Clearlake City Council approves contract with new city manager

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council this week unanimously approved a contract with a new city manager.

Greg Folsom, who currently works for the county of Riverside, will start work on June 15, giving him a few weeks to work with retiring City Manager Joan Phillipe, who will leave the city on June 30 after three and a half years in the job.

The three-year contract the council approved gives Folsom a $110,000 annual salary and establishes annual performance reviews.

Folsom introduces himself at the start of the video of the council meeting, featured above, and he speaks to the council beginning at the 16:35 mark in the video.

Current City Manager Joan Phillipe introduced Folsom to the council at the Thursday night meeting.

“I'm extremely proud and honored to be here today. I'm very excited about this opportunity,” Folsom told the council, and thanked Phillipe for her assistance in the “very lengthy” hiring process.

Folsom shared his background, explaining that he began working in government in 1992, starting as a loan officer with the Small Business Administration. In that capacity, he made disaster loans, working with the public and businesses.

He then went on to work for the city of Stockton for nearly 20 years. There, he worked in the city manager's office on economic development and redevelopment issues.

From Stockton, Folsom went to Riverside County, where he has been in charge of economic development and workforce development, and serves on the city of Menifee's planning commission.

“I'm looking forward to bringing that experience here,” said Folsom, adding that the also hopes to bring jobs and new resource to the city.

He added that he also is looking forward to working with the city and the council to move Clearlake forward.

Vice Mayor Gina Fortino Dickson thanked him for making the trip up for the meeting.

She acknowledged it was a lengthy hiring process, noting the council began months ago working on finding Phillipe's successor.

“The candidate that we selected was thoroughly vetted,” she said.

Fortino Dickson added, “I have full faith and confidence in what he brings to the table.”

She said Folsom brings with him skills and abilities to help them take the city where they want it to go.

“We really felt like Mr. Folsom brought the right attitude with him. And that's one thing you cannot train when you're hiring an employee, it's the attitude,” said Fortino Dickson, adding that they believe Folsom is the right fit for the community.

“I think we all feel the same way, that we've made a very good choice for our community,” said Councilwoman Joyce Overton.

She pointed out that there were a number of people in addition to the council who assisted with the interview and selection process.

According to Phillipe's report to the council, the council was assisted in the interviews by Clearlake Planning Commission Chair Carl Webb, District 2 Supervisor Jeff Smith, Clearlake Police Chief Craig Clausen, City Clerk Melissa Swanson, Public Works Director Doug Herren, Sheriff Brian Martin and retired County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox.

Mayor Denise Loustalot also welcomed Folsom to the city.

“Mr. Folsom did stand out to each and every one of us as an extremely, highly qualified candidate for what we are looking for as far as our goals and objectives,” said Loustalot.

Councilman Russ Perdock moved to approve the contract as submitted, with Councilman Bruno Sabatier seconding and the council voting 5-0.

The vote received a round of applause, and Loustalot noted that she was happy but also sad, referring to Phillipe's coming retirement.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

052815 Clearlake City Council - New City Manager Contract

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Written by: Elizabeth Larson

Published: 30 May 2015

Supervisors approve $600,000 settlement in fatal crash involving deputy

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – This week the Board of Supervisors approved a settlement agreement in a lawsuit filed by the family of a woman killed in an October 2013 vehicle crash involving a Lake County Sheriff's deputy.

The board emerged from its Tuesday closed session to approve the $600,000 settlement with Gloria Garcia Gamino and Jose Daniel Rivas Cruz, parents of Gabriela Rivas Garcia, according to County Counsel Anita Grant.

Santa Rosa attorney Jeremy Fietz filed the lawsuit in April 2014 on behalf of Gamino and Cruz, residents of Mexico who received financial support from their daughter, as Lake County News has reported.

“The initial demand was $2.5 million,” said Grant.

Fietz did not respond to requests from Lake County News seeking comment.

The 26-year-old Garcia died on the morning of Oct. 3, 2013, after her 1995 Honda was hit by a 2009 Chevrolet Tahoe SUV patrol vehicle driven by Deputy Scott Lewis on Highway 29 near Diener Drive.

She was driving from her home in Clearlake to her vineyard job in Kelseyville when Lewis – responding to a report of a home invasion robbery and vehicle pursuit in Lower Lake at more than 80 miles per hour – crossed into her lane, hitting her head-on.

The suit alleged that Lewis had a small amount of alcohol in his system at the time of the crash, in violation of Lake County Sheriff's Office policy which says that deputies cannot report for duty while having any detective amount of alcohol in their system.

District Attorney Don Anderson has confirmed that the investigation determined that Lewis had a very small amount of alcohol in his system, but that experts were not able to extrapolate the precise amount.

Grant said the settlement in the case, which had been set for trial, was the result of mediation.

She said both sides had agreed to the settlement, pending the Board of Supervisors' approval.

CSAC Excess Insurance Authority, which manages the insurance pool that includes the county of Lake, also was part of the discussion, she said.

Once Garcia's parents sign off on the settlement, they will file a notice of settlement with the court, which should bring the case to a close, Grant said.

Meanwhile, Lewis, who was seriously injured in the crash, was indicted by a criminal grand jury in July for gross vehicular manslaughter.

In February, he returned to Lake County from the East Coast – where he moved since leaving the county's employ in November – for his first court appearance in the case, as Lake County News has reported.

Anderson told Lake County News this week that a trial readiness and settlement conference in Lewis' case is set for July 10, with the case tentatively set for trial on Aug. 5.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

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Written by: Elizabeth Larson

Published: 30 May 2015

Lake County Planning Commission votes down Kelseyville Dollar General plan

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Citing concerns about the close proximity to Kelseyville High School and incompatibility with the community, the Lake County Planning Commission voted unanimously on Thursday to deny an application for a Dollar General.

The matter appears to be anything but resolved, however, with the project's developer indicating plans to appeal the decision to the Board of Supervisors.

Dollar General's first two stores in Lake County – in Clearlake Oaks and Nice – were approved by the commission a year ago this month, with both projects opening earlier this year.

The local stores are part of a plan to open 1,000 stores in California over the next three years, Mark Gilchrease, a Dollar General district manager, told Lake County News earlier this month.

Cross Development, the Texas-based firm that has developed Dollar General's two stores in Lake County, has since applied for two new 9,100-square-foot store locations in Kelseyville and Middletown, with the latter not yet being scheduled to go before the planning commission.

Town hall meetings held this month in both communities found the majority of participants indicating they didn't support the small box retailer's presence.

Community Development Director Rick Coel and Senior Planner Michalyn DelValle presented the Dollar General application to the commission Thursday morning. The presentation begins just after the one-hour mark in the video above.

DelValle said the county received Cross Development's application for the Kelseyville store – at 4315 Douglas St. and 5505 Main St., across Main Street from Kelseyville High School – on Jan. 28.

She said county planning staff had suggested a number of design conditions to make the building more attractive, including parapets to cover air conditioning and heating units, reduction of parking spaces from the proposed 30 down to 23, additional pedestrian improvements, limited hours for truck deliveries, landscaping with street trees and shrubs, and a sign with raised letters on the building, rather than a standalone sign or a sign on the building with a frame and black letters on a yellow background.

“Staff does not believe a freestanding sign is necessary at this location or appropriate,” said Coel, explaining that such signs made more sense on the highway in Clearlake Oaks and Nice.

He said staff also was proposing reduced driveway widths and moving the store closer to the street. Coel said the store's design layout works well in some sites but not in downtown areas like Kelseyville.

“This is something we've been grappling with,” he said.

All of the community members who spoke to the commission were either against the plan as proposed or raised serious concerns about it.

Peggy Robertson was concerned about impacts on existing businesses, explaining that Kelseyville was “very politely” saying no to Dollar General.

“I feel like we're not gaining anything new from them, but we're sure hurting a lot of people who are already there,” she said.

Kelseyville Unified School District Superintendent Dave McQueen, speaking on behalf of the district, raised a number of traffic safety-related concerns about the project, questioning if a traffic study had been performed.

Planning staff said no, that the Lake County Public Works Department reviewed it and didn't find that it met the threshold for such a study.

McQueen said he felt such a study was needed, explaining the tremendous amount of traffic flow taking place between 7:30 and 9 a.m. and from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. on school days, and the heavily used crosswalks.

Noting he makes decisions based on data, “I don't have any data,” McQueen said.

He also addressed the loitering that currently takes place across from the high school on Douglas, expecting it will increase with a Dollar General store.

McQueen said the developer has never approached him or the district about the project. He noted that the school district is very pro business, so much so that the district voted not to charge businesses a developer fee.

“We want business but yet we want safety, too, and that's where I'm coming from,” he said.

He added, “The schools are what make Kelseyville what it is.”

Sinda Knight, president of the Kelseyville Business Association, said the majority of association members don't support Dollar General for reasons including concerns about the safety of school children and the vision for Kelseyville.

Cross Development representative Joe Dell told the commission his firm was working diligently with county planning staff to make the recommendations and changes – some of which were more challenging than others. He said they were trying to be flexible.

While he couldn't speak for Dollar General directly regarding how it operates or employs staff, he said the project would bring revenue and tax dollars to the community. As for concerns related to schools, he said the company offers literacy grants.

He said his company has done full-blown traffic studies on other projects, noting that Dollar General averages about 10 cars per hour. Based on that, he said the county didn't believe a traffic study was necessary.

Dell acknowledged that the commission's work is challenging, with its members needing to balance projects with maintaining a cohesive community. He said they needed to consider everything involved – jobs, income, revenue and taxes – in making a decision.

He said Cross Development agreed to all proposed conditions of approval, and would work closely with the commission and the planning department on a design that would work well for the community.

Chuck Sturgis, a 44-year resident of Kelseyville, said he loved the small town “very dearly” and didn't think Dollar General was the kind of growth the town wanted.

“I'm totally against this project from a gut level,” Sturgis said.

Dr. Richard Smith, a business professor, said the issue was not so much an emotional one as a practical one.

“The location of this store is simply wrong,” he said, suggesting there must be better locations for it in the town.

Smith said he had no problem with Dollar General being in Kelseyville, noting that competition is good.

However, “Once you put that store in there, you can't change it,” he said.

Commissioners voice concerns on project

Commissioner Bob Malley asked staff to pull up a map of Clearlake Oaks that showed the area around that town's Dollar General, which sits near East Lake School.

Since that store opened in April, no one has contacted the school – where Malley's wife is principal – or the district in regard to any of the concerns associated with the establishment, he said.

What didn't come out in the hearing on that store was that it applied for a full-fledged liquor license, Malley said. “I have some real concerns about that and how it was done.”

He said he believed the store's huge sign was a public nuisance, and referring to the fact that his wife had heard “not a peep” from Dollar General, he said he believed McQueen when he said he also hadn't been contacted by the corporation.

“In my mind, I wouldn't allow another Dollar General to come in for the simple fact that they're not interested in the community,” Malley said. “They're not doing anything for the community.”

He also pointed to traffic issues, including the fact that children were no longer using the crosswalk near East Lake School and instead had started running across the highway.

Commissioner Gil Schoux, who represents the Kelseyville area, said he had no problem with a Dollar General store coming to Kelseyville if it's in a different location, such as out on the highway.

“We need some growth in Kelseyville,” but not across from the high school, he said.

Commissioner Don Deuchar said there didn't seem to be any community members there to support the project. “I can't support it either.

Newest Commissioner Gladys Rosehill, pointed out that she lives in Clearlake Oaks, where Dollar General recently opened.

“It's disappointing, to say the least,” Rosehill said of the store.

Commission Chair Joe Sullivan said he also has concerns, recalling the Middletown Area Town Hall earlier this month which hosted both Dell and Gilchrease.

He said they were asked specifically about the Middletown store also being across from a school, which the store's representative said wasn't part of the plan. Yet, Sullivan pointed out, of the four locations Dollar General either currently has or is proposing, three are near schools.

Sullivan said he wasn't against Dollar General, adding, “I'm not really a fan of that site due to the proximity to the school.”

Schoux asked if Coel could write a suggested motion for denying the project's major use permit application.

Coel asked for a five-minute break and came back with a suggestion to deny the project based on an inappropriate location and not being compatible with the community.

Schoux made that motion with Malley seconding and the commission voting 5-0.

Immediately after the meeting, Dell met with county planning staff, and Coel told Lake County News on Thursday afternoon that Dell said he was going to appeal the commission's decision.

Dell obtained the application on Thursday to file the appeal to the Board of Supervisors, Coel said.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

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Written by: Elizabeth Larson

Published: 29 May 2015