Fort Bragg official slain
Mendocino County law enforcement agents arrive at the Skunk Train depot in Fort Bragg on Sunday afternoon after spending the day hunting for the suspect in the fatal shooting of City Councilman and former Mayor Jere Melo in a remote wooded area about four miles east of the city. Photo by BETH SCHLANKER / Santa Rosa Press Democrat
Santa Rosa Press Democrat Published: Sunday, August 28, 2011 at 12:28 p.m.
The news reverberated rapidly through Fort Bragg on Sunday: Community leader and timber man Jere Melo had been shot to death in the forestland where he had worked most of his life, an apparent victim of the illicit backwoods drug trade.
A man identified only as Aaron Bassler of Fort Bragg is being sought as a suspect in the case.
Melo, a former two-term mayor who was serving his 15th year on the City Council, devoted much of his life to helping Fort Bragg, raising funds and political will to build firehouses and a first-class high school football stadium, city officials said Sunday.
“He was always the first one there, and the last one to go,” said Fort Bragg Mayor Dave Turner. “No one put in as much as Jere did, and I don't think they ever will,” Turner said.
Melo, who spent five decades in the timber business, most recently was working as a forest land manager. Early Saturday, he was patrolling forestland about four miles east of Fort Bragg along the Noyo River when he was shot to death, Mendocino County sheriff's officials said.
Melo was looking for a suspected marijuana operations, but law enforcement agents who searched the area found what appeared to be opium poppies and not marijuana, according to sources close to the investigation.
Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman identified Bassler as the suspect, but declined to discuss any details of the investigation.
Bassler was “last seen with a firearm. He should be considered armed and dangerous,” sheriff's officials said.
The killing is certain to inflame debate about the dangers of the illegal drug trade that has become an economic force along the North Coast.
Mike Delbar, a former member of the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors and a friend of Melo's, expressed a common view along the North Coast that the forests are being overrun by people exploiting the area's rugged and rural terrain to make money in the drug trade.
“When law-abiding, taxpaying citizens can't use their own property without real fear, and now consequences, of this runaway illegal drug problem, then we as a society will never succeed with healthy and secure communities,” he said in a Facebook post.
Melo worked for Campbell Timber Management company, overseeing and guarding land that was formerly owned by Georgia-Pacific, his longtime former employer until it left Mendocino County in 2002.
Melo was patrolling rugged forestland, accessible only by dirt roads, with another man, officials said. The two apparently were looking for a marijuana operation when they encountered a gunman.
Sources close to the investigation said that Bassler had been squatting on the land.
At about 10 a.m., passengers aboard the historic Skunk Train heading from Fort Bragg to Willits heard seven or eight shots.
Melo's companion, who has not been identified, ran out of the woods toward the tracks and flagged down a smaller train car that follows the main train, said Marnie Elder, a photographer for Skunk Train who was aboard the train Saturday.
Authorities described Melo's companion as an “independent witness” and said he alerted authorities of the shooting by cellphone.
Law enforcement officers, including members of a SWAT team, searched the area assisted by helicopter crews. Passengers aboard the tourist train were on lockdown in the area of the shooting for about eight hours. They were taken by bus to Fort Bragg, arriving at 7 p.m., Elder said.
At the Sears store in downtown Fort Bragg on Sunday, Dodie Christian was preparing to mail a card to Melo's wife, Madeleine.
“My heart just goes out to his family,” Christian said.
He was “the definition of civic-minded,” said Richard Shoemaker, executive director of the Ukiah Valley Cultural and Recreation Center. Shoemaker worked on several campaigns with Melo, including a successful 2009 effort to keep development decisions in the hands of local officials.
“There was probably nobody more involved in community improvements in a serious way than Jere Melo on the coast,” Shoemaker said.
A pall of despair hung over the city as people learned about the loss of the beloved and prominent member of the community. “People are shocked,” said Fort Bragg City Manager Linda Ruffing.
City officials met Sunday to discuss how to handle what they expected would be overwhelming grief among city staff. “Jere was just loved and respected by so many people,” Ruffing said.
Fort Bragg, a town of just over 7,000 people, is nestled on the bluffs above the mouth of the Noyo River, 34 miles west of Highway 101 at Willits.
“It's a horrible thing,” said Anne Turner, a friend of the Melo family and wife of the mayor.
Melo lived with his family in a ranch-style home in a modest neighborhood of the city. His family Sunday declined to comment.
A large stack of firewood in the driveway was testament to Melo's continued work in the forest, a place where he felt so comfortable that he often would not carry a gun while working, according to people who knew him.
Melo was a wonderful person, said neighbor Karen La Marr. “Everyone in this whole town knew who he was,” she said.
A dozen exhausted law enforcement agents returned to Fort Bragg at about 5:30 p.m. Sunday after a day of searching the rugged terrain for Bassler. Earlier, Melo's body was flown out of the forest and taken by vehicle to Ukiah for an autopsy.
Melo worked for Campbell Timber Management company, overseeing and guarding land that was formerly owned by Georgia-Pacific, his longtime former employer until it left Mendocino County in 2002.
Melo was patrolling rugged forestland, accessible only by dirt roads, with another man, officials said. The two apparently were looking for a marijuana operation when they encountered a gunman.
Sources close to the investigation said that Bassler had been squatting on the land.
At about 10 a.m., passengers aboard the historic Skunk Train heading from Fort Bragg to Willits heard seven or eight shots.
Melo's companion, who has not been identified, ran out of the woods toward the tracks and flagged down a smaller train car that follows the main train, said Marnie Elder, a photographer for Skunk Train who was aboard the train Saturday.
Authorities described Melo's companion as an “independent witness” and said he alerted authorities of the shooting by cellphone.
Law enforcement officers, including members of a SWAT team, searched the area assisted by helicopter crews. Passengers aboard the tourist train were on lockdown in the area of the shooting for about eight hours. They were taken by bus to Fort Bragg, arriving at 7 p.m., Elder said.
At the Sears store in downtown Fort Bragg on Sunday, Dodie Christian was preparing to mail a card to Melo's wife, Madeleine.
“My heart just goes out to his family,” Christian said.
He was “the definition of civic-minded,” said Richard Shoemaker, executive director of the Ukiah Valley Cultural and Recreation Center. Shoemaker worked on several campaigns with Melo, including a successful 2009 effort to keep development decisions in the hands of local officials.
“There was probably nobody more involved in community improvements in a serious way than Jere Melo on the coast,” Shoemaker said.
“Upstanding hardly says it,” said Ukiah resident Evan Johnson of Melo's character. Johnson photographed Melo in the 1980s as a staff photographer for a Ukiah newspaper and later worked with him on political campaigns.
“This guy was absolutely straight up,” Johnson said. “He was transparent, simple. He was drop-dead gorgeously handsome. He exuded warmth.”
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