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Lakeport Police logs: Saturday, Jan. 10
Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026
00:00 EXTRA PATROL 2601100001
Occurred at Lake County Law Library on 3D....
Lakeport City Council approves ordinance requiring permits for soliciting; homeless advocates plan challenge
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved an ordinance that city officials said is meant to curb aggressive soliciting, but opponents said it’s aimed at the homeless and they intend to challenge the new rules.
Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen first brought the ordinance to the council May 17, at which point its first reading and approval took place, as Lake County News has reported: www.bit.ly/1THqL4V .
The second and final approval of the new ordinance on Tuesday came at the end of nearly two hours of public input and council discussion on the ordinance.
Community members who opposed it said was an attack on the increasingly visible homeless population in the city, and would cause the homeless to go back into hiding at the same time as efforts are increasing to help them.
City officials countered that it was not pointed at the homeless, but the growth in recent years of aggressive panhandling in parts of the city near businesses – particularly, around Safeway on 11th Street – as well as disreputable out-of-state companies that have been dropping off carloads of salespeople to go door to door in city neighborhoods.
Rasmussen and his staff worked with David Ruderman, the city attorney, on the ordinance, which is based on one in effect in the city of Grass Valley. Rasmussen's staff report and the ordinance can be found beginning on page 31 of the agenda packet shown below.
Ruderman said the ordinance places restrictions on time, place and manner on the activities, not on the content of speech.
The ordinance’s language notes that anyone who violates it is guilty of a misdemeanor. During the meeting Ruderman explained that the maximum penalty would be a fine of up to $1,000 or up to six months in jail. However, he said the city’s administrative remedies allow for simple fines and citations.
Rasmussen said he had looked at numerous other solicitation ordinances and he felt this one was the most enforceable and sound, lacked constitutional issues and did the best job of balancing all of the interests.
In response to issues raised during the meeting about the ordinance not being needed due to existing penal codes, Ruderman said the ordinance offered another approach because of the barriers to enforcing certain penal code sections with regard to solicitation.
The new rules require people to apply for a free permit. At the time of permitting, rules would be issued so people understand the kind of behavior that isn't allowable, Ruderman said.
Applicants must provide personal information including a name and address. If they can't provide and address, Rasmussen said they must articulate the reasons why but could still receive the permits.
Initially, the permit length was to last between 30 days and six months at the discretion of the city manager, but at Councilwoman Mireya Turner’s request the length of the permit was extended up to a year. Rasmussen also agreed to work to streamline the permit process.
Rasmussen said aggressive panhandling that interferes with the rights of others is illegal. He added that the ordinance does not impact signature gatherers or religious activities, which are expressly protected activities as the result of legal rulings.
Altogether, 16 people spoke during public comment, two for the ordinance and 14 against it.
The opposition was led by Rev. Shannon Kimbell-Auth, pastor of United Christian Parish in Lakeport, a homeless advocate who was instrumental in the running of a warming shelter in the north Lakeport area for the first three months of the year. She was accompanied at the meeting by a number of her parishioners, who also spoke against the ordinance.
Objections raised against the ordinance alleged a violation of the First Amendment and creating a way to harass the poor.
One of the two who spoke for it, Richard Grahn, said he is “somewhat homeless” but he doesn’t solicit people because he’s busy trying to find work. He added that some of the people who are panhandling at Safeway aren’t looking for jobs, and he’s encountered the aggressive solicitors. He said the permit would show legitimacy.
Nathan Maxman said he wasn’t opposed to the ordinance but rather to the permitting process and its requirements for a name, address and phone number, which a lot of homeless people don’t have.
He also questioned if the ordinance would be enforced in an even-handed manner, with the Girl Scouts and the VFW checked for compliance or if it would just be the homeless who would be held to the rules.
Kimbell-Auth said the ordinance “concerns me deeply” because she believed it targeted the homeless, and pointed to Penal Code Section 647c as a existing way of dealing with aggressive panhandlers.
“My concern is this won't be done fairly, across the board,” she said, and that compliance would be beyond the capacity of the homeless.
Taylor Johnson, who also worked as a volunteer at the warming shelter, voiced her opposition to the ordinance.
She said it would only encourage homeless individuals to hide, a hindrance to the work to connect them to services and assistance. “What will end up happening is it will cause a very hostile environment for homeless people in public areas.”
Jeff Markham, who spent decades in law enforcement, also felt sufficient laws already are on the books to deal with the solicitation issues.
The ordinance, Markham said, is really about moving the homeless around, and keeping them away from tourists, which he called “white lining.”
Randy Brehms, pastor of the Lakeport Seventh-day Adventist Church that hosted the warming shelter, asked the council not to put up impediments that hurt the homeless but to deal with the issue. He said the ordinance is not the answer.
Lakeport Police Lt. Jason Ferguson explained that the department is dealing with a lot of calls regarding solicitation and many of the calls are about events that take place on private property at places like Safeway. Because it’s on private property, there isn’t a lot police currently can do unless the property owner takes action first.
He acknowledged that homelessness is a big issue they're dealing with, and he completely understood why people feel the way they do. He said the ordinance was based on a concern for public safety.
He said the fines in the ordinance would only be for those who don't get permits, and fines wouldn't even be given out in every case.
Rasmussen said that the ordinance gives police the option of dealing with the situation through the administrative citation process, rather than the criminal process such as would be required with using Penal Code Section 647c. He said they were not trying to get people fined or charged, and reiterated the desire to stop the aggressive panhandling activities in the city.
He added, “I'm also hearing a lot about homelessness, and I appreciate everybody's comments, and I totally agree, we have a serious issue that needs to be solved. The government and the community is going to have to come together and work together or we're never going to solve it – ever.”
Rasmussen said the ordinance wasn't brought forward to solve the homeless issue, going on to explain that most of the aggressive panhandlers his department has dealt with have not been homeless.
He described a situation last week in which he responded to Safeway on the report of panhandlers being verbally abusive. The panhandlers in question were not homeless and had other jobs, but were trying to make extra money.
Rasmussen also described the issue with door-to-door sales, noting companies from out of state have been coming to the city with vanloads of people to go from house to house selling merchandise.
“This also will see seek to regulate that as well,” he said of the door-to-door sales.
Councilman Kenny Parlet, who owns a grocery store in Lucerne, said the ordinance offered a different process for police. He described dealing with shoplifters and having to have his manager make a complaint before police could take action.
Rasmussen agreed, noting that the ordinance allows police to deal with the situation administratively, which means they can take action to stop the behavior or issue a citation without actually having to see the violation. Parlet added that it also means they don't have to put anyone under citizen's arrest, as would be required under PC 647c.
Kimbell-Auth said if the ordinance was truly to deal with such aggressive behavior, it would just address the behavior and not panhandling or require permitting. She said removing those sections of the ordinance would solve her objection.
Mary Kay Hauptman also objected to the ordinance. “This is too broad and too dangerous,” she said. “This could be misused enormously.”
Rasmussen said he appreciated the comments from the community, explaining it wasn’t his goal to infringe on free speech rights or to cause panhandling to go away entirely. “We just want to be able to regulate the behavior that is causing the complaints, that's it. In my opinion, that's what this ordinance is about.”
Council members agreed with Rasmussen about the impetus of the issue, with Councilwoman Stacey Mattina raising the public safety issue. She said the city had to take action when residents and tourists start to lose enjoyment of public spaces, adding the ordinance won’t solve the homeless problem or make it go away.
City Manager Margaret Silveira added that the city would offer information about assistance to any homeless people who do approach the city to ask for a permit.
Turner moved to approve the ordinance, which the council approved 5-0.
The ordinance will go into effect 30 days from adoption.
However, those who oppose it already are raising the potential for legal challenges to the new ordinance.
A late Tuesday night post by Kimbell-Auth on the United Christian Parish Facebook page warned the Lakeport City Council, “You made a bad decision here and ultimately it will be overturned on Constitutional grounds because it’s not about law or freedom, but what people are uncomfortable with.”
Email Elizabeth Larson at
Visitor center bids, grant closeout on Clearlake City Council agenda
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council this week will consider staff's suggestion to reject bids submitted for repairs at the city's visitor center project and hear a presentation on the closeout of a state grant.
The council will hold a closed session for labor negotiations beginning at 5:30 p.m. before the open session begins at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 9, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.
On Thursday's agenda the council will consider rejecting bids for the Highlands Park Visitor Center stucco repairs.
City Clerk Melissa Swanson's report to the council explains that the staff opened two bids for the repairs on May 19.
The bids were from Neils Construction for $42,499 and Painting and Decor Inc. for $57,000.
Both bids are over the project budget amount and staff is recommending that the council reject the bids, Swanson said, adding that staff is looking at ways to complete the work at a reduced cost.
In other business, there will be a presentation and closeout of a planning and technical assistance grant as required by the Department of Housing and Community Development.
A second reading of an ordinance to put a transaction and use tax on the November ballot is being held over until the June 23 meeting, as councilmen Bruno Sabatier and Nick Bennett are expected to be absent from Thursday's meeting.
On the meeting's consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are warrant registers; minutes of the May 12, 19 and 26 meetings; and consideration of reviewing the conflict-of-interest code.
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ELECTION 2016: Brown reelected, District 1 and 4 races head for November runoffs
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Voters in the Tuesday primary returned one longtime supervisor to office, with two other supervisorial races turning into fall runoffs.
The key local races on the presidential primary ballot included the contests for the District 1, 4 and 5 seats on the Lake County Board of Supervisors.
Although the election results are considered preliminary until the final canvass is completed by early next month, in one race – District 5 – the results appear certain.
Supervisor Rob Brown from Kelseyville was handily reelected to a fifth term on Tuesday, with 63.4 percent of the vote, or 1,248 votes cast. He needed at least 50 percent plus one vote to win outright in the primary.
He was challenged this year by Phil Reimers of Cobb, who brought in 435 votes, or 22.1 percent, and John Stoddard of Kelseyville, who received 274 votes or 13.9 percent of ballots cast.
Even with some absentees and provisional ballots to be counted, Brown's lead appears to be insurmountable.
In the District 1 and 4 races, the fields will be narrowed down to two candidates each and will become November runoff races.
In the District 1 contest, the top spots so far are separated by only a handful of ballots.
Businesswoman and former county planning commissioner Monica Rosenthal led the field with 455 votes or 28.4 percent, followed by Middletown Rancheria Tribal Chair Jose “Moke” Simon III, with 447 votes or 27.9 percent.
Voris Brumfield, a lay minister who held the District 1 supervisorial seat in the 1980s, received 397 votes, or 24.8 percent, followed by Jim Ryan, a longtime Sonoma County Sheriff's deputy, with 301 votes or 18.8 percent.
In the District 4 race, Tina Scott, a Lakeport Unified School District Board member, received 705 votes, or 33.8 percent, followed by Lakeport City Councilman Martin Scheel with 513 votes, or 24.6 percent.
Lake County Chamber of Commerce president and former city councilman Ted Mandrones came in third in the District 4 race according to the preliminary results, with 382 votes or 18.3 percent, followed by farmer Phil Murphy, 271 votes or 13 percent, and businessman Ron Rose, 211 votes or 10.1 percent.
Also on Tuesday, Kelseyville Unified School District's Measure U bond for school improvements passed, receiving 1,177 yes votes, or 61 percent, versus 751 no votes, which amounted to 39 percent.
Lake County's members of the House of Representatives, John Garamendi (D-CA-3) and Mike Thompson (D-CA-5), led their fields in Lake County and across their respective districts in their bids for reelection. They must still run to a fall finish.
In the race for the Fourth District Assembly seat, Republican Charlie Schaupp and Democrat Cecilia Aguiar-Curry appear poised to go to a fall runoff, with Schaupp leading with 29.1 percent, or 22,334 votes, to Aguiar-Curry's 21,620 votes, or 28.2 percent, across the district, according to the California Secretary of State's Office.
Lake County Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley and her staff had begun processing absentee ballots on May 17, releasing those results after the polls closed Tuesday evening.
The elections staff continued processing ballots throughout the night, releasing the last numbers in the preliminary count at around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday.
They will now move into the official canvass to finalize the results. They'll also continue processing absentee ballots that were mailed in and due no later than June 10, according to the California Secretary of State's Office.
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MATH meeting to host bylaw amendment discussion, reports on Dollar General and Hope City projects
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – This week the Middletown Area Town Hall will consider a proposal to change its bylaws regarding board membership, and get reports on a plan for a Dollar General and a dormitory for Valley fire relief workers.
MATH will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 9, at the Middletown Community Center, 21256 Washington St.
Meetings are open to the community.
Items on the agenda include a proposed bylaw amendment that would require that all board members be elected from districts.
The proposal – which is reported to be how the MATH Board originally was set up when it was created in 2006 – has been discussed informally at previous meetings and is now being brought back for formal consideration.
In other business, there will be a report on Dollar General. A Texas developer is proposing to locate a Dollar General store in Middletown, but the Lake County Planning Commission turned down the plan in late April.
However, the developer has appealed the decision to the Board of Supervisors. A hearing before the board has not yet been set.
Other agenda items include an update from Marlene Elder on the June 4 Middletown Clean-Up Day, a report on a plan for Hope City to build a dormitory for volunteers helping to rebuild homes for Valley fire survivors and agenda items for the July 14 meeting.
The MATH Board includes Chair Fletcher Thornton, Vice Chair Claude Brown, Secretary Margaret Greenley, and members Linda Diehl-Darms and Gregg Van Oss.
MATH – established by resolution of the Lake County Board of Supervisors on Dec. 12, 2006 – is a municipal advisory council serving the residents of Anderson Springs, Cobb, Coyote Valley (including Hidden Valley Lake), Long Valley and Middletown.
Meetings are subject to videotaping.
For more information email
Email Elizabeth Larson at