How to resolve AdBlock issue? Council honors Academic Decathlon team, approves right-of-way abandonment, National Night Out plans
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council on Tuesday offered congratulations to Clear Lake High School's winning Academic Decathlon team, approved a right-of-way abandonment and approved plans to participate in this summer's “National Night Out.”
The council emerged shortly after 6 p.m. from a closed session regarding labor negotiations, which Mayor Kenny Parlet said resulted in no reportable action, before the public meeting convened.
During public comment, Lakeport Fire Chief Ken Wells thanked City Manager Margaret Silveira and city staff for allowing the fire district to use city hall facilities for interviews for a new fire chief.
Wells is retiring April 30 and interviews took place on Monday for his successor. Wells said as soon as they have made a hire the new chief will be introduced.
“You have done a great job here. We really appreciate your service,” said Councilman Tom Engstrom.
Wells has been Lakeport Fire's chief for eight and a half years, and altogether has 44 years of public service.
The council also honored the Clear Lake High School Academic Decathlon team, headed to the state competition later this week.
Parlet said he was excited to find out that his alma mater's team had won, and he and Silveira offered the team members and Coach Jim Rogers certificates of appreciation for their accomplishment.
The team includes Dakota Durbin, Jose Estrada, Asia Jones, Liberty Justice, Serena Kacharos-Warren, Gabriel Kimbell-Auth, Abby LaBar, Philip Leighton, Savannah Rasmussen and Melissa Thibeau.
Rogers called the group of students a “self-coaching team.”
In other business, the council held a public hearing in which no comment was received on a resolution ordering the vacation of a portion of excess right-of-way on Ninth Street between Pool and Spurr streets, as well as the entire right-of-way of Harlie Street. The Lakeport Planning Commission recommended the action to the council at a November meeting, as Lake County News has reported.
Gary and Jane Leonard, who own parcels at 875 and 879 Pool St., had asked the city to be able to abandon the right-of-way area. They were present at the meeting but did not offer comment.
The council also approved canceling its August 5 meeting so members and city staff could once again take part in the “National Night Out” event.
Silveira said she knew it was early, but staff wanted to get started with making preparations for the event, which drew a positive community response last year.
So far, Silveira said they have not settled on a location. Last year it was held at the Mormon Church on 16th Street but the goal is to move it to a different neighborhood each year, she said.
The city spent only $200 on the 2013 event, thanks to donated food and the Lakeport Kiwanis Club handling the barbecue, according to Silveira.
Councilwoman Stacey Mattina said she had a request from residents of the N. Main Street area to hold it on their block and close off the street.
Engstrom said Lakeport Police did a good job with giveaways at the last event, which Police Chief Brad Rasmussen said were made possible thanks to funds through drug eradication programs.
“I think it's going to get bigger and bigger,” Parlet said.
Mayor Pro Tem Martin Scheel moved to approve canceling the Aug. 5 meeting, which the council approved 5-0.
Administrative Services Manager Kelly Buendia took to the council a request for an amendment to the city's contract with Tyler Technologies for personnel management software that would give the city an electronic time card system.
The total cost for the software module is $3,080 plus an annual $1,800 access fee, Buendia said.
Such software runs the gamut of prices, but in addition to this module being “relatively inexpensive,” Buendia said it also works with a software system the city already has in place. Plus, it meets government requirements and helps extrapolate needed data, which Silveira added is currently requiring a lot of manual hours.
Buendia said the city also is looking at other modules, including one for tracking grants. Finance Director Dan Buffalo said there is a whole suite of police management software that they haven't yet explored. Buffalo said the time card module will be managed by the city's human resources department.
Engstrom moved to approve the purchase, with the council voting unanimously to do so.
During council communications at the end of the meeting, Parlet asked Rasmussen if the city has seen a drop in gas thefts following recent arrests, including that of 18-year-old Alexander Gard, arrested March 10 in connection to a series of gas thefts that had hit the city.
“We've seen a 100-percent fall in gas thefts since we removed Mr. Gard from the picture,” said Rasmussen.
Gard and another suspect, Doug Trimmer – who Lakeport Police identified and have submitted a complaint on to the District Attorney's Office – are believed to be responsible for a reported 40 thefts in the city over the last several months, Rasmussen said. “Those two were hitting us hard.”
Since Gard's arrest, however, no new thefts have been reported, he said.
Parlet also asked interim City Attorney David Ruderman about a decision handed down Friday in Lake County Superior Court regarding senior mobile home park rent control initiatives that had been set to go on the city and county ballots.
Park owners had filed suit against the city and county, asserting that the initiatives were unconstitutional, and Judge Richard Martin agreed due to flaws in the measures that he said he did not have the authority to repair.
Ruderman said Judge Martin issued a writ of mandate, and has the ability to countermand the resolution the council adopted last year placing the city initiative on the November ballot.
“Once the writ is served on the city, the city clerk will be complying with it and not putting that initiative on the ballot,” Ruderman said.
Scheel asked if the matter would come back to the council. Ruderman said no, that the writ commands City Clerk Janel Chapman to remove the measure, so the duty now lies with her. Ruderman expected it to be removed unless there is a quick appeal to overturn Martin's ruling.
“That is the outcome that we had hoped for all along,” said Parlet.
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Clearlake City Council decides to hold roundtable meeting on sales tax proposal
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council has decided that it will seek comments from the public before deciding how it will proceed with any sales tax measure for the November ballot.
The council intends to entertain a roundtable-type meeting in an effort to achieve optimum community participation.
Ideally, the meeting is to take place in a location other than council chambers, likely at the Clearlake Senior/Community Center.
The informal, roundtable format will provide varied means for participating in the discussion, in addition to speaking publicly.
Proposal of a sales tax measure to fund road improvements has failed to pass several times in the city's past. In recent efforts, which saw narrow defeat, funding for code enforcement and animal control were added to the proposal.
The council has continued discussion of the initiative since the failure of Measure H – a 1-percent special sales tax for road improvements (75 percent) and code enforcement/animal control (25 percent) – in November 2013, conceding efforts to generate revenue for city needs must go on.
Throughout its discussions, the council has heard several suggestions including lowering the tax and removing the road component, which has caused debate with regard to public versus private roads and which will benefit from a successful measure.
Mike Vandiver, who campaigned for the passage of the last ballot initiative, said something needs to go through. He said code enforcement is the priority and splitting the tax would allow time to then develop a better plan for the roads.
“Go after code enforcement. Get that accomplished and then work on the roads,” he said.
Council members Joyce Overton and Joey Luiz had offered similar assessments during most recent meetings.
“My research shows (constituents) want code enforcement,” Overton said Thursday. “Not just code enforcement, they want a task force. They want to be safe.”
Luiz said he agrees that code enforcement is the priority, saying that the lack of it impacts the entire city.
He said there have been two failed attempts during his tenure to pass a 75/25 split sales tax.
“We've had two runs at it. It's not going forward. We've got to change something up,” he said. “I think our priority, at this point, should be code enforcement.”
Among other suggestions was addition of a sunset clause, which consensus of the council favored.
“People don't want to have their money taken forever,” city resident Estella Creel said. “If you put in a sunset clause, you might get it passed.”
The council will be seeking input with regard to these suggestions and other concerns related to proposal of a ballot measure during its roundtable meeting, which staff was directed to schedule.
Deadline for inclusion on the November ballot is Aug. 8.
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Spring Valley cell tower, crime scene scanning system on supervisors' agenda
LAKEPORT, Calif. – This week the Board of Supervisors will consider waiving fees to assist with moving forward a cell tower project in Spring Valley and discuss the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment for processing crime scenes.
The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, March 18, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport. TV8 will broadcast the meeting live.
In an untimed item, the board will consider a request to waive use permit and variance application fees for Verizon Wireless, which is working with the Spring Valley community to install a cell tower.
Spring Valley does not currently have cell coverage, a safety issue that came into focus after the 2012
Walker Fire, when the phone lines serving the community east of Clearlake Oaks were destroyed in the blaze, as Lake County News has reported.
Community Development Director Rick Coel is asking that the board authorize refunding the $1,917 in fees paid for the use permit and California Environmental Quality Act review, and waive the $752 variance application fee that hasn't yet been paid.
In other business, at 10:30 a.m. the board will consider a request from District Attorney Don Anderson to purchase a 3-D laser crime scene scanner, at a cost of $66,000.
The Lakeport and Clearlake Police departments have contributed $15,000, with Anderson proposing to use other fund sources including asset forfeiture and grant funds to cover the purchase, according to his report to the board.
Anderson said in his report that the equipment will allow his agency to create 3D video reenactments of crime scenes, including visually accurate recreations of the crimes as seen by the victims, witnesses and defendants.
The full agenda follows.
TIMED ITEMS
9 a.m., A-1 to A-4: Approval of consent agenda, which includes items that are expected to be routine and noncontroversial, and will be acted upon by the board at one time without discussion; presentation of animals available for adoption at Lake County Animal Care and Control; consideration of items not appearing on the posted agenda, and contract change orders for current construction projects.
9:05 a.m.: Citizen's input. Any person may speak for three minutes about any subject of concern, provided that it is within the jurisdiction of the Board of Supervisors and is not already on the agenda. Prior to this time, speakers must fill out a slip giving name, address and subject (available in the clerk of the board’s office, first floor, courthouse).
9:10 a.m., A-5: Presentation of Proclamation designating the week of March 16-22, 2014, as National Surveyors Week in Lake County.
9:15 a.m., A-6: Presentation of Employee Service Awards.
9:30 a.m., A-7: Consideration of appointment to the Board of Housing Commissioners.
9:45 a.m., A-8: Continued from Jan. 28 and March 4: (a) consideration of compliance review pursuant to minor use permit (MUP 06-63); and (b) consideration of staff request for board direction regarding land use conflicts and amendments to MUP 06-63.
10:15 a.m., A-9: Consideration of property donation to the city of Clearlake for the Dam Road Extension Project.
10:30 a.m., A-10: Consideration of request to waive the formal bidding process, determining no economic benefit; (b) consideration of request to make adjustments to Budget Unit 2110 - District Attorney; and (c) consideration of request to purchase one 3-D Laser Scanning System.
NONTIMED ITEMS
A-11: Supervisors’ weekly calendar, travel and reports.
A-12: Consideration of appointments to the following: acting registrar of voters, Kelseyville Cemetery District.
A-13: Consideration of proposed Letter of Support of AB 2205 Mammals: Use of dogs to pursue bears and bobcats.
A-14: Consideration of request to waive use permit and variance application fees for Verizon Wireless, Spring Valley Lake Cellular Site.
A-15: Consideration of proposed memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Lake County In Home Supportive Services (IHSS) Public Authority and the California United Homecare Workers Union (CUHW), Local 4034.
A-16: Consideration of request to California Department of Social Services (CDSS) for a change in the IHSS Public Authority rate, as proposed in the above listed MOU between the Lake County IHSS Public Authority and the CUHW Local 4034.
CLOSED SESSION
A-17: 1. Conference with labor negotiator: (a) county negotiators: A. Grant, L. Guintivano, S. Harry, M. Perry, A. Flora and C. Shaver; and (b) employee organizations: Deputy District Attorney's Association, Lake County Deputy Sheriff's Association, Lake County Correctional Officers Association and Lake County Safety Employees Association.
A-17: 2. Sitting as the Board of Directors of the Lake County IHSS Public Authority: Conference with Labor Negotiator: (a) agency negotiator: Carol Huchingson and F. Buchanan; and (b) employee organization: California United Homecare Workers Union AFSCME/SEIU Local 4034.
A-17: 3. Conference with legal counsel: Existing litigation pursuant to Gov. Code Sec. 54956.9(d)(1): Coakley v. County of Lake, et al.
A-17: 4. Conference with legal counsel: Existing litigation pursuant to Government Code Sec. 54956.9(d)(1): Estate of Hatfield v. Trujillo, et al.
A-17: 5. Conference with legal counsel: Existing Litigation pursuant to Gov. Code Section 5495639(d)(1): Lakeside Heights HOA, et al. v. County of Lake.
CONSENT AGENDA
C-1: Approve minutes of the Board of Supervisors meetings held on March 4, 2014.
C-2: Adopt proclamation designating the week of March 16-22, 2014, as National Surveyors Week in Lake County.
C-3: Approve second amendment to agreement between the county of Lake and Kappe+Du Architects for professional services, to include construction support services at the Lucerne Castle, an increase of $3,500, and authorize the chair to sign.
C-4: Adopt resolution amending Resolution No. 2013-95 to amend the FY 2013-14 Adopted Budget by adjusting appropriations to provide for one-time health care stipend to qualified employees.
C-5: Approve and accept $10,000 grant from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) for the pit bull spay/neuter program, term to expire Sept. 6, 2014, and authorize the Animal Care and Control director to sign the grant agreement.
C-6: Approve out-of-state travel for Animal Control Officer Nehemiah White to attend Equine Investigators Academy Level II, in Durango, Colorado, between May 19-24, 2014 (50 percent of tuition price, $775, to be paid by Code 3 Associates).
C-7: (a) Waive Section 1.4 F of the County Travel Policy regarding timely submission of travel claims; and (b) approve travel reimbursement claims for two staff members, total amount $178.90, as recommended in staff memorandum dated Feb. 24, 2014.
C-8: Adopt resolution approving increase of petty cash fund for the Lake County Behavioral Health Department (an increase from $300 to $400 total).
C-9: Waive 900-hour limit for extra help Victim Advocate I Tatsuhiro Suzuki.
C-10: Adopt resolution amending Resolution No. 2013-96 establishing position allocations for Fiscal Year 2013-2014, Budget Unit No. 4011, Public Health (delete one Community Health Nurse III allocation; delete four LVN I/II - Registered Nurse-Community Health Nurse I/II-Public Health Nurse I/II-Public Health Nurse I Trainee-Public Health Nurse II Trainee allocations; add five LVN I/II Registered Nurse-Community Health Nurse I/II/III-Public Health Nurse I/II-Public Health Nurse I Trainee-Public Health Nurse II Trainee allocations; delete one Public Health Nurse I/II allocation; add two Public Health Nurse I Trainee-Public Health Nurse II Trainee-Public Health Nurse I/II; add an asterisk (*) next to the allocation for Public Health Nurse IV as follows “*Position to be eliminated upon the next vacancy”; delete one Office Aide/Office Assistant I/II allocation at next vacancy; and add one Business Software Analyst allocation).
C-11: Approve letter in support of AB 2704 to increase State Subvention to County Veteran Services Offices and authorize the chair to sign.
C-12: Approve Leave of Absence for Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley, from March 13, 2014 through June 5, 2014, and authorize the chair to sign.
C-13: Approve agreement between county of Lake and California Skateparks for design and engineering of the Kelseyville Community Skatepark, amount not to exceed $45,100, and authorize the chair to sign.
C-14: Adopt resolution of Intention to name a certain existing unnamed road in the county of Lake (Poppy Lane), and schedule a public hearing for Tuesday, April 15, 2014, at 9:30 a.m.
C-15: (a) Waive formal bidding process, determining no economic benefit to the county; and (b) authorize purchase of three vehicles (one 2014 1⁄2 ton, 4x4 Dodge Ram truck for Planning, and one 2014 3/4 ton 4x4 Dodge Ram truck and one 2014 3/4 ton Dodge Ram Truck for Animal Care and Control); and (c) authorize the public works director/assistant purchasing agent to issue a purchase order for $23,425 under the statewide contract and a purchase order to Kathy Fowler in the amount of $53,136.
C-16: Approve permit to conduct aeronautical activities at Lampson Field Airport (Tom’s Aircraft), and authorize the chair to sign.
C-17: Adopt resolution changing mileage in county maintained road system.
C-18: Adopt resolution temporarily prohibiting parking and authorizing the removal of vehicles and ordering the Department of Public Works to post signs (April 12, 2014, from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Hartmann Road, from Hidden Valley Road to Bowcher Lane).
C-19: (a) Authorize purchase of three 2014 Subaru Forester automobiles; and (b) authorize the Social Services director/assistant purchasing agent to issue a purchase order to Elk Grove Auto in the amount of $82,310.62.
C-20: (a) Authorize purchase of 120 Microsoft Office Professional Plus licenses for departmental network computers; and (b) authorize the Social Services director/assistant purchasing agent to issue a purchase order to CompuCom, in the amount of $40,188.
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Lakeport City Council to discuss vacating right-of-way, software purchase
LAKEPORT, Calif. – This week the Lakeport City Council will discuss vacating portions of right-of-way, a software purchase and participation on this August's National Night Out.
The council will meet for a closed session at 5 p.m. to discuss labor negotiations before meeting in open session at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 18, in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.
At the start of the meeting, the council will recognize and congratulate the Clear Lake High School Academic Decathlon team, which won the county competition last month and is heading to the state competition this weekend.
On Tuesday the council will hold a public hearing and adopt the proposed resolution ordering the vacation of a portion of excess right-of-way on Ninth Street between Pool and Spurr streets, as well as the entire right-of-way of Harlie Street.
City Manager Margaret Silveira will ask for approval to cancel the Aug. 5 council meeting so that council members can participate in the National Night Out event.
Staff also will ask the council to authorize Silveira to execute an amendment with Tyler Technologies in an amount not to exceed $4,903 for the purchase, implementation, and subscription of the employee self service time and attendance module.
On the meeting's consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are ordinances, minutes of the regular March 4 meeting, the March 5 warrant register, and approval of Application No. 2014-005 for the Lake Family Resource Center for the Month of Young Child-Child Festival in the Park on April 12, with the closure of Park Street between Second and Third Streets.
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Judge rules senior mobile home park rent control initiatives are unconstitutional, can't go on ballots
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A Lake County Superior Court judge on Friday ruled that two senior mobile home park rent control initiatives that had been set to go before voters in the county and in the city of Lakeport are unconstitutional and therefore must be removed from upcoming ballots.
Judge Richard Martin found that the initiatives were not consistent with state statutes and also lacked an administrative mechanism for a rent control board to which residents or owners could appeal on issues related to fair rents.
“Those two matters are lethal as to this case,” said Martin.
Martin also maintained that it would be overreaching his authority to make changes to the initiatives in order to place them on the ballots, a request made by Nelson Strasser, who spearheaded the initiative efforts.
The case, Smith et al. v. Chapman, et al., was filed in January by Kerry Smith, daughter of a county park owner, and the Lake County Mobilehome Park Owners Association, as Lake County News has reported.
The park owners had maintained that the initiatives had constitutional shortcomings and that they planned to take the matter to court.
Strasser spoke in defense of the two measures at length during the hour-long hearing, with attorney Brian Hildreth representing the park owners.
Martin would laud Strasser's written and verbal defense of the measures despite ruling against him.
County Counsel Anita Grant and interim Lakeport City Attorney David Ruderman also were present, but neither offered statements to the court during the hearing.
The county measure had been scheduled for the June 3 primary, while the city measure had been headed for the Nov. 3 election. Martin issued orders to remove both from the respective ballots.
It's unclear what Strasser and the “Save Our Seniors” group – a number of whose members were among the roughly two dozen people in the courtroom – will do next to pursue the issue.
Strasser indicated at the Friday hearing that he's not sure they can go back and do it all over again. “It took a tremendous amount of energy to do this.”
“We are absolutely thrilled by the judge's decision. It was the right one,” Doug Johnson, a regional representative of the Western Manufactured Housing Communities Association, told Lake County News after the hearing.
Last year Johnson had warned the Lakeport City Council and the Board of Supervisors that the measures were constitutionally flawed.
He said the park owners worked with park residents and county officials to craft a long-term lease that they have offered for several years. “We do not support rent control,” he added.
Lakeport City Manager Margaret Silveira, who was in the audience for the hearing, said the city has had concerns about constitutional issues in the city's measure, and had informed Strasser of those concerns at the beginning of his effort.
Highlighting constitutional shortcomings
In presenting his arguments to the court, Hildreth noted, “We argue that there are three things on the face of these measures that make them clearly invalid.”
The first, and most critical, according to Hildreth, was that there was no opportunity for park owners to implement discretionary rental increases.
The second and third issues overlapped into areas of law preempted by the state Legislature. Hildreth said that the state civil code says that mobile home spaces constructed and initially available for rent after Jan. 1, 1990, are exempt from any rent control ordinance.
The city of Lakeport's initiative, he said, only exempts any spaces initially available since Jan. 1, 1991, which leaves those initially available from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 1990, subject to rent control, in opposition to state law.
In the third case, the initiatives include a requirement that mobile home park leases in excess of 12 months include a notice that they are exempt from rent control protections, with civil code requiring that those rent control exemptions are only offered if park owners provided a detailed notice and comply with requirements governing the lease's execution, according to Hildreth.
Hildreth, an elections lawyer, called Strasser's work “a respectable effort” but one with flaws. He said in his filings he almost laid out a road map for how to create a plausible rent control initiative.
Strasser argued that case law establishes that “nonmaterial errors” could be repaired by the court, so long as they don't change the intent of the initiatives.
“You could easily document my intent, and it's always been, we need to protect the seniors,” and the way to do that, Strasser added, is by associating rent control with increases in Social Security.
“The guiding principle is that the intent remains,” Strasser said.
Strasser questioned the fairness of the process to invalidate the initiatives after the “herculean effort” to gather 3,500 signatures. As such, he asked Martin to order the city and county to defend the measure, which Martin refused to do.
Martin explained his concerns about Strasser's request that he alter the measures to comply with the law. “I need to stay within the boundaries that are required of a judge.”
Martin said he was concerned with altering the initiatives, as they would no longer be what people signed the petitions to support.
“If I change it, then it's Judge Martin's view of what the initiative ought to be, instead of what the people want,” he said.
He considered the lack of a rent control board a “very serious defect,” and one he didn't think he had the legal authority to fix, whereas he might have been able to take on more minor issues.
Martin said he had spent three weeks reading up on this and similar legal cases. He added that he's in the same age bracket as those concerned about the senior mobile home park rent control issue.
Hildreth agreed with Martin that Strasser's proposed changes would significantly change the ordinance. “This is a prime example of something that should not be on the ballot.”
Strasser, in turn, invited Hildreth and the park owners to tell him how to protect seniors from being impoverished without tying rents to Social Security. He said most senior mobile home park residents are part of a captive audience, as their homes can't easily be moved.
He also asserted that the park owners would sue no matter what, as he said they have a “visceral response” to rent control. He said he had emailed all of the attorneys involved and asked to get together to work out a compromise.
“They don't want a compromise, your honor,” he said.
Martin said it was the court's function to look at both sides, and the rent control board that the initiatives lacked was a way of ensuring fairness to tenants and park owners. He said he couldn't rewrite the documents, adding, “It doesn't mean I don't believe in the cause.”
Martin said Strasser is to be admired for the work he put into the effort, but said it had to be done in a way that was not unconstitutional. He suggested there must be a city in the state that has imposed the kinds of protections Strasser is seeking, which would pass muster and could be used as a basis for a new effort.
If he sat down to rewrite the initiatives, Martin said he would be stepping over his legal boundaries, and he believed such action would be reversed by higher courts.
He also told Strasser that he believed public officials were aware of what he wanted, would pay attention to the issue if he pursued it and would work with him.
Strasser said that, based on his previous experience, he didn't feel that local public officials had been responsive, and that the avenue Martin suggested wasn't open to him and the initiative proponents.
“You've doomed us if you don't help us out here,” Strasser said.
“That's not my intent,” said Martin, pointing again to the issues with constitutionality.
Strasser said there was no solution that's good for everyone, which Martin said is true in most cases.
“I do think you have a good cause and I hope that you don't give up, but it has to be done right,” Martin said.
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