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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....
City of Clearlake to host Austin Park Master Plan open house
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – On Wednesday, May 11, the city of Clearlake will host an open house to discuss possible improvements to Austin Park that will help to make it the centerpiece of the city.
The open house will be at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Melton Design Group, the consultant selected to assist in the master planning process, will be on site to take input from all who attend.
“We just went through a similar design process with Highlands Park and I think we came up with a very well received concept that is going to tremendously increase the use of the park once we take this design from concept to reality,” said City Manager Greg Folsom. “We are looking to go through this same process with Austin Park.”
“Austin Park is the heart of our city and it should represent who we are as a community, which is why we need public participation in order to make this park truly reflect our community,” said Councilman Bruno Sabatier.
May 9 town hall meeting to discuss plans for Hope City dormitory at Trailside Park
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – A community meeting regarding the plans to build a dormitory for recovery effort workers at a county park will be held next week.
Board of Supervisors Chair Rob Brown will host the town hall meeting on the Hope City dormitory – proposed to be built at Trailside Park near Middletown – on Monday, May 9, beginning at 6 p.m. at the Middletown Library/Senior Center Community Room, 21256 Washington St.
“I just wanted to tell people exactly what it is what we're doing because there is so much misinformation out there,” Brown told Lake County News.
Kevin Cox of Hope City, a ministry of the Hope Crisis Response Network, will be on hand for the meeting, as will some of the people whose homes will be rebuilt by the organization, Brown said.
At its April 5 meeting, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution to use county property at the 107-acre Trailside Park for a dormitory for the Hope Crisis Response Network volunteers, who will participate in rebuilding homes for Valley fire survivors.
Brown said the matter was on the board agenda three times, and in March he gave an update to the Middletown Area Town Hall on the plans.
Hope City is partnering with a number or organizations, including Middletown Bible Church, The Bridge, Santa Rosa Bible Church, Community Baptist Church and Redwood Covenant Church, according to its Web site, http://www.hcrn.info/hope-city.html .
In March, a group composed of Hope City, Team Lake County and the Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians completed its first home rebuild for Valley fire survivors on the rancheria, as Lake County News has reported: www.bit.ly/1Z8vfGx .
Brown said the county has received approval from the state, which provided grant funding for the park, to place the dormitory on the property.
He said Hope City is ready to move forward and begin going through the planning process in order to build the dormitory.
The plans so far call for the building to be located close to Highway 175, although Brown said it could be moved to the park's Dry Creek side.
According to Brown, the dormitory will look like a barn, and will be complete with a kitchen and bathrooms. He said it will be large enough to house up to 60 workers at a time.
Hope City reported that its volunteer building crews will come from around the United States and Canada and stay for a week at a time.
“For the needs that they have, that property is really the only property that can meet that need,” Brown said.
Brown said Hope City will be part of rebuilding about 140 homes – at an estimated cost of $50,000 each – over the next several years.
Close to 70 of those homes will be for people whose insurance was canceled a month before the Valley fire due to the Rocky fire, Brown said.
In addition to discussing the building and its placement, Brown said the May 9 meeting will offer an opportunity to discuss uses for the facility once Hope City has completed it work here and will no longer need the building.
Once Hope City is done with its Valley fire-related building efforts, Brown said the building will be turned back over to the county.
Future uses he is proposing for the building includes making it available to community groups, in particular local 4-H clubs for use as a camp facility.
Anyone with questions about the plan can contact Brown at 707-349-2628 or
Find out more about Hope City at https://www.facebook.com/Hope-City-483457481822748/ .
Email Elizabeth Larson at
Supervisors agree to hold off on pursuing community choice aggregation
LAKEPORT, Calif. – At the urging of the county's new administrative officer and with input from a former board member, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday reached consensus to put off pursuing a community choice aggregation power program at least until after the county's preparation of the new fiscal year budget is complete.
At its March 22 meeting, the board had given staff direction to create a modified selection committee to vet several highly technical proposals from companies regarding the creation of a community choice aggregation program.
Such a program would be led by the county government and was intended to lower energy costs while allowing the community to create its own portfolio of green energy sources.
Carol Huchingson, who took over the county administrative officer's job April 2, said she's been studying community choice aggregation since taking the job and, in her assessment, the advantages to the county have been reduced.
She said no small jurisdictions have done what is being contemplated for Lake County, and due to the fact that she's in the middle of producing the county's new budget – which she'll be presenting soon – she suggested holding off on the project.
There is a North Coast counties group led by Humboldt that is coming together on such a program and Huchingson said Lake County may want to join that at some point.
“To take on a project of this magnitude on our own is just not something that I think we can step into at this time,” she said.
The county's wildfire recovery continues to be county staff's priority, and as a result of that recovery effort, “I think we're facing the most challenging fiscal year we've faced in many,” Huchingson said.
Other key considerations Huchingson mentioned during her request included the need to pay as much as $40,000 for consulting support to vet proposals and the need to hire qualified staff to manage the program.
Supervisor Anthony Farrington, who had brought the proposal to the board last year, said he was disappointed by the request, pointing to the large amount of time and energy expended to get the matter to this point.
While he said he didn't disagree with a lot of Huchingson's statements, he said the county needs to focus on more than just rebuilding. “I think it would be a disservice not to move forward with community choice aggregation,” he said.
He noted that California Clean Power, the first company to propose community choice aggregation to the county, offered a turnkey program.
Other pluses important to Farrington included the ability to choose sources of energy, be less reliant on fossil fuels and the opportunity to become a net exporter of green energy. “I think it would be shortsighted to just close the door on this.”
Board Chair Rob Brown said the county isn't in the financial position to pursue the program now because of the Valley fire, which remains his priority – not community choice aggregation.
He suggested it would be prudent to put the matter off at least until they get through the annual budget process.
Supervisors Jim Comstock and Jim Steele also indicated they supported holding off, with Comstock saying he was not opposed to looking at it down the road and Steele adding that he wanted to keep the door open.
At Brown's invitation, former District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing – a longtime veteran of the energy industry, having previously worked for Pacific Gas and Electric as well as an independent consultant – attended the meeting to speak on the matter.
Rushing said she agreed with Huchingson's recommendation and her concerns with timing, and went a step further and suggested that the board wait at least a year before taking any action.
“Some things seem to be too good to be true,” she said, adding that she was in a unique position to provide “some perspective the board might not otherwise hear.”
Rushing explained that when PG&E went bankrupt it was because the corporation banked on the marketplace continuing to behave in a way it anticipated, which it didn't do. While measures have been put in place since then to stop the energy market's volatility, “The reality is, it is still a spot market, on the margin.”
As such, Rushing said the board needed to make sure to be prepared for how the market would behave when it's volatile and under stress, which it isn't right now.
Rushing said she was involved in smart metering for some time, and for many years the utilities weren't interested in it until they suddenly realized they could transfer market risk to their customers.
She said PG&E and Southern California Edison were the deep pockets in the energy industry and yet they went bankrupt when the markets went wrong. “You want to know that you're not the deepest pocket when you move forward with this.”
At the same time, she said she wasn't saying aggregation was bad or that the county shouldn't go forward with it, but was urging caution. “The risks are greater that they may appear on the surface.”
The county will want to aggregate with the best of the best on the market, said Rushing, reminding them that, at one time, Enron was the best of the best in the energy market place, “and they went bankrupt, too.”
If the county waits a year, it will know more about the markets, she said.
Farrington said he still believed there is an opportunity for the county, and Steele said he had no trouble waiting, adding he believes there's going to be “another game” that will be played later.
“Our risk is always going to be high,” Steele said.
Brown said he wanted to suspend it for now and discuss it again after the budget cycle.
The discussion ended with Steele asking county staff to find out if the companies that had submitted proposals would extend the deadlines included in the documents.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
Clearlake City Council members attend League of California Cities Legislative Action Day
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Clearlake Mayor Russ Perdock and Vice Mayor Gina Fortino Dickson joined more than 150 city officials from throughout California in Sacramento on April 27 for the League of California Cities’ Legislative Action Day.
The annual event gives city officials an opportunity to visit the state Capitol and meet with their legislators to discuss issues of importance to California cities.
“The League’s annual Legislative Action Day is an opportunity to meet with our state lawmakers in person and represent the city of Clearlake. Building and maintaining relationships, as well as exchanging information with state lawmakers is important when addressing pending legislation that would have an impact on the residents of Clearlake,” said Fortino Dickson.
She said she was able to meet with state Sen. Mike McGuire, Assemblyman Bill Dodd, and Assemblyman Jim Wood and attend the League’s briefings on priority legislation, the state budget and transportation.
“I returned to Clearlake with information of value for the city and was able to help state legislators to understand that legislation can affect small communities much differently than larger communities,” she said.
The event began Wednesday morning with a legislative overview led by League President and Rancho Cucamonga Mayor Dennis Michael, League Executive Director Chris McKenzie and several League legislative representatives stressing the importance of city officials commuting on key issues such as homelessness, housing and transportation.
Following the legislative briefing, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood), Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) and Senate Republican Leader Jean Fuller (R-Bakersfield) also briefed city officials and encouraged them to continue strong communication on critical issues impacting cities.
Assembly Republican Leader Chad Mayes (R-Yucca Valley) had also hoped to attend but was unable to because of a scheduling conflict.
McKenzie invited city officials back to Sacramento on May 19 for a special transportation rally. This event will include several city and county officials and transportation advocates from the Fix Our Roads Coalition to stress the urgency in finding a solution to improve transportation and maintain state and local roads.
A bipartisan panel discussion on transportation funding proposals was held from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday featuring Assemblyman Jim Frazier, chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee; Brian Kelly, secretary of the California State Transportation Agency; and Manny Leon, principal consultant of the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee.
City officials also had the opportunity during that time and throughout the afternoon to meet with their legislators in the Capitol.
“The meetings were extremely informative and it was great to learn about many of the issues that our state legislators are dealing with,” said Perdock. “However, I came away from those meetings with a strong sense that the state is struggling to deal with their own infrastructure problems and that communities are going to have to find their own ways of solving their transportation issues.”