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Clearlake Police Department announces staff awards
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake Police Department recently honored the stars within its ranks with annual awards noting serving above and beyond the call of duty.
At last Thursday’s Clearlake City Council meeting, Police Chief Craig Clausen introduced the department’s two new officers and presented the staff awards.
New officers are Chris Reagan, a former department employee who returned after a few years away, and Trevor Franklin, a Middletown native now in his first law enforcement job.
Clausen said the awards for both nonsworn and sworn employees were for services that exceeded their jobs’ expectations.
While he said he considered all of his staff to be stars, “This is from their peers that these selections were made.”
Richard Moore was named volunteer of the year for his efforts on behalf of the department, including keeping patrol cars in tip-top shape.
For nonsworn employee of the year, Sherri Vannest was honored.
Clausen said that during the city’s budget crisis Vannest – who had been with the city for 17 years and had served as the chief of police’s secretary – had her job cut from the department.
However, a dispatch position came open and she applied, rejoining the department, he said.
“She is a great asset,” said Clausen. “It was a tremendous loss when we lost her.”
She was recognized for her hard work and dependability, and willingness to come in any time she’s needed, Clausen said.
Det. Travis Lenz was selected as sworn officer of the year.
Lenz, said Clausen, started with the department about three years ago.
He also works as a field training officer for the department, and has stepped up to fill in while a sergeant is off on a family matter.
The council and audience gave the three rounds of applause, with Mayor Jeri Spittler also offering her thanks.
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Supervisors to consider no confidence vote on sheriff and request for resignation
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Twenty-six months into his first term, Lake County’s sheriff is facing a direct challenge from the county’s Board of Supervisors, who will discuss seeking his resignation and giving him a no confidence vote next week.
Supervisors Anthony Farrington and Rob Brown have asked for the board to consider the vote of no confidence and request for Sheriff Frank Rivero’s resignation at the board meeting on Tuesday, March 19. The discussion is scheduled for 10 a.m.
Rivero did not respond to a Lake County News request for comment.
In their memorandum to the board, which can be seen in its entirely below, Farrington and Brown wrote that, in light of District Attorney Don Anderson placing Rivero on a “Brady” list of officers with credibility issues, “we feel it incumbent upon this Board to ask for a vote of No Confidence and to formally ask for the immediate resignation of Mr. Rivero.”
The “Brady” determination is named for the 1963 U.S. Supreme Court case, Brady v. Maryland, which requires prosecutors to release to defendants in criminal cases any information that could help clear them, including credibility issues of peace officers involved in their cases.
Rivero’s Brady issue is considered a serious one in the law enforcement profession, and it appears to be the first time a California sheriff has ever been placed on a Brady list.
“It’s a highly unprecedented event,” Ron Cottingham, president of the Peace Officers Research Association of California, or PORAC, told Lake County News.
Cottingham said PORAC, which knows of Rivero’s situation, is not aware of any sheriff or police chief in California ever having received a Brady determination before.
Brown said he has spoken to other sheriffs about Rivero’s Brady matter, and that they have called it both unprecedented and an embarrassment to the profession.
The National Sheriff’s Association has not responded to numerous information requests from Lake County News seeking to determine if any sheriff in other parts of the United States has ever been placed on a Brady list before.
Anderson made the determination on Rivero’s credibility after investigating a February 2008 nonfatal shooting incident in which Rivero, while working as a deputy, shot at a man holding a can of pepper spray, which would have been a violation of sheriff’s office policy.
Rivero initially told investigators that he saw pepper spray in the man’s hand, and witnesses at the scene said Rivero had told the man repeatedly to “drop the pepper spray,” which he later denied saying. He also changed his story and claimed he could not tell what the man was holding.
Anderson released his findings, which concluded that Rivero had lied about his actions, to Rivero’s attorney on Feb. 19. Ten days later Anderson was served with a suit in which Rivero sought a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction and writ of mandate.
Rivero was aiming to stop Anderson from releasing his findings either to the public or to criminal defendants, as Anderson is required to do under Brady v. Maryland.
However, a day before Rivero’s suit was filed, retired Judge David Herrick had ordered the Brady materials on Rivero to be released to three Hells Angels members facing prosecution for a June 2011 fight with a rival Vagos gang member. The defendants in that case allege that Rivero was singling them out for their affiliation.
Rank and file officers who are placed on the Brady list usually are recommended for termination, Cottingham said.
Such is the case in Lake County. Anderson said that when he came into office, all of the individuals on the Lake County District Attorney’s Office Brady list were no longer peace officers.
Cottingham said Brady determinations do not carry prohibitions against carrying firearms or doing the work of an officer. The main issues relate to making arrests or being percipient witnesses in criminal cases.
In those cases, the district attorney must divulge to the defense an officer’s lack of credibility, meaning that, ultimately, it’s the district attorney’s problem, said Cottingham.
Case law has established that Brady decisions, ultimately, rest with district attorneys, but Rivero is now challenging that in court with his attempt to seek the writ of mandate and preliminary injunction.
At a March 4 hearing, retired Butte County Superior Court Judge William Lamb denied Rivero’s application for the restraining order and ordered all of the Brady documents – including Anderson’s findings – into the public court records.
Lamb is allowing Rivero to move forward on the preliminary injunction, with no date yet set according to Anderson.
Anderson told Lake County News that he didn’t understand the point of the injunction at this point, as his finding and the associated documents now are public.
In Rivero’s court filings, which allege civil rights violations in the Brady process, it states, “Plaintiff will suffer irreparable harm if Defendant is not enjoined from releasing, disclosing or discussing any and all aspects of Plaintiff being on the District Attorney's 'Brady List' because, once it is released that Petitioner is a 'Brady' officer, his reputation will be severely injured and his ability to continue to serve as Sheriff or in other law enforcement capacities will be nullified.”
Quoting that passage from Rivero’s court filings, Farrington and Brown wrote, “Given Mr. Rivero’s statements, the only remedy now that Judge Lamb has released this information is for Mr. Rivero to offer his resignation and allow the Board to proceed in appointing a suitable replacement who will restore integrity to the Sheriff’s Department.”
Their memo noted that any nonelected county employee “who engaged in such practices would be terminated.”
However, Rivero’s credibility isn’t the only concern for Brown and Farrington.
“While this issue, on its own, should bring the Board to this conclusion it is certainly not the only issue that this Board and the citizens of Lake County have had to deal with,” they stated in their memo to their board colleagues. “The considerable cost to the taxpayers associated with many of the decisions made by Mr. Rivero as sheriff, in addition to the abuse of the time of other departments due to the lack of cooperation, ignorance of process, vindictive behaviour, lack of understanding of financial matters, excessive supervision and documented dishonesty have a contributed to reaching this point.”
The board’s proposed action is the latest sign of tension between the county’s chief governing body and Rivero, who is pursuing his suit against Anderson with county funds, based on a judge’s ruling last year.
On Tuesday the board voted to defer payment of the latest bill from Rivero’s attorneys, the Southern California-based law firm Jones and Mayer, for $29,600 until County Counsel Anita Grant can get clarification from the court on how much longer the county is required to pay for Rivero’s legal challenge.
Total costs to date have reached about $52,000, Grant said Tuesday.
The board also voted last month to remove the Office of Emergency Services from the sheriff’s oversight, placing it under the County Administrative Office’s supervision.
Farrington, originally a strong supporter of Rivero, said Wednesday that he didn’t want to make any public statements before the March 19 meeting.
“I’m reserving my comments for next Tuesday,” he told Lake County News Tuesday afternoon.
For his part, since the agenda was released on Wednesday morning, Brown said he’s been overwhelmed with phone, email and Facebook messages from community members who are in unanimous support of the board taking action against Rivero and seeking his removal from office.
“My phone has been ringing off the hook,” said Brown, who has clashed repeatedly with Rivero over the past two years.
While Brown thinks the action is important to take, he doesn’t believe Rivero will step down.
“I think his huge ego and lack of common sense won’t allow him to do the right thing, but we’re asking that he does,” Brown said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
031913 BOS - Rivero No Confidence Vote
030413 Lake County District Attorney's Final Report Regarding Sheriff Rivero Brady determination by LakeCoNews
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Two police officers treated for chemical inhalation during call; hazmat team called out
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Two Clearlake Police officers were treated at a local hospital on Monday night after they inhaled chemicals while responding to a call at a red-tagged residence in Clearlake.
The call, which would be handled as a hazmat incident, was dispatched at approximately 9:30 p.m. Monday, according to Lt. Tim Celli.
Celli said the two officers – whose names were not released – were dispatched to 16224 26th Ave. for a report of a suspicious person at a red-tagged residence.
It was the same location where officers discovered a methamphetamine lab on Feb. 7. At that time the residence was red-tagged due to the unsafe conditions associated with the property and methamphetamine lab chemicals discovered at the scene, Celli said. The red tag had not been lifted since that date.
When the officers arrived, they contacted 35-year-old Edward Rhinehardt Jurek on the property. In addition, the officers discovered containers that contained what they believed to be chemical liquids which appeared to be in process of reacting, Celli said.
Jurek told the officers he was combining acids to extract gold from computer parts, a method which he discovered on the Internet, according to Celli's report.
Celli explained that, at about the same time, the chemicals violently reacted, producing a cloud vapor which was accidentally inhaled by the two officers.
He said the property was secured for safety reasons and Lake County Fire Protection District was requested to respond to the scene.
As a precautionary measure, approximately 11 residents who lived near the property were evacuated, Celli said.
Officer Bradlee Middleton, who Celli said also was at the scene but not exposed to the chemical vapors, spoke with Jurek, who maintained that he was extracting gold from computer parts and was using a multitude of acid mixtures to complete the process.
Jurek was discovered to be under the influence of a controlled substance and was subsequently arrested during the investigation. Celli said Jurek was later booked into the Lake County Jail after a medical clearance.
The officers who suffered illness from the chemical inhalation were transported to Saint Helena Hospital Clear Lake by fellow officers soon after the event. Celli said they were treated for chemical inhalation and later released from the hospital after several hours of treatment and observation by medical staff.
Lake County Fire's hazmat personnel, along with Lake County Environmental Health, were requested to respond to the scene to assess and neutralize the chemicals, Celli said.
Hazmat personnel were able to successfully neutralize the chemicals and emergency personnel were able to clear the scene at approximately 1:15 a.m. Tuesday, Celli said.
He said the chemicals discovered at the scene were consistent with Jurek’s statements and were not identified as being associated with the clandestine manufacture of methamphetamine.
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Lake County News reaches settlement in suit against sheriff
LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Monday a stipulated judgment was reached in Lake County News' lawsuit against Lake County Sheriff Frank Rivero, who blacklisted the online news publication and prevented it from receiving press releases and other information that's required by law to be released to the public.
John Jensen and Elizabeth Larson – doing business as Lake County News – and Rivero reached an agreement that calls for the Lake County Sheriff's Office to fulfill several Public Records Act requests by Lake County News that had been stalled, delayed or withheld, and for the online news organization to once again be given access to press releases from the agency.
In the suit Lake County News asked for information only but is requesting attorney's fees, the amount of which will be determined by a judge.
“We're just trying to obtain information we've requested but have not received,” said Jensen.
Representing Larson and Jensen, Davis attorney Paul Nicholas Boylan said the settlement is the very best possible result in the action.
“I have been saying that Sheriff Rivero holds all the cards in this action, that he could end this lawsuit at any time by agreeing to treat my clients fairly and provide them with information that they are entitled to receive both as journalists and as members of the public,” Boylan said.
“After months of delay, that is exactly what happened: The sheriff changes position, removes my clients from his 'black list' and provided them with information and documents that they requested – and he agreed to a stipulated judgment that can be enforced if necessary should he continue to discriminate against my clients,” Boylan said. “This is an excellent result that advances the causes of government transparency and freedom of information.”
In the lawsuit, filed in Lake County Superior Court in December, Jensen and Larson alleged that Rivero retaliated against them and their publication because Rivero is angry about coverage that has been critical of him.
To justify the blacklisting, which began last October, Rivero accused Lake County News of publishing misinformation and likened the publication to the National Enquirer.
The reporting at issue included a series of articles in which the journalists uncovered that Rivero was under investigation by Lake County District Attorney Don Anderson for allegedly lying about a 2008 shooting in which Rivero was involved while working as a deputy.
That investigation concluded last month, with Anderson determining that Rivero had lied and that he was to be placed on a list of “Brady” officers with credibility issues.
Anderson's findings were released to the public by visiting Judge William Lamb during a March 4 hearing in which Rivero sought a restraining order to prevent Anderson from releasing the findings to criminal defendants, as Anderson is required to do under the 1963 US Supreme Court case, Brady v. Maryland.
Rivero had attempted to exclude the public from the hearing and to have the documents sealed, but Lamb maintained the matter should be open to the public and ordered the findings be entered into public court filings.
The full settlement document is below.
031113 Lake County News stipulated judgment.pdf by LakeCoNews
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