Nehmer | ccharbor.com Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz Crescent City Harbor commissioners rehashed whether one of their colleagues acted outside her scope for the second day in a row at a meeting that culminated in raised voices and a recall threat from the public. Ultimately, a motion to appoint Annie Nehmer as one of two commissioners on an ad hoc committee related to renegotiating a U.S. Department of Agriculture loan failed Wednesday with three of her colleagues casting no votes. Their decision came ahead of a third special meeting that had been scheduled for Thursday but has since been canceled. Nehmer’s censure and removal from her vice chair position was on the agenda. In an email from Crescent City Harbormaster Mike Rademaker on Thursday, the cancellation came at the request of Nehmer and was due to “exigent circumstances impacting a commissioner.” Another special meeting is expected before the CCHD’s regular meeting on Sept. 24, Rademaker said. In a statement attached to the now-canceled meeting agenda, Board Chairman Gerhard Weber stated that Nehmer had contacted several outside agencies, which violates CCHD Bylaw 2.7. This bylaw states that any individual commissioner “shall not make any statement, inference or appearance or indicate in any way that he or she is representing the District or Board on any action, decision or policy direction.” Those contacts include the California Coastal Commission, the U.S. Coast Guard, Del Norte County Counsel and the State Lands Commission, Weber said in a written statement included wtih Thursday’s agenda packet.. “Most notably, her unauthorized communications with the USDA, one of the District’s principal lenders, have undermined sensitive discussions and conveyed the impression that the District is unstable and high risk, creating the prospect of serious and lasting economic consequences,” he said. Weber states that Nehmer also violated bylaw 6.2, which requires a commissioner to make the full Board aware of any consultation they may have with the district’s legal counsel. Nehmer maintains that she was doing her fiduciary duty. “Those duties require me to take action when the district’s financial or legal stability is at risk,” she told her colleagues Wednesday. “Fiduciary duties cannot be overridden by internal bylaws that concentrate power in the [Board] chair. Each commissioner has a direct individual obligation to safeguard the district’s interest.” Wednesday’s discussion about an ad hoc committee came after the Harbor District’s financial advisor, Sandy Moreno, asked for clear instruction from the Board that it would be her and Harbormaster Mike Rademaker that would negotiate with the USDA. They wouldn’t obligate commissioners in any way, she said, but would bring any potential decisions needing to be made to an ad hoc committee and, ultimately, to the full Board. Moreno also asked the Board of Commissioners to appoint the ad hoc committee, something Nehmer said should be added to Wednesday’s agenda as an urgency item since the Harbor District’s loan payment to the USDA was due Sept. 1. CCHD 2025.09.11 Agenda and Report of the Chairman – CensureDownload Though commissioners Rick Shepherd and John Evans offered to serve on the ad hoc committee, with Evans saying he wanted to get experience communicating with the USDA about loan terms, Nehmer also threw her name into the ring. Their colleague Dan Schmidt made the official motion to appoint Evans and Nehmer to the ad hoc committee. However, Evans, and public commenter Sam Strait, questioned whether the matter was urgent enough to add to the agenda at the last minute. Nehmer argued that it was. “The USDA loan was due Sept. 1, it’s now after Sept. 1 so we’re going to be entering default territory and we need to address the situation before that because of default,” Nehmer said. “I have not had time to read the whole document so I do not know the exact details in that document. My understanding is that the default of a loan is within 10 days.” Nehmer asked Moreno if that was accurate. Moreno, however, said that according to the Harbor District’s attorney, Ryan Plotz, the district was not in compliance with the terms and conditions of the USDA loan agreement, but it was not in default. “Default’s very different, they have to give you something that says you’re in default,” Moreno said. “You could consider us in default, but they haven’t given you official notice.” Moreno said the USDA put a pause on the loan payment due Sept. 1. At a special meeting Tuesday, Nehmer acknowledged that she had contacted the USDA. In a Sept. 2 email to USDA representative Justin Garey, Nehmer asked for clarification as to whether the Crescent City Harbor District was complying with their loan obligations. Pointing out that the district's $260,000 loan payment was due Sept. 1, Nehmer told Garey that as of Sept. 2, she hadn’t received confirmation that a payment was made. She also told Garey that the CCHD’s property insurance on the inner boat basin, which she said was collateral for the USDA loan, had lapsed as of July 1. “To date, the Crescent City Harbor District Board has not taken any formal action to authorize staff or individual contractors, including Harbormaster Mike Rademaker and Financial Consultant Sandy Moreno, to negotiate or otherwise make binding representations to [the] USDA regarding the District’s loan obligations. Nor has the Board authorized legal counsel to review the loan agreement and advise on our obligations” Nehmer wrote in her email to Garey. “Under California law, only the Board of Commissioners, acting in open session and by majority vote, may authorize such negotiations or commitments. Despite this, staff has been engaging in communications with USDA without Board authorization. This raises both governance and compliance concerns, as staff lack legal authority to bind the District without Board direction.” Nehmer Breaches 250910Download Nehmer asked Garey for correspondence regarding the loan agreement to be directed to the Harbor District Board of Commissioners. She also asked that the USDA confirm that no negotiations or representations made by staff or Harbor District contractors be considered binding without a “recorded vote” of the Board of Commissioners. Nehmer also asked Garey to provide written clarification as to whether the Harbor District is in danger of defaulting on the loan “regarding the September 1, 2025 payment.” About 20 minutes after Nehmer sent her email to Garey, the Harbor District’s attorney asked her to refrain from directly communicating with the USDA and instead direct her questions to the federal agency via the harbormaster. Plotz referred to an update Rademaker provided Nehmer on Aug. 29, which stated that he and Moreno “are in regular communication” with the USDA and are waiting for a response. “Mr. Rademaker further stated in his email to you that ‘to avoid mixed signals and to preserve our negotiating position, please direct USDA-related inquiries through Sandy and me so we can keep communications consistent and coordinated,’” Plotz told Nehmer. “This is an entirely appropriate request — especially when dealing with a government agency on a matter as sensitive as outstanding loan obligations.” In a Sept. 5 email to Garey, Plotz said after speaking with Nehmer, he learned that the Board of Commissioners would create an ad hoc committee consisting of two of its members to engage with the negotiation process surrounding the Harbor District’s loan. “We will appoint this ad hoc committee at our regular meeting on Wednesday, September 10, 2025,” Plotz told Garey. “We will then reach out to you to schedule a meeting with the Board Committee and our CEO.” Garey said he supported that decision since there is “obviously a gap in communications” between the USDA and the Board. “I, for one, would very much appreciate a definitive contact with whom I can explain the district’s obligations and our expectations going forward,” he said. “To be clear, the district is not in compliance with the terms and conditions of the loan agreement. No agreements have been negotiated with anyone associated with the district aside from the offer to set up a meeting between the district and our asset risk management team.” On Wednesday, Nehmer said that despite Plotz’s email to Garey, a vote to create an ad hoc committee was not placed on the agenda. However, she said that under the Brown Act, the Board could vote to add the item to Wednesday's agenda as an urgency item. The Vice Chair continued to argue that reaching out to the USDA and the State Lands Committee was part of her fiduciary duty. Though she had asked the Harbor District Board to establish the ad hoc committee, Moreno said the reason a committee has been proposed is because Nehmer had communicated directly with the USDA. The ad hoc committee isn’t an urgency item, she said, but making it clear that the harbormaster has the authority to negotiate is. Allowing the CEO to do those loan negotiations is standard operating procedure in a business environment and a government environment, Moreno said. “What is not standard operating procedure is for a commissioner to reach out in the middle of discussions, reach out to an agency that we’re trying to do negotiations with,” Moreno said, adding that Nehmer had also reached out to NationWide, the Harbor District’s insurance provider. “I want to strongly say that I do not think Annie Nehmer should be on any ad hoc committee.” Nehmer argued that reaching out to the USDA for clarity on the Harbor District’s loan obligations is part of her fiduciary duties. On Tuesday, she said she reached out after Moreno on Aug. 27 said the Harbor District didn’t have the cash to make its $260,000 payment on Sept. 1. On Wednesday, Nehmer reiterated that statement. “We were thrown a bomb that [we] weren’t able to make the payment and you made the decision unilaterally without the Board,” Nehmer told Moreno. “It is the Board’s decision. That is why it was no longer a day-to-day operation, it should have come before the Board and the public when you knew it wouldn’t be paid.” During public comment, the raised voices came from Linda Sutter and Roger Gitlin. Sutter, who, along with Nehmer, had filed legal action against the Harbor District alleging that it had violated the Brown Act, reminded the Board of Commissioners that having a discussion about an item not on an agenda is another violation. “Nehmer merely inquired through the USDA about whether or not you needed insurance. That was it,” she said. “You’re crucifying her for asking that question.” Gitlin, who informed the Board of Commissioners that the Del Norte Triplicate was closing its doors and Wednesday was his last day as its editor, called Nehmer and Schmidt scourges and said they should resign. Gitlin continued to argue that individual commissioners have no power. “We have two inconvenient commissioners who want their way and you guys have been giving it to them,” Gitlin told commissioners. “They both got to go and now that I have lots of time on my hands, I’m going to do a recall on you two, and that’s a promise. When I put my teeth into a bone, I get what I want.” In his email, Rademaker said Harbor District staff would notify the public when date for the upcoming special meeting is set.