He was living in a tree house in Oregon when he heard about a car rack company for sale. Banducci bought the company in 1979, moved it to Arcata and, by turning the racks into a high-performance sports accessory for mountain bikers and paddlers, built Yakima Products Inc. into the city's largest private employer, with 150 workers. But other green jobs survive, including 50 at Kokatat Inc., a watersport clothing manufacturer that outfits the U.S. Olympic kayak and canoe teams. The Greens promise to push job creation. And they say they'll move slowly on charged issues.
Most people here expect little epic change.
The fact is, the community, whether liberal, conservative, progressive or Democrat, won't let them forget about the rest of them.