Supervisors hold beginning discussion on Jefferson state formation

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday held an initial discussion about joining the effort to form the state of Jefferson.

The board took no action but appeared open to a request from a Jefferson formation committee to provide more information about the movement for further discussion.

Board Chair Denise Rushing said she and Supervisor Rob Brown both received information about Jefferson from constituents and decided to bring it forward for a discussion.

In introducing the matter, Supervisor Rob Brown noted, “This has drawn a lot of interest for many years, and curiosity.”

Brown voiced his ongoing frustration with the county's state legislators. “Personally, I think the representation we've got in Sacramento is nothing short of pathetic.”

He said that in five years of lobbying for requiring sex offenders to register with an address – rather than allowing them to simply put down “transient” – he's been unable to get state legislators to respond. Brown added, however, that legislative aides will return calls and attend meetings.

Lake County hasn't had good representation in the State Legislature since Mike Thompson was in the State Senate, Brown suggested. Thompson left the State Legislature for Congress in 1999.

For Brown, the final straw came last month in the form of a letter from Upper Lake businesswoman Marilyn Pivniska, owner of Pivniska Trucking.

After 40 years in business, Pivniska said this year she will shut down the business she and her late husband, Butch, built as she cannot afford to repower, retrofit or replace equipment according to the requirements of the California Air Resources Board.

“I miss the old days when our good work and productivity really mattered,” she wrote.

Brown said Lake County is part of the Rural County Representatives of California, which lobbies on behalf of 33 of California's 58 counties. Those 33 rural counties, said Brown, only have 6 percent of the state's voting population.

“We are always last at the trough when it comes to what we really need,” he said, suggesting creating a new state might be needed to address the problem.

Rushing said she believed the county's state legislators had been responsive, but she felt the conversation was important.

“The rural issues are lost in the cacophony of what goes on in Sacramento,” she said, adding, “It’s a systemic problem that needs a constitutional solution.”

And that solution can't happen unless the counties do something dramatic, said Rushing, who wasn't sure that Jefferson is the answer. She also pointed to concerns for the county's small businesses that wouldn't be issues if rural areas really had a voice.

Supervisor Jim Comstock said the state is near and dear to him, “and what’s happening to it is appalling.”

He added, “Our voice is not heard in Sacramento,” citing issues such as water.

Supervisor Jeff Smith supported looking into the Jefferson proposal. “I'm definitely open-minded to see what we can come up with.”

AB 109, the bill that put in place correctional realignment – which has shifted more responsibility for housing prisoners to local jails – is the most recent glaring example that the state doesn't care, said Brown.

“There’s some value to looking at this,” Brown said of the Jefferson proposal.

“It isn’t going to work the way it’s written and there’s a lot of unanswered questions,” Rushing said.

Kelseyville resident Truman Bernal of the Lake County Jefferson Declaration Committee said California is ungovernable.

He said he believes Lake County would benefit from being included in Jefferson, adding that the committee wanted to send representatives to the board to answer questions and to help conduct town halls, and to present a declaration and petition to allow Lake County to withdraw from California and join Jefferson.

Lakeport businessman Randy Sutton pointed to the struggles of rural counties and a poor overall business climate that's causing businesses to leave the state.

“If we have a separation from these utterly ridiculous regulations, I think we’d have some hope,” Sutton said.

Leah Odom of Lakeport also asked the board to consider joining the Jefferson movement, citing her own issues with the state and unworkable regulations on her farm.

Rushing told Jefferson proponents that they needed to focus on freedom and representation. “Really, representation is the key,” she said.

Email Elizabeth Larson at [email protected] . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

Council gets pool update, approves application for grant to fund waterfront study and business loans

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council at its Tuesday meeting received a brief update on the situation surrounding the Westshore Pool, approved a grant application and presented an updated plaque honoring mayors over the last 26 years.

Council members Tom Engstrom and Martin Scheel were absent for the meeting, although Scheel participated by telephone during the council's closed session on labor negotiations, according to Mayor Kenny Parlet. Parlet said there was no reportable action from the closed session discussion.

During the Tuesday meeting, City Manager Margaret Silveira gave the council an update on the Westshore Pool, which is owned by the Lakeport Unified School District. The city and school district have an agreement for operating the facility.

The pool didn't open for use in February by the Clear Lake and Kelseyville High swim teams and the Channel Cats swim team due to concerns about the pool's safety that had been raised in a 2003 letter from the Division of the State Architect, which the district discovered in a file over the holiday break.

Those concerns had not been addressed previously, and since the letter was found the city, school district and county have been working together to find solutions, said Silveira.

On March 27, the district approved an agreement with SHN Consulting Engineers and Geologists of Willits to do soil stability testing around the pool at a cost of $10,650.

Silveira said the school district agreed to pay for the study as the city had paid close to the same amount for a new pool pump.

She estimated that the testing and report from SHN probably won't be ready for about six weeks.

“That does, of course, hamper our public swim,” said Silveira, referring to the summer months that the city operates the pool and makes it open to the community at large.

The city, Silveira added, is not subject to the rules of the Division of the State Architect like the school district is. As such, the city could still have the pool open and offer swim lessons, but she said she couldn't guarantee that yet.

Silveira said the county has offered to assist with getting the pool ready to be operated, but she noted, “We don't know what the next step's going to be.”

She added, “At this point we're all hoping for a clean bill of health on the soils.”

Public Works Director Mark Brannigan also told the council that the length of time the soil study will take will not give the city enough time to get the summer swim programs in place.

Parlet agreed with staff that it didn't make sense to invest more money in the pool until the report is done.

County Deputy Administrative Officer Alan Flora told the council that the county has been keeping the lines of communication open with the city and school district, and that the Board of Supervisors is supportive of working collaboratively to get the pool reopened.

Parlet told staff he was impressed with the new pool pump equipment, which he saw during a recent visit to the pool.

Also on Tuesday, Silveira showed off the updated Mayor's Plaque recognizing city of Lakeport mayors from 1988 to present.

She said the council commissioned the plaque in 1988, with the mayor's name to have been added each year, although it hadn't been updated since 1988. That is, until recently.

“How heavy is that?” Councilman Marc Spillman asked as Silveira picked up the plaque to show it.

“It's heavy,” she replied.

The updated plaque will be hung in the council chambers, Silveira said.

In other business, the council held a brief public hearing – and received no input – on a resolution to direct staff to proceed with finishing an application for a $400,000 2014 Community Development Block Grant Planning and Business Assistance Grant. The resolution was approved 3-0.

Consultant Jeff Lucas explained that the city was proposing to use $300,000 of the grant for a business assistance loan program and $100,000 for a planning and feasibility for the Lakeport waterfront area from Third Street to Clearlake Avenue.

Regarding the business loan program, Lucas said lenders have told the city that it's a good time to reestablish the program, which would offer low fixed rate loans, such as 2 percent over 10 years for equipment and working capital in order to foster job creation and business retention. He said the application is about halfway finished.

Silveira said the city wants community input on uses for the waterfront so that when development opportunities arise, they can be pursued. She said that the city doesn't currently have money to implement any waterfront projects, but gathering public input is the first step in any such effort.

City Engineer Scott Harter presented a resolution ordering the summary vacation of a stormwater easement located on parcel G within the Del Lago Subdivision. The council approved the resolution, which will allow the subdivision's homeowners association to build a new shed.

The council also approved Public Works Director Mark Brannigan's request to purchase an equipment trailer. A request from Harter for an Engineering Department truck purchase was continued to a future meeting.

During the meeting Parlet presented proclamations designating April as Child Abuse Prevention Month and California Safe Digging Month, and April 1 as National Service Recognition Recognition Day.

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.

Board of Supervisors to consider request to join state of Jefferson formation effort

LAKEPORT, Calif. – This week the Board of Supervisors will consider whether Lake County should secede from the state of California and join the movement to form Jefferson, a new state.

The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 1, 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 a discussion timed for 9:15 a.m., the board will consider a request from Kelseyville residents Truman and Sheryl Bernal of the Lake County Jefferson Declaration Committee to approve a declaration and petition to the California State Legislature for the withdrawal of Lake County from the state of California and to form the state of Jefferson.

Lake's Board of Supervisors is the latest county government body to be asked to join the state of Jefferson movement, the proposed boundaries of which include Butte, Colusa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity and Yuba in California, with several Southern Oregon counties also part of the proposed 51st state.

Beginning last September, Siskiyou and Modoc counties' boards of supervisors voted to adopt a declaration and petition to the California State Legislature to withdraw from California to form the state of Jefferson. The Glenn County Board of Supervisors followed suit in January. Tehama County is putting the decision up to voters this June.

Movement organizers say there are committees in support of the movement that either have formed or are forming in the remaining counties.

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: (a) Presentation of proclamation designating the month of April 2014 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month; (b) presentation of proclamation designating the month of April 2014 as Alcohol Awareness Month; and (c) presentation of proclamation designating the month of April 2014 as California Safe Digging Month.

9:15 a.m., A-6: Consideration of request to approve a Declaration and Petition to the California State Legislature for the withdrawal of Lake County from the State of California and to form the State of Jefferson.

10:15 a.m., A-7: Consideration of proposed resolution establishing policies and procedures in accordance with SB 1087.

NONTIMED ITEMS

A-8: Supervisors’ weekly calendar, travel and reports.

A-9: Consideration of appointments to the Library Advisory Board.

CLOSED SESSION

A-10: 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-10: 2. Conference with legal counsel: Existing litigation pursuant to Gov. Code Sec. 54956.9(d)(1): Sheffer, et al. v. County of Lake, et al.

A-10: 3. Conference with legal counsel: Existing litigation pursuant to Gov. Code Sec. 54956.9(d)(1): Fowler and Ford v. County of Lake.

CONSENT AGENDA

C-1: Approve minutes of the Board of Supervisors meetings held on March 25, 2014.

C-2: (a) Adopt proclamation designating the month of April 2014 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month; (b) adopt proclamation designating the month of April 2014 as Alcohol Awareness Month and (c) adopt proclamation designating the month of April 2014 as California Safe Digging Month.

C-3: Approve amendment number one to the memorandum of understanding between the county of Lake and the Lake County Deputy District Attorney’s Association (DDAA), Unit 8, and authorize the chair to sign.

C-4: Approve third amendment between the county of Lake and Kappe+Du Architects to provide additional engineering services to the Castle Elevator Project, maximum amount $1,250, and authorize the chair to sign.

C-5: Approve appointment of Maria Valadez as interim registrar of voters at salary grade B29, Step 2, effective March 18, 2014.

C-6: Approve letter of support for AB 2402: Noxious weed abatement, and authorize the chair to sign.

C-7: Approve first amendment to the agreement between the county of Lake and North Valley Behavioral Health LLC California for FY 2013-14 acute psychiatric hospital services, an increase of $75,000, and authorize the chair to sign.

C-8: Approve first amendment to the agreement between the county of Lake and Bayfront Youth and Family Services for FY 2013-14 specialty mental health services, an increase of $30,000, and authorize the chair to sign.

C-9: Approve job description for extra help pool maintenance worker and establish the salary at grade A12.

C-10:  Approve plans and specifications for the Soda Bay Road at Cole Creek Bridge Replacement Project near Kelseyville, and authorize the Public Works director/assistant purchasing agent to advertise for bids.

C-11: Approve plans and specifications for the Hilderbrand Drive at Saint Helena Creek Bridge Replacement Project near Middletown, and authorize the Public Works director/assistant purchasing agent to advertise for bids.

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.