#45. Eureka’s Evolution: Scott Bauer on Nature, Urban Life & Humboldt’s Future

Scott Hammond: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages, this is the 100% Humboldt Podcast with me, your host Scott Hammond, and my new best friend, Scott Bauer. Is that how you pronounce it, Bauer?

Scott Bauer: Yes.

Scott Hammond: Like Jack Bauer from 24.

Scott Bauer: Exactly.

Scott Hammond: Only different.

Scott Bauer: Or Eddie Bauer.

Scott Hammond: Eddie Bauer. Oh, that's a good one.

Scott Bauer: You related to Eddie Bauer? I said, "I wish."

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: No relation.

Scott Hammond: Scott Hammond, Hammond Lumber.

Scott Hammond: No. I wish.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, they, they were the number… Do you know they were the number one redwood producer in the world?

Scott Bauer: Huge.

Scott Hammond: And they had to come in and do a, a… What do they call it when they bust a y- uh, um, a monopoly?

Scott Bauer: Oh. Oh, really?

Scott Hammond: Yeah, they were, they were huge. It was GP & LP and all those guys.

Scott Hammond: Anyway-

Scott Bauer: Wow

Scott Hammond: … Scott, tell us, tell us the Scott Bauer story. How, who are you? What do you want?

Scott Bauer: Oh, well, yeah. It's a pleasure to be here, by the way.

Scott Hammond: Thank you.

Scott Bauer: Um, super excited. Yeah, I, um, God, I came, grew up in Huntington Beach.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: Born and raised. Um-

Scott Hammond: That's Orange County, right?

Scott Bauer: Orange County.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: Moved to Humboldt in 1993.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Scott Bauer: Um, so-

Scott Hammond: That's cool

Scott Bauer: … yeah, 31 years. Most of my life-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … majority of my life I've lived in Humboldt County.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Scott Bauer: Came here to go to Humboldt State.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: Down Polly, and, um, did a AmeriCorps National Service Program.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Scott Bauer: Took a, took a year off to do that.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Scott Bauer: It was super fun. And, um-

Scott Hammond: Where'd you go?

Scott Bauer: I actually worked on the Klamath River for the California Conservation Corps.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Scott Bauer: Um, I w- partnered with Department of Fish and Wildlife, where I work

Scott Bauer: today.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: Um, and finished school, and then I've been working for Department of Fish and Wildlife since, oh, gosh, 2005. But I've been a civil servant since 1999.

Scott Hammond: Wow, so you, what, so your major was fisheries?

Scott Bauer: It was natural resources-

Scott Hammond: Oh

Scott Bauer: … but I've always loved fish, you know, fishing, like-

Scott Hammond: So you're the guy that came up, stayed in your major, got the job in your major.

Scott Bauer: Yep. And there's a, and there's a bunch of us, too-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Scott Bauer: … like AmeriCorps people that, um, came to Humboldt to do AmeriCorps and s-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Scott Bauer: … and stayed. Like, probably 40% of Fish and Wildlife is Humboldt grads, AmeriCorps-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Scott Bauer: … grads.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Scott Bauer: It's pretty cool. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That's nice. I remember the day when I, when we came up in '78, uh, to study, um, um… I was an ocean major, thinking, "Hey, we're gonna get a job as, you know, forest rangers," and it's like, "No, you're gonna be a rec major." Thank you. I could do that really well. No, that's cool, so you s- were able to stay in your field.

Scott Bauer: Yeah, and then I, well, I guess I should say, um, lived in Arcata for, you know, a big part of, of my early career, and then my wife and I bought a house in Eureka

Scott Bauer: 2002.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Scott Bauer: So we've lived here for going on 21 years in this town.

Scott Hammond: City Councilman Scott Bauer, I should-

Scott Bauer: Yep

Scott Hammond: … l- can I reintroduce him? City councilman. Dad, husband-

Scott Bauer: Yep

Scott Hammond: … father.

Scott Bauer: And I, and I, uh, serve on the city council for the, uh, fourth ward of

Scott Bauer: Eureka.

Scott Hammond: The fourth ward, okay.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So what's your job duties at, uh, at Fish and Game?

Scott Bauer: Oh, um, I do cannabis enforcement.

Scott Hammond: Oh, go figure.

Scott Bauer: So, yeah, I have a-

Scott Hammond: Is there still cannabis around this county?

Scott Bauer: There-

Scott Hammond: People still do that?

Scott Bauer: Yeah. There's still-

Scott Hammond: I thought it was boom and bust. Is, that's like a dotcom.

Scott Bauer: Yeah, it, you know, it, it's, it's at a, a, um, a ebb tide right now, you know? Like, it's, it's still there. Um, we still have people doing, uh, illegal cultivation.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Scott Bauer: Um, but it seems like it's shifted quite a bit down to like Mendocino, Lake County, the illegal stuff.

Scott Hammond: Interesting. So you, would you go and enforce and write, write

Scott Hammond: tickets, or-

Scott Bauer: Well, I, I actually have a team-

Scott Hammond: … eradicate?

Scott Bauer: … of scientists, and, um, our focus is to document the environmental crimes.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: You know, the streams getting dried up-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … for diverting water, pushing dirt around and getting dirt into our streams.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Scott Bauer: We support law enforcement in that effort.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I remember the Eel, um, gosh, three years ago. It was so low.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It was like there was… It looked like the Eel River Creek, or it was a half a creek-

Scott Bauer: Yep

Scott Hammond: … by Benbow. It was just awful, and I'm going, "What?" Um, so tell us about that for, for a minute. Tell us maybe a small arc of the cannabis industry and what you, what your enforcement experience is.

Scott Bauer: Oh, man. Um, well, you know, I actually started working on cannabis about 2010.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: Um, got involved in a case that was, like,

Scott Bauer: enormous amount of dirt moved-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Scott Bauer: … pushed into a creek, and, and I thought, "Wow, that's kind of a problem."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And so some of us in the department, we started doing presentations about it, like, "This is an issue-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Scott Bauer: … that we need to focus on." Um, and I, I was, uh, telling our friend earlier about, um… And I started doing presentations, and pretty soon the media picked up on it.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And, you know, I got to… Dan Rather at one point came up and interviewed me-

Scott Hammond: Oh

Scott Bauer: … and I got to go show him some stuff, and I had-

Scott Hammond: I think I remember that.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Focused on that, yeah.

Scott Bauer: It's like 2013 or something, and, um, and so I got to do a lot of the outreach to kind of bring the issue to the

Scott Bauer: forefront-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Scott Bauer: … of, you know, political people's minds-

Scott Hammond: Right

Scott Bauer: … you know, regulators, and actually work with the industry on, like, Prop 64, trying to get… You know, people were interested in legalization, so-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Scott Bauer: … got to be from, you know, the beginning of, of the industry and, and the regulation of it-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … and the enforcement of it, so I've been in- involved in it for a long time.

Scott Hammond: Wow. So everybody wanted to have pot legal, and yet there are these illegal grows that were des- literally probably doing more damage to the environment than maybe anything else, right? Uh, arguably in Humboldt County.

Scott Bauer: Yeah, I would-

Scott Hammond: You wreck a fishery, you wreck plants and animals, and you have in- insecticides and pesticides. What are the in- insecticides that kill animals?

Scott Hammond: Um-

Scott Bauer: Oh, rodenticides.

Scott Hammond: Rodenticides, yeah.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: And they're, and that's still out there. Humboldt County is in a much better space these days-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … than, you know, Mendo, Trinity, Shasta.

Scott Hammond: Is that 'cause of enforcement?

Scott Bauer: Yeah. Um-Yeah, we've been at it more, longer than

Scott Bauer: anybody.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Scott Bauer: So other, other entities actually come here to learn how to do it, you know?

Scott Hammond: I think Billy Honsal said part of what he does is he trains other county, other law

Scott Hammond: enforcement-

Scott Bauer: Yep

Scott Hammond: … um, as part of his experiences here.

Scott Bauer: He's an expert, you know.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: Um.

Scott Hammond: Nice man.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Hi, Billy, what's up?

Scott Bauer: So yeah, you know, um, I've been involved in that and seen kind of the, the changes in our, in our community-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Scott Bauer: … in our resources.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And, you know, it's, um, where are we today? Uh, it, it's in, it's like kind of ever-evolving between legalization, maybe federal legalization someday-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Scott Bauer: … you know, all those different kind of things.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Scott Bauer: So it's been a really interesting ride. Like, as a scientist, I never thought I would-

Scott Hammond: Do that

Scott Bauer: … end up doing this, you know?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: It was like, I wanna do fisheries restoration, which I've done-

Scott Hammond: Right

Scott Bauer: … you know, a decade of that before.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And now here we are regulating, uh, a pretty, a billion-dollar industry.

Scott Hammond: So you're restoring a boom and bust economy, which was redwood or forestry?

Scott Bauer: Yeah, well-

Scott Hammond: Lumber, and now you're restoring the damage these, these yahoos

Scott Hammond: have done.

Scott Bauer: Well, that's funny because in my early presentations, we would ta- I would talk about the Gold Rush-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … and then the Timber Rush, and then the Green Rush.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Scott Bauer: And it's, it's been our kind of Humboldt County's, you know, thing for-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Scott Bauer: … a century or more, you know, these kind of boom and bust cycles for industries.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Scott Bauer: It's really interesting.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, yeah. And, and I- I'd be fair to say that 100% of these guys are not bad actors.

Scott Bauer: A hun-

Scott Hammond: There's-

Scott Bauer: 100, what do you mean?

Scott Hammond: Are not.

Scott Bauer: Are not, yeah. I mean-

Scott Hammond: But there's people that are trying to comply and d- try to do things on the up and up and do it clean.

Scott Bauer: Yep.

Scott Hammond: You know?

Scott Bauer: Definitely.

Scott Hammond: So what percent, just ballpark, would be, uh, bad actors that would just go, "Screw it, I'm gonna kill the environment, and I'm gonna do it for money, and, and do it without any conscience"?

Scott Bauer: You know, that's changed over time.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: Um, uh, you know, at one time, it was pretty Wild, pretty

Scott Bauer: Wild West.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And, you know, it depends on the county. But Humboldt-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Scott Bauer: … you know, it's vastly changed.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: I mean, I couldn't give you a percentage, but it's, the majority are legitimate.

Scott Hammond: That's great.

Scott Bauer: You know, and they're trying to, you know, be a, you know, good citizens and businesspeople.

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

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: You know, that's kinda more who, who I choose to believe who we are.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So, uh, tell us about the, the,

Scott Hammond: uh, Eureka, your role with Eureka. What do you do?

Scott Bauer: Oh, boy. Um, well, you know, city council, um, you know, we're heavily involved in… You know, I like to tell people, 'cause there's… People want… I mean, step back. I mean, I feel like the community, s- people in the community are, are more idealistic focused on, like, what, you know, "Here's what the city needs to do."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: It's, it's a focus on, or what a particular

Scott Bauer: ideology is.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And I look at it as we're running a city.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Scott Bauer: You know, people need clean water. People need their sewer systems to work.

Scott Hammond: Roads.

Scott Bauer: People, you know, need roads, they need trails.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Scott Bauer: You know, the, the things that make a city function.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: That, to me, is our job, is, like, how do we do that? How do we, you know, m- manage a budget, um, a- and do all that with a, I don't wanna say a form of ideology, but, you know, we want it to be more bicycle-friendly-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Scott Bauer: … more, you know, uh, pedestrian-friendly. Like, you know, and changing a city that-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … I like to say, you know, um, we're a very utilitarian

Scott Bauer: city.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: You know? Like, it was a, it was a logging town.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: You know? And therefore, it's not necessarily h- you know, have the beauty of some seaside village somewhere, you know? I mean, we were-

Scott Hammond: Right

Scott Bauer: … designed and built for timber and, and fishing-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … really, you know, and gold mining way before that.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: But so that's where we, where we're starting from, and that, and now we're trying to change that to something

Scott Bauer: that-

Scott Hammond: Tourism

Scott Bauer: … tourism, uh, wind energy-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … fish farms-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … um, you know, college-based-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … you know, focusing on education and-

Scott Hammond: Art, arts

Scott Bauer: … arts.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: All those things, right?

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And so you have to kind of redesign and rethink.

Scott Hammond: That's a great point, yeah.

Scott Bauer: Right?

Scott Hammond: It's, it's structured different, the, the geography, the, the architecture.

Scott Bauer: The layout.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, the way it's all laid out. That's, I hadn't thought of that. Yeah, so you have to re-engineer a little bit.

Scott Bauer: Yeah. And so we're doing that, and, and I, uh, this is the part that I love, is, like, that you, you see where people are.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: Like, you know, there's a camp that doesn't like change-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Scott Bauer: … and for the sake of change. Like, change is scary.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm,

Scott Hammond: mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: Change is, you know, hard to deal with.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And then there's a camp that's like, "No, full steam ahead," you know?

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: We're moving on-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … changing.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And those two camps have a hard time communicating, you know?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: And, and we do, too. So, like-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Scott Bauer: … I think of my role as to, uh, is to, to try and educate people-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Scott Bauer: … that here's why we do it this way.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Scott Bauer: You know, a lot of people have questions like, you know, "Why is this happening?" I s- and when I explain-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Scott Bauer: … "Well, there's, here's the budget."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: "Here's how that's supposed to work."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: They get it, and there's so much of, of, of our community, of, of all of us that they don't, they just don't know. You know? Like, how does a city work?

Scott Hammond: Right.

Scott Bauer: And it's complicated, and it, you know, all requires money.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And I, I, I just wish people would, would, would want to understand because even, even sometimes when you tell people, like, "Here's what's going on. Here's why we're doing that-"

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … they've already developed their opinion.

Scott Bauer: You know?

Scott Hammond: Right.

Scott Bauer: They're, they're thinking of a response instead of listening.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Scott Bauer: We all do that, right?

Scott Hammond: Of course.

Scott Bauer: You know? It's like, I can't wait to get my, "Here's what…" You know, I wanna say this-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Scott Bauer: … instead of just-

Scott Hammond: I'm thinking of mine right now.

Scott Bauer: Yeah. Just listen, you know?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: Like, and, like, listening to the community.

Scott Hammond: Learn something.

Scott Bauer: Yeah, and what do, what do people want? Um, I'll say that I-Got into this, you know, um, my kids one day are driving into town, and they're like, "Oh, you know, this commun- you know, this street's so ugly." And I'm… And I have to explain-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … well, you know, it was built for logging trucks and-

Scott Bauer: … you know, industry.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Scott Bauer: It wasn't built for beauty.

Scott Hammond: Skinny little downtown streets.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: Right? And, and it got me thinking, though, like, "Well, maybe I should get involved." You know, and I, well, I'll say I've always been involved. And my, my kids were a big catalyst, but I've always been involved in… You know, I served on the Wetlands and Creeks Committee in Arcata when I was a young

Scott Bauer: man.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Scott Bauer: Um, you know, served my country through AmeriCorps.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: So I've always been involved in, uh, community-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … and volunteerism, and so it's just like a natural progression-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Scott Bauer: … you know, to wanna do more.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: Um, and it's, uh, super challenging.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Scott Bauer: And I've learned so much in, in four years.

Scott Hammond: Next job, supervisor.

Scott Bauer: We have some great supervisors, you know.

Scott Bauer: Um-

Scott Hammond: We do. Yeah, they're great.

Scott Bauer: And they have a even more difficult job, I think.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah.

Scott Bauer: You know, city's in good shape financially. County is, you know, struggling.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: Um, so we're, we're fortunate.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: You know?

Scott Hammond: So is Miles Slattery your boss?

Scott Bauer: No, he's, he works for the city, uh-

Scott Hammond: He's-

Scott Bauer: … city council.

Scott Hammond: He's city council.

Scott Bauer: He's city manager, so he works for all the council people.

Scott Hammond: Okay. So he was on Nick's show.

Scott Hammond: He's-

Scott Bauer: Oh, right on.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, he's, he… I guess he did a long interview.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Um, so tell me more about, uh, the ward system and how long you've been

Scott Hammond: at this and, uh, we were talking before the, before we went on about the, uh, the ranked whatever it was.

Scott Bauer: Yeah, ran- yeah, ranked choice voting.

Scott Hammond: Tell us about that. I wanna know about that.

Scott Bauer: Well, like, the wards, at one time, um, the city was bay- had s- five, you know, has five wards.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And it was everybody votes for everybody.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: So it was a, a wide-open voting system.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And then with last election, we went to true w- a true ward system.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Scott Bauer: And that basically was, um, you vote for the candidates in your ward, so-

Scott Hammond: That's gotta be way harder to get a ballot going for that.

Scott Bauer: Well, i- it's easier for candidates-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Scott Bauer: … because you focus, right? You can focus on one area.

Scott Hammond: Your city ward, yeah.

Scott Bauer: And I, I knocked on practically every door-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … in, in the ward.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Scott Bauer: In Ward 4, you know, and met thousands of people. Couple thousand probably. But you, um, you… So we would vote, and you vote for your candidates in your ward. Well, um, and they're separated by population, so they try and make the wards all equal amounts of population.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: So the, the boundary of the Fourth Ward is essentially

Scott Bauer: Harrison

Scott Bauer: on the east. Um, the west, you know, it goes all the way up to Sequoia Park.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: Um, takes in kind of the armory there.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: Runs along, um, what is that? Anderson. And then it, no, past Anderson to Harris, and then it comes down kind of behind Eureka High.

Scott Hammond: Like right over here in Eureka over… Oh, man, you moved my map. It used to be, like- … right here. I could touch it.

Scott Bauer: So then-

Scott Hammond: Over there in Eureka, California.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: Um, and then it goes a- all the way down to the bay on Bay Street.

Scott Hammond: So you can knock on all that. It's pretty flat.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: Yeah, it's, it's, uh, not hard to do. But then now this year, 'cause the voters, 61% chose for, uh, ranked choice voting.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: Um, so when I ran, there was five candidates, and it was winner take all, right? You voted for your top choice.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: Well, this coming election, it'll be if there's five candidates, you rank them one through five.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Scott Bauer: Like, uh, I think it's a great opportunity be, uh, you know, because, like, in our national elections, right, it's w- one or the other.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And people call the Green Party a spoiler, or they-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … call whatever, Libertarians a spoiler.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Scott Bauer: But you could vote for them-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … as your first choice.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And if everybody did that, it's possible it could t- totally change the election. So what, what happens is if the first choice, the first round of votes are counted, doesn't get 50%, nobody does-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … then you count the second choice.

Scott Hammond: Ah.

Scott Bauer: The person with the lowest amount of vo- votes gets removed-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … and the, and those people's second choice-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Scott Bauer: … pic- essentially, you know, gets counted.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Scott Bauer: And so you, you go through that until somebody hits 50% plus

Scott Bauer: one.

Scott Hammond: Gotcha.

Scott Bauer: And so it-

Scott Hammond: I like that.

Scott Bauer: Yeah, so you could, like, "Well, I really like this person. I don't think they're gonna win, but I'm gonna vote for them first."

Scott Hammond: So mathematically, it's a, a genius way to actually create a pretty clear majority if you had to.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: No, it's a very cool system.

Scott Hammond: As opposed to a two-party system where it's gotta be 50 plus one.

Scott Bauer: Yeah. I mean, so other parties, other people-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … you know, have an opportunity to, to maybe win even.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: You know? Like, they get enough votes because people are voting what they think is right-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … versus, like, holding their nose and voting, you know?

Scott Hammond: Right.

Scott Bauer: Like in national elections-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Scott Bauer: … like, people say, "Oh, I plug my nose and vote for that guy."

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: But if it was-

Scott Hammond: What are you saying?

Scott Bauer: Um, you know?

Scott Hammond: Who's doing that?

Scott Bauer: Yeah. I mean, that's what… And I admit it. Like, it's frustrating, and I, and-

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah

Scott Bauer: … I think today I was listening to a podcast, uh, ironically about elections. And I was thinking, "You know, the world isn't black and white." And-

Scott Hammond: No

Scott Bauer: … at the national level, it's been that way for, what? 100 years, I think since the Bull Moose Party.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Scott Bauer: 1912, Bull Moose Party, Teddy Roosevelt-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … um, basically stole votes from the Republican, and Woodrow Wilson won. I think that was, think 1912 or 1914.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: But that, you know, that was, that was when people started actually considering ranked choice voting-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Scott Bauer: … was that, that election.

Scott Hammond: Interesting.

Scott Bauer: And it was actually a Republican Party idea-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Scott Bauer: … um, back then.

Scott Bauer: So it's a, it's way more d- I wish it was done federally.

Scott Hammond: That'd be great.

Scott Bauer: Because it would change everything, you know?

Scott Hammond: Be a deal changer.

Scott Bauer: But-

Scott Hammond: Have, have 10 people on there.

Scott Bauer: Yeah, and but the, and that's the problem, though, but you have this kinda duopoly, right? People call it.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Scott Bauer: You know? And it's like-You have two choices. The, the world doesn't, there's no two choices in the world.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: There's no yes and no's-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Scott Bauer: … as far as I'm concerned. The world is gray.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. I don't-

Scott Bauer: You know?

Scott Hammond: I don't think I resent the candidates as much as I do the two parties.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: 'Cause they're just putting up their horse that they think'll win, and it may not be a good horse for every… I don't know.

Scott Bauer: No, and if, and if, why can't you, you should have multiple-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Scott Bauer: … it should be multiple choice.

Scott Hammond: Right. Yeah. And one thing that's come through the podcast here is that, uh, we're pretty divided, and, and

Scott Hammond: I, um, we can talk about that all day, Captain Obvious topic that's so easy to pick on. It's, it's what, what we're doing to link back together and create, I don't know, community kindness, whatever, u- unity. You can call it a lot of things.

Scott Hammond: Um, how do you, how do you do that in your office? Do you, uh… I, I imagine you're a good listener. You seem like a nice guy, and you're there talking to constituents

Scott Hammond: and, you know, going back to the obstructionist, you know, jerks that come in and just wanna no to everything. You and your bike lanes, forget it.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And the bike lanes are great. They seem like they're working out okay.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Um, you know, the trail coming in from Arcata this summer, that's gonna be connecting us to the other part of the world. So, um, love to talk about your work and what you do and how you do it, and what's unique to Eureka as opposed to Humboldt as a, as a county.

Scott Bauer: I love actually a subject because I, I think there's so much polarization in our politics, in our

Scott Bauer: community-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Scott Bauer: … and-

Scott Hammond: In our own heads.

Scott Bauer: You know, and it, it's so frustrating to me because, like, people are blown away. Like, I'm friends with a wide spectrum of people.

Scott Hammond: Right on.

Scott Bauer: You know, I know big ranchers that are friends of mine, you know, and fr- from the left and the right, I'm friends with tons of people that-

Scott Hammond: Why not?

Scott Bauer: Yeah, why not? Because we're all human beings.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: Politics shouldn't be the ultimate factor on why you're friends with someone. There's great human beings across the spectrum.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And so like I, you know, I'm happy to, to say, "Yeah, I'm f- I'm friends with that guy, and we, we disagree on a lot of things, but we also have a great time going fishing." You know?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: Like, we don't discuss politics or whatever.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And I think that is something that-

Scott Hammond: Oh, you do, and it's great.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It's a good exchange.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: I think that's the d- the challenge for, um, people in government is to try and… You know, I, I don't think my role is even to, like, convince people that my way is the right way.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: Is to explain, you know, why this is a good idea.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: You know? Like, like H and I Street, right?

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Scott Bauer: Going to two lanes and a bike lane has been so… The emails you get, you know, about-

Scott Hammond: Divisive and crazy

Scott Bauer: … divisive, and it's like traffic hasn't really changed.

Scott Hammond: Really?

Scott Bauer: It's actually slowed a little bit-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … because people have to, people go slower.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And yes, there's not a thousand bikes going down it right now-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … because so much of city planning is building it s- for the future.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Scott Bauer: Right?

Scott Hammond: Right.

Scott Bauer: The hope that people have an easier, people aren't, don't feel safe riding their bike, well, now they'll feel safer, so now maybe they will, you

Scott Bauer: know?

Scott Hammond: And you got trails coming in, the Great Redwood Trail, and you got Arcata-

Scott Bauer: Yeah, and it-

Scott Hammond: … that trail coming out

Scott Bauer: … those are things that make you healthy.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: It's a healthy lifestyle, so.

Scott Hammond: And Eureka's a bikeable town.

Scott Bauer: Totally.

Scott Hammond: Total- it's nice and flat.

Scott Bauer: It, it's faster for me to ride my bike to work than it is to drive.

Scott Hammond: Really? Okay.

Scott Bauer: Literally. You know?

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Scott Bauer: It's like a minute faster, so

Scott Bauer: yeah, that-

Scott Hammond: Was, was that terrible wreck on I Street two weeks ago, was that any, was there any extrapolation that's having anything to do with the new lanes?

Scott Bauer: Uh, zero.

Scott Hammond: That person just went w- buck-crazy and started hitting people.

Scott Bauer: Yeah, and then there's an interesting story there that can't talk about, but you know, it, it-

Scott Hammond: I was asking my wife. She ex- follows all this.

Scott Hammond: She goes, "They're not saying much."

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I'm going, "That's gonna be a crazy story."

Scott Bauer: Yeah. Well-

Scott Hammond: 'Cause that, he took a life, right?

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And then tried to drive away, I think.

Scott Bauer: Yep. Nothing to do with bike lanes, two lanes, any-

Scott Hammond: It was over, it was over on 7th anyway, wasn't it?

Scott Bauer: Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: So yeah, you know, it's like trying… I, I like talking to people. I don't care-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … your beliefs, you know?

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Scott Bauer: Like, I enjoy-

Scott Hammond: It's good

Scott Bauer: … it's fun, you know? It's, like, fun to, to learn about people and-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Scott Bauer: … and even to find common ground. Like, that is so-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … that's part- that's the best part of life is-

Scott Hammond: So you're a dad like me. Hey.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: You like to ride a bike. I do, too.

Scott Bauer: Yeah. You know, just those things that bring us together.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Scott Bauer: And if we don't do that, then we end up in these miserable

Scott Bauer: situations-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Scott Bauer: … where people are unhappy and, you know, like-

Scott Hammond: I see it every day. It's crazy

Scott Bauer: … yeah, you're missing out on life.

Scott Hammond: It's like, yeah, you're forfeit. You're, really you are, and it's like, oh. So in your, in your journey, then, you're kind of a bridge maker. You're… Uh, Virginia Bass came on. She said she was good at that.

Scott Bauer: Yeah. I, I, you know, I don't know if I'm good at it, but I-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Scott Bauer: … certainly try.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: Like, you know, in working with people, I… You know, people will call and say, "I have this issue," go to their house, and-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Scott Bauer: … be like, "Well, you know, here's, here's why that's an issue."

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Scott Bauer: You know? Um, here's why the, the city, you know, sent you a nasty letter, like-

Scott Hammond: Oh, wow.

Scott Bauer: And, and they may disagree, but just explaining it.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: You know, because, you know, city officials, city staff, you know, they're busy.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And y- yeah, you got that because there's 400 other people that got that violation letter.

Scott Hammond: Gotcha.

Scott Bauer: And so they can't explain to, you know… It's like, so the, trying to get people understand why we have rules and regulations, too.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Scott Bauer: That's like the basics of-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Scott Bauer: … of a city.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: Why do we do that? Well, let me explain what happened-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Scott Bauer: … that got us to, like, sewer laterals, right?

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: That's a fascinating story, you know? It's not our fault.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: But it's an expensive issue, and it's a water quality issue.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Scott Bauer: And so here's why we have to do that.

Scott Hammond: There's reason behind it.

Scott Bauer: There's reason behind everything.

Scott Hammond: So traffic slowing and then traffic, is it called traffic…

Scott Bauer: Calming?

Scott Hammond: Calming. So all the measures, all the curbs that went out and the crosswalks.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Talk to that. I mean, that was-

Scott Bauer: Oh, God

Scott Hammond: … that's a progressive, expensive-… controversial and, and I actually kind of like them. It slows everybody down.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: 'Cause where I, where I'm downtown Eureka it's just, it's crazy.

Scott Bauer: Yeah, well-

Scott Hammond: People go nuts

Scott Bauer: … the bulb outs are, uh, another divisive thing, which they're-

Scott Hammond: Bulb outs

Scott Bauer: … they really shouldn't be.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: You know, it, it, it protect- protects pedestrians.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: They can stand there and, and not feel like they're gonna get hit. Slows you down when you make a turn.

Scott Hammond: People can see them standing there.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So if I choose to obey the law and stop and let a pedestrian go by.

Scott Bauer: Yeah, well, and, and that was all grant funded.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: It wasn't through the city budget.

Scott Hammond: 'Cause that's real money, right?

Scott Bauer: It was several million dollars, you know-

Scott Hammond: Just saying

Scott Bauer: … for all of that work. And-

Scott Hammond: Is it all finished already?

Scott Bauer: Oh, I-

Scott Hammond: It must be pretty close.

Scott Bauer: I, well, H and I think is pretty much done and now we're doing… Is Sixth and Seventh done?

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: It's getting there, right?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: And then Myrtle, Myrtle Town or, or Myrtle Avenue is gonna get worked on, but that's gonna be focused just, like, on paving, sewer line.

Scott Hammond: Got it.

Scott Bauer: Like, all… I should talk to that real quick too-

Scott Hammond: Sure, please

Scott Bauer: … about infrastructure because people n- need to understand that, you know, our city's very old and sewer systems are, you know, old.

Scott Hammond: Really?

Scott Bauer: And water lines are old. And so any time we have to pave a road or something, when you want… You, you wanna dig up the street one time-

Scott Hammond: Right

Scott Bauer: … you know? And, like, with, uh, I Street, we, we didn't, well, well, we did our work, but what, what happened is a s- s- the systems are so old that when they're driving heavy equipment across them some of those just popped.

Scott Hammond: Whoa.

Scott Bauer: You know, water lines broke.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Scott Bauer: You had to dig it up again. But so much of that kind of work now, like, you can't just pave a street. You gotta go in there and, like, the lines are all old.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Scott Bauer: Let's just do it all. And so it adds to the expense.

Scott Hammond: How old is Eureka? 1850-something?

Scott Bauer: God, it's an old… Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: It's over 100 years old by far.

Scott Hammond: And s- how old are those sewers l- and water lines?

Scott Bauer: You know, 100-plus years, some of them.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: Some of them-

Scott Hammond: Early 1900s. Yeah.

Scott Bauer: Yeah. You know, I mean, we used to have a trolley car that went down Myrtle Avenue, you know. And so there's-

Scott Hammond: That's long ago.

Scott Bauer: … that, it, it, it's old stuff and so the stuff costs money.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: And people are always like, "Why isn't, why aren't, why isn't my street getting paved?" Well, you know, there's a lot of bad streets. And I like to say-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … 'Hey, we're the first city council…" And well, the population has fi- finally made a decision to tax itself.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: Right? Um, to do that.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Scott Bauer: And we're talking, like, a backlog of decades.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Scott Bauer: 'Cause never had money to do it.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Scott Bauer: City council, previous ones, old, you know, years ago never decided to, like,

Scott Bauer: take that mature step and say, "W- we, we need more revenue."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: You know, like, just let it kind of go.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Scott Bauer: And so now we have to, like, we're, we're doing catch-up.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Scott Bauer: And all the… You focus on the streets with the most activity.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And then the other streets will follow, but it's gonna take 10, 20

Scott Bauer: years-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Scott Bauer: … before we pave all of our streets and-

Scott Hammond: Get it right

Scott Bauer: … and people have a hard time with that. "My street's the worst." It's like-

Scott Hammond: Yeah. No

Scott Bauer: … no, it's not.

Scott Hammond: So on First Street, down where we work out at HealthSport, that, that was, w- when I was in college in '78, uh, there was still, uh, a rail

Scott Hammond: line there.

Scott Bauer: Yep.

Scott Hammond: The s- the rail's still kind of in the, the bed of the street, but-

Scott Bauer: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … there were still-

Scott Bauer: And it-

Scott Hammond: … trains moving around.

Scott Bauer: Yeah, up until '98 when it officially closed, I think.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: With the big storms in '97, '95.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Scott Bauer: And the Eel, the Eel River Canyon, you know, that was one of those things that

Scott Bauer: people always like, "Why don't we reopen the railroad?"

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: The, you know, the estimates of building the rail line back were, like, I wanna say a billion dollars.

Scott Hammond: It's crazy money. And then it would slide again.

Scott Bauer: Uh, yeah. And then what? You know, what are we gonna, we gonna haul people on it for a billion? You know, it's like-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Scott Bauer: … it's just not gonna happen.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: So it's gonna be a trail, which is great.

Scott Hammond: It'll be a cool trail.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Maybe part of it in our lifetime.

Scott Bauer: P- segments. Sure.

Scott Hammond: Segments will be, right? Yeah.

Scott Bauer: Yep.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. No, that's a big deal, man. I really, I… My wife's real excited about that. We're excited about the Arcata connecting to Eureka.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That'll be fun.

Scott Bauer: Totally.

Scott Hammond: That way you can go all the way from whatever, Trinidad to the power plant.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: You know, that's a, that'd be a long bike ride.

Scott Bauer: I know, and safe.

Scott Hammond: And safe.

Scott Bauer: You know?

Scott Hammond: And very safe, yeah. Good point.

Scott Bauer: Well, and, you know, that's the other thing. I think there's this, like,

Scott Bauer: you know, folks that think, you know, grew up in a car culture.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And changing that, you know, it's hard. People think, oh-

Scott Hammond: Right

Scott Bauer: … you know, it's always been this way and cars always should dominate.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Scott Bauer: It's like, well, you know, the world changes.

Scott Hammond: Well, when gas goes to 10 bucks a gallon or north, which it, it is in Europe, I mean, it's crazy-

Scott Bauer: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … um, you may just have to have a bike.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Or an e- or an e-bike or something. Yeah, we were in Amsterdam. Everything's c- everything's bikes.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Bikes trump people- … cars. The only thing that trumps a bike is, is, like, a big rig, like a bus.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: They won't stop for bicyclists.

Scott Bauer: Really?

Scott Hammond: They just kind of, they come right through. But yeah, very prohibitive to own a, a car.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Just, like, everything, the tax, the insurance, the gas, the car, the repair. It's… And everything's really slow in a car, but you're right, we're really car-oriented. Um, question for you. So the,

Scott Hammond: the, um, one of your other battle fronts, if you will, or your challenge op- opportunities was the, uh, that, that, that parking area that you wanna put apartments in, and it has a name, so you know where I'm going.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Uh, tell me about that and where that has wound up in terms of more, uh, more housing for Eureka and, and how we're getting there.

Scott Bauer: Well, you know, we have a, a number of projects that are basically, you know, converting lots to, to housing.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: Earth Center we just discussed. What day is this? Well, it's Tuesday.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And we talked about it, and we have a new contractor that's taken it on,

Scott Bauer: and, um-

Scott Hammond: What'd you call it?

Scott Bauer: Uh, the Earth Center.

Scott Hammond: Where's that at?

Scott Bauer: That's right behind Lo- uh, Lost Coast Brewery.

Scott Hammond: Oh, right, the big parking lot?

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Scott Bauer: So that one, um, we have millions of dollars from Humboldt Transit Authority to build a, essentially a transit hub. So anybody-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Scott Bauer: … that could, like, hop on a bus from there and go to Ukiah.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: Hop on a bus and eventually get to Redding.

Scott Hammond: Brilliant.

Scott Bauer: You know, and then connect up to all the towns.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: So-Bottom floor is like a few shops, the, the tr- the transit authority running this,

Scott Bauer: this hub-

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh

Scott Bauer: … and then a couple of floors of apartments, um, above

Scott Bauer: that-

Scott Hammond: Nice

Scott Bauer: … and on, on the lot right next to it.

Scott Bauer: And-

Scott Hammond: So the Greyhound could go there.

Scott Bauer: Yep.

Scott Hammond: Bikes could be locked there.

Scott Bauer: Yep.

Scott Hammond: The, the bus up to Hoopa, the whatever to Crescent City.

Scott Bauer: Yeah. I mean, it's a great idea 'cause we don't have that.

Scott Hammond: A cool idea.

Scott Bauer: Where do we have… I mean, Arcata has their, you know, their what-

Scott Hammond: Very small, though

Scott Bauer: … tran- Yeah, super small.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: And this would be the serve all of Humboldt essentially.

Scott Bauer: Like I'm-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Scott Bauer: … I'm going to Ukiah, drive to town, you know, or if somebody gives me a ride,

Scott Bauer: whatever.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Scott Bauer: Take the bus to town, hop on the BIG bus and go.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: Um, so yeah, that's been a huge, I mean, obviously, right, we have, uh, a group of folks that are, are trying to get everything put onto Jacobs Campus, right?

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And housing for all thing. Um, but, uh, we could get… That's a whole story where-

Scott Hammond: Let's talk about that now.

Scott Bauer: We'll talk about that. So yeah, you know, I mean, it makes sense that like we- we've been talking about change and, and transportation and all, you know, general change going on in our society.

Scott Bauer: And taking parking lots-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … and people have to fight whether they're full all the time or… We are been a fortunate population to be able to walk a block to a store. Go to Monterey-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … go to Santa Barbara, right, you're gonna possibly walk blocks-

Scott Hammond: Right

Scott Bauer: … to get to a store. And that… And everybody just accepts it.

Scott Hammond: Or miles, yeah.

Scott Bauer: Or miles.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: And, and for some reason, you know, there's people in our community that, that that's, that should never happen.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: It's like, well, we need housing more than anything.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: Number one thing that you, you, uh, poll, I just read a poll today, it was like 18 to 24-year-olds or 18 to 39, number one issue is housing for them.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah.

Scott Bauer: What are we gonna do?

Scott Hammond: Ask my kids, adult kids at home.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. It's, it's-

Scott Bauer: Where are we gonna build, right?

Scott Hammond: So weird.

Scott Bauer: So we have parking lots, you know, like vast space that we can build up and build affordable housing.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: We talked about affordable housing.

Scott Bauer: It's like there's also the, the misconception that low income is something to be afraid of.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And when… And in fact, low income folks are Target employees, uh, bartenders.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: You know, like it's not, it's not like a tiny amount of money-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … to be low income. It's like it's a decent salary.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: And so-

Scott Hammond: It doesn't mean they're criminals-

Scott Bauer: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … if there's low income.

Scott Bauer: Yeah, you know. It's like, well, how do we, how did that even become a thing, you

Scott Bauer: know?

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And, and, and I had someone, what are they saying? It was, it's all kind of a, a… Well, I forget how they said it, but, you know, so it's like having people living in your downtown-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … it revitalizes downtown. They're out spending money-

Scott Hammond: Right

Scott Bauer: … going to have a drink, have dinner.

Scott Hammond: There's kids that go to schools.

Scott Bauer: There's kids.

Scott Hammond: And yeah.

Scott Bauer: All those things. So it's like I, I find it, to me it's an easy decision.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: Like we need housing.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: We're gonna have to lose some parking.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: I'm willing to not drive down there when I go down there, you know.

Scott Bauer: Like I'm-

Scott Hammond: I don't think there's, I've had a parking issue at all in my business downtown for since well pre-COVID.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It's like I'm a little on the edge of downtown, but I don't know where there's any hard place to find parking unless it's an event or Friday night market or-

Scott Bauer: 4th of July

Scott Hammond: … 4th of July. You got- you might have to walk two blocks.

Scott Hammond: Oh, my gosh.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I have to walk. It's terrible. It's gonna hurt.

Scott Bauer: Well, it's a healthy thing, too.

Scott Hammond: It's not a bad thing, yeah.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, my wife says, "Let's park way out in the outside of Costco." Oh, no, that's a hardship. I can't do that. Love you, Joanie. So yeah, let's go, let's walk a little bit. It won't hurt you. It won't kill you, man.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Get, get moving. Move that thing there, parking.

Scott Bauer: So, so I think we've been, like the city has been, you know, um, trying its damnedest to, to, to, to build housing and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Is there grant money to do so?

Scott Bauer: Yeah. You know, I think the r- most recent state budget though kinda does some cutting to those programs, but there are tax credits, and there's things that make it more, you know, um, cost, you know, not cost

Scott Bauer: prohibitive.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: You know. Um, you know, the problem too though is between interest rates and, and price of materials, it's like-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Scott Bauer: … I feel like there's als- always a, a, of a roadblock for us. Like why can't we-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Scott Bauer: … do this? And it's just like challenge upon challenge, but we're trying.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: You know.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. No, I like it. So, so there's the balloon track we need to talk about, which could, could have been something, and that-

Scott Bauer: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … that trade has obviously sailed.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: The other is, um, let's talk about, uh, Jacobs School. That'd be a fun one. So that was like top secret who was, had a bid in or who was buying it, and maybe I should know this, and I

Scott Hammond: don't, but-

Scott Bauer: Well, yeah, I mean-

Scott Hammond: I mean, it was up for sale

Scott Bauer: … there's still speculation a- as to who is behind all that.

Scott Bauer: Um, I-

Scott Hammond: Is it an escrow of some sort?

Scott Bauer: Yeah, the, the longest esc- escrow in history of the United States.

Scott Bauer: Um-

Scott Hammond: Really?

Scott Bauer: … so it's a, it's a fascinating,

Scott Bauer: um… It's kind of a-

Scott Hammond: It's a lot of space, right? That whole thing is a lot of acres.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Is, how many acres is Jacobs?

Scott Bauer: Oh, boy. I think the buildable part is five or something. Um, you know, CHP was gonna build a facility there.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: So it's been really interesting the, the kinda campaign that's gone around it.

Scott Bauer: Um-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Scott Bauer: … but, you know, we don't own it.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And so there's this kind of assumption that, oh, well, the city could just build housing there. It's like we don't own it.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Scott Bauer: Somebody has to do it. It's not zoned for housing, you know? So how is this even an, uh, an opportunity?

Scott Hammond: Right.

Scott Bauer: You know, the owner, the, the people buying it haven't closed escrow. They don't own it.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Scott Bauer: Right? It's gonna be in escrow until-

Scott Hammond: It's not zoned

Scott Bauer: … zoned. Yeah, it's not zoned.

Scott Bauer: And-And my guess it'll be in escrow until the election, you know?

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: Like, it's-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Scott Bauer: … it's, uh, kind of a red herring.

Scott Bauer: But-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Scott Bauer: … um, you know, I don't know, uh, how much to get into the intricacies of it that, that I know.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: But I, all I know is that we have all these opportunities that we're working on in town.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: You know, like changing lots to housing.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And we're trying, and this other thing is

Scott Bauer: not real.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: You know, it's not tangible.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Scott Bauer: So it's like, what, what are we supposed to do?

Scott Hammond: It's like putting a railroad in Hillri-

Scott Bauer: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … or Hill River Valley. Yeah, I know.

Scott Bauer: Yeah. Mo- the mo- you know, putting in a monorail, you know, to Redding or something. It's like-

Scott Hammond: Yeah, what?

Scott Bauer: It- it's not possible.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Scott Bauer: Um, so yeah. It's one of those things that is a divisive

Scott Bauer: issue again.

Scott Hammond: Mm. Mm.

Scott Bauer: You know, to me. Like, we have, we're already working on this other stuff. Now you want us to, like, drop all that and go over here that, uh, on a property we don't own.

Scott Hammond: Right. It's, it's a wild-

Scott Bauer: Explain that

Scott Hammond: … wild goose chase.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Scott Bauer: It's, it's, it's interesting, but you see that kinda thing happen.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: You know, like-

Scott Hammond: People get really hardcore on something.

Scott Bauer: Yeah, and they create, you know, these kind of issues-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Scott Bauer: … that shouldn't really exist, frankly.

Scott Hammond: Well, it's time, and then maybe there's decisions then, but-

Scott Bauer: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … huh. I'd, I'd love to speculate with you as to who the buy- owners or buyers are and what, what it's gonna do, and it's like, I-

Scott Bauer: Well, I don't know

Scott Hammond: … may- maybe it's, it, maybe that's the wild goose chase. It wouldn't make any difference.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: No, yeah. It's, to me, it's just like, what, you know, what are you guys doing?

Scott Hammond: I thought the Journal wrote something, and they were speculating as to.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Was there anything good in, true in that article?

Scott Bauer: Uh, you know, um, there's so much that you can… I always said, um, when I've talked to representatives at the state level, like, we need to fix LLCs.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Scott Bauer: Limited liability corporations.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: Because it enables people to hide.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: Um, I mean, I've seen-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Scott Bauer: … through work I've seen LLCs owning LLCs.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Scott Bauer: And there's a registered agent, right?

Scott Hammond: They're offshore somewhere.

Scott Bauer: And there's a registered agent, and you call-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Scott Bauer: … a registered agent, and they don't have to tell you who it is. And so it's like, well, how do you know who owns that property that just dumped 1,000 gallons of oil on it?

Scott Bauer: Well-

Scott Hammond: They can hide

Scott Bauer: … nobody.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: You know? And so that, that is a, a, a poor, a poor, uh, law that is not good for democracy as far as I'm concerned.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: LLCs.

Scott Hammond: People can hide.

Scott Bauer: Yeah. And it, it's like, well, who is it? If you, if you got a great idea, what, what are you afraid of? Let, let's see who you are.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Scott Bauer: You know?

Scott Hammond: Committed a crime?

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Let's find out who you are.

Scott Bauer: Yeah, you know, just, like, baffling.

Scott Hammond: So what do you see for the future of Eureka, Scott, in terms of, um, opportunities, um, that we haven't talked about? So we, we need some housing.

Scott Bauer: Oh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: We need some homeless. Housing fixes some of homelessness, I would, I would guess. There's an association.

Scott Bauer: Well, Tuesday night we had a great presentation by, uh, Commander

Scott Bauer: LaFrance.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: You know, he's in charge of our-

Scott Hammond: Good guy

Scott Bauer: … yeah, um, community safety and-

Scott Hammond: Lenny's been on the podcast.

Scott Hammond: Hey, Lenny.

Scott Bauer: Yeah. He's great, you know. And-

Scott Hammond: Nice man

Scott Bauer: … I learned a ton, and I hope people watched because, you know, talking about our population of homeless-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … and where they're from and all those factors that you just, you scratch your head.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: You're like, "Okay, now I understand."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: You know, "Now I understand more about the situation."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And, you know, it's one of those issues that I think some

Scott Bauer: people-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Scott Bauer: … believe or, you know, that all homeless

Scott Bauer: are, you know, um… And I think it was pretty clear in the study. It's like, well, there's a pop- certain segment that just don't want help.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: It's like, well, you know, okay, but you can't, you can't live in the weeds-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … and dump your trash on public property or private property. It's kind of-

Scott Hammond: Pee, pee on a building.

Scott Bauer: Yeah, you know.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, not good.

Scott Bauer: No, and I think it's like, you know, we teach our kids res- you know, to be responsible, you know, to take care of themselves-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … and to not affect other people's lives. At least that's what I try and do, right?

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Scott Bauer: And some people think it's okay, you know? And I'm like-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Scott Bauer: … just not sure, you know? Like, if, if you're… We're all entitled to public pl- you know, public places-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … clean public places.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And I have people all the time tell me, "I don't feel safe running on the trail." And I'm like-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … uh, you know, and I, and I can't say, "You d- you

Scott Bauer: should."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: 'Cause I'm a, you know, I'm a big guy, and-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Scott Bauer: … you know, I can handle it. But it's like I understand-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Scott Bauer: … you know, that, and whether it's right or wrong, but I, I understand.

Scott Hammond: My wife Joni says the biggest danger is unleashed dogs.

Scott Bauer: Oh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: So you unleashed dog people, you don't have a special allowance or a special permit. And when that dog comes up and bumps Joni in the chest, it, it's not good. So our friend, um, she carries a rock when she runs.

Scott Bauer: Really?

Scott Hammond: Oh, and if a dog's loose, she'll just let loose.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It's like if the dog comes at her, it's gonna get a rock in the head. And I'm going, "Good for you." I was gonna name a name, but I won't. But so, and I don't think it's dog-hating. It's just like, come on, man.

Scott Hammond: Leash that.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Like, "Oh, he's great. Oh, he doesn't bite anybody."

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: "He's fine," till my arm's gone. And then, anyway.

Scott Bauer: No, I had a, I had a incident running down the trail. I was actually on the boardwalk, and then s- this dog attacked me.

Scott Hammond: Loose dog?

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Shit.

Scott Bauer: Loose dog.

Scott Hammond: I'm sorry. Yeah.

Scott Bauer: And, and, you know, I, and I kicked it. You know, I had no choice.

Scott Hammond: You have no choice. You gotta get bit.

Scott Bauer: And I was just like, I was so furious. And it's like, well, yeah, you know, that's the kinda stuff, like, we're all

Scott Bauer: entitled.

Scott Hammond: What if you were a little kid-

Scott Bauer: I know

Scott Hammond: … and he bit your head? I mean, or, you know, whatever.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It's like it's so unacceptable, and it's like, and, and now you're branded a dog hater. No. I'm sorry. There's laws for you.

Scott Hammond: And, and the, the other thing is, I guess I'm getting old. The guy that pees in the alley that I'm yelling at going, "Dude, find a piece of grass." And I, I'm just like read this guy the very respectful riot A- … You're better than this, man. Stop peeing on the building.

Scott Hammond: It stinks. There's grass. There, there's other pl- Sorry.

Scott Bauer: Yeah. No.

Scott Hammond: Going on a soapbox. And those growers. Y'all, you kids get off my lawn.So-

Scott Bauer: No

Scott Hammond: … so, so Jacobs, let's talk about balloon track real quick.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So big chuck- chuck of Eureka behind wherever, uh,

Scott Hammond: on the bay, uh, that Arkley owned, wanted to develop with, historically with a Home

Scott Hammond: Depot and-

Scott Bauer: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … and low-cost, maybe high-cost housing-

Scott Bauer: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … and shopping and whatever. What, what, what happens to th- the balloon track? It, and it's several, it's big acres, right?

Scott Bauer: Well, that's a great question. I mean-

Scott Hammond: Does he still own it?

Scott Bauer: That's my understanding.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Scott Bauer: And, you know, seems like a good place for housing.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: Why not? You know? Why not-

Scott Hammond: Right

Scott Bauer: … you know-

Scott Hammond: Or parking. No, just ki-

Scott Bauer: Right? I mean-

Scott Hammond: Bad joke

Scott Bauer: … here's this huge piece of property that could be turned into something wonderful, and yet, you know, we're focused, like, you know, look over here instead, and then like-

Scott Hammond: Right

Scott Bauer: … uh, that was just brought up the other day with me. Like, what about that, you know?

Scott Hammond: Such a central piece of Eureka.

Scott Bauer: We don't own it. Oh my God, you know, it could be an amazing spot. Um, I think there are some, uh, brown field issues possibly because it was a, a railroad hub.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: So is there toxics there? You know, there's the, the-

Scott Hammond: We have technology for that now. It's not that-

Scott Bauer: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … impossible that it used to be to-

Scott Bauer: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … test and mitigate, right?

Scott Bauer: Totally. Um-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Scott Bauer: … so yeah, it's a great opportunity.

Scott Hammond: There's money for that. There's state and federal money probably.

Scott Bauer: There is.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: Yeah, it's a great opportunity there that I think people would be curious, like why not there then?

Scott Bauer: Why not-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Scott Bauer: … you know, if we're so concerned about parking, propose a big subdivision of-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Scott Bauer: … three-story buildings, you know what I mean?

Scott Hammond: Hey, Rob, you got this. You could do this. This could ha- this could happen.

Scott Bauer: Well, there's those, you know, like, and I also say this about Eureka, you know, we're, we're pretty built out.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And so, you know, the state mandates, um, a certain amount of houses-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … low income, very low income-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … which infuriates a lot of communities, you know. Um, and in some cases like Eureka, we don't, we don't have land to, you know, like expand-

Scott Hammond: Right

Scott Bauer: … horizontally, right?

Scott Hammond: Right.

Scott Bauer: We have to go up, and-

Scott Hammond: We're not gonna go in the forest

Scott Bauer: … we just don't have it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: You know, look at the city limits. We just don't have a lot of space, so what other choices do we have? And, uh, and, and people get angry at state mandates, and I understand that, but the fact of the matter is, you know, we do need to-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … this is the right thing to do-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … for people, for our community, is to build housing.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And so what's the choice? Parking lot, up.

Scott Bauer: You know?

Scott Hammond: Humboldt's doing it.

Scott Bauer: Yeah. Well, it's, it's-

Scott Hammond: It's not a parking lot, but it's…

Scott Bauer: No. You know-

Scott Hammond: It's gonna be like 10 or 12 stories, right?

Scott Hammond: It's gonna-

Scott Bauer: It's gonna be that tall

Scott Hammond: … every day I drive by it, it gets bigger. Six stories, and I'm going, "Nick, what's going on here, man? This is, like, hardcore." But it'll look beautiful.

Scott Hammond: Um-

Scott Bauer: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … I think it'll be okay.

Scott Bauer: Totally.

Scott Hammond: You know, Scott, we, but that's what we have to do. So Scott, what blocks your team at the city council from getting their job done?

Scott Hammond: Is, is it, is it the detractors, the, the obstructionist, uh, jerks that come in and go, "Hey" and, and, and get you guys off on rabbit trails? Or what… I'm gonna guess there's some of that, but what, what, what hurts the team from getting progress done?

Scott Bauer: Yeah, I don't feel like there hasn't been progress, you know?

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: I feel like Eureka's moving forward, you know?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: Like we're fixing our roads, we're fixing our sewers, we're fixing our water lines. All those things that-

Scott Hammond: Law enforcement's, their good shape, I think.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: They seem like they're doing a great job to me.

Scott Bauer: Doing a great job. So, like, you know, and, you know, staffing's an issue-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Scott Bauer: … uh, with, like all industries, right?

Scott Bauer: It seems-

Scott Hammond: Correct

Scott Bauer: … it's a, it's a perpetual issue.

Scott Hammond: What happened to people after COVID, man?

Scott Hammond: Did, did-

Scott Bauer: They were the more-

Scott Hammond: Like a generation vanished. There's, there's everybody retired?

Scott Bauer: No, and that's fascinating, right? I mean, it, it's so-

Scott Hammond: It's so weird. It's the weirdest thing.

Scott Bauer: Yeah, and so we, you know, we've tried to make our wages competitive and as best we can with the budget we have, right? Um, so I think we're accomplishing a lot. I think the one, the one thing that we all wish we can, you know, like snap our fingers is, you know,

Scott Bauer: housing.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: Like, and we just build this stuff, and-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Scott Bauer: … people really want that, and some people don't.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And yet, you know, there's noth- the, the hold up, you know,

Scott Bauer: is money.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: Right? Is-

Scott Hammond: Always

Scott Bauer: … and, and after COVID, it seems like between interest rates, materials, and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … maybe it's a lack of contractors. I hear that, like, "Can't find a contractor."

Scott Hammond: True. A lot.

Scott Bauer: "Can't find an electrician, man."

Scott Hammond: Good luck. Yeah.

Scott Bauer: Yeah. So those are kind of limiting factors that are more-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Scott Bauer: … societal than-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Scott Bauer: … like our team's issues.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: Um-

Scott Hammond: So Be- Betty Builds, she says she's got a little village thing that with modular or some sort of stuff. Would we ever go there?

Scott Bauer: No, we're doing that, um-

Scott Hammond: Is that with her?

Scott Bauer: Yeah, so it'll be a… It's called Betty's Village-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … um, down there off of Hillthiker.

Scott Hammond: Betty Chin. Shout out.

Scott Bauer: Hey, Betty. Um, you know, so there will be a bunch of modulars.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: They're like, uh, prefabricated little-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Scott Bauer: … homes. I think, is it 30 or 40?

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Scott Bauer: It's quite a few, right? So-

Scott Hammond: With showers and the whole nine.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: So that's happening. Um, you know, the Mother Bernard House, you know, just got built there, um, on, what is that, L and, and Fourth. So we're, we're doing all these projects for, you know, for, for homeless and, and, and eventually we're gonna have enough that we should be able to take care of everybody that, that wants a facility.

Scott Hammond: I'm thinking through L and Fourth. Is that over where-

Scott Bauer: Right across from the Chevron

Scott Hammond: … where Hunter, Hunter, and Hunt is?

Scott Hammond: Where the-

Scott Bauer: No, it's this way. Wait, is that L or is that… Yeah, that's L Street, right?

Scott Hammond: Must be… Oh, I know where you're talking about.

Scott Bauer: Or M.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: M.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Scott Bauer: Um, but anyways, you know, there's, we're, like, moving. That stuff's happening.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: That stuff's gonna get done this year.

Scott Bauer: Um, and then, you know, things will be, like, pretty solid as far as, like, if you need a place, we got a place for you.

Scott Hammond: That's huge.

Scott Bauer: But it's that other component, you know, the, the low, the very low income-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … you know, working folks, you know, working two jobs and all that.That we just can't get enough housing for, you know?

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Scott Bauer: And like ADUs, right? I mean, the-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Scott Bauer: … it's very easy to, to, to, to get an ADU permitted now. It's like-

Scott Hammond: Oh my gosh. We have one.

Scott Bauer: I, I-

Scott Hammond: Early COVID.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Built a two bedroom, two bath in McKinleyville.

Scott Bauer: And they're awesome.

Scott Hammond: I go, "Wait, what about my CC&R?" He goes, "State law trumps all CC&R. You can do this."

Scott Bauer: Yep.

Scott Hammond: I go, "Wait, is this legal?" "Oh, yeah, just go get the permits."

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: "Pull the permits. You got it. You'll do- you'll build one." And it, and it happened, and it happened quickly.

Scott Bauer: But it, but, you know, for a lot of folks, right, it's the money to build it.

Scott Bauer: Um-

Scott Hammond: Getting a builder.

Scott Bauer: Getting a builder.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: Getting an electrician, a plumber.

Scott Hammond: It's true. All of those guys, yeah.

Scott Hammond: So-

Scott Bauer: And I, I- I'm trying to do that. Um, you know, and it's like trying to figure out, well, when is it, the financing gonna be, you know-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Scott Bauer: … reasonable to do it, you know?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: Like that's the part, like, h- you know, not having the time really to-

Scott Hammond: And 7% used to sound good 20, 15, 20 years ago. Like, that's amazing. Now, now it's two.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So what helps the team? What can we do to help?

Scott Bauer: Oh, man. Well, you know.

Scott Hammond: Your average citizen-

Scott Bauer: Oh

Scott Hammond: … what could they do to support you guys?

Scott Bauer: Well, you know, I don't know if people that watch and, and see some of the folks that show up and curse us and, and cuss at us-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … and, you know, say really horrible things that aren't warranted and aren't part of at least the civil discourse that I remember as, you know, as a young person watching.

Scott Hammond: Are these people that can be escorted out or get- or do you get that?

Scott Bauer: Well, you know, you have a First Amendment right, right, freedom of speech.

Scott Bauer: And, and-

Scott Hammond: Cuss at you and accuse you-

Scott Bauer: I know

Scott Hammond: … falsely?

Scott Bauer: Well, and, and, and some of it's a little borderline, you know-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … um, violent. But-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … whatever, we have thick skin. But, you know, for those that think we're doing all

Scott Bauer: right-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … you know, call in.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: Say, yeah-

Scott Hammond: Let you know

Scott Bauer: … think, think things are going great.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Scott Bauer: You know? I think that,

Scott Bauer: that, that's the hardest part of the job-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Scott Bauer: … is to get, get beat up-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … and treated really fr- It's not even reasonable.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: It's like this doesn't even make sense what you're saying.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Scott Bauer: It's just like you hate us for-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Scott Bauer: … whatever reason, you know, and you, and you choose to, to

Scott Bauer: be uncivil.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: And just a downright nasty person, you know, that kind of stuff.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: It's nice when a few people have been showing up, and it's-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Scott Bauer: … kind of been evolving where they're like, "Hey, thank you."

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: You know? And it's like-

Scott Hammond: I love it

Scott Bauer: … uh, that makes it better.

Scott Hammond: My show, my house, can I, can I tell those guys to, "Hey, quit being a jerk." What's wrong with you, man? You're better than that.

Scott Bauer: Well.

Scott Hammond: Just knock that crap off and get out of here and start helping.

Scott Hammond: There.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I did it.

Scott Bauer: Thank you. Appreciate it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I feel, I feel better now, so. Hey, that part of the show. Guess what? Are you ready?

Scott Bauer: Sure.

Scott Hammond: This is Scott Bauer's favorite stuff in Humboldt. Are you ready? Or Eureka.

Scott Bauer: My favorite stuff?

Scott Hammond: Favorite stuff. You're not, you're not… So I'm gonna just call out some categories. Ready?

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Favorite bakery.

Scott Bauer: Favorite bakery, Ramone's.

Scott Hammond: Ramone's. Favorite coffee joint.

Scott Bauer: Oh, God. I usually bring my own, but if I walk out of my office, I either go to Ramone's or Los Bagels or, um, Old Town Coffee. I try and spread the wealth.

Scott Hammond: It's right there, yeah.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Okay, favorite trail if you have two hours to go hike.

Scott Bauer: Oh, man. I'm more of a, a wilderness hiker.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Scott Bauer: Like I like to go out into the Trinity Alps.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Scott Bauer: You know, that kind of thing.

Scott Bauer: Um,

Scott Bauer: locally-

Scott Hammond: You can't say Canyon Creeks.

Scott Bauer: I love Canyon-

Scott Hammond: Although it's a great trail.

Scott Bauer: We did that the other d- uh, was it last year? My son and I did it in one day.

Scott Hammond: Oh, wow.

Scott Bauer: Yeah, in and out. Spent the night, fished, came out-

Scott Hammond: Came out

Scott Bauer: … just to see if we can… It was like 24 miles.

Scott Hammond: Was it eight mi- Oh, 20. Oh, you went the longer.

Scott Bauer: We went all the way up to the above the lakes.

Scott Hammond: Oh, that's cool.

Scott Bauer: So it ended up being like 24.

Scott Hammond: You guys are ripped.

Scott Bauer: But lo- local trails, um, probably like Headwaters, you know.

Scott Hammond: Headwaters is fun, right?

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Okay, here's one. Uh, how about favorite lunch?

Scott Bauer: Mm.

Scott Hammond: Come out of the office, you gotta go eat lunch, you gotta spend money. Where do you go?

Scott Bauer: Oh, geez. You just, you're asking some tough questions.

Scott Hammond: You're not a business, you're not a business person, so you're not behold.

Scott Bauer: No. Um, I mean, I, I don't, I just don't do it that often, you know. Like-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. So here's 20 bucks. Go, go have lunch. Where do you go?

Scott Bauer: I am a huge sushi fan.

Scott Hammond: Oh, there you go.

Scott Bauer: Um, I'd go to a-

Scott Hammond: Love sushi

Scott Bauer: … sushi spot or something local to-

Scott Hammond: Have you had it on the rooftop sushi yet?

Scott Bauer: I have.

Scott Hammond: Is that good?

Scott Bauer: It's good.

Scott Hammond: I heard it's good.

Scott Bauer: Yeah. Yeah. It's a great spot.

Scott Hammond: The view is cool.

Scott Bauer: Yeah. But I'm, I'm a dyed in the wool Tomo. Been going there for-

Scott Hammond: Tomo's good

Scott Bauer: … 30 years.

Scott Hammond: She's, uh, the lady that started, Fukiko started Tomo in, up in,

Scott Hammond: um, Arcata. What a sweetheart. She's super gracious and wonderful. So I got into the sushi place on the roof. I wa- Jenny and I walked up. I said, "What's going on? Can we g- " You know, and just called in, and she goes, "Oh, it's a private party." I go, "Well, can you see if I'm on the list?" He looks, he goes, "There's no Scott Hammond here." I go, "Well, I don't know what's up with that." He goes, "Just go." And so it was the ni- the builder, Adam's Construction, all those guys. It was just fun. Just go up, say hi.

Scott Bauer: Oh, cool. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And all the people that made it look great.

Scott Bauer: That's been an amazing building.

Scott Hammond: Like Greg at ReDeck and all those guys.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Ma- Greg Foster. Shout out to Greg.

Scott Bauer: What's up, Greg?

Scott Hammond: Uh, lastly, favorite dinner house. Where would you go for dinner?

Scott Bauer: Tomo.

Scott Hammond: Tomo. So sushi, lunch, and dinner.

Scott Bauer: Yeah. I mean-

Scott Hammond: Why not?

Scott Bauer: … I'm a sushi freak. Um, uh, but, you know, we do go to 511 quite a bit.

Scott Hammond: 511's tasty.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Everybody comes up with Larrupin. I mean, it's, of course, it's a go-to, but-

Scott Bauer: I haven't been to Larrupin in a long time.

Scott Hammond: You go, it's good. Yeah, they got great food.

Scott Bauer: Yeah, I know. It's great.

Scott Hammond: I go to dinner at Dick Taylor Chocolates.

Scott Bauer: That's incredible.

Scott Hammond: Actually, they do have a bit of food. I mean, it's not dinner food, but-

Scott Bauer: Yeah. Adam Dick's a good, good friend of mine.

Scott Hammond: He's a great guy.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: No, they're a great business.

Scott Bauer: Great-

Scott Hammond: Oh, he's such a s- They're, they're sweet. Their whole family's great.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So party shots. Anything you'd like to add to the, to your story and-

Scott Bauer: Oh, man

Scott Hammond: … where you're going, where you wanna be?

Scott Bauer: Yeah, that's a great, great question.

Scott Bauer: You know-

Scott Hammond: How many years have you been in office, by the way?

Scott Bauer: Just four.

Scott Hammond: Four. You gonna run again?

Scott Bauer: First term. I knew you were gonna ask that. You know, it, it's been a, a constantYou know, debate in my

Scott Bauer: house, like-

Scott Hammond: Is it November that, that-

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Okay. Are you on the ballot?

Scott Bauer: Uh, it doesn't open until July, you know, the official, like, register to, to do it.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: And we'll see.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Scott Bauer: You know? I, I enjoy 100%, I enjoy who I work with on the city council. They're all great human beings, and they all-

Scott Hammond: Who, who are they by name again?

Scott Bauer: They all really care.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Sure.

Scott Bauer: Um, Kim, Kim Burgel-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … Leslie Castellano, um, Katie Moulton, Mario,

Scott Bauer: and Renee.

Scott Hammond: Renee.

Scott Bauer: Yeah. And they're all doing it because they care.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: That's all I can say.

Scott Hammond: It isn't for the money.

Scott Bauer: It's not for the money.

Scott Hammond: It's not for the money, man.

Scott Bauer: Because they care. But, you know, um, the one thing not, that always weighs on my mind, and one of the reasons I got into this, you know, is, like, knowing that, like, the planet is in serious trouble.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Scott Bauer: Climate change is-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … is something that our kids are really gonna be affected by.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: Um, we're being affected by it. I mean, look at… You know, there's so much going on, and I'm just like, I serve on the Redwood Coast Energy Authority Board-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … you know, and I, one of the things, I'm just like, how fast can we get renewable energy deployed?

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Scott Bauer: It's gotta happen now. We need to treat the work towards a, a sustainable future like a war effort.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: I've always said that. And, like, you know, we were able to build, I think, a battleship a month or something during-

Scott Hammond: It's crazy. Yeah

Scott Bauer: … World War II. It's insane. And, and B-17s, one a day coming off the, you know-

Scott Hammond: It was wild stuff.

Scott Bauer: Yeah. And we need to, we need to take what's happening now and do the same thing, like deploying windmills, solar

Scott Bauer: panels.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: Like, whatever it takes, because we are in-

Scott Hammond: E-bikes, E-cars.

Scott Bauer: We… You know, it's gonna take 9,000 charging stations in Humboldt County to get

Scott Bauer: us to-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Scott Bauer: … that's what the, that's what it's gonna take.

Scott Hammond: What do we have now, under a thousand?

Scott Bauer: Yeah. Way under.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: So that's what we should focus all of our energy on.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: Create ton of jobs.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: You know, because nothing else matters. Like, if people say, you know, I have this argument all the time, "Well, why don't, um…" You know, "It'll affect my retirement." Or it's like you don't understand, none of that matters-

Scott Hammond: Right

Scott Bauer: … if the planet's not habitable.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Scott Bauer: That's-

Scott Hammond: And your kids and grandkids are just…

Scott Bauer: You know?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: And so to me, it's like we all need to be f- trying-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … doing something, whether it's, like, you know, being a part of an organization that's doing something or-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Scott Bauer: … riding your bike once a week or whatever.

Scott Hammond: Right on.

Scott Bauer: You gotta try. And the, and the naysayers that say they don't believe it, well, they're wrong.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Scott Bauer: I'm a scientist studying it for decades, and-

Scott Hammond: It's science, man

Scott Bauer: … it's just science.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Bauer: Tell me what, you know, carbon dioxide makes the earth warmer.

Scott Hammond: There's a big hole in the ozone down in New Zealand, is there not? Or Australia.

Scott Bauer: It's gotten better.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Scott Bauer: That's one of the issues that-

Scott Hammond: But there was, okay. Yeah

Scott Bauer: … we, we got rid of chlorofluorocarbons-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Scott Bauer: … CFCs, and voila.

Scott Hammond: Hey, it heals.

Scott Bauer: It heals up.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Scott Bauer: And, and if we stop burning fossil fuel, Earth would heal.

Scott Hammond: So you got one minute to talk about your legacy. What do you wanna have on your tombstone? "Scott Bauer lies here, and his tombstone is-

Scott Bauer: Oh

Scott Hammond: … has an inscription on it, and it says

Scott Hammond: something."

Scott Bauer: That's like, that kinda almost chokes me up thinking about it.

Scott Bauer: No, um, you know, just that I enjoyed life.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Scott Bauer: You know, and that did w- I did what I could for my community.

Scott Hammond: Yes.

Scott Bauer: Whatever I, you know-

Scott Hammond: I love it

Scott Bauer: … as, as best as I thought I could do, you know?

Scott Hammond: I love it, yeah.

Scott Bauer: I'd be satisfied with that.

Scott Hammond: Okay. I love that.

Scott Bauer: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Scott Bauer, thanks for coming.

Scott Bauer: Thanks, man.

Scott Hammond: Appreciate you, uh-

Scott Bauer: Thank you

Scott Hammond: … sharing your heart, and, and, uh, I, I feel really good. I, I'm in McKinleyville, and I feel really positive about-

Scott Hammond: … Eureka.

Scott Bauer: Hey-

Scott Hammond: I really do

Scott Bauer: … I'm honored to be here. I appreciate it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Thanks for coming.

Scott Bauer: Awesome. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Talk soon.

Scott Bauer: Thanks, buddy.

Scott Hammond: Thank you.