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COUNCIL AFFIRMS HUDSON STREET DEPOT AS THE HEALDSBURG SMART STATION
Healdsburg, California Healdsburg, California
February 29, 2024 Date, Date, 20202020
WEIGHT OF PUBLIC OPINION, HISTORY TIP THE SCALES TO TRADITIONAL TRAIN STATION LOCATION By Christian Kallen
Photo Courtesy Ted Williams for Assembly
The long-percolating movement to change the chosen location of a SMART rail platform from the historic Depot on Hudson Street to a downtown Vine Street location, just a long block’s walk to the Plaza, may have finally been put to rest. At the Feb. 20 meeting of the Healdsburg City Council, at least three and possibly four of the five members were clearly in favor of the Hudson Street Depot, as much because advocates of the alternative Vine Street location failed to show adequate reasons for changing the decision made almost 30 years ago by an earlier city council. “There’s not enough solid data to say, ‘It’s not going to be Hudson,’” said Mayor David Hagele. “I don’t have enough [information] to switch from the existing location.” Only Councilmember Ariel Kelley thought it might be worth doing further research on the demographics of riders and the possible impact of a downtown station on Healdsburg’s longrange future. The discussion at the Tuesday meeting, which technically did not require a vote, found the city’s Public Works director, Larry Zimmer, outlining the reasons for considering the Vine Street location. In addition, SMART General Manager Eddy Cumings presented a number of reasons why the regional transportation agency was looking favorably upon it. Zimmer’s presentation touched on the advantages of a downtown location, and while some of the disadvantages of a station between the Foss Creek Trail and the West Plaza
ASSEMBLY CANDIDATES All five Democratic candidates for Assembly District 2 at a recent event at the Eureka Union Hall. From left, Rusty Hicks, Frankie Myers, Chris Rogers, Ariel Kelley and (hand raised) Ted Williams.
Assembly Race Finishes With a Flurry TV ADS, MORE MAILERS FLOOD DISTRICT 2 WITH CLAIMS AND PROMISES By Christian Kallen
The 2024 primary campaign for Assembly District 2, the large North Coast region stretching from Santa Rosa to the Oregon border, is winding up this week, and local voters are—or should be—well aware of the six candidates, and the controversies that surround at least some of them. Five of the candidates are Democrats, and one is
Republican. The party registration in the five-county region (Sonoma, Mendocino, Humboldt, Trinity and Del Norte) is 51% Democratic, 22% Republican and 19% no party preference. That suggests that with the split vote on the Democratic ballot, sole Republican candidate Mike Greer is likely to coast into the top two slots for the general election race. But among the Democrats, the race is a toss-up. Early favorite Rusty Hicks, the chair of the state California Democratic Party, would seem to have the inside track based on his considerable financial backing from
powerful unions and other interest groups. However several of the other candidates have called into question his status as a North Coast resident, since he moved from Southern California to Humboldt County less than two years ago. While a Political Action Committee (PAC) supportive of Ariel Kelley raised the “carpetbagger” accusation in a series of mailers in early February, other Democrats have also chafed at Hicks’ entry to the race. Ted Williams, for the past five years a Mendocino County Supervisor and also a candidate in the Assembly race, said that in late September he
was paid a visit by Hicks, who seemed to be “strategizing his run for Assembly and wanted referrals to influential people in Mendocino County.” Only some time later did Jim Wood announce he would not seek re-election. ”My decision to not run was made in late October. I followed what I thought was the best protocol. I informed the speaker of the Assembly and my chief of staff shortly after that,” Assemblyman Wood told the Tribune. That suggests Hicks moved to Arcata for another reason, leaving behind an influential role as a labor leader and political organizer
➝ SMART Station, 2
for the college town in the redwoods, where he was prepared to run for office. “I don’t doubt Hicks has worked for the benefit of society, but it’s categorically inappropriate for an outsider from Los Angeles” to run for the seat, Williams said.
Door-to-Door
All of the candidates have been traveling the huge district since October to meet with voters and bolster their campaigns. Some have gone door-to-door in the Healdsburg area, or reached out to voters by phone campaigns either in person or through surrogates. ➝ Assembly Race, 4
ROCKETS TO FLY AS STEAM PROJECT AT HIGH SCHOOL A PIONEERING NEW CURRICULUM HOPES TO COMBAT TEEN MATH MALAISE By Simone Wilson
Photo by Christian Kallen
LIFTOFF Art teacher Linus Lancaster, left, and junior
Joie Kozubal watch the takeoff of a Riptide rocket into Healdsburg High skies on Feb. 22.
A six-year crusade to incorporate rocket science into the official schoolday curriculum at Healdsburg High School, led by art teacher Linus Lancaster, culminated last Thursday with a rocket launch at lunchtime. “Somebody grab the air compressor!” said Lancaster, a U.S. Navy
veteran and aviation enthusiast who has been a fixture in the high school art department for a couple of decades now. His upside-down wall clock was steadily ticking its way into the half-hour lunch period. Students from the school’s Art and STEAM clubs, plus some curious tagalongs, trudged south to the baseball field on the first clear, sunny day in a week. “I know it’s wet and squishy out here, but the rain is part of why we got permission to do this,” Lancaster told the kids.
Countdown
For years, Lancaster has been trying to get the goahead from the Healdsburg Unified School District and the Healdsburg Fire Department to incorporate “formal lessons on basic rocketry” into art, math and science
classes at the high school— including “designing and building dry fuel model rockets” and launching them hundreds of feet into the air from the school’s baseball field. In the meantime, the art teacher has run some after-school and weekend rocket workshops with support and funding from local organizations like the Healdsburg Center for the Arts and Corazón Healdsburg—but his dream has always been to work rocketry into the high school’s actual curriculum. “When you ask to do something like this,” he said, “the first question is always: ‘Who else is doing it and what does it look like?’ Because institutions tend not to like to be trailblazers.” So in late 2022, when Lancaster tracked down two public schools in ➝ Rockets to Fly, 6