hunting probably.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Like Moonstone?

Kim Bergel: No. Um, Dry Lagoon. Should I share my spots? I don't know. Dry…

Scott Hammond: Secret Dry Lagoon spot.

Kim Bergel: No, no, it's not secret.

Scott Hammond: Is that the one where you have to take a, a boat over?

Kim Bergel: No, no. Dry Lagoon or, um, uh, Big Lagoon also.

Scott Hammond: Jodi and Sarah Starr did that hike over to Dry. Uh, or there's some hike that they did that was really-

Kim Bergel: Oh, I wonder if it's-

Scott Hammond: … there's a campground

Kim Bergel: … Clam Beach be- behind and keep going. I don't know.

Scott Hammond: No, up at Dry, actually Dry Lagoon.

Scott Hammond: There's, um-

Kim Bergel: Hmm

Scott Hammond: … anyways, uh, uh, who, uh, I don't hike with them, so I don't have the-

Kim Bergel: I've been been on that.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, it's supposed to be nice. Lots of hiking.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Do you know Reese Hughes? He was on the show.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: He's, he wrote the book on hiking for Humboldt.

Kim Bergel: Oh, okay. I have that book, but no, I don't-

Scott Hammond: Hi, Reese.

Scott Hammond: Um-

Kim Bergel: I have your book.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Kim has your book. Great guy. Okay, question number two. We digressed for a moment. Uh, you get to eat anywhere you want today, and who do you, who do you go with, and where are you gonna take them? And it doesn't have to be Eureka, 'cause I know pretty loyal to Eureka,

Scott Hammond: but-

Kim Bergel: I am pretty loyal to Eureka

Scott Hammond: … it could be Eureka.

Kim Bergel: Sure.

Scott Hammond: It doesn't have to be.

Kim Bergel: So could I have three meals or only just one?

Scott Hammond: So three is… F- f- for bonus points, three meals.

Kim Bergel: So, oh, so-

Scott Hammond: Go for it

Kim Bergel: … oh, so for breakfast, I would probably go to

Kim Bergel: Los Bagels.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Kim Bergel: And yes, and/or the Green Lily.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Kim Bergel: But the Green Lily, you can go for brunch. Oh, so good. They have-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … gluten-free french toast. So y- I mean-

Scott Hammond: Really?

Kim Bergel: Yeah, and nobody has gluten-free french toast.

Scott Hammond: And it tastes good.

Kim Bergel: It tastes so good, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Gluten-free.

Kim Bergel: Yeah, yeah. And then for dinner, I don't know.

Scott Hammond: Wait, what's lunch? Does, is it Red Lily?

Kim Bergel: Well, it'd be brunch. It would be between-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Kim Bergel: … the Green Lily.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: Um, for lunch, let's see.

Scott Hammond: Their French onion soup is killer, by the way, Green Lily.

Kim Bergel: Yes.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: Yes, it is.

Scott Hammond: Super good.

Kim Bergel: It's the bomb. Um, for lunch, let's see. Well, I would probably have a cheeseburger at, um, The Vista.

Scott Hammond: Really? Okay, cool.

Kim Bergel: Oh, God, they have some great food there.

Scott Hammond: They do.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: I've had the Cubano. It's really good.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm. And then, uh, for dinner, that would be a tough one. It would probably be the Sea Grill-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … or, um, Tandoori Bites 'cause I love Indian food.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Have you tried their new pizza place?

Kim Bergel: I have not yet.

Scott Hammond: It's supposed to be good.

Kim Bergel: I have heard.

Scott Hammond: Have you tried it, Nick? Is it good? Supposedly good. I've heard it's good.

Kim Bergel: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: No, we went there la- uh, Tuesday night. Um, not there. We went to the-

Scott Hammond: Tandoori Bites

Kim Bergel: … other location. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: But not there.

Scott Hammond: Their butter chicken is killer.

Kim Bergel: And we were talking about going there, so next time.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. And what's that bread called?

Scott Hammond: The, um-

Kim Bergel: Non?

Scott Hammond: The non bread.

Kim Bergel: The non gluten-free bread, that stuff?

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: They have gluten-free too?

Kim Bergel: No, I said the non-

Scott Hammond: Non

Kim Bergel: … gluten-free.

Scott Hammond: There's a lot of jokes embedded with-

Kim Bergel: Chuckle, chuckle, right?

Scott Hammond: Yeah, there's a, there's a lot of levels on that one. Hey, uh, question number three. Cup of coffee, where'd you go? What'd you get?

Kim Bergel: Jitterbean.

Scott Hammond: What'd you get?

Kim Bergel: In my car, I would get Jitterbean.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Not car.

Kim Bergel: Not car?

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: Oh, gosh. Well, either Ramone's or Humboldt Bay Coffee.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Kim Bergel: Either one.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: Just it would depend on the day.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Ramone's still has really good coffee.

Kim Bergel: And meetings, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. They, they've done it for years.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Kim Bergel: I go to both.

Scott Hammond: I think I know the answer to this one. So you get to go for a bike ride. Where do you go?

Kim Bergel: Waterfront Trail. Actually, a great ride too is from my house, my son and I ride out to Headwaters and ride out that way.

Kim Bergel: And it's-

Scott Hammond: Oh, that'd be cool

Kim Bergel: … gorgeous. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Up Elk River all the way up.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm. All the way down through Cotton and then down and back on Elk River Road, and then back to the trail there. And we ride partway up the trail, not all the way up the trail.

Scott Hammond: Right. Yeah, you could go a little ways up. I've done that. So that's a beautiful… That's such a cool trail.

Kim Bergel: It's so beautiful, yeah.

Scott Hammond: And there's not that much traffic, so the bike-

Kim Bergel: This is where we live.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, this is the bike ride.

Kim Bergel: This is where we live, yeah.

Scott Hammond: I was at Ferbridge today coming back from the stand down.

Scott Hammond: It's like, I don't know how you get a bike on there with two cars going up… I mean, it's like the bike must have to go ahead of the car.

Kim Bergel: Oh, yeah. I would take the lane on that for sure.

Scott Hammond: And just take the whole lane-

Kim Bergel: Oh, yeah

Scott Hammond: … and just ride fast. Ride, ride like heck.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: Well, you don't have to ride like heck, but, um-

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Well, Depends who's behind you.

Kim Bergel: That's true. That's true.

Scott Hammond: And how, how, how close they are, so.

Kim Bergel: Samoa Bridge is pretty scary too, though, to be honest. I've ridden that with my kids even.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, Joni was saying.

Kim Bergel: One time I rode it with my kids. That was enough.

Scott Hammond: Speaking of the Ghirardelli Trail that's coming in hooking in Arcata and Eureka, that's ama- It's gonna be amazing.

Kim Bergel: The Ghirardelli Trail?

Scott Hammond: Well, Ghirardelli's the contractor.

Kim Bergel: Oh.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. It's Ghira-

Kim Bergel: What are you talking about?

Scott Hammond: You're going, "Is it Chalk- Is it Dick Taylor or Ghirardelli?" Uh, it's-

Kim Bergel: Yeah, exactly.

Scott Hammond: No, they're the contractor. Actually, I think it's Mercer. Is it Mercer or is it McColl? Anyway, doesn't matter. We're connecting.

Kim Bergel: From Arcata.

Scott Hammond: We're connecting.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: And it's got- It looks like it's, like, starting to-

Kim Bergel: I've heard early-

Scott Hammond: … come together

Kim Bergel: … next year, but I-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Kim Bergel: … don't quote me on that.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Joni, every time we drive by, we're like, "Check it out. Look at that tr- Oh, yeah."

Scott Hammond: So-

Kim Bergel: So nice

Scott Hammond: … here's the question that we had, and I don't… S- suppose you could have an answer. I don't know. Why, why do you not just build the trail on the rail bed? 'Cause the forms are made. It's, the rails are already forms that you could concrete in and maybe overflow and do… I mean, there must be a, a machine that's built in America that already does this to

Scott Hammond: rails.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: I don't know. So in this case, they had to build it aside and do the whole other road bed for it, but anyway.

Kim Bergel: That's a great question.

Scott Hammond: I digress. Uh, somebody out there probably knows that answer. So what do you see for the future… Current, current issues and future vision for Eureka specifically-

Kim Bergel: Okay. So current issues-

Scott Hammond: … Madam Mayor

Kim Bergel: … in, in which regard?

Scott Hammond: Well, what, what, what are the key current, top three current issues that you're, you're focused on, that you see as, I don't know, that you're passionate about?

Kim Bergel: So homelessness, housing are always two big ones.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: Uh, economic development. So housing, I'm so proud of our city. We've worked really diligently. We, we have such a great team, but we've got some places that are gonna be coming forward, um-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … so hopefully sooner than later, where we're gonna be housing people. And again, behind the Redwood Curtain, I think it's really important to remember that we have to be creative, we have to be innovative.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: And so I really wanna give props to our staff who thought of this idea of turning parking lots into housing.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: And I know that there's a lot of fear around that.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: Um, but you know, I, I had, uh, City Manager Slattery, uh, confirm this or clarify this at our last meeting, that, you know, these places that are moving in are not zero income people. These are folks that are working

Kim Bergel: people.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: These are people… I could qualify for that, and many people I know could qualify for the housing that's going to be going in.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: And there's always this big fear of what you're gonna end up with, I suppose.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Kim Bergel: But I think, you know, looking forward, what I see is I see a booming old town. I see us thriving because we're gonna have a lot more people down there, a lot more people, a lot more shopping, a lot more opportunity.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Kim Bergel: Less things happening maybe that are distasteful.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: I don't know. But having more people in a place certainly makes a huge

Kim Bergel: impact.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: So I'm really looking forward to that moving forward and getting people housed, you know? That's… And, and pe- Right now it's so expensive. You know? I'm so grateful.

Scott Hammond: My gosh.

Kim Bergel: My mortgage is less than people pay for a one-bedroom apartment, you know? And I'm just so grateful every day for that.

Scott Hammond: Crazy.

Kim Bergel: And I, it's a bummer. It's like, it's horrible.

Scott Hammond: Our poor kids and grandkids.

Kim Bergel: Absolutely. So at the city, working towards getting, getting housing has been a really big and important issue.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Um, gosh, I don't even know where to start on that one. The… So as part of that development downtown, uh, fill me in on the transportation center behind Lost Coast Brewery that-

Kim Bergel: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … is conceived of. What, what is, what is that project? Is… And that's separate from Measure F and that whole, the whole development of parking lots, right?

Kim Bergel: No, that's not separate-

Scott Hammond: Is it-

Kim Bergel: … from Measure F.

Scott Hammond: Is it, is it a, is it a part of that vision to do a big transpo center like Arcata has?

Scott Hammond: Or-

Kim Bergel: So would you clarify what you mean by Measure F before I go any further?

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I don't- I, I… Strike that. I, so I just wanna focus on the, the, the transportation center

Scott Hammond: question.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Is that… That's a pretty good idea, right?

Kim Bergel: So it's gonna be a hub. It's going to be a, a, a transit

Kim Bergel: hub.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: It's going to have businesses below. It's going to have housing on top.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: Um, it's gonna be a place where people can convene.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: And, um, again, it's gonna be housing-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … something we desperately need, and it's going to increase our trans- hopefully our transit rider, riderships. Uh, Amtrak will be coming through there. There's gonna be a lot happening in that hub.

Scott Hammond: Cool. Yeah.

Kim Bergel: I don't know if you've ever been to a transit hub or something like that in a bigger

Kim Bergel: city, but-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Kim Bergel: … they're pretty neat.

Scott Hammond: Oh, they're cool.

Kim Bergel: They're pretty neat.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: So yeah.

Scott Hammond: So that's gonna be… We just got back from Amsterdam where everything'sNot cars.

Kim Bergel: Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: If you own a car, it's super expensive.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, for every, you know, 12 bucks a gallon, and parking's a headache, and-

Kim Bergel: Oh, we thought we had it bad at 5.69, right?

Scott Hammond: Oh my gosh. Then we go, then we go to Medford, and it's like 3.33, and they're talking about under, under three bucks, and you go, "Where do I, where do I live? Ah." Anyway, the gas prices. We should talk about that for a long time, but we won't. So Transf- so Transportation Hub also has regional buses that go to Willow Creek or to Ukiah-

Kim Bergel: Yes, yes

Scott Hammond: … or the Skunk Train or wherever.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Kim Bergel: It is cool.

Scott Hammond: That's gonna be neat. So-

Kim Bergel: It's gonna be really exciting, and I think it's really gonna boost our Old Town.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: And I think Old, Old Town can handle it. There's, there's all… So development behind Jacks and behind Dick Taylor Chocolate, is that-

Kim Bergel: There's an RFP-

Scott Hammond: Is that all s-

Kim Bergel: … out for that. We haven't settled on anything there yet.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. But the idea would be to develop that into something other than parking, and

Scott Hammond: it would be-

Kim Bergel: Eventually

Scott Hammond: … shopping buildings, homes.

Kim Bergel: There's been a lot of talk. Years ago when I was first on council, we did a charette, um, with Rob Homeland. A lot of community came, and we kind of looked at what could happen and ideas. I think we should have a Ferris wheel personally.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: It'd be awesome down there.

Scott Hammond: Well, that'd be cool.

Kim Bergel: Um, yeah. But there was a lot of talk about what could happen there, whether that would be coffee shops, um, offices, businesses.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Kim Bergel: Uh, Cal Poly Humboldt moving in with a conference center. I mean, there's a lot of different-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Kim Bergel: … or somebody moving in with a conference center, those kinds of things. Um, just really looking at different opportunities.

Scott Hammond: Maybe a concert venue like-

Kim Bergel: Exactly

Scott Hammond: … Redding with their municipal auditorium that they did 50 years ago.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Gosh.

Kim Bergel: We definitely, in, in, in my opinion, we could really use, um, a co- um, a concert venue.

Scott Hammond: Wouldn't it be nice?

Kim Bergel: It would be absolutely-

Scott Hammond: 1,000 seats

Kim Bergel: … awesome.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, whatever.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Um-

Kim Bergel: Used to do them in the Muni years ago.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Kim Bergel: Remember? Do you remember that?

Scott Hammond: The echo chamber. Echo, echo.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Um-

Kim Bergel: I saw Dr. Hook there.

Scott Hammond: Oh, there's, there's some history.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And Ringo was there.

Kim Bergel: I didn't see Ringo.

Scott Hammond: Ringo. Snoop came, and then Leonard Skinner played so loud at, uh, Redwood Acres that it, like, blew people's hats off and stuff.

Kim Bergel: Oh, wow.

Scott Hammond: It was like, it was like sound, soundcheck.

Scott Hammond: Anyway.

Kim Bergel: Anyway.

Scott Hammond: Uh, actually, Old Town Bar & Grill, did you ever go there?

Kim Bergel: I did. That's been a long time ago.

Scott Hammond: That's going way back.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Paul Debark was talking about some of the, the shows back in the day and how Deborah

Scott Hammond: Lazio-

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … brought in, like, amazing people.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Like, just how did you get them off of I-5 to come over here? And it was… She said four, five, six nights a week of music.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Wouldn't that be something?

Kim Bergel: That would be amazing.

Scott Hammond: With a music venue. What a- So, uh, the other tract of land, um,

Scott Hammond: Halverson.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Is there any- anything going down there?

Kim Bergel: So there is a park going in there.

Kim Bergel: Um, the, the Gra- Is it Grace Martin? No, that's, uh, that's, uh… I'm sorry. The name escapes me. I wanna say it's-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Kim Bergel: … Grace Martin. Um, but there will be a park going in there for-

Scott Hammond: Cool

Kim Bergel: … kids and all of those th- It's gonna be really nice.

Scott Hammond: Very nice.

Kim Bergel: Really nice. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Right on the waterfront.

Kim Bergel: Right on the waterfront.

Scott Hammond: That'll be cool.

Kim Bergel: Yeah. I, I would love to see us use that waterfront more often, like, for… We are now. We're doing a lot of different events-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … you know, post-COVID. The Kite Festival's one of those events.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Kim Bergel: And CannaFest just happened.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: And, um, there's just a lot of things that go down there.

Scott Hammond: That's really cool. And then riding around the Madaket looking at all of it going, "Oh, this is, this city looks very different from a boat."

Kim Bergel: It does. Who doesn't love Madaket?

Scott Hammond: Madaket's cool, man. The lo-

Kim Bergel: Smallest bar, legal bar in California.

Scott Hammond: Right. And longest-running something boat in-

Kim Bergel: Yeah. I think she's 100 and… Oh, gosh, Levi would kill me. I wanna say she's, like, 114.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And chugging along.

Kim Bergel: Great history. Yep.

Scott Hammond: It's so cool to look out at the bay and go, "Oh, that… Oh, I hear… Oh, the speaker," and they're giving a tour, and it's-

Kim Bergel: Yep

Scott Hammond: … amazing.

Kim Bergel: I can hear it from my house.

Kim Bergel: It's-

Scott Hammond: So, uh, real quick, I wanna talk about your legacy and what you wanna leave behind in your gravestone and what we're gonna say, and- … what we're gonna say at your… What you would like them to say or think they could. But before we do that, um, how do we get ahold of you or y'all at the council? What, what's the best way to go-

Kim Bergel: 707-616-2178.

Scott Hammond: 616-2178. I'm gonna call-

Kim Bergel: That's the best way

Scott Hammond: … I'm gonna call right now. Is it-

Kim Bergel: You gonna call me? My bat phone will go off.

Scott Hammond: Is it your cell phone? No, I'll call you in a minute. I'll call you when we're done.

Kim Bergel: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Uh, so you could… You actually take calls.

Kim Bergel: I do.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Kim Bergel: I do. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: What's that number again? 616 what?

Kim Bergel: 707-616-2178.

Scott Hammond: 2178.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Very cool.

Kim Bergel: I work in the day, so texting also works.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Kim Bergel: Um, but if you leave me a message, generally I'll call you back.

Scott Hammond: Wow, that's accessibility.

Kim Bergel: I try to be accessible.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: I think, again, I wanna re- repeat myself because I think it's really important. We're a community. We're all in this together.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: And so I am available because I think it's important-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … that we discuss whatever needs to be discussed-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Kim Bergel: … whatever's happening.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Here's how clueless I am about politics, and maybe I should be a little bit more aware. Are, are you on the ballot? Are you, are you one of the seats for-

Kim Bergel: No

Scott Hammond: … November? You're not.

Kim Bergel: No, no, no.

Scott Hammond: That's just Scott.

Kim Bergel: And Katie.

Scott Hammond: And Katie.

Kim Bergel: Moulton, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Gotcha.

Kim Bergel: And then-

Scott Hammond: He's Ward 2, and he, she's Ward…

Kim Bergel: She's Ward 2, and he's Ward 4.

Scott Hammond: He's 4. Had him as a guest. Great guy.

Kim Bergel: Yeah, he is a great guy.

Scott Hammond: Nice man.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: I like Scott. Um-

Kim Bergel: Our climate change lead guy.

Kim Bergel: He's-

Scott Hammond: Oh, really?

Kim Bergel: Oh, he's so knowledgeable. So knowledgeable.

Scott Hammond: And that's important.

Kim Bergel: Absolutely.

Scott Hammond: Why is that important for us-

Scott Hammond: … as a city council?

Kim Bergel: Have you noticed the weather?

Scott Hammond: It's really nice today. I like this climate change.

Kim Bergel: Do you remember when you were a kid?

Scott Hammond: It would, it'd be raining by now.

Kim Bergel: Exactly. Exactly.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: So sea level rise is something that we really need to get on top of sooner than later, and so I appreciate that Scott is really engaged and involved in

Kim Bergel: that.

Scott Hammond: I'm gonna ask about that at the gym tomorrow.

Kim Bergel: Do it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. He works out with us. Say hi.

Kim Bergel: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Guys high-five. What's up? Yeah, he's, he's, he's sweet. Uh, so tell me, uh, what do you wanna be remembered for?

Kim Bergel: Wow. I think-The most important thing for me is that I made a difference.

Kim Bergel: And, and I already … So whether it's my legacy or not, I already know that.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: Um, because I think of all the people that I worked with in Palco Marsh, and all the people that, um, I talked to on the streets, or some of them in business, or, um, the return of Tuluwat Island and my part in that. All of these things have enriched my spirit and my insides and my

Kim Bergel: soul.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: And they've been such a gift.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Kim Bergel: And so whether people remember me or not-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … I win.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: I, I, I, I, I get it, you know? So.

Scott Hammond: Right on. I like that.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And I didn't even ask this, so I have to ask this, the other question, but just behind that. What, what three things are you passionate about?

Kim Bergel: So for the city?

Scott Hammond: For your life.

Kim Bergel: For my life?

Scott Hammond: Could be the city. I mean-

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … could … They're … It's part of your life.

Kim Bergel: Well, I think, you know, one of the things that, and the reason I work at a middle school and the reason that I do a lot of the work that I do, is I really feel like it's so important for us to see our value and to treat each other with respect. And when I worked in Montessori, that was a really big piece, and I learned so much there.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: And I'm so grateful for that.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: Um, but I think the way that we treat each other and the way that we talk to each

Kim Bergel: other is-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Kim Bergel: … a big piece. Now I digress. What was the question?

Scott Hammond: The question.

Kim Bergel: But that's, but that's something that's very important to me.

Scott Hammond: Well, I think you answered the, uh, uh, three things you're passionate about.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: One would be, um, sounds like kids and, and-

Kim Bergel: Absolutely

Scott Hammond: … modeling-

Kim Bergel: So I've worked with youth and-

Scott Hammond: … kindness.

Kim Bergel: Yeah. Well, I'm concerned … I mean, it's selfish. I'm concerned about my future, so I really wanna have our kids realize their value and realize that we can be respectful. I mean, it's embarrassing when I look at the lo- not the local, national, the news and the way we treat each other, and sometimes even at a council meeting.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Kim Bergel: It's like I have eighth graders that treat each other better

Kim Bergel: than-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Kim Bergel: … grown-ups. And seeing those-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … kind of behaviors that we're modeling for our kids-

Scott Hammond: It's weird

Kim Bergel: … it's sad.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. S- so I'll ask you a question 'cause I think I know the answer.

Scott Hammond: Um, the- back to mental health.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It's actually kinda relates to mental health I think. Uh, there's something in the water right now. It's really bizarre out there. It … People,

Scott Hammond: uh, that I know, and I, I guess 'cause I'm 65 and I'm older, I know more people and networked bigger and whatever, but there's a lotta crazy out there and a lot of really sadness and like, like r- people are going through really hard crap, and it's, and it's, it's heartbreaking and heartrending. Are, do you, do you see a, a, a higher frequency in the networks you're a part of in terms of people just going through it?

Kim Bergel: I do. And honestly, it's frustrating because I feel like part of that is this culture of divisiveness that's created some of those things.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: Um, and then people, you know, people can't afford to live somewhere. People can't afford to pay fuel to get to work. There's a lot of things that are happening now that are very uncomfortable and very challenging.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: And those things unfortunately are at a higher level than we can do here in

Kim Bergel: Eureka.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Kim Bergel: But bottom line in my mind is that the way we treat each other, with all that stuff going on, I mean, I go to other coun- like I've been to Mexico and some countries, like, or some areas there and, and met some families from different countries, and watching, you don't have to have anything to be happy.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Kim Bergel: And I think we're so driven-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Kim Bergel: … culturally, and so-

Scott Hammond: Right

Kim Bergel: … that creates that whole narrative of-

Scott Hammond: Stuff.

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. It's okay to have stuff, just don't let stuff have you.

Kim Bergel: Well, that's, yeah, exac-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Kim Bergel: … it's, totally, but I, that is part of the problem I think, is that we get driven to do all these things-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Kim Bergel: … and then we, you know, we can't do them all, and then that creates another problem for us in our-

Scott Hammond: Right. Dissatisfaction-

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … entitlement and I think we'll blame the, Mr. Google on some of that just in terms of the Internet's really served us well and not so well.

Kim Bergel: Isn't that true with everything, though?

Scott Hammond: It's true. Yeah. Yeah.

Kim Bergel: Everything is both/and, that's for sure.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. It's yes, yeah, but. Anything else you're passionate about? I mean, there must be plenty of things, but, uh, so you said raising up a next generation with some kindness-

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm. Yeah

Scott Hammond: … and respect.

Kim Bergel: And I love to garden. I love to be out in my garden.

Scott Hammond: Cool.

Kim Bergel: Yeah. I love to be out in nature.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: What do you grow?

Kim Bergel: I love to bring people together.

Kim Bergel: Flowers.

Scott Hammond: Flowers?

Kim Bergel: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Kim Bergel: Yep.

Scott Hammond: Okay. Great. That's good to know. So, uh, uh, parting shots. How do we get ahold of you again?

Scott Hammond: 707-

Kim Bergel: 707-616-2178.

Scott Hammond: And my phone number's 616-Puh-bucket.

Scott Hammond: Call me. I'll pick up every time.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Promise. No, just kidding. Uh, thanks for being here.

Kim Bergel: Sure. You know, one thing I did wanna say is-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Kim Bergel: … they did offer up to … I think it's important because, you know, they, the city did offer up to do a phone

Kim Bergel: tree.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: You know, where you'd have to call and press the buttons and all the way to get to me, and I just, I don't like that-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Kim Bergel: … for myself.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: So we're not doing that. So that's the number you call me at. You can find me there.

Scott Hammond: Do you get more calls or texts?

Kim Bergel: Uh, it depends on the situ- depends on the situation.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Kim Bergel: So emergent stuff, usually a phone call.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: If it's something that can kind of, you know, can kind of, it's not a emergency-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … text.

Scott Hammond: Text.

Kim Bergel: And then email too.

Scott Hammond: Wow. That's really cool. That's so accessible.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I love that.

Kim Bergel: I think it's important.

Scott Hammond: Tell us one more time that we're all in this together and there's a way to do it better.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: 'Cause I wanna hear that. That's such an imp-

Kim Bergel: It's the absolute truth.

Scott Hammond: That's the gospel, man.

Kim Bergel: That's the bottom line.

Scott Hammond: That's true.

Kim Bergel: I mean, really, the way we treat each other is the most important thing.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: All these other things are just noise.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: If we have the relationships and w- the way we treat each other is with respect and dignity, we don't have to like each other, we don't have to agree with each other-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Kim Bergel: … but we don't have to be jerks to each other.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Kim Bergel: You know?

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Kim Bergel: And so I think it's really important.

Scott Hammond: And, and there's res- yeah, there's resource in that, in connection, in that relationship.

Kim Bergel: In a healthy community, we lift each other up.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: And I see that so much in our city, and I can see the other

Kim Bergel: as well.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Kim Bergel: You know? And hopefully eventually, you know, we all have our something, we all have

Kim Bergel: our passion-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Kim Bergel: … and hopefully we'll find ways to collaborate and make a difference in our city

Kim Bergel: together.

Scott Hammond: Like-

Kim Bergel: Not five people sitting up on the dais, all of us.

Scott Hammond: Right. Like-

Kim Bergel: We all live here.

Scott Hammond: We, we're all part of this village.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Um, anything, anything else? Anything you'd like to recap or parting shots or?

Kim Bergel: Nope. I just really appreciate you having me here today and, uh-

Scott Hammond: My pleasure

Kim Bergel: … directly after work.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: With middle schoolers.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Kim Bergel: Uh-

Scott Hammond: Me too.

Kim Bergel: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: With, with whatever I did today. Uh, yeah. Thanks for being here. Appreciate you.

Kim Bergel: Yeah. Thank you.

Scott Hammond: All right. Thanks again.

Kim Bergel: You betcha.