100% Humboldt

#45. Balancing Nature and Urban Life: Scott Bauer's Environmental Journey and Eureka's Evolution in Humboldt County

scott hammond

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Get ready for a riveting conversation with Scott Bauer, a dedicated environmentalist and city councilman. From his early days in Huntington Beach to his impactful work in Humboldt County, Scott shares his journey and the lessons learned along the way. Discover his experiences at Humboldt State (now Cal Poly Humboldt) and with the California Conservation Corps, as well as his extensive career with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, where he focuses on cannabis enforcement. We'll unpack the serious environmental repercussions of illegal cannabis cultivation and the tireless efforts to address them.

We'll also navigate the multifaceted dynamics of city governance in Eureka, balancing essential services like clean water and functional sewer systems with the push towards tourism and arts. Listen to Scott's firsthand account of urban planning challenges, such as implementing traffic calming measures and making the city more bike-friendly. Gain insights into the complexities of housing development, the obstacles posed by interest rates, material costs, and the bureaucratic hurdles of local projects. Scott's thoughtful commentary underscores the importance of practical planning and community involvement for a better urban life.

But it’s not all policy and planning—Scott takes us on a delightful tour of his favorite local spots in Humboldt County, from bakeries and coffee shops to hiking trails and dining gems. We’ll also discuss the urgent need for renewable energy and the fight against climate change, emphasizing rapid deployment of windmills and solar panels. This episode is a compelling blend of personal anecdotes, professional wisdom, and passionate discussions aimed at making Humboldt County a better place for everyone.

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Speaker 1:

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? Yes, like Jack Bauer from 24.

Speaker 2:

Exactly, only different. Or Eddie Bauer.

Speaker 1:

Eddie Bauer oh, that's good.

Speaker 2:

You relate to Eddie Bauer. I said I wish.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, no relation. Scott Hammond, hammond, lumber. Yeah, they were the number one redwood producer in the world Huge and they had to come in and do a what did they call it when they bust a monopoly?

Speaker 2:

Oh really.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, they were huge. It was GP and LP and all those guys. Anyway, Scott, tell us the Scott Bauer story. Who are you? What do you want?

Speaker 2:

Oh well, yeah, it's a pleasure to be here, by the way. Thank you Super excited. Yeah, I God. I came, grew up in Huntington Beach, born and raised. That's Orange County. Right Orange County Moved to Humboldt in 1993. Wow, that's cool.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, 31 years most of my life, majority of my life I've lived in Humboldt County. Wow, of my life, majority of my life, I've lived in humboldt county. Came here to go to humboldt state, cal poly, and um did a maricorps national service program, took a year off to do that. That's cool, it was super fun. And, um, where'd you go? I actually worked on the klamath river for the california conservation corps. Um, I partnered with department of fish and wildlife, where I work today. 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 wow, so you?

Speaker 1:

what so your major was?

Speaker 2:

fisheries. It was natural resources, but I've always loved fish.

Speaker 1:

You're the guy that came up, stayed in your major, got the job in your major.

Speaker 2:

Yep, and there's a bunch of us too, like AmeriCorps people, that came to Humboldt to do AmeriCorps and stayed. Probably 40% of fish and wildlife is Humboldt grads, americorps grads. It's pretty cool, that's nice.

Speaker 1:

I remember the day when we came up in 78 to study I was an ocean major thinking, hey, we're going to get a job as forest rangers. And it's like, no, you're going to be a rec major. Thank you, I could do that really well. That's cool.

Speaker 2:

We were able to stay in your field 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 2002. Wow, so we lived here for going on 21 years city councilmanman Scott Bauer, I should.

Speaker 1:

Can I reintroduce him City Councilman? Dad, husband Yep.

Speaker 2:

And I and I, I serve on the city council for the fourth ward of Eureka, the fourth ward, okay, yeah.

Speaker 1:

So what's your job duties at at fishing game.

Speaker 2:

Oh, I do cannabis enforcement.

Speaker 1:

I'll go figure, yeah Is there still cannabis around this county? People still do that. Yeah, there's still. I thought it was boom and bust. That's like a dot com.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you know it's at an ebb tide right now. You know like it's still there, we still have people doing illegal cultivation, but it seems like it's shifted quite a bit down to like Mendocino Lake County the illegal stuff Interesting.

Speaker 1:

So would you go and enforce and write tickets?

Speaker 2:

Well, I actually have a team of scientists and our focus is to document the environmental crimes. You know the streams getting dried up for diverting water, pushing dirt around and getting dirt into our streams. We support law enforcement in that effort.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I remember the Eel gosh three years ago. It was so low. It looked like the Eel River Creek. It was a half a creek by Benbow. It was just awful. I'm going what. So tell us about that for a minute. Tell us maybe a small arc of the cannabis industry and what you, what your enforcement experience is.

Speaker 2:

Oh man, Um. Well, you know I actually started working on cannabis about 2010,. Um got involved in a case that was like enormous amount of dirt moved into a creek and and I thought, wow, that's kind of a problem. And so some of us in the department we started doing presentations about it, like this is an issue that we need to focus on. Um.

Speaker 2:

And I was telling our friend earlier about um and I started doing presentations and pretty soon the media picked up on it and you know, I got to Dan Rather at one point came up and interviewed me and I got to go show him some stuff and I had I think I remember that, yeah, Focused on that. Yeah, it's like 2013 or something. And so I got to do a lot of the outreach to kind of bring the issue to the forefront of, you know, political people's minds, you know regulators and actually work with the industry on like Prop 64, trying to get, you know, people were interested in legalization, so got to be from, you know, the beginning of the industry and the regulation of it and the enforcement of it. So I've been involved in it for a long time.

Speaker 1:

Wow. So everybody wanted to have pot legal and yet there are these illegal grows that were just literally probably doing more damage to the environment than maybe anything else. Right Arguably in Humboldt County. Yeah, you wreck a fishery, you wreck plants and animals and you have insecticides and pesticides. What are the insecticides that kill animals?

Speaker 2:

Oh, rodenticides.

Speaker 1:

Rodenticides, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

And that's still out there. Humboldt County is in a much better space these days than you know. Mendo, trinity, shasta Is that because of enforcement? Yeah yeah, we've been at it longer than anybody, so other entities actually come here to learn how to do it.

Speaker 1:

I think Billy Hansel said part of what he does is he trains other law enforcement Yep as part of his experiences here.

Speaker 2:

He's an expert.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, nice man, hi Billy, what's up. He's an expert, you know. Nice man, hi Billy, what's up.

Speaker 2:

So yeah, you know I've been involved in that and seen kind of the changes in our community, in our resources, and you know it's where are we today? It's a kind of ever evolving between legalization, maybe federal legalization someday. You know all those different kinds of things. So it's been a really interesting ride. As a scientist, I never thought I would end up doing this. You know, it was like I want to do fisheries restoration, which I've done a decade of that before, and now here we are regulating a billion dollar industry.

Speaker 1:

So you're restoring a boom and bust economy which was redwood or forestry, yeah, lumber. And now you're restoring the damage these yahoos have done.

Speaker 2:

That's funny, because in my early presentations I would talk about the gold rush and then the timber rush and then the green rush. Right, and it's been our kind of Humboldt County's thing for a century or more. You know these kinds of boom and bust cycles for industries. It's really interesting.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, and, and I it'd be fair to say that a hundred percent of these guys are not bad actors.

Speaker 2:

There's a hundred percent Are not, are not. Yeah, I mean.

Speaker 1:

But there's people that are trying to comply and try to do things on the up and up and do it clean. Yep, yep, definitely. So what percent? Just ballpark would be bad actors, that would just go screw it. I'm going to kill the environment and I'm going to do it for money and do it without any conscience.

Speaker 2:

You know that's changed over time. You know that's changed over time. You know at one time it was pretty wild west and you know it depends on the county. But, Humboldt, you know it's vastly changed. I mean I couldn't give you a percentage, but the majority are legitimate. That's great, you know, and they're trying to, you know, be, you know, good citizens and business people.

Speaker 1:

That's good. I love that. Yeah, that's kind of more who I choose to believe, who we are, yeah, so tell us about Eureka, your role with Eureka. What do you do?

Speaker 2:

Oh boy. Well, you know city council. You know we're heavily involved in. You know city council um, you know we're heavily involved in. You know I like to tell people cause there's people want. Let me step back. I mean, I feel like the community people in the community are are more idealistic, focused on like what you know, here's what the city needs to do. It's a focus on our what a particular ideology is, and I look at it as we're running a city. You know people need clean water, people need their sewer systems to work.

Speaker 1:

Roads.

Speaker 2:

You know new roads, any trails, you know the things that make a city function. That, to me, is our job. It's like, how do we do that? How do we, you know, manage a budget, um, and do all that with a I don't want to say a form of ideology, but, you know, we want it to be more bicycle friendly, more, you know, uh, pedestrian friendly. Like you know, changing a city, that I like to say, you know, um, we're a very utilitarian city, you know, like it was a logging town, you know, and therefore it's not necessarily, you know, have the beauty of some seaside village somewhere. You know, I mean, we were designed and built for timber and fishing, really, you know, and gold mining way before that. So that's where we're starting from, and now we're trying to change that to something that-.

Speaker 1:

Tourism.

Speaker 2:

Tourism, wind energy, fish farms, college-based, focusing on education.

Speaker 1:

Arts, Arts, all those things right.

Speaker 2:

And so you have to kind of redesign and rethink. That's a great point.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, right, it's structured differently the geography, the architecture, the layout. Yeah, the way it's all laid out, I hadn't thought of that. Yeah, so you have to re-engineer a little bit.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and so we're doing that, and this is the part that I love it. That and and I this is the part that I love is like that you, you see where people are. Like you know, there's a camp that doesn't like change, sure, and for the sake of change, like change is scary change is, you know, hard to deal with. And then there's a camp that's like no full steam ahead you know, we're moving on changing and those two camps have a hard time communicating you know, yeah, and we do too.

Speaker 2:

So, like I think of my role is to try and educate people. That here's why we do it this way. You know, a lot of people have questions, like you know, why is this happening? I explain well, there's here's the budget, here's how that's supposed to work, they get it, and there's so much of our community, of all of us, that they just don't know how does a city work? And it's complicated and it all requires money, and I just wish people would, would would want to understand Cause, david, even sometimes, when you tell people like here's what's going on, here's why we're doing that, they've already developed their opinion. You know they're, they're thinking of a response instead of listening. We all do that, right, of course, you know it's like I can't wait to get my. Here's what I want to say this yeah, I'm thinking of mine, right now, yeah, just listen you

Speaker 2:

know like in, like listening to the community, yeah, and what do people want? I'll say that I got into this. You know, my kids one day are driving into town and they're like, oh, you know, this community, this street's so ugly and I have to explain. You know it was built for logging trucks and you know the street's so ugly and I have to explain. Well, you know it was built for logging trucks and you know industry wasn't built for beauty, just getting a little downtown streets. Yeah, right, and and it got me thinking, you know like, well, maybe I should get involved. You know, I'll say I've always been involved. 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 man. You know served my country through AmeriCorps. I've always been involved in community and volunteerism, so it's just like a natural progression. Sure, you know to want to do more, yeah, and it's super challenging and I've learned so much in four years.

Speaker 2:

Next job supervisor. We have some great supervisors, you know yeah they're great. And they have an even more difficult job. Oh yeah, you know, city's in good shape financially. County is, you know, struggling, so we're fortunate. Yeah, so is Miles Slattery, your boss. No, he works for the city, uh city council.

Speaker 1:

He's city council.

Speaker 2:

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

Speaker 1:

Okay, so he was on Nick's show. He's.

Speaker 2:

Oh right on.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, he's he. I guess he did a long interview. Yeah, um, so tell you've been at this and uh, we were talking before the, before we went on about the, uh, the ranked whatever.

Speaker 2:

yeah ranked choice.

Speaker 1:

Vote about that I want to know about that well, like the wards at one time.

Speaker 2:

Um, the city was big, has five, you know, has five wards, and it was everybody votes for everybody. So it was a a wide open voting system. And then last election we went to a true ward system and that basically was you vote for the candidates in your ward.

Speaker 1:

Way harder to get a ballot going for that.

Speaker 2:

Well, it's easier for candidates because you focus right, you can focus on one area.

Speaker 2:

And I knocked on practically every door in the ward, ward 4, you know, and met thousands of people, a couple thousand probably, but you, so we would vote. You know you vote for your candidate senior Ward. Well, and they're separated by population so they try and make the Wards all equal amounts of population. So the boundary of the fourth ward is essentially Harrison on the east. The west, you know, it goes all the way up to Sequoia Park, takes in kind of the armory there runs along, what is that? Henderson? And then it passed Henderson to Harris and then it comes down kind of behind Eureka High.

Speaker 1:

Like right over here in Eureka, over at oh man, he moved my map.

Speaker 2:

It used to be like, right here I could touch it Over there in. Eureka, California.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

And then it goes all the way down to the Bay on Bay Street, so you could knock it all. That's pretty flat, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's not hard to do. But then now this year, cause the voters 61% chose for a ranked choice voting. So when I ran, there was five candidates and it was winner. Take all right, you voted for your top choice. Well, this coming election it'll be if there's five candidates, you rank them one through five. Huh, like I think it's a great opportunity. Uh, you know, because, like in our national elections, right, it's one or the other and people call the green party a spoiler, or they call whatever libertarians spoiler. Right, but you could vote for them as your first choice, and if everybody did that, it's possible it could totally change the election. So what happens is if the first choice, the first round of votes are counted, doesn't get 50% nobody does then you count the second choice, the person with the lowest amount of votes gets removed, and that and those people's second choice.

Speaker 1:

Okay.

Speaker 2:

It essentially, you know, gets counted Okay, and so you, you go through that until somebody has 50% plus one Gotcha, and so I like that. Yeah, so you could like, I really liked this person. I don't think they're going to win, but I'm going to vote for them first. So mathematically it's a genius way to actually create a pretty clear majority.

Speaker 1:

If you had to, yeah, yeah, no, it's a very cool system, as opposed to a two-party system where it's got to be 50 plus one.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean. So other parties, other people you know, have an opportunity to, to maybe win even you know like they get enough votes because people are voting what they think is right, versus like holding their nose and voting. You know.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 2:

Like in national elections.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

People say, oh, I plug my nose and vote for that guy. But if it was, what are you saying? You know who's doing that? Yeah, I mean, that's what and I admit it Like it's frustrating. Oh yeah, I think today I was listening to a podcast, ironically about elections, and I was thinking you know, the world isn't black and white and at the national level it's been that way for what? 100 years, I think, since the Bull Moose Party 1912. Bull Moose Party. Teddy Roosevelt basically stole votes from the Republican and Woodrow Wilson won. I think that was 1912 or 1914. But that, you know, that was when people started actually considering ranked choice voting was that election and it was actually a Republican Party idea back then. So it's way more.

Speaker 1:

I wish it was done federally, that'd be great it would change everything you know It'd be a deal changer, but have 10 people on there.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and but the and. That's the problem, though. But you have this kind of duolopoly, right? People call it, you know, and it's like you have two choices. The world doesn't. There's no two choices in the world. There's no yes and no's as far as I'm concerned, the world is gray.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I don't think I resent the candidates as much as I do the two parties. Yeah, because they're just putting up their horse that they think will win, and it may not be a good horse for every, I don't know.

Speaker 2:

No, and if and if, why can't you? You shouldn't have multiple it should be multiple choice, right yeah.

Speaker 1:

And one thing that's come through the podcast here is that we're pretty divided and and I, um, we 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, unity. You can call a lot of things. Um, how do you? How do you do that in your office, do you? I imagine you're a good listener. You seem like a nice guy and you're there talking to constituents and going back to the obstructionist jerks that come in and just want to know to everything, you and your bike lanes. Forget it. The bike lanes are great. They seem like they're working out okay. Yeah, you know the trail coming in from Arcata this summer that's gonna be connecting us to the other part of the world. So 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 county.

Speaker 2:

I love actually a subject because I think there's so much polarization in our politics, in our community, in our own heads, and it's so frustrating to me because people are blown away. I'm friends with a wide spectrum of people. I know big ranchers that are friends of mine, and from the left and the right I'm friends with tons of people. You know, I know big ranchers that are friends of mine, you know, and from the left and the right I'm friends with tons of people that, yeah, why not? Because we're all human beings.

Speaker 2:

Politics shouldn't be the ultimate factor on why you're friends with someone. There's great human beings across the spectrum and so I, you know, I'm happy to to say I'm, I'm friends with that guy and we disagree on a lot of things, but we also have a great time going fishing. You know, like we don't discuss politics or whatever, and I think that is something that or you do and it's great. Yeah, it's a good exchange. Yeah, I think that's the challenge for people in government is to try and you know, I don't think my role is even to like convince people that my way is. The right way is to explain. You know why this is a good idea. You know, like H&I Street right Going to two lanes and a bike lane has been so the emails you get you know Divisive and crazy Div divisive and it's like traffic hasn't really changed Really.

Speaker 2:

It's actually slowed a little bit because people have to people go slower and, yes, there's not a thousand bikes going down right now because so much of city planning is building it for the future right the hope that people have an easier. People don't feel safe riding their bike. Well, now they'll feel safer, so now maybe they will.

Speaker 1:

And you got trails coming in, the Great Railroad Trail and you got Arcata, yeah, and those are things that make you healthy.

Speaker 2:

It's a healthy lifestyle and Eureka is a bikeable town Totally.

Speaker 1:

It's nice and flat.

Speaker 2:

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

Speaker 1:

Really Literally it's like a minute faster so yeah, was that terrible wreck on I Street two weeks ago? Was there any extrapolation that's having anything to do with the new lanes?

Speaker 2:

Zero.

Speaker 1:

That person just went buck crazy and started hitting people.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and there's an interesting story there that I can't talk about, but you know it. I was asking my wife she follows all this.

Speaker 1:

She goes. They're not saying much. I'm going that's going to be a crazy story.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Because he took a life right yeah. Yeah, and then tried to drive away, I think. Yep, Nothing to do with bike lanes two lanes, it was over on 7th anyway, wasn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

So, yeah, you know it's like trying. I like talking to people. I don't care your beliefs. You know like I enjoy it. It's fun. You know it's like fun to learn about people, sure, and even to find common ground, like that is so that's the best part of life, because you're a dad like me, hey.

Speaker 1:

Wow yeah.

Speaker 2:

You like to ride a bike? I do too. Yeah, you know just those things that bring us together, and if we don't do that, then we end up in these miserable situations where people are unhappy and you know like.

Speaker 1:

I see it every day.

Speaker 2:

It's crazy, you're missing out on life, yeah.

Speaker 1:

You're forfeit, really you are, and it's like, oh so in your journey then you're kind of a bridge maker. Virginia Bass came on. She said she was good at that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I don't know if I'm good at it, but I certainly try Working with people. People will call and say I have this issue, go to their house and be like, well, you know here's, here's why that's an issue. You know, um, here's why the city, you know, sent you a nasty letter Like oh, wow, and and they may disagree, but just explaining it, you know, because you know city officials, city staff, you know they're busy and you got that because there's 400 other people that got that violation letter.

Speaker 1:

Gotcha.

Speaker 2:

And so they can't explain to. You know, it's like so, trying to get people understand why we have rules and regulations too. That's like the basics of a city. Why do we do that? Well, let me explain what happened. It got us to like sewer laterals, right. That's a fascinating story. You know, it's not our fault, but it's an expensive issue and it's a water quality issue, and so here's why we have to do that. There's reason behind it.

Speaker 1:

There's reason behind everything. So traffic slowing and then traffic. Is it called traffic Calming, calming? So all the measures, all the curbs that went out in the crosswalks, yeah, talk to that. I mean that's a progressive, expensive, controversial, and I actually kind of like them. It slows everybody down.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Because where I'm downtown Eureka, it's just crazy.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, people go nuts. The bulb outs are another divisive thing. Bulb outs, they really shouldn't be. You know it protects pedestrians. They can stand there and not feel like they're going to get hit. Slows you down when you make a turn.

Speaker 1:

People can see them standing there. So if I choose to obey the law and stop, a lot of pedestrians go by.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, well, and that was all grant funded. It wasn't through the city budget. That's real money, right, it was several million dollars, you know. For all of that work, is it all finished already? It must be pretty close. Well, h&i, I think, is pretty much done and now we're doing six and seven done. It's getting there right. And then Myrtle Town or Myrtle Avenue is going to get worked on, but that's going to be focused just like on paving sewer line, got it?

Speaker 2:

I should talk to that real quick too about infrastructure, because people need to understand that you know our city's very old and sewer systems are, you know, old, water lines are old. So anytime we have to pave a road or something, when you want, you, you want to dig up the street one time, right, you know, and like with a ice street, we, we didn't, we, we did our work. But what happened is the systems are so old that when they're driving heavy equipment across them, some of those just popped well, water lines broke. Huh, you know, dig it up again. But so much of that kind of work now, like you can't just pave a street, you got to go in there and like the lines are all old, let's just do it all, so it adds to the expense. How old is Eureka? 1850 something? God, it's an old. Yeah, it's over a hundred years old by far.

Speaker 1:

How old are those sewers and water?

Speaker 2:

lines you know a hundred plus years, some of them Early 1900s yeah.

Speaker 2:

You know, I mean, we used to have a trolley car that went down Myrtle Avenue, you know. And so there's that it's old stuff and so the stuff costs money. And people are always like why isn't, why aren't, why isn't my street getting paid? What you know, there's a lot of bad streets, council, and well, the population has finally made a decision to tax itself right, um, to do that. And we're talking like a backlog of decades because never had money to do it right, city council previous ones, old, you know, years ago never decided to like take that mature step and say we, we need more revenue. You know, like, just let it kind of go and so we need more revenue, you know like just let it kind of go.

Speaker 2:

And so now we have to, like we're doing catch up and all the you focus on the streets with the most activity and then the other streets will follow. But it's going to take 10, 20 years before we pave all of our streets, get it right, and people have a hard time with that.

Speaker 1:

My street's the worst, it's like no, it's not so at First Street down where we work out at HealthSport. That was when I was in college in 78, there's still a rail line there. The rail's still kind of in the bed of the street, but there were still trains moving around.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, up until 98 when it officially closed, I think, with the big storms in 97, 95. Okay, and the Eel River Canyon. That was one of those things that people always like. Why don't we reopen the railroad? The estimates of building the rail line back were, like I want to say, a billion dollars. It's crazy, buddy.

Speaker 1:

And then it would slide again.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and then what? What are we going to haul people on it for a billion? It's just not going to happen. Yeah, so it's going to be a trail. It's going to be a cool trail, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Maybe part of it in our lifetime Segments.

Speaker 2:

Segments will be right yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, now that was a big deal, man. I really my connecting to Eureka, that'll be fun that way you can go all the way from whatever Trinidad to the power plant. Yeah, you know that's a. That'd be a long bike ride.

Speaker 2:

I know and safe.

Speaker 1:

And safe, you know, and very safe, yeah, good point.

Speaker 2:

Well, that's the other thing. I think there's this like you know, folks that think you know grew up in a car culture and changing that you know it's hard. People think you know it's always been this way and cars always should dominate. Well, you know, the world changes.

Speaker 1:

Well, when gas goes to 10 bucks a gallon or north, which it is in Europe, I mean it's crazy. You may just have to have a bike or an e-bike or something. Yeah, we're in Amsterdam, everything's bikes.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Bikes trump people cars. The only thing that trumps a bike is like a big rig, like a bus. Yeah, they won't stop for bicyclists.

Speaker 2:

Really.

Speaker 1:

They just kind of come right through. But, yeah, very prohibitive to own a car. Yeah, just like everything the tax, the insurance, the gas, the car, the repair and everything's really slow in a car. But you're right, we're really car oriented. Question for you. So one of your other battle fronts, if you will, or your challenge opportunities, was that parking area that you want to put apartments in and it has a name. So you know where I'm going. Tell me about that and where that has wound up in terms of more housing for Eureka and how we're getting there.

Speaker 2:

Well, you know, we have a number of projects that are basically converting lots to housing Earth Center. We just discussed. What day is this? Oh, this is Tuesday and we talked about it, and we have a new contractor that's taking it on. What'd you call it? The Earth Center? Where's that at? That's right behind Lost Coast Brewery. Oh right, the big parking lot.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, okay, so that one. We have millions of dollars from Hubbolt Transit Authority to build essentially a transit hub, so anybody that could hop on a bus from there, the transit authority running this hub and then a couple of floors of apartments above that and on the lot right next to it.

Speaker 1:

So the Greyhound could go there.

Speaker 2:

Yep.

Speaker 1:

Bikes could be locked there. Yep the bus up to Hoopa, whatever, to Crescent City, yeah.

Speaker 2:

I mean it's a great idea because we don't have that A cool idea. Where do we have it? I mean it's a great idea because we don't have that A cool idea. Where do we have? I mean, arcata has their, you know, their Very small though, yeah, super small, and this would be sort of all humble. Essentially, like I'm going to Ukiah, drive to town, you know, or if somebody gives me a ride, whatever, take the bus to town, hop on the big bus and go. So yeah, that's been a huge.

Speaker 2:

I mean, obviously, right, we have a group of folks that are trying to get everything put on the Jacobs campus right and housing for all thing, but that's a whole story. Let's talk about that next. We'll talk about that. So, yeah, you know, I mean it makes sense that we've been talking about change and transportation and all you know general change going on in our society and taking parking lots 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, go to Santa Barbara, right, you're going to possibly walk blocks to a store and everybody just accepts it. Or miles, yeah, or miles, and for some reason. You know there's people in our community that that should never happen.

Speaker 2:

It's like well we need housing more than anything. Number one thing that you pull 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. Oh yeah, what are we going to do?

Speaker 1:

Ask my kids adult kids at home.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, it's where are we going to build Right?

Speaker 1:

So weird.

Speaker 2:

So we have parking lots, you know like vast space that we can build up and build affordable housing. We talked about affordable housing. It's like there's also the misconception that low income is something to be afraid of and when, and in fact low income folks are target employees, bartenders, you know like it's not, it's not like a tiny amount of money to be low income, it's like it's a decent salary, yeah.

Speaker 1:

They're criminals. Yeah, there's low income.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you know it's like, well, how do we, how did that even become a thing? You know, 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. It revitalizes downtown. They're out spending money going to have a drink, have dinner. There's kids that go to school.

Speaker 2:

All those things. So it's like I I find it to me it's an easy decision. Like we need housing, we're going to have to lose some parking. I'm willing to not drive down there.

Speaker 1:

when I go down there, you know, like I don't think I've had a parking issue at all in my business downtown for since well pre-covid yeah it's like I'm a little on the edge 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 fourth of july. Fourth of july, you got you might have to walk two blocks. Oh my gosh, I have to walk. It's terrible, it's gonna hurt. Oh, it's a healthy thing too. It's not a bad thing. Yeah, 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, joni. So yeah, let's go, let's walk a little bit. We won't hurt you, it won't. Yeah, yeah, get moving, move that thing there.

Speaker 2:

So I think we've been like the city has been, you know, trying its damnedest to build housing. Is there grant money to do?

Speaker 1:

so.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you know, I think the most recent state budget, though, kind of does some cutting to those programs, like 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 prohibitive, you know um you know. The problem too, though, is between interest rates and and price and materials. It's like, yeah, it's like it's also always a of a roadblock for us, like of a roadblock for us, like why can't we do this? And it's just like challenge upon challenge, but we're trying, you know.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I like it. So there's the balloon track we need to talk about, which could have been something, and that trade has obviously sailed. The other is, let's talk about Jacob's School. That'd be a fun one. So that was like top secret, who had a bid in or who was buying it? And maybe I should know this and I don't.

Speaker 2:

Well, yeah.

Speaker 1:

I mean it was up for sale.

Speaker 2:

There's still speculation as to who is behind all that.

Speaker 1:

Is it an esc? Lot of space, right? That whole thing is a lot of acre is how many acres is Jacobs.

Speaker 2:

Oh boy, I think the buildable part is five or something. Um, you know CHP was going to build a facility there and you know CHP was going to build a facility there. So it's been really interesting the kind of campaign that's gone around it. But you know we don't own it, 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, somebody has to do it. It's not zoned for housing, you know. So how is this even an opportunity, right?

Speaker 2:

You know the owner, the people buying it. Having closed escrow, they don't own it Right, it's going to be an escrow until it's not zoned.

Speaker 2:

It's not zoned and and my guess it'll be an escrow until the election. You know like it's. It's kind of a red herring, but you know I don't know how much to get into the intricacies of it. That I know. But all I know is that we have all these opportunities that we're working on in town, you know, like changing lots to housing, and we're trying. And this other thing is not real. You know it's not tangible. So it's like what, what are we supposed to do?

Speaker 2:

it's like putting a railroad in the river valley, yeah yeah, putting in a monorail, you know, to reading or something. It's like, yeah, what it's not possible, right? Um, so yeah, it's one of those things that is a divisive issue.

Speaker 1:

Again, you know, to me like we have.

Speaker 2:

We're already working on this other stuff. Now you want us to like drop all that and go over here. That on a property we don't own?

Speaker 1:

Right, it's a wild goose chase.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's interesting, but you see that kind of thing happen.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, people get really hardcore on something.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and they create these kind of issues that shouldn't really exist, frankly.

Speaker 1:

Well, it's time and maybe there's decisions then yeah, huh, I'd love to speculate with you as to who the voters and buyers are and what it's going to do. And it's like maybe that's the wild goose chase. It wouldn't make any difference.

Speaker 2:

No, yeah, to me it's just like what are you guys doing?

Speaker 1:

I thought the journal wrote something and they were speculating as to yeah, was there anything good and true in that article?

Speaker 2:

You know, there's so much that you can. I always said, when I've talked to representatives at the state level, like we need to fix LLCs, limited liability corporations because it enables people to hide. I mean, I've seen through work, I've seen LLCs owning LLCs.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 2:

And there's a registered agent. Right, they're offshore somewhere and there's a registered agent, and you call 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 a thousand gallons of oil on it? Well, they can hide nobody, you know. And so that that is a a poor, a poor law. That is not good for democracy as far as I'm concerned. Llcs, people can hide.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and it's like well, who is it? If you got a great idea, what are you afraid of? Let's see who. You are Right, you committed a crime.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, let's find out who you are.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you know, just like baffling.

Speaker 1:

So what do you see for the future of Eureka Scott in terms of opportunities that we haven't talked about? So we need some housing and we need some homeless Housing fixes, some of homelessness, I would guess there's an association.

Speaker 2:

Well, tuesday night we had a great presentation by Commander LaFrance. You know he's in charge of our-.

Speaker 1:

Good guy.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, community safety.

Speaker 1:

Lenny's been on the podcast hey.

Speaker 2:

Lenny yeah, he's great. You know, nice man, I learned a ton and I hope people watch because you know talking about our population of homeless and where they're from and all those factors that you just you scratch your head. You're like I think it was pretty clear in the study it's like, well, there's a certain segment that just don't want help. Yeah, it's like, well, okay, but you can't live in the weeds and dump your trash on public property or private property, a piano building.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you know, yeah, not good.

Speaker 2:

No, and I think it's like you know we teach our kids. You know to be responsible, you know to take care of themselves and to not affect other people's lives. At least that's what I try and do, right, sure, and some people think it's okay, you know, and I'm like just not sure you know, like if you're, we're all entitled to public. You know public places, clean public places, and I have people all the time telling me I don't feel safe running on the trail and I'm like you know, and I can't say you should because I'm a big guy and I can handle it, but it's like I understand that and whether it's right or wrong, but I understand.

Speaker 1:

My wife Joni says the biggest danger is unleashed dogs. Oh yeah, unleashed dog people, you don't have a special allowance or a special permit. When that dog comes up and bumps Joni in the chest, it's not good. So, our friend, she carries a rock when she runs.

Speaker 2:

Really.

Speaker 1:

Oh, and if a dog's loose, she'll just let loose. It's like if the dog comes at her it's going to get a rock in the head and I'm going good for you, I've got to name a name, but I won't. So I don't think it's dog hating, it's just like come on, man, leash that. Oh, he's great, oh, he doesn't bite anybody, he's fine Until my arm's gone, and then anyway.

Speaker 2:

No, I had a. I had a incident running down the trail. I was actually on the boardwalk and this dog attacked me. Loose dog, yeah, loose dog, I'm sorry. And I kicked it. You know I had no choice. You have no choice. You got to get bit and I was just like I was so furious and it's like, well, yeah, you know, that's the kind of stuff like we're all entitled.

Speaker 1:

What if you were a little kid, I know? And he bit your head. I mean, you know, whatever, yeah, it's laws for you. And 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. I'm just like, read this guy the very respectful riot act. You're better than this man. Stop peeing on the building. It stinks. There's grass, there's other. Sorry, no.

Speaker 1:

And those growers. All you kids get off my lawn. So, jacob, let's talk about balloon track real quick. Yeah, so big chunk of Eureka, behind, wherever on the bay that Arkley owned, wanted to develop historically with a Home Depot and low cost, maybe high cost housing and shopping and whatever what happens to the balloon track, and it's several, it's big acres, right? Well, that's a great question.

Speaker 2:

I mean, does he still own it? That's my understanding. Uh-huh, and you know, seems like a good place for housing. Yeah, why not? You know why not? Right, you know good place for housing? Yeah, why not? You know why not, right, you know? Or parking, right, I mean, 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 I that was just brought up the other day with me Like what about that? You know, such a central piece, we don't own it. Oh my God, it could be an amazing spot. I think there are some brownfield issues, possibly because there was a railroad hub. So is there toxics there?

Speaker 1:

We have technology for that now. It's not that impossible that it used to be to test and mitigate right Totally.

Speaker 2:

So, yeah, it's a great opportunity.

Speaker 1:

There's money for that there's state and federal money. Probably there is.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah. It's a great opportunity there that I think people would be curious Like why not there, then why not? You know, if we're so concerned about parking, propose a big subdivision of three-story buildings. You know what I mean? Hey, rob, you got this. You could do this.

Speaker 1:

This could happen.

Speaker 2:

Well, there's those you know like and I also say this about Eureka you know we're pretty built out and so you know the state mandates a certain amount of houses, low income, very low income, which infuriates a lot of communities, you know, and in some cases, like Eureka, we don't have land to. You know, like expand horizontally right. We have to go up. We're not going to go in the forest, we just don't have land to. You know like?

Speaker 1:

expand horizontally right. We have to go up, we're not going to go in the forest.

Speaker 2:

We just don't have it. Yeah, you know, look at the city limits. We just don't have a lot of space. So what other choices do we have? And people get angry at state mandates, and I understand that, but the fact of the matter is, you know, we do need to. This is the right thing to do for people, for our community is to build housing, and so what's the choice?

Speaker 1:

Parking lot up you know Humboldt's doing it. Yeah, Well, it's. It's not a parking lot, but it's no you know it's going to be like 10 or 12 stories.

Speaker 1:

Right, that's all. Every day I drive by it it gets bigger Six stories down. I'm going, nick, what's going on here? Man, this is like hardcore, but it'll look beautiful. Um, I think it'll be okay. Totally, you know it's got that's what we have to do. So, scott, what blocks your team at the city council from getting their job done? Is is it? Is it the detractors, the obstructionist, uh jerks that come in and go, hey, and get you guys off in rabbit trails or what I'm going to guess? There's some of that, but what hurts the team from getting progress done?

Speaker 2:

I don't feel like there hasn't been progress. You know, I feel like Eureka's moving forward. You know, like we're fixing our roads, we're fixing our sewers, we're fixing our water lines, all those things.

Speaker 1:

Law enforcement they're in good shape. I think they seem like they're doing a great job to me Doing a great job.

Speaker 2:

So, like you know, and you know, staffing's an issue with, like all industries right, correct it's a perpetual issue. What happened to people after COVID?

Speaker 1:

Ben Like a generation vanished.

Speaker 2:

Everybody retired. No, and that's fascinating right, I mean it's so weird.

Speaker 1:

It's the weirdest thing.

Speaker 2:

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

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Like we just build this stuff and people really want that and some people don't, and yet you know there's not. The holdup, you know, is money, yeah Right, and after COVID it seems like between interest rates, materials and maybe it's a lack of contractors. I hear that Like can't find a contractor, True, Can't find an electrician man, Good luck, yeah yeah. So those are kind of limiting factors that are more societal than, like, our team's issues.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so Betty builds. She says she's got a little village thing that with modular some sort of stuff. Would we ever go there?

Speaker 2:

No, we're doing that. Is that with her? Yeah, so it'll be. It's called Betty's Village down there off of Hillficker. Betty Chin shout out Um, you know. So there will be a bunch of modulars. They're like, uh, prefabricated little homes. I think is it 30 or 40?

Speaker 1:

Nice, it's quite a few right Showers the whole night yeah.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so that's happening. Um, you know, the mother Bernard house you know just got built there. Um, on, was that L and and fourth, was 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 going to have enough that we should be able to take care of everybody that that wants a facility.

Speaker 1:

I'm thinking through L and fourth, is that over where? Right across from the Chevron, where Hunter, hunter and Hunt is.

Speaker 2:

No, it's this way. Is that L or is that? Yeah, that's L street.

Speaker 1:

It must be oh, I know what you're talking about or M.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, m.

Speaker 1:

Okay.

Speaker 2:

But anyways, you know there's we're like moving, that stuff's happening, that stuff's going to get done this year, and then you know, things would be like pretty solid as far as like, if you need a place, we got a place for you.

Speaker 1:

That's huge.

Speaker 2:

But it's that other component. You know the low, the very low income, you know working folks, you know working two jobs and all that that we just can't get enough housing for. You know and like ADUs, right?

Speaker 1:

I mean, it's very easy to get an ADU permitted.

Speaker 2:

Now, oh my gosh, we have one.

Speaker 1:

Early COVID.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Built a two-bedroom, two-bath in McKinleyville and they're awesome. I go wait. What about my CC&R? He goes state law trumps all CC&R. You can do this. I go wait. Is this legal? Oh yeah, just go get the permits. Yeah, pull the permits. You got it, you'll build one. And it happened quickly it.

Speaker 2:

But you know, for a lot of folks, right, it's the money to build it. Um getting a builder getting a builder, getting an electrician, a plumber all of those guys yeah, I'm trying to do that, um, you know, and it's like trying to figure out, well, when is it the financing going to be, you know, reasonable to do it. You know, like that's the part, like you know, not having the time really to.

Speaker 1:

And 7% used to sound good 15, 20 years ago.

Speaker 2:

Like that's amazing.

Speaker 1:

Now it's two, yeah. So what helps the team? What can we do to help?

Speaker 2:

Oh man, well you know.

Speaker 1:

Your average citizen. Oh, what can they do to support you guys?

Speaker 2:

Well, you know, I don't know if people that watch and see some of the folks that show up and curse us and cuss at us 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 a young person watching.

Speaker 1:

Are these people that can be escorted out, or you know?

Speaker 2:

you have a First Amendment, right, right, freedom of speech. Cuss at you and accuse you, I know. Well, and and and, some of it's a little borderline. You know um violent but whatever, we have thick skin. But you know, for those that think we're doing all right, you know, call in, so yeah. I think things are going great.

Speaker 2:

You know, I think that's the hardest part of the job is to get beat up and treated. Really it's not even reasonable. It's like. This doesn't even make sense what you're saying. It's just like you hate us for whatever reason you know, and you choose to be uncivil and just a downright nasty person, you know, and you and you choose to to be uncivil and just a downright nasty person.

Speaker 2:

You know that kind of stuff. Yeah, it's nice when a few people have been showing up and it's kind of been evolving where they're like hey, thank you, you know, and it's like I love it that makes it better my show, my house, can I, can I tell those guys to hey, quit being a jerk?

Speaker 1:

What's wrong with you, man? You're better than that. Just knock that crap off and get out of here and start helping yeah thank you. I feel better now. Hey, that part of the show, guess what. Are you ready? Sure, this is Scott Bauer's favorite stuff in Humboldt. Are you ready, or Eureka?

Speaker 2:

My favorite stuff.

Speaker 1:

You're not, so I'm going to just call out some categories. Ready, yeah. Favorite bakery.

Speaker 2:

Favorite bakery.

Speaker 1:

Ramones Ramones Favorite coffee joint.

Speaker 2:

Oh God, I usually bring my own, but if I walk out of my office I either go to Ramones or Los Bagels or Old Town Coffee. I try and spread the well. It's right there. Yeah, Old Town Coffee, I try and spread to well.

Speaker 1:

It's right there, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, favorite trail if you have two hours to go, hike oh man, I'm more of a wilderness hiker.

Speaker 2:

I like to go out in the Trinity Alps. You know that kind of thing Locally you can't say Canyon Creeks, I love. Canyon Creeks.

Speaker 1:

Although it's a great trail.

Speaker 2:

We did that. The other was it last year. My son and I did it in one day. Oh wow, in and out, spent the night fished, came out just to see if we can. It was like 24 miles.

Speaker 1:

Oh, 20. Oh, you went the longer.

Speaker 2:

We went all the way up to above the lakes. Oh that's cool so it ended up being like 24. In case they're but local trails, probably like headwaters, you know know headwaters is fun, right? Yeah, okay, here's one. Uh, how about?

Speaker 1:

favorite lunch come out of the office. You got to go eat lunch. You got to spend money. Where do you go?

Speaker 2:

oh, geez, you just you're asking some tough questions. You're not a business person, you're not behold no, um, I mean, I, I don't, I just don't do it that often, you know like so here's 20 bucks.

Speaker 1:

Go, go have lunch. Where do you go?

Speaker 2:

I'm a huge sushi fan. Oh, there you go. I'd go to a sushi spot or something local. Have you had it on the rooftop sushi? Yet I have, is it good?

Speaker 1:

It's cool, I heard it's good.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's a great spot. The view is cool, yeah, but I died in a little. Tomo been going there for 30 years.

Speaker 1:

She's the lady that started Fakiko, started Tomo up in Arcata. What a sweetheart. She's super gracious and wonderful. So I got into the sushi place on the roof, joni, and I walked up I said what's going on, can we? You know? I 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 night, the builder, adams construction, all those guys. It was just fun.

Speaker 2:

Just go, say hi and all the people that made it.

Speaker 1:

That's been an amazing building like Greg at Redec and all those guys. Greg Foster Shout out to Greg.

Speaker 2:

What's up, Greg?

Speaker 1:

Lastly favorite dinner house. Where would you go for dinner? Tomo Tomo, so sushi, lunch and dinner.

Speaker 2:

I mean, I'm a sushi freak, but you know we do go to 511 quite a bit 511's tasty.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, everybody comes out with Larapin.

Speaker 2:

I mean it's of course, it's a go-to. I haven't been to Larapin in a long time.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's good. Yeah, that's great. I go to dinner at Dick Taylor Chocolates, that's a friend of mine, actually, they have a bit of food. I mean, it's not dinner food, but yeah, Adam Dick's a good friend of mine. He's a Family's great yeah. So party shots anything you'd like to add to your story?

Speaker 2:

Oh man when are you going?

Speaker 1:

Where do you want to be? Yeah, that's a great question. How many years have you been in office, by the way? Just four, four. Are you going to run?

Speaker 2:

again First term. I knew you were going to ask that. You know it's been a constant. You know debate in my house Is to my house Is it November?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, okay, are you on the?

Speaker 2:

ballot. It doesn't open until July. You know the official like register to do it. We'll see. You know, I enjoy 100%. I enjoy who I work with on the city council. They're all great human beings.

Speaker 1:

Who are they by name again?

Speaker 2:

They all really care Kimbergill, leslie, castellano, katie, moulton, mario and Renee.

Speaker 1:

Renee.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and they're all doing it because they care. That's all I can say.

Speaker 1:

It isn't for the money.

Speaker 2:

It's not for the money, it's not for the money, man. The one thing 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, climate change is something that our kids are really going to be affected by. 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, you know, and I one of the things. I'm just like how fast can we get renewable energy deployed? It's got to happen that we need to treat the work towards a sustainable future like a war effort. I always said that and, like you know, we were able to build, I think, a battleship a month or something during crazy insane and b-17s one a day coming off it it was wild stuff yeah, and we need to.

Speaker 2:

We need to take what's happening now and do the same thing, like deploying windmills, solar panels, like whatever it takes, because we are in e-cars you know, it's going to take 9 000 charging stations in humble county to get us to wow, that's what. That? That's what it's going to take 9,000 charging stations in Humboldt County to get us to Wow, that's what it's going to take.

Speaker 1:

What do we have now under 1,000?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, way under.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

So that's what we should focus all of our energy on. You create a ton of jobs, you know, because nothing else matters. Like if people say, you know, I have this argument all the time. Well, why don't you know? It'll affect my retirement, or it's like you don't understand None of that matters if the planet's not habitable.

Speaker 1:

Right, and your kids and grandkids are just.

Speaker 2:

You know, yeah. And so, to me, it's like we all need to be trying doing something, whether it's, like you know, being a part of an organization that's doing something, or riding your bike once a week, or whatever. You got to try it, and the naysayers that say they don't believe it, well, they're wrong. I'm a scientist studying it for decades. It's science man, it's just science. Carbon dioxide makes the earth warmer.

Speaker 1:

There's a big hole in the ozone down in New Zealand, is there not? It's gotten better.

Speaker 2:

That's one of the issues that we got rid of chlorofluorocarbons, CFCs and voila, hey, it heals. It heals up. Wow. And if we stopped burning fossil fuel, the earth would heal.

Speaker 1:

So you've got one minute to talk about your legacy, what do? Scott Bauer lies here and his tombstone is an inscription on it and it says something that kind of almost chokes me up thinking about it.

Speaker 2:

No, you know just that I enjoyed life, you know, and that I did what I could for my community, whatever I, you know, as best as I thought I could do, you know, I love it. That'd be satisfied with that. Okay, I love that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, scott Bauer, thanks for coming. Thanks, man, appreciate you sharing your heart and I feel really good. I'm in McKellieville and I feel really positive about the Eureka.

Speaker 2:

Hey, I'm honored to be here. I appreciate it.

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