Rick Shepherd Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz Though he voted against her nomination for vice chair, Crescent City Harbor District’s new board chairman said he wants to remove Annie Nehmer’s censure. Rick Shepherd, a long-time commercial fisherman who was elected to the Harbor Board in 2018, took his new seat as its chairman on Wednesday. In addition to working with legal counsel to remove Nehmer’s censure, Shepherd said he also plans to post meeting decorum rules in the Harbor Board’s chambers. “We’re going to start the year out on a clean slate where we can all work together and get some more work done without the rhetoric of the censureship,” he said. Shepherd said he has also asked Harbormaster Mike Rademaker to make himself available to the public for at least one hour per day from noon to 1 p.m. The Crescent City Harbor District Board unanimously accepted Shepherd as its chair. Commissioners also unanimously approved the previous chairman, Gerhardt Weber as its Board secretary. Shepherd, Weber and John Evans rejected a nomination from their colleague Dan Schmidt for Nehmer to serve as vice chair in 2026. Nehmer had been vice chair under Weber until she was ousted from that position following her censure at a Sept. 16 meeting. Evans was appointed to the vice chair position in September and will continue in that role next year. The vote on Wednesday for Evans to continue as Harbor District Board vice chair was unanimous. Nehmer’s censure was brought about by Weber who in September alleged that her communication with the U.S. Department of Agriculture about the Harbor District’s loan as well as lawsuits against the Harbor District reflected a “pattern of behavior incompatible with the responsibilities of an officer of this Board.” According to Weber, Nehmer’s contact with outside agencies violated CCHD Bylaw 2.7, which prohibits individual commissioners from making a statement, inference or appearance indicating that he or she is representing the Harbor District or its Board. Weber also sought to censure Schmidt in November. That proposed action was postponed after Shepherd had raised concerns that Schmidt hadn’t had time to respond to Weber’s allegations. On Wednesday, Schmidt said he was delighted that Shepherd wanted to remove the censure against Nehmer, though he said he had prepared responses to Weber’s allegations regarding his own censure. Shepherd’s appointment as chair came before Harbor Commissioners unanimously approved a contract with the U.S. Maritime Administration for the 2022 Port Infrastructure Development Program grant earmarked for the replacement of a seawall. Approval will allow MARAD to release the roughly $7.36 million in grant funds, according to the district’s grants administrator, Community System Solutions CEO Mike Bahr. Commissioners will be asked to approve another MARAD contract for release of $8 million in 2024 PIDP funds for the reconstruction of Citizens Dock in about 30 days, Bahr said.