Chris Woody wants change in Blue Lake By Matt Kapko Eye Correspondent The Arcata Eye 08-20-2002 Running on the slogan, “a vote for change,” Chris Woody has announced his plans to run for Blue Lake City Council this coming election. “My feeling is that we need a new council,” said Woody, a 20 year resident of Blue Lake. Woody, a security officer at the Blue Lake Casino, said his first priority is to improve city relations with the Blue Lake Rancheria and casino. “Present council should have never let it get to this point,” Woody said, referring to the recent lawsuit filed by the Rancheria against the city. Woody insists his job at the casino will not become a conflict of interest in his actions on the council. If I’m not allowed to vote on casino issues because of my employment, I’ll decline to vote, he said. However, “from what I have seen, the casino is trying to be as cooperative as they can,” Woody said. Ricca/Rigge Woody also wants to stop the in-house fighting at council meetings. “We need a council that solves problems, not creates them,” he said. Woody is disappointed with Councilmember Alex Ricca’s accusations of embezzlement against City Manager Duane Rigge. “I think the citizens of this town were fooled and lied to when Mr. Ricca got elected. The city almost came to a standstill over his allegations. “Ricca promised he would apologize if (the allegations) were ever disproven and he never did,” Woody said. “I don’t know of any promise that Ricca has made that he has followed through with,” he added. Woody thinks that Ricca has wasted too much of the council’s time on allegations proven false, and fears his actions are a personal vendetta to discredit Rigge who, years ago, was responsible for firing Ricca from the city’s parks and recreation department. Levee access Woody prefers having the courts decide whether the public should have access to the much-disputed Mad River Levee. He would like to see the levee open to the public, but is concerned with the City Council getting involved with private property. “City government should stay out of private property rights,” he said. Annie & Mary Trail Woody also supports the proposed Annie and Mary Trail between Blue Lake and Arcata. “I think the Annie and Mary trial is a very good idea,” he said. “I think Blue Lake needs a lot of things.” He would like to see more tourism and businesses coming into Blue Lake. Being the fifth or sixth largest employer in the county, the casino is another major benefit to the city, he said. Working relationships Woody is very concerned with the cut in force at the police department. He doesn’t want to see the city revert to being covered by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department as it was in the past, which often resulted in hour-long waits for a response. “It is of grave concern to me that we’re down to two officers now,” he said. Woody thinks the council should finds funds in any way possible to replace the two recent resignations at the department. He suggested using other grants to help fund the police department as long as any cut programs could be replaced with new grants. Still, Woody is hopeful, saying “They’ve found money for police in the past.” “The council needs to have a working relationship with all departments,” Woody said. He couldn’t recall which political party he is a registered member of. “I don’t think whatever party I’m affiliated with has any dealings with City Council. I’m here to represent all the people,” Woody said. Home