Bridges retires after 35 years in County Counsel’s Office

LAKEPORT, Calif. – After 35 and a half years with the Lake County Counsel, Bob Bridges can say in all candor that he has been here and done that.

The retiring senior deputy in the office of County Counsel can look back over a career in which he served the county of Lake well in literally hundreds of projects. And, at the request of Lake County News that's what he was doing as he sat in the shade of a tree at Lakeport's Library Park.

"I got my undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley and went to USF law school," Bridges recalled. "While I was in law school I got an opportunity to do a county counsel clerkship in Marin. I was there for a year and really liked the work, so I started looking for a job.

"The same day I got an offer for a job in Contra Costa. Then Lake County called and said I could be hired here and I could do everything. They didn't lie – I have done everything: Advised the supervisors and the planning commission, been in court hundreds of times on different litigation matters and done a whole lot of land use matters and a whole bunch of condemnation cases." 

Bridges began his work in Lake County when the population was only a portion of what it is now and ends it with the smile of satisfaction of a man whose knowledge of county affairs kept pace with the demographic growth.

"When I came here there were 40,000 people, now it's 70,000 or 80,000," he said. "We have thousands of second homes here. There's really more going on here than meets the eye.

"I started as deputy 1, been a deputy 2 and a deputy 3. I was acting county counsel for four months in 1980 and I've been the senior deputy county counsel since,” he said.

Principally, Bridges has shepherded and litigated for approximately 30 special districts. Fire districts, water districts, cemetery districts. You name it.

"Nearly all are governed by volunteers and they usually do what they do for free, or for not a phenomenal amount of money," he said. "I've helped most of these districts with a number of interesting problems, whether they are letting contracts to build or have a pithy personnel problem."

Said Clifton Swetnam of Lakeport: "He was counsel for the county planning commission for all 12 years (2001 to January of this year) I was on it. I had a lot of exposure to Bob and we talked over many decisions.”

Swetnam added, “He was well versed in land law and was always able to provide an answer relatively quickly. He's a very smart man."

Bridges' work over his nearly four decades is closely linked with the history of the county, particularly his assistance with special districts and county government, such as:

• Water:  Helped Special Districts acquire the site for the North Lakeport Water System and assisted with sewer projects.
• Public Works: Helped the department improve Lampson Airport by acquiring more clear space along the right of way.
• Board of Supervisors: In the area of geothermal development, provided legal counsel for pumping sewage up to The Geysers and successfully defended the supervisors’ marijuana cultivation ordinance, which allows limited growing marijuana in limited places.

Another case which Bridges had a hand in settling in favor of the county involved Kelsey Creek.

"That was an interesting case shortly after I began here," he said. "There was a lot of controversy when we turned down a project that was along the edge of Kelsey Creek. We got sued over it. The BLM (Bureau of Land Management) sent us three orders from Los Angeles to handle the case and our office was able to win."

Yet another was the well-publicized Rattlesnake Island case of a half-dozen years ago.

"The developer was doing some things that our board considered to be not appropriate and I was able to get an injunction and stop him. More recently we successfully defended the supervisors' decision to approve (building) two houses out there."

Not surprisingly, Bridges, who grew up in Marin County, has developed a love for Lake County.

He met and married his wife Barbara, his wife of 33 years here and with her raised two heirs – Bethany, a third grade teacher at Lakeport Elementary, and Brad, a loan officer for a small Santa Rosa business –

here.

"I think this is a great community to be married in and to raise a family in," he said. "I enjoyed the job and I enjoyed the County Counsel's Office. It's a great place to work because of four or five lawyers who work together with a good team approach. They help each other. It's nice to be part of a winning team and we usually won our cases."

Lake County, he added, presents "local government is at its finest, with its small districts and people readily volunteer to run government at its lowest level delivering services to people who need water, sewer and vector control. I've enjoyed working with all of them."

Bridges' lifelong love for hunting and fishing ensures that he won't get bored in retirement.

He got his first hunting license when he was 13 and Barbara, an avid hunter in her own right, took him hunting on their second date. Over time he says he has bagged three elk, four antelope and a couple of deer

" ... And I have a Brittany Spaniel who's a pointing bird dog and every year we hunt pheasant," he added.

He especially likes hunting in Nevada where he has been drawn four times for a mule deer permit since 1980 .

"Every trip over there has been great," he said. "They have an amazing deer (population) and it's beautiful country."

Everything he takes down or catches on a fish hook winds up on a dinner plate.

When he's not afield or astream he'll be at work on two parks he plans to adopt. The first of these will be Bridge Arbor near Upper Lake, although given the amount sweat equity he'll put into it, renaming it Bridges Arbor might be a reasonable consideration.

"I'm going to do all the work – mowing, cleaning and getting all the trash out – but Public Works Director Scott De Leon and Public Service Director Caroline Chavez are going to support me," he said. "It's at the confluences of Middle Creek and Scotts Creek. It's going to be a walk-in park for birdwatchers, bicyclists and people who want to fish to use.

"Another project that the BLM and I are talking about is a spot called Cowboy Camp. I'm going to adopt that park and take care of it too,” he said.

Continuing to grow blue ribbon ornamental sunflowers is yet another Bob Bridges pursuit.

"I'm healthy," said Bridges, who is 61. "I can still do things."

And more things.

Email John Lindblom at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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Published: 14 September 2013

Clearlake City Council passes first reading of medical marijuana cultivation ordinance

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council moved forward Thursday with an ordinance concerning medical marijuana cultivation that included changes previously directed by the council.

Additional verbiage changes and corrections were made prior to the first reading of the ordinance, which was adopted on a 4-1 vote with Councilmember Jeri Spittler voting in dissent.

The ordinance is due to return to the council for a final reading and adoption on Sept. 26.

Spittler said she was not as concerned with marijuana as she is with the chemicals being used on vineyards. "If you want to talk about air quality, let's talk about poison, not pollen," she said.

The ordinance, which is modeled on the cultivation ordinance adopted by the Lake County Board of Supervisors last year, prohibits commercial grows and grows on vacant lots, and puts limitations on the number of plants allowed.

The ordinance prohibits cultivation within 600 feet of public or private schools, and child care centers. In the case of the latter, staff was directed in August to include and define child care centers in the document. Staff also was directed to add a "grandfather" clause to allow existing grows, within 600 feet of a child care center, to continue.

As presented by staff, the language of the additional section on child care centers was the height of the discussion. The section imposed the prohibition on cultivation within 600 feet of a child care center and continued, "except for those child care centers that are appropriately licensed and in existence at the time of the effective date of this ordinance."

Lower Lake attorney Ron Green said the section was faulty and he did not believe the language accomplished what the council had intended.

He suggested the council eliminate the section, and revisit it later, in order to move on and pass the document on Thursday.

"With the exception of the child care provisions, the ordinance essentially conforms to the county's ordinance, which was the original intent of the council. The county's ordinance has been tested in the courts, which was part of the reason for copying it," he said. "It makes no sense to add a provision that is poorly written and fatally flawed from a legal perspective; one that is basically incomprehensible, unfair and certain to lead to litigation."

Spittler also suggested eliminating the section and moving forward. She asked if the section would affect only new child care centers, and questioned how a person cultivating would know if a new child care center opened within 600 feet of his or her grow location.

City Manager Joan Phillipe said the issue would be addressed in the child care center's permitting process.

Spittler said that new child care centers should be required to give notice and public hearings should be held in order for affected residents to provide input on the permit request.

Ultimately, Councilmember Gina Fortino-Dickson recommended the second portion of the section to read as, "Cultivation in existence at the time of adoption within 600 feet will be grandfathered in," and the ordinance moved forward.    

The ordinance also connects the number of plants allowed to parcel size, allowing no more than six plants on parcels smaller than a half-acre and as many as 48 plants on properties 40 acres or larger.

Processing of marijuana is to be limited to the amount of plants that can be grown on a given parcel.

Grows on vacant lots are prohibited as is cultivation in mobile home parks - unless management has designated a specific garden area. Cultivation on multifamily and apartment properties also is prohibited.

In addition, the ordinance establishes setback and screening requirements.

Phillipe had stated in her written report to the council that it is the city's intent to enforce the ordinance based on legitimate and verified complaints. 

In other council actions, Spittler was authorized to vote on the city's behalf at next week's League of California Cities' annual conference in Sacramento. The city will vote in support of the league’s proposed policy resolutions.

One resolution calls upon the governor and the Legislature to work with the league in providing adequate funding and to provide water bonds to assist local governments in water conservation, groundwater recharge and reuse of stormwater and urban run-off programs.

The second resolution calls for the governor and Legislature to enter into discussions with the league and California Police Chiefs Association representatives to identify and enact strategies that will ensure the success of public safety realignment from a local law enforcement perspective.

Phillipe said the second resolution seeks to outline the deficiencies in the state's current public safety realignment policy implemented in 2011 and to identify changes to assist in addressing the increase of offenders now being directed to county facilities. She said Clearlake Police Chief Craig Clausen reviewed the resolution and recommended support.

The council also held a first reading of an ordinance related to state video franchises. The ordinance authorizes the city to fully exercise the regulatory authority it retains under the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006, including the collection of franchise fees and public, education and government (PEG) fees and obtaining the capacity for up to three PEG channels.

The ordinance’s first reading was approved and, like the cultivation ordinance, it will return for a second reading on Sept. 26.

Opening its meeting on Thursday, the council presented a proclamation designating September as "Suicide Awareness Month."

Contact Denise Rockenstein at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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Written by: Denise Rockenstein

Published: 13 September 2013

Lakeside Heights property owners’ tort claims rejected; group lawsuit planned

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Property owners in the north Lakeport subdivision where a landslide has destroyed several homes will sue the county of Lake after their tort claims that blame the public water system for the damage were rejected.

In July, 45 separate tort claims seeking damages were filed against the county of Lake by property owners in the Lakeside Heights subdivision, as Lake County News has reported.

The claims were processed by the county’s third-party administrator, the George Hills Co., which had 45 days to either accept or reject them.

Two weeks ago, the company delivered to the county copies of the rejections of each of the claims, according to County Counsel Anita Grant.

“That starts the six-month clock for the claimants to initiate litigation,” Grant said.

Attorney Michael Green of the Santa Rosa law firm Abbey, Weitzenberg, Warren & Emery – which is representing all of the subdivision's property owners – said his clients will be moving forward with a single lawsuit as opposed to numerous individual suits. 

“Each property owner will be a separate plaintiff with their own individual claim, however, in this single lawsuit,” he said.

Beginning in March, the hilltop cluster of 29 mostly Tudor-style homes – the earliest of which date back to the early 1980s – saw several homes along Lancaster Road destroyed and others damaged as part of the hillside began to deteriorate and slide away, also threatening nearby Hill Road.

The claims alleged the county-maintained public water system serving the subdivision “failed in that numerous breaks occurred and/or existed in said public water system such that a substantial flow of water, over some unknown period of time, leaked into the land/hillside.”

The hillside’s destabilization, according to the language of the claims, is “a direct and proximate result” of that water system failure which, in turn, has damaged and devalued homes and property.

On July 3 claims were lodged against the county by James Andrews, Argonaut Properties LLC (two claims, one by and through its agent, Mark Tanti, a second by and through its agent, James Andrews), Carol Blair, Terry Blair, Alberta Diaz, Lois Deuchar, Robert Deuchar, Blanka Doren, Randall Fitzgerald, Jose Martinez Florez, Jonathan Gibson, Rachell Gibson, Manpreet Gill, Anton Herling (two claims), Floyd Hollenback, Kory Hudson, Garey Hurn, Fred Johnson, Vernetta Johnson, Mike Kropa, Lakeside Heights Homeowners Association (through its president, Robert Deuchar), Odell Landers III, Paul Loewen, Sheryl Loewen, Lam Mai, Daniel Malugani, Marian Malugani, Kevin Nguyen, Taryn Norton, Nanette Ruth, Paul Ruth, Roderick Schnabl Jr., Jagtar Singh, Robin Spivey, Scott Spivey, Nancy Steenburgh, Tyrone Steenburgh, Mark Tanti, Heidi Thomason and Eleanor Young.

On July 24, three more claims followed, from Enoch Duplechan, Erna A. Thomason and Ken Thomason.

Grant told Lake County News in a previous interview that it was the largest number of claims she recalled ever having been filed against the county involving the same allegations and circumstances.

Differing views of the root cause

In the months since the landslide began, county officials have continued to explore issues surrounding the subdivision.

In April, the Board of Supervisors enacted a local emergency hoping for a state emergency proclamation to aid in funding to mitigate the subdivision’s issues.

A number of leak tests were undertaken with mixed results. The first test pointed to a subdivision-owned, 2-inch irrigation line as a leak source, while several later tests showed what were characterized by the testing company as relatively small leaks in the county-maintained system.

Property owners in the subdivision have told Lake County News that they believe those leak tests undertaken in the spring in fact showed that the county water system had contributed to the problem, saturating the hillside and leading to its collapse.

Supervisor Anthony Farrington, whose district includes Lakeside Heights, said at a May meeting that the homes have a variety of foundation styles, from slabs to pier post, with the latter pointing to what he said was a historical knowledge of soil instability.

Public Works Director Scott De Leon said at that same meeting that drilled pier foundations like some of those found at Lakeside Heights are used in areas of weak soils or fill. Building records also have pointed to areas of fill within the subdivision – including the landslide area along Lancaster Road – as deep as 16 feet.

Over the summer Gov. Jerry Brown indicated he would not grant the state emergency proclamation in response to the board’s April local emergency declaration.

The supervisors, however, have kept the local emergency in place while county agencies like Special Districts continue to look for answers and solutions, with plans under way to move the utility facilities within the subdivision to more stable ground.

County officials reported at a Board of Supervisors meeting earlier this month that ground movement has, for the most part, stopped, but now the concern is forming plans to make sure the slide area is kept dry during the coming wet winter months.

De Leon is expected to present winterization options to the board at its meeting next Tuesday, Sept. 17.

Green said the property owners’ legal claims against the county arise under the California Constitution. 

He said the California Constitution protects homeowners in situations where the course of behavior of a public entity results in the destruction, damage or devaluation of a homeowner’s property.

“This type of claim is called inverse condemnation,” he said, and that is what’s alleged with regard to Lakeside Heights.

Green said the case is not seeking millions of dollars for each homeowner. 

Instead, he said the value of each of the homeowners’ claims will be measured by the loss in value of their property. 

“In most instances it’s a total loss because even the homes that have not been completely destroyed now have no resale value,” he 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: 13 September 2013

Clearlake City Council to discuss marijuana cultivation, state franchise fee ordinances

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council is set to hold its first reading of an updated draft marijuana cultivation ordinance this week, and also will consider an ordinance that would authorize it to collect franchise fees and expand its cable access holdings.

The council will meet at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 12, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive, for a closed session to discuss a liability claim filed against the city by Grant Washam before convening in open session at 6 p.m.

The proposed marijuana cultivation ordinance has been revamped after it failed to get a council vote earlier this summer.

In August the council told staff to rework the ordinance, which is based on one the Lake County Board of Supervisors approved in July 2012. It prevents grows on vacant parcels and links plant numbers to parcel sizes.

City Manager Joan Phillipe’s report to the council on the draft ordinance said the updated document includes a definition for child care centers, within 600 feet of which outdoor cultivation may not take place, and adds provisions to grandfather existing child care centers. It also fine tunes some language relating to parcel sizes.

Phillipe said the document also makes clear that “it is the city’s intent to enforce the ordinance based on legitimate and verified complaints as well as providing ability to enforce general welfare, safety and health concerns.”

In addition, the draft ordinance establishes a 10-foot setback on lots smaller than half an acre and a 25-foot setback on half-acre lots, adds definitions for “residence” and “school,” and makes the ordinance’s effective date Jan. 1, 2014, according to Phillipe.

In other council business, council members will hold the first reading of an ordinance relating to state video service franchises.

The staff report said that if the ordinance is enacted it would authorize the city to fully exercise the regulatory authority it retains under the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Action of 2006, which includes collecting franchise and cable access television fees, and obtaining capacity for up to three public access, educational and government channels.

The city already has one such channel, TV8.

The council also will review the resolutions packet for the League of California Cities 2013 annual conference and determine the city's position on the issues.

Also on the agenda is a proclamation declaring September as Suicide Awareness Month.

Items on the consent agenda – considered to be noncontroversial and accepted as a slate with one vote – include warrant registers; minutes of the Aug. 22 meeting; a resolution approving submission of a grant application for the funding and execution of a grant agreement and any amendments thereto from CalRecycle; and minutes of the July 10 Lake County Vector Control District.

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. 

091213 Clearlake City Council - Draft Marijuana Cultivation Ordinance

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Written by: Elizabeth Larson

Published: 12 September 2013