Supes tap Atkins for rail authority

Incumbent Charles Ollivier passed over on split vote

Charles Douglas, Humboldt Sentinel
7/1/09

Eureka

Apparently, a dozen years with the North Coast Railroad Authority was enough for longshoreman and former Harbor Commissioner Charles Ollivier, who was replaced over his own objections and those of the public as Humboldt County Supervisors moved Tuesday to put a fresh face on the controversial board.

On a 4-1 vote and with vociferous objections from Supervisor Jill Duffy, the board tapped newly elected Eureka Councilmember Linda Atkins, a retired CalTrans worker, to fill one of Humboldt’s two spots with the NCRA, which also has representatives from local governments in Mendocino, Sonoma and Marin counties.

Atkins, who was not present at yesterday’s meeting, told Supervisors in her application letter that she saw rail as an opportunity to enrich the economy and increase tourism -- but a tell-tale line encouraging “trails with the rail” indicated the mounting test of will between advocates of restoring the entire Northwestern Pacific Railroad and those seeking to rip up the tracks in favor of a bicycle trail between Arcata and Eureka.

Supervisor Clif Clendenen, the other Humboldt County rep on the NCRA since shortly after his election last November, said the board had a variety of good candidates to choose from to entrust with an incredible asset like the railroad -- but then implied the need for increased trail construction to be met by himself and the new appointee.

“I’m excited to recommend Eureka City Councilmember Linda Atkins for this position,” he said. “She appreciates the multiple-use opportunities of our right-of-way.”

For his part, Supervisor Mark Lovelace was defensive about his support of the appointee in a closed-door nomination procedure, suggesting that the NCRA post was a regularly scheduled vacancy announced late last year.

“The current term of Commissioner Ollivier expires on [June] 30, so this is something that was expected, that was publicly posted and anticipated,” he said. “For my part I’ve given this a lot of diligence and reached out to everyone interested in serving.”

Lovelace also claimed he had either met with or spoken with all of the nominees, which included Arcata Councilmember Michael Winkler and former State Assemblymember Dan Hauser. This wasn’t sufficient to dissuade Duffy from launching into a pointed rebuke against her fellow Supes for backroom arrangements in dumping Ollivier.

“In this case, the way things are typically done with all of our appointments is we have a board report that is generated by the Clerk of the Board of the list of applicants and the applicants have the opportunity to present themselves…what I’m very uncomfortable with is that conversations were happening outside of the public process,” she said. “This is the first time that the Board is discussing this item in public and what I really want is what the different candidates offer, I don’t know what they have to offer and neither does the public, I want to know what their philosophies are, what their visions are and what their priorities are for the position.”

“What is this Board’s collective priorities for the North Coast Railroad Authority?” Duffy asked. “We haven’t had that conversation and now we’ve short-circuited the opportunity to have that conversation…it does create unnecessary tension and strife, it feels like a real slap in the face for all [Ollivier’s] energies and effort.”

Several members of the public stood up and essentially agreed with Duffy, calling for a more public process to select NCRA representatives and a general increase in the Supes’ support of restoring rail service to Humboldt County.

“I guess I have a vision for Humboldt County and that vision is to see some good paying jobs and I see the potential for the railroad in combination with portions of the harbor being redeveloped, acting in concert with each other to bring some industry to Humboldt County,” retired natural resources worker Ken Skaggs said. “There is a global economy that affects all of us and we could catch the advantages here of a global economy because Humboldt County is not an island unto itself.”

Increasingly uncomfortable in the face of public opposition and Duffy’s allegations, Lovelace shot back that Ollivier had not fully complied with his procedures to assess applicants for the NCRA seat.

“I was told by Mr. Ollivier that he was not interested in requesting re-appointment if there was any question about whether he be re-appointed,” Lovelace said. “I was told pretty clearly that his interest was in the re-appointment but not in sitting for an interview and not in sending in a letter of interest.”

Duffy retorted that she found that to be a “fascinating conversation” before being cut off by Board Chair Jimmy Smith, who then called Ollivier himself to the podium to clear things up. For his part, the longtime union man said his efforts were primarily directed at upgrading “antique” local infrastructure holding back economic development.

“I’m not here to be pushing a controversy, I’m only here to apply myself,” Ollivier said. “I do have a lot of experience and I thought I would be the candidate always with the proper knowledge to tie the railroad to the port. It begs us all to be developed!”

Atkins will take Ollivier’s place at the next NCRA board meeting, to take place in Eureka on August 12. For more information, visit northcoastrailroad.org.