Last week, Charlie Helms stepped down the spiral staircase of the Crescent City Harbor District’s office one final time, retiring after leading the district in the years after the harbor’s post-tsunami reconstruction.The years Helms spent running the harbor district didn’t look like what you might usually associate with a harbor master.While he was ultimately responsible for maintaining marina facilities, for example, and the big windows in his office did look out onto the harbor, Helms spent much of his time as CEO and harbor master focused on economic development beyond just the boats coming in and out of the harbor.#placement_573654_0_i{width:100%;max-width:550px;margin:0 auto;}var rnd = window.rnd || Math.floor(Math.random()*10e6);var pid573654 = window.pid573654 || rnd;var plc573654 = window.plc573654 || 0;var abkw = window.abkw || '';var absrc = 'https://ads.empowerlocal.co/adserve/;ID=181918;size=0x0;setID=573654;type=js;sw='+screen.width+';sh='+screen.height+';spr='+window.devicePixelRatio+';kw='+abkw+';pid='+pid573654+';place='+(plc573654++)+';rnd='+rnd+';click=CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER';var _absrc = absrc.split("type=js"); absrc = _absrc[0] + 'type=js;referrer=' + encodeURIComponent(document.location.href) + _absrc[1];document.write('');“There’s a lot of variety in the job, and still is,” Helms said of the job, which he said might be more aptly titled “harbor manager.”Helms said his background gave him the chance to do things differently.Not wanting to get stuck in a small Illinois town, Helms turned down a newspaper job after graduating with a journalism degree, choosing instead to work as a deckhand in Mississippi.There, he got his start in the maritime industry, next spending time working in offshore oil in the Gulf of Mexico.But as Helms moved west, his worked changed, getting more involved in economic development, housing availability and nonprofit management. By the time he applied for the job in Crescent City, he’d spent years working with nonprofits in Western Washington.“I had the maritime background, but I also had the development background,” Helms said. “So for me, I was a hybrid hire.”After moving to Crescent City (and living a few months in an RV park to make sure the new job worked out), Helms found that experience was useful — in particular, the connections he’d made with federal government officials.The ability to make those sorts of connections with government leaders and potential investors would be important to the harbor’s goals for economic development and revitalization. But Helms found that working inside government, instead of just with it, came with its own learning curve.“I got to work with a lot of federal elected officials that way, but I had never been inside the system,” Helms said. “That was the big thing, is learning how the government works from the inside.”Most “eyeopening” about his first government job was dealing with how slow things can be, often because of the public notice and comment periods required for government accountability, Helms said.“It’s a wonderful thing. But most of the time it’s 30 days,” Helms said. “Unfortunately, not many people take advantage of it.”He pointed to a move the harbor commission tried to take over the summer, when one commissioner suggested offering a special on slips. After the item made it to a meeting agenda, and the commission waited the required public notice period, the summer was almost over.Still, Helms said the harbor had made a lot of good progress during his tenure.He pointed to new projects around the harbor as successes. In particular, Helms said he was proud to negotiate a new lease for Englund Marine, which constructed a new facility on harbor property.He noted the harbor’s green energy efforts, too: A multi-stage solar energy project, with panels to produce electricity, mass batteries to store them and a potential vehicle charging building all in the works to make the harbor electrically self-sufficient.“I want to see us be the first green harbor built on the west coast,” Helms said.What’s more, some of that new development has improved the harbor’s financial position.“He has left the harbor in a better position for me,” said Tim Petrick, deputy harbor master, who’ll be filling Helms’ shoes until the harbor commission selects a permanent replacement.One of Helms’ most exciting projects, though, is only just beginning. The harbor just selected a firm to redevelop many portions of the harbor over the next several years. Helms hopes the development will promote growth in the area, with additional jobs and businesses.For Petrick, the potential development is an opportunity to continue the harbor’s shift towards ecotourism.“We can turn our commercial fishing industry into a draw for tourism if you do it right,” Petrick said. “We’ve got all this room we can turn into something we can develop.”Still, getting a developer interested in the opportunity of the harbor’s 36 acres took a lot of relationship building, Helms said. The work of attracting investors to the area was one of the most challenging aspects of the job, he said.“Most of the large groups that do this type of work invest in cities,” Helms said. “It’s hard to get here. It’s hard to attract investors.”The best thing he could do to attract investors was bring them to town and show them the beauty and potential of the area, Helms said.He’s looking forward to taking part of the area’s beauty in retirement, too: He’ll be staying in Crescent City a little while longer, as his wife, Karen, continues working as the executive director of the Northcoast Marine Mammal Center.He’ll be paddle boarding and riding his bike through the redwoods while she’s at work, he said.“This is one of the most beautiful areas we’ve ever lived,” Helms said.He also doesn’t want to be done working with the harbor. He’s going to apply for an appointment to the harbor commission’s recently vacant seat, he said.Helms is hopeful about the harbor’s future.“I wish I could stay around for a lot of the big things happening,” Helms said. “I’m really just sad I won’t be here for it.” googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('ad-1515727'); });