City Council chooses Pomo tribe member for seat

FORT BRAGG >> The Fort Bragg City Council met for a special meeting Tuesday evening, to choose among nine applicants for the open council seat. The city council was required to make an appointment prior to March 31 per city law.

The open seat, which was vacated at the end of December by former mayor Will Lee, will fulfill the remainder of Lee’s appointment term for just under two years and will expire after the November 2022 election.

After more than three hours of interviews, Mayor Norvell announced that Marcia Rafanan Meadlin, a member of the Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians and a frequent contributor at city council meetings, would be the new city councilor.

Meadlin is a mother of two, a manager at Noyo Fish Company, and her list of references for the position included former Mayor Lee.

In her application, Meadlin stated that if she was appointed to council, she would “strive to do what is best for our community. There is no other place i would want to call home or would want raise my children.”

Application process very thorough

The applicants were Mikael Blaisdell, Nathan Maxwell Cann, Katherine A. Hart, Robert J. Jorgensen, Mary Rose Kaczorowski,

Marcia Rafanan Meadlin, Scott M. Menzies, Scott Taubold and Eva von Bahr.

Each applicant was given five minutes to make an opening statement, including where they are from, how long they have lived in the city, why they want to serve on the city council and any special interests or hobbies they have.

The councilors agreed on a pre-set list of five questions, which were asked randomly to each applicant. Those questions were:

• Whet previous job experience or skill set do you have that you think would benefit the City Council if you are appointed?

• What do you think are the top three issues confronting the current City Council? And have you attended any recent Council meetings to learn what’s current?

• Let’s say the entire Mill Site south of Redwood is suddenly bought up by, for example, a Walmart Superstore, Disneyland, or to serve as an Amazon warehouse… What do you think your role will be as a City Councilmember from thet point forward?

• Explain the pros and cons of our current Council Committee system as you understand it. Which committees are you interested in serving on, and why?

• How do you think other people see you?

Each councilor also had an opportunity to ask followup questions of all candidates or of a specific person, with the expectation that those questions and answers would clarify points raised in the application materials, in the candidate statement or in the applicant’s answers to the pre-set questions. Prior to and during the meeting, City Clerk June Lemos gathered questions from the public. From those questions, the Ad Hoc Committee selected approximately three to pose to all of the candidates. Candidates were given 90 seconds to respond.

After hearing from all of the candidates, the city council adjourned to discuss their decision privately, and came back with several new questions, including asking the applicants if they would run for re-election in 2022, and where they stood on changing the name of the city. After that, the council allowed for a public comment period, during which members of the audience could ask direct questions of the applicants, but no one rose their hand on the Zoom cell.

Council chooses Meadlin after some opposition

Mayor Norvell thanked the ad hoc committee, the city manager and the city clerk for their work in preparing for the meeting.

“It’s been mentioned that being born and raised here, that it could even be racist. I don’t see that,” Norvell said. “But it does have some bearing because if you’ve been here for a long time, you know where Fort Bragg’s been, you know what we’ve lost and what we’ve gained and that certainly has weight.”

Norvell said his choice was for Meadlin, a member of the local Sherwood band of Pomo and a frequent voice at City Council meetings. He also encouraged Blaisdell and Taubold to run again in the next election.

Vice Mayor Jessica Morsell-haye also gave her vote to Meadlin, and said it was important to have a member of the local Pomo tribe on the city council.

Councilor Albin-smith said she was concerned that Meadlin had “no experience” on any board of directors or councils.

“I just don’t think she has enough experience to do this job,” she said.

Norvell said that if the council was looking for the perfect person, “I’m not sure any of us would be here.”

“I think we’ll do well with (Meadlin,) and I would hope that all of the councilors would help her become well-educated on topics because it would benefit the entire community if she’s at her best.”

Norvell added that “The criticism today has taken me aback. I was kind of hoping that in the last three months we were past that kind of stuff, but maybe we’re not.”

The council then unanimously voted 4-0 to approve Meadlin to the vacant seat.

The next Fort Bragg City Council meeting will be held at 6 p.m., Monday, Feb. 22, via virtual web host. For more information, visit the city’s website at city.fortbragg.com.