John Chiv: Besides indulging Curt Davis' insatiable need for attention; what did RHBB second "article" achieve?

Aug 4, 2025

Besides indulging Curt Davis' insatiable need for attention; what did RHBB second "article" achieve?

If you have not read my previous posts on former City of Eureka Deputy City Attorney Curtis Davis, you should. I have consistently reported first and with court records on Davis' abrupt departure. I was also the first to report on the Fusion Smoke and Glass lawsuit.

Both the July 10 and 23 posts go into details why I did not report certain claims by Davis and why I did not report Davis' vague allegations. Davis' consistent, repeated failure to give me a written response speaks volumes as does the fact that he has still not filed a lawsuit and why he has lost any request for confidentiality.

I chose not to report on what Davis shared including an outrageous claim Davis made about City of Eureka Manager Miles Slattery and local businessman Rob Arkley allegedly hanging out together. Davis did not provide any evidence and I have known both Miles and Rob for two decades and seen them at social events and observed them out and about in town. While I might have believed that Miles was at a certain place; that is not somewhere Rob Arkley would ever go. Davis' claim was so ridiculous, I had to contain my laughter. I have never shied away from valid news or standing up to power but I will not be used and I am not going to publish claims without evidence.

RHBB and Ryan Hutson did not publish Davis' anecdote about Miles and Rob. They conveniently regurgitated Davis' claims about the City of Eureka because there is zero risk and they know by law, the City of Eureka is limited in what they can say.

I do know about some of Davis' behavior at City of Eureka including what he alluded to and admitted to and claims he apologized for to RHBB. Unfortunately no one is going to go on record due to the law. I reported on the Fusion and Smoke lawsuit which is based on court records; not RHBB regurgitating Davis' claims with no evidence. Curtis has a way of making everything about him which distracts from actual newsworthy content. He was only at the City of Eureka for 6 months.

RHBB and Ryan Hutson chose to share a court document with a cover page listing a minor and mentioning Eureka Councilmember Renee Contreras- DeLoach . I knew about that lawsuit. I certainly would not cover it for Davis' agenda. It is newsworthy on its own because of Eureka City Schools and how they address bullying .

RHBB irresponsibly chose to print a minor's name with that one page of a court document which did nothing to help anyone other than Davis' instiable need for attention. What exactly did putting this minor's name out there achieve?

The same holier than thou people who constantly attack me ; will you call RHBB out? I doubt it. You are hypocrites and petty. Besides RHBB groupies, Patty Sue, wife of Security National's Tim Callison, and other lifetime Humboldt anons who just react to anything involving Miles Slattery and Eureka City Council; no one cares about why Davis left the City of Eureka. When I reported about his exit from the City of Eureka, people asked me who he was because no one had heard of him.

Davis had no problem using Councilmember's DeLoach's child and having RHBB post about a lawsuit involving a minor child but didn't want me to cover his current divorce case. I told Davis I had no interest in his family law case because it is not news. Should it become newsworthy in the future; I will report and that would be based on the same criteria for any other family law case. He does have a traffic case and it is a good thing hid ex did not get that car.

There is no other local media that has taken on the establishment and called out entrenched power structures and corruption consistently like I have. At great personal and financial cost.

The other local media will do what their groupies consider "investigative" articles about the County or City of Eureka or local municipalities that result in no change for decades. No one in power is worried about other local media because they know they aren't going to dig deep or cover what the good ole boys and gals don't want. This isn't my opinion. It is what has been told to me by sources directly in the know. Curtis Davis brags a lot yet all he offers is vague statements. What monumental victory has he achieved against the entrenched powers in Humboldt?

Curtis Davis was a probationary employee. His whining is much ado about nothing when there is valid news of injustice and abuse of power to cover in Humboldt.

At the No Kings protest, in casual conversation, Davis thanked me for my coverage about his last day at the City of Eureka and the jobs it led to. In that same chat, he said he was afraid the City of Eureka would try and tarnish his reputation. The City of Eureka is not doing that; the only one running to Ryan Hutson and RHBB is Davis and his unfortunate handling of this situation is what is making him look foolish. Davis should spend less time talking to Ryan and update his address on the State Bar of California website.

(Photo from Curtis Davis Law website)

After this post, Davis updated his address with the State Bar.

I don't know why Times Standard, North Coast Journal, KRCR or Redwood News did not cover Davis' departure. I do know Lost Coast Outpost looked into it and chose not to do anything.

Obviously the rest of the local media, including myself, will not touch Davis' disastrous handling of his departure from the City of Eureka with a 10 foot pole. I don't know other media's reasons but with me, Davis has lost all credibility and there were red flags from the first conversation.

I have repeatedly told Davis to put his allegations in a lawsuit. Then it gets vetted in a court of law and the City of Eureka can respond. RHBB's "article" is just claims by Davis with no evidence provided. The opinions by other lawyers quoted in RHBB's "article" are based only on Davis' claims which are not proof without evidence to back his words. One of the lawyers RHBB is from the East Coast. The lawyers said "if" because no attorney is risking their reputation on hearsay from some random person repeating claims from someone else who was fired. Why didn't these lawyers RHBB interviewed ask for evidence? In all the word salad of the portion where the lawyers are quoted, RHBB showed no conflict of interest or wrongdoing.

Davis admitted to RHBB and Ryan Hutson he is a disgruntled employee. Just as he selectively applied standards to what media gets to share his conversations; now he gets to decide what is attorney client confidentiality because Ryan Hutson is printing versions convenient to him?

Once he realized I was of no use to him, I saw Curtis Davis' true colors and I weigh that behavior and court records and his lack of credibility against others involved and what I know. Curtis said he was "a big fan of my work" when he first saw me at the Courthouse in June. I did not believe it or him from that first meeting.

Ryan knows how to look up court records and court documents. Why didn't she look into Sparks vs Joachim. I provided documents from City of Eureka PRAs as well as court documents.

If this pisses off Davis or Kym or Ryan, they need to look in the mirror. Trust in legacy media is at an all time low and people today are savvy because they can check court records, do PRAs and rely on their own experience about who they can trust.

These two RHBB "articles" on Davis are Humboldtia clickbait and not exposing corruption or abuse of power. If Davis files a lawsuit against the City of Eureka, I'd be glad to report on it; otherwise he is a distraction from real news. RHBB and Davis's poor choices should not reflect on other journalists and lawyers.

11/6/25: Checked on the traffic case. I don't have time to chase down Davis' traffic case. I have already checked on this status several times.