Write a letter to our local newspapers / journals. Click here.
View the Calendar for the City Council, Planning Commission,
and all City Committees, plus agendas and past videos.  Click here.

How to:  Click or press on the blue links 

1. Contact all the Councilmembers or Planning Commissioners
2. Attend a live meeting of the City Council or Planning Commission, or watch and speak by Zoom or phone
3. Contact individual Councilmembers or individual Commissioners
4. Useful contacts at the City of Arcata
5. Write a letter to the local media
6. Other useful links on Arcata1.com

Do you have a viewpoint that you’d like them to hear?  It’s easy.

To send a message to all five City Councilmembers:

Click or press on this block of addresses
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

To send a message to the Planning Commissioners:

Click or press on this block of addresses
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];

If clicking on the links does not open up your e-mail for a new message, you may have to copy-and-paste the block of addresses into your e-mail program.

Note on e-mail to former Planning Commissioner Judith Mayer

Judith Mayer served for 16 years on Arcata’s Planning Commission, from 2008 through March 31, 2024. Due to what was described as a technical error, the City’s e-mail address and account for Dr. Mayer were deleted prior to the end of her term.

If you tried to contact the full Planning Commission and the message to Dr. Mayer bounced back, or if you’d like to contact her in the future, she can be reached at jmayer at sonic.net

The letters can be addressed to:

Honorable Mayor Matthews, Vice-Mayor Stillman, Councilmembers Atkins-Salazar, White, and Schaefer

Chair Davies, Vice-Chair Tangney, Commissioners Simmons, Lehman, Yodowitz, Strickland, and Smith

(Note: Future Mayor/Chair elections may change the titles. If you see something that is incorrect, please contact this website.)

How to attend a City Council or Planning Commission meeting — Live or via Zoom or Phone

The City of Arcata’s Meeting Calendar is on their website here.  The City Council and Planning Commission meetings are held in the Council Chambers at City Hall: 736 F Street — 7th & F, across the street from the Safeway / Uniontown Shopping Center, in Arcata.

Regular City Council meetings take place the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of every month at 6 p.m. Regular meetings of the Planning Commission take place the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m.
“Special Meetings” and Study Sessions can take place at other hours or other days.  The Planning Commission is having “special meetings” in April-May-June, 2023.

You can watch an Arcata meeting at the City’s YouTube “Live” channel here — but you would not be able to speak.

From the Meeting Calendar page, you can click on the Agenda for that meeting, and there will be information about how to link up to a meeting by Zoom or by phone.

If you want to comment during the public comment portion of any item, click on
“raise your hand” on the right-hand side of your Zoom screen.

If you are accessing the meeting via phone and want to comment during the public comment portion of any item, press star (*) 9 on your phone. This will raise your hand.

When it is time for public comment on the item on which you wish to speak, the Clerk will unmute your phone. You will hear a prompt that will indicate your phone is unmuted. You will have 3 minutes to comment (2 minutes for Early Oral Communications), subject to the Mayor’s discretion.

The City Council

Here are the e-mail addresses and phone numbers for our City Councilmembers.
These are the phone numbers on the City of Arcata’s website. 
Which form of contact is better for them — phone, text, or e-mail? You’ll have to ask them.

Clicking on their name will take you to the City of Arcata’s webpage for that person.
Clicking on the e-mail address will start an e-mail to that person.

(When a new Mayor is voted in, the City may change these links. Please contact [email protected] if the link does not work properly.)

The Planning Commission

Note:  To reach all the members of the Planning Commission, you must send your e-mail to all of their individual addresses. Sending a message to “The Planning Commission” or to “The Community Development Department” or to Community Development Director David Loya — this will not reach the Planning Commissioners.

Note: The e-mail account for former Planning Commissioner Judith Mayer was ended by the City prematurely, due to a technical error. To contact Dr. Mayer, see the note above.

Other useful contacts at the City of Arcata

.

Write a letter to the local media

• Mad River Union. Deadline:  Noon Friday
• Northcoast Journal. Deadline: 10 a.m. Monday.
• Times-Standard
• Lost Coast Outpost
• Red-Headed Blackbelt
• Arcata1.com

NOTE: To avoid spam, there are spaces in the emails listed below. You need to remove those spaces before e-mailing.

Mad River Union
Website:    madriverunion.com
Mad River Union readers’ page on Arcata1.com:  arcata1.com/union
Deadline for letters: Must be received in their final form by noon Friday.
Letters to the Editor, opinion columns:  opinion @ madriverunion.com
Tips for writing letters on their website here.

Northcoast Journal
Website:  northcoastjournal.com
Northcoast Journal readers’ page on Arcata1.com:  arcata1.com/ncj
Submit letters to the Editor by 10 a.m. Monday.
Letters to the Editor: letters @ northcoastjournal.com
Tips for writing letters on their website here (scroll down)

Times-Standard
Website:   times-standard.com
Letters to the Editor: letters @ times-standard.com
Tips for writing letters on their website here.

Lost Coast Outpost
Website:  lostcoastoutpost.com
Comments can be left on any article. Using the Search box or the Search button at the upper right of the page.
Type in “gateway” to see the Gateway articles.
Contact Stephanie McGeary at stephanie @ lostcoastoutpost.com  or through  news @ lostcoastoutpost.com

Red-Headed Blackbelt
Website:  kymkemp.com
Contact:  redheadedblackbelt @ gmail.com
Comments can be left on any article.

Arcata1.com
Website:  arcata1.com
Contact:  letters @ arcata1.com

Useful links

Click here for Useful Links on Arcata1.com

If there are other people or links that you feel should be listed here, please contact:  [email protected]  — Thank you.