How to resolve AdBlock issue? Clearlake City Council ousts Spittler as mayor; Overton to fulfill remaining months of term
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A majority of Clearlake City Council members on Thursday night voted to remove Jeri Spittler from the mayor's seat, citing issues that included disrespect for fellow council members, difficult working conditions and the failure to follow protocol.
The nearly four-hour-long meeting played out before a packed audience, many people holding signs in support of Spittler, elected mayor by the council last December.
However, despite a large amount of public comment supporting Spittler, her fellow council members indicated they were not pleased with Spittler's leadership and voted to remove her four months before her term as mayor was set to end.
The vote was 3-2, with Vice Mayor Denise Loustalot, and council members Joey Luiz and Gina Fortino Dickson voting to unseat Spittler. Spittler and Council member Joyce Overton voted no.
While Overton said she hadn't wanted to consider removing Spittler, she did offer some of the evening's most persistent criticism of Spittler and her approach to leading the council.
Overton said Spittler always had an excuse to explain her behavior and that she had failed to apologize or to consider when she had done anything wrong. Spittler countered that she had apologized whenever she made mistakes.
While Thursday night's meeting was at times heated – at the end Spittler's supporters were jeering and shouting at the council – at the beginning of the meeting council members said it was the most cordial meeting that they had been to him sometime.
After the vote to remove her, Spittler – who said she was she felt she was being picked apart by her council colleagues – gathered her things and left the council chambers, followed by a group of her supporters. She refused Lake County News' request for a comment after the meeting.
The council voted to have Overton succeed Spittler as mayor and also agreed to pursue mediation in order to try to work out their issues.
Spittler defended herself during the meeting, saying she didn't mistreat people, that her efforts were “love offerings” and that she was trying in her own way to make the city better.
City Manager Joan Philippe told Lake County News after the meeting that she was speaking to a League of California Cities circuit rider about the possibility of coming in to lead mediation with the council. She also has received offers from two Lake County residents offering mediation assistance.
The issues between Spittler and her fellow council members had come to a head at the Aug. 8 meeting, when they had discussed aspects of a proposed marijuana cultivation ordinance and placing a new 1-percent road tax on the November ballot. At the end of that meeting, Luiz asked for a discussion on changing the council's leadership to be brought forward at this week's meeting.
During the Thursday night discussion, Overton said she believed that Spittler is a goodhearted person who means well, but she took issue with some of Spittler's actions, including making changes to the staff lunchroom without permission, and getting into the city's secure records room, being rude to other council members and interrupting council members' comments at the meetings. Overton suggested there was a need for team building.
Dickson, one of the council's newer members, said she felt that the way Spittler had portrayed the issues to the community in the run up to the meeting – that the council was considering removing her from the mayor's job because its members had disagreed with her over matters like the road tax – was disrespectful, saying that the impetus had never been about disagreeing with her.
The day after the road tax vote, Spittler went on the radio and campaigned against the tax, Dickson said. “That's inappropriate.”
Dickson, who explained the stages of team building, told her colleagues, “We're faced right here with a moment, an opportunity, to become a team that can perform at a very high capacity.”
Spittler said she and her fellow council members communicate, and they don't always agree but she called them an “awesome” team.
Loustalot said she was not used to being treated unkind and unfair. “We can disagree in a respectful way and that's what doesn’t always happen up here or in closed sessions or in the staff room,” she said.
Loustalot also raised an issue about Spittler going to the Board of Supervisors months ago to bring up issues about the city's incorporation 33 years ago.
At that board meeting, Spittler had spoken as mayor of the city, but her council colleagues had not given her permission to speak on behalf the city.
Spittler said she raised the issue with the Board of Supervisors because it was one that had been raised with her by community members. She said she didn't realize she was being inappropriate by going to the board without the council's permission.
Luiz, who served as mayor himself, said he presided over a much more divided council with more issues, yet they didn't have the negativity and declining staff morale they've seen during Spittler's tenure.
Like Dickson, he took issue with the fact that Spittler has put it out to the community that she was being considered for removal because of disagreements with fellow council members. Luiz said a look at their voting records would reveal that he and Spittler agree on about 90 percent of the issues. “So how does that make sense?”
He added, “There is no conspiracy here. There is no hidden issue.”
Spittler, in response to the criticisms, told council members, “I've never been rude to anybody.”
She said she believes in standing her ground, and suggested that each of the council members had something different to offer.
Both Loustalot and Luiz had concerns about going into future closed sessions with Spittler because of her behavior behind closed doors. Loustalot asked Philippe at the meeting if she and Luiz had been the only ones who had had that concern. Philippe said no.
Dickson accused Spittler of deflecting her issues onto others. “That's happened more than once in your time as mayor.”
Spittler said she wasn't trying to deflect, she was trying to explain. “I'm doing the best I can as mayor,” she said, adding that she has apologized for every mistake and felt she was being persecuted for a difference of opinion.
“We all have to look at ourselves,” and look for ways to improve, Dickson said. She said that every time a problem is brought up Spittler had a reasoning that made it OK for her to act a certain way.
“I feel like I'm being dissected for everything I do,” said Spittler.
Overton noted that things had gotten out of hand. “Jeri, the problem with you is you will never look in the mirror and say you've done anything wrong.”
Community members defend Spittler
After more than an hour of council discussion, public comment began. Spittler asked for everyone to be orderly and not to call names. For a time the rules were followed, and at one point a woman was told to leave for shouting out from the audience.
But by late in meeting audience members had begun to talk loudly over council members and were shouting at them from the audience. When council members asked Spittler to take action, she only hushed the audience and didn't have anyone else leave.
Approximately 27 people spoke to the council about the matter. Many were in support of retaining Spittler as mayor, while others accused the entire council of being dysfunctional. There were accusations of Brown Act violations on the recent radio show, appeals to get the council to work together and offers of mediation.
Michael Dunlap told council members that the public didn't care about their feelings and he also wasn't interested in hearing how hard it was to be on the council, noting that they can resign they didn't like it. “Get on with it,” he said.
Two retired council members, Roy Simons and Chuck Leonard, addressed the council. Simons, who called the whole discussion “embarrassing,” said Spittler had the right to her opinion.
Leonard told the council that the decision they had before them ultimately was up to them to make.
“The leadership has been terrible,” said Leonard, who told Spittler directly, “Jeri, you're in over your head.”
Pete Gascoigne said he wanted to see council members debate passionately but respectfully. He said Spittler had a right to go the Board of Supervisors, just not to do so in her capacity as mayor. When decisions are made by the council, he said members shouldn't go against that decision by the majority.
Gascoigne, noting he's a Raiders fan, added, “Get along, don't go the Raiders way.”
Adelia Leonard, who was at the Aug. 8 meeting, agreed with council members that at that meeting will Spittler had not behaved appropriately. “She is extremely rude. she is extremely disrespectful.”
Leonard pointed out that many of the people supporting Spittler at Thursday night's meeting warrant at the Aug. 8 meeting and didn't see her behavior. She suggested if they had, they would've found it inappropriate.
Tim Williams said he used to come to quite a few meetings but that the atmosphere has started to become nastier about a year ago. He recalled having previously asked Overton, when she was mayor, about bringing in mediation for the Council.
“None of you are professionals,” he said suggesting professional outside assistance for a mediator could be helpful.
Bruno Sabatier said he had never seen the council chambers so packed. He wanted to see energy spent on issues rather than disagreements like that involving Spittler, and urged the council to work as a team.
Tracy Lahr, who noted that she knows all of the council members, told them, “This saddens me.”
She recalled having sat and talked to both Luiz and Spittler when they were running for office in 2010. “I just want to see you guys work together,” she said.
Lahr encouraged them to find a way to get along. “I believe in you guys,” she said.
Estella Creel – who Spittler received a restraining order against last year over an incident with the dog – said if the many people crowding the chamber came to meetings occasionally they would see what actually happens and the “chaos” Spittler causes at the council meetings.
Pete Loustalot, Denise Loustalot's husband, said that the job that was before the council members was not a popularity contest; it wasn't about going on Facebook or about getting people to come to the meeting.
If they were there for the right reasons, it was about improving Clearlake and making the hard decisions, he said.
Tina Conatser said she voted for all the council members, and didn't understand why they were taking the action against Spittler. She said she had a hard time understanding why Spittler was wrong.
Conatser wanted the council to stop what she called “childish behavior” and get back to work, adding that Spittler put tremendous effort into the community.
Luiz said the matter was about being consistent in doing the city's business. He said Philippe is leading and doing a great job, they are working on a new general plan and looking for solutions to problems.
“The problem is we're going to get held up for the next four months if we can't make this better,” he said.
When Luiz said Spittler doesn't have the skill to conduct meetings or to respect other members, a man in the audience yelled out that Luiz was an idiot. “That's the type of people she leads,” Luiz responded.
Dickson said she was extremely embarrassed by the matter, noting it wasn't an easy discussion and she wasn't happy to been involved.
Reading from a document on council conduct, which explained the mayor's responsibility to facilitate the orderly conducting of city business, Dickson said that those rules hadn't been followed during Spittler's tenure as mayor.
Dickson believed Spittler could do a good job. She recalled that she had supported Spittler in becoming mayor.
She said she thought Spittler could correct those issues with the council, but added, “I don't know that you will.”
“I'm always working on myself,” said Spittler.
Spittler said she would never have put any of the other council members in the position that they were putting her in during the meeting. She was not sure how she was supposed to react to four people critiquing her “to the bone.”
Spittler said she has tenacity and will stand her ground, adding that she was on the council because she believes she can help the city, which she suggested was the motivation of the other council members.
It would be Spittler who finally called for the motion. “How much more can you beat on me?” She said she was guilty of “reckless acts of kindness.”
The council members all sat silently for a moment before Loustalot, who took a deep breath, made the motion to remove Spittler as mayor, with Luiz seconding.
After the 3-2 vote, Spittler's husband, Tony, yelled from the audience, “You guys suck.”
As the audience began to yell at the council, Spittler told them to calm down and, referring to police officers standing at the back of the room, suggested they would love to choke someone, a comment that angered members of the police force.
The council then voted 4-0, with Spittler abstaining, to appoint Overton as mayor. In addition, Dickson suggested that they take a recommendation from Phillipe and find a mediator.
Spittler then got up and left the room with a number of audience members following her out. A short recess was called, with the remaining four council members coming back and Overton sitting in the mayor's seat.
Overton said she took the seat with regret.
With all of the council members agreeing to forgo giving their reports that night, the meeting was adjourned about 10 minutes before 10 p.m.
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Supervisors continue Lakeside Heights emergency
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday heard from county staff about the latest developments with regard to the north Lakeport subdivision damaged by a landslide earlier this spring.
After a short discussion, the Board of Supervisors decided to keep in place an emergency declaration it implemented earlier this year in response to the landslide at Lakeside Heights.
Since the landslide began in March, close to half of the homes in the 29 home subdivision off of Hill Road have been emptied, either because of damage that led to homes being red-tagged and evacuated under mandatory order, or due to residents voluntarily evacuating at the county's suggestion.
Special Districts Administrator Mark Dellinger told the board that seven boring holes have been drilled at the subdivision to monitor for ground movement.
In six of the boring holes, Dellinger said no ground movement was seen.
However, in the seventh, which is located near a newly installed a manhole at 5382 Lancaster Road, 1/10th of an inch of movement was found to have taken place over the last four weeks in the upper 19 feet of the ground, Dellinger said.
Dellinger said the geotechnical firm advising the county is recommending that a series of closely spaced piers be installed to stabilize the ground, a solution which could be a permanent one.
The estimated cost to install the piers is between $50,000 and $70,000, according to Dellinger.
He cautioned that the geotechnical firm believes the landslide will have higher rates of movement once the winter rains saturate the area.
Supervisor Denise Rushing asked about how piers will secure the facilities. Dellinger said that they would drill down into the bedrock, which would help stabilize the ground to make sure that the relocated sewer infrastructure would be safe. He said there could still be some movement in the ground down slope of the piers.
He urged the board that if the county was going to take this action installing the piers, it needed to be done before the winter rains.
“To me, time is of the essence,” said Dellinger.
Supervisor Anthony Farrington asked Dellinger about where to source the money for the piers.
Dellinger said the county received a $60,000 grant from the State Water Quality Control Board for design and geotechnical work. Once engineers certify that the new location for the sewer and water infrastructure is sound, they can then go back and apply for grants to cover the piers.
He said $49,000 the county received from the California Department of Public Health is for expenses already incurred in dealing with the water infrastructure.
Farrington said it's one thing to receive grant monies and state assistance, but he was concerned about having ratepayers in the system make substantial investment in an area that he said some homeowners want to abandon.
He made a passing reference to the tort claims that have been filed against the county by the subdivision's property owners, who allege that the county's water system was responsible for releasing water into the hillside, destabilizing it and leading to the landslide.
Dellinger said at some point the board will have to discuss whether to go forward with major infrastructure projects, and where the money for such projects will come from.
Farrington also wanted to wait to lift the emergency until after a geotechnical study is complete.
County Counsel Anita Grant said the emergency could remain in place if the supervisors were comfortable the same conditions and findings still existed.
Board Chair Jeff Smith said he was struggling with the idea of leaving the emergency in place.
Farrington argued that they still have ground movement, need the pier structures, continue to have a temporary sewage system in place and are trying to winterize the area. He said none of the supervisors have been able to read the geotechnical report yet to make a decision.
Supervisor Jim Comstock agreed with Farrington about continuing the emergency, noting that once it starts raining they are likely to have an emergency again.
“We don't even have an answer and a solution, and it's going to become a major emergency again if we don't continue our plan,” Comstock said.
Grant pointed out that the law that allows supervisors to declare emergencies doesn't imagine that such emergencies will continue into perpetuity, based on the idea that something bad may happen.
Comstock replied that it's not “may,” it's “will” regarding if they could be facing a future emergency. Grant said that it's a factual finding the board has to make.
Smith said that the emergency is over and the board should end it. He said a new emergency may offer a better chance at funding.
Rushing pointed out that if a house sliding down the hill didn't result in government funding – a reference to the fact that the governor refused to declare a state emergency for the subdivision – she doesn't think a new emergency will garner support either.
“We have not resolved this yet,” Rushing said. Until the board gets the geotechnical report, she said there still is a state of emergency. “There are so many things up in the air.”
Farrington asked for the emergency to be continued another month.
The board agreed to keep the emergency in place. The supervisors will hold their next discussion on the emergency beginning at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17.
On Tuesday, Sept. 3, Public Works Director Scott De Leon, the county's incident commander for the emergency, said he and his staff will return with recommendations and options for the board to consider regarding stabilizing the soil in the subdivision.
Supervisor Rob Brown recused himself from the Tuesday discussion because his daughter and son-in-law own a house in the subdivision.
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Clearlake City Council to consider replacing mayor; discuss animal control contract with SPCA
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council is set to consider replacing the mayor over allegations of unprofessional conduct, and also will discuss a proposed animal control contract with a local nonprofit.
The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.
At the council's Aug. 8 meeting, which featured a lengthy discussion about a proposed marijuana ordinance, council members criticized Mayor Jeri Spittler for her treatment of them.
Council member Joyce Overton said Spittler needs to quit making accusations against other council members, and Councilman Joey Luiz called for a discussion regarding changing the council's leadership.
Both Luiz and Vice Mayor Denise Loustalot revealed they have refused to attend any more closed sessions if Spittler is present due to her abusive behavior.
City Manager Joan Philippe's report to the council for the Thursday meeting explains that the term of office for mayor and vice mayor is for a 12-month period commencing on Jan. 1 each year. The council had elected Spittler mayor late last year.
Philippe, in her report, offers a “possible option” in the form of scheduling a workshop session in roundtable format to try to address the issues that have arisen between the council members. She said the approach works best when using a facilitator.
She said that if there's an interest in this option, staff will work to schedule a workshop and find a no-cost facilitator.
“A community member has approached me with an offer to provide facilitation but in a situation like this, it may be better to use someone not familiar with or associated with city,” Philippe wrote.
Also on the agenda, the council will consider a proposed contract with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for animal control services in the city.
The city had been talking with Lake County Animal Care and Control about a new contract for services, which the city took over in 2009 in an effort to save money, according to Philippe's report.
Philippe said the SPCA of Clear Lake came forward to express its interest in being considered for the contract.
She said the SPCA has agreed to a three-year contract with the city, and would maintain field services in the first year.
The organization would provide full access to its premises as needed to drop off animals, offer veterinary service during regular business hours as well as two annual low-cost vaccination clinics in the city limits, provide licensing and maintain collected fees, and maintain a Facebook page and Web site for adoptions, Phillipe said.
In the contract's first year, the city would continue to maintain an animal control officer, according to Philippe's report.
The SPCA has agreed to charge $20,000 for partial services in the first year, compared to the $145,000 that Philippe said had been discussed in preliminary talks with the county.
The proposed agreement requires that the SPCA present a proposal to the city no later than the end of April 2014 for providing complete animal control services for the remaining two years of the contract, according to Philippe.
Philippe said the city has $129,000 budgeted for animal control in the coming year.
On the consent agenda – a slate of items usually considered noncontroversial and accepted on one vote – are warrant registers, minutes of the July 25 and Aug. 8 meetings, receipt of and response to the 2013-14 grand jury report, and a proclamation for Anni Garvin's 100th birthday.
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Lakeport City Council orders report on senior mobile home park rent control initiative
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council on Tuesday ordered a report from city departments about the possible impacts of a voter initiative to establish rent control in senior mobile home parks.
Lakeport resident Nelson Strasser of the group “Save Our Seniors” circulated petitions and collected enough signatures to put the rent control measure on the November 2014 ballot, as Lake County news has reported.
The measure, as written, defines senior parks as where there is one inhabitant age 65 or older in 80 percent of the homes.
It would roll back all rental rates within such parks in the city to Jan. 1, 2012, and would tie future rent increases to the percent increase for Social Security benefits.
The Support Our Seniors group also is circulating petitions to put a similar measure on a countywide ballot.
Administrative Services Director Kelly Buendia went over the options the council had, including adopting the measure as a city ordinance within 10 days, putting it on the ballot or asking for a report within 30 days from city departments to measure the initiative's potential impacts.
Staff, Buendia said, recommended the third option because she said early in the process the city attorney had identified potential legal issues with the initiative.
Current city attorney David Ruderman said that when the ballot and title were prepared for the initiative, the city attorney – referring to former city attorney Steve Brookes – prepared a letter outlining concerns about legality.
“Those are issues that likely would warrant some additional research to flesh out,” Ruderman said.
Although the election code provides two options once the report by city staff is submitted – adopting it as an ordinance and putting on the ballot – Ruderman said case law also has identified some other alternatives when confronted with an initiative that likely is invalid.
Those alternatives, Ruderman said, include seeking declaratory relief by asking a court to adjudicate the validity of the measure to determine if it is constitutional or if it's preempted by state law. That would free the city from having to place it on the ballot.
The other option is simply not to call an election, Ruderman said, which likely would result in the city being sued in an effort to get it on the ballot.
“Those are things that would be options for you if that report were ordered,” Ruderman said.
Mayor Tom Engstrom asked what the drop dead date was for placing the measure on the November 2014 ballot. Ruderman replied that it was 88 days before the election.
Park owners, senior residents weigh in
The council chambers for the meeting were nearly filled with people who'd come to hear the discussion. A number of them spoke about their concerns, while others offered their support.
Bill Cline, a recent resident of Lake County who owns Castlewood Estates in Nice, said the efforts to implement the measures in both the city and county would result in an expensive bureaucracy. “It's not necessary.”
Strasser, speaking in defense of his measure, said he had come to the council last year with a signed petition from residents of his Park, Fairgrounds Village in Lakeport, and asked the council to take action, which it didn't do.
He later came across the initiative process and decided to pursue it. “That's how this whole thing got started,” he said.
Strasser said he did a lot of copying and pasting from other rent control ordinances around the state. As such, he was skeptical that there would be legal problems, as most of the language already is in place elsewhere. The only new part, he said, is tying rent increases to Social Security.
He urged the council to adopt the measure as a city ordinance. He said seniors who live in such parks are in a very vulnerable position and often can't afford to move – or physically can't do so – when their rent is increased too much.
Council member Stacey Mattina asked Strasser if he had attempted to fix his measure when he received a letter from the city attorney.
Strasser said he actually received two letters from Brookes alluding to various conflicts in case law.” I fixed all the ones I could,” he said.
The main issue, linking rent increases to Social Security, has no case law. “It's never been done before,” said Strasser.
Bill Eaton, the chair of the Save Our Seniors Committee, furnished a handout to audience members and council members explaining the rent increases in the Sterling Shores Estates mobile home park in north Lakeport.
The chart showed that the rates in the park increased from a little over $400 a month six years ago to now nearly $700 per month after the park was purchased by an outside investment firm.
“Rents have rocketed up far beyond the cost of living,” said Eaton.
He added, “There is no protection for seniors. The owners can up the rent at any time if there's no contract.”
Eaton asked the council to put the initiative on the November 2014 ballot.
McKay Florence of Loomis, part owner of Strasser's park Fairgrounds Village – as well as about 15 other parks according to his firm's Web site – said he and his partners purchased the park in May 2012.
“We're proud of the property,” he said, adding they like being part of Lakeport community.
He said the previous property owner might have been considered neglectful and he encouraged council members to visit the 56-space park, where they have invested $75,000 since purchasing it.
Florence agreed that there is the potential to take advantage of tenants but added that it's a free market system. He said they increased rents $25 per month last year after purchasing the park. They also offer rental assistance to those who need it.
Council warned of potential dangers
Mary Ann McQueen, who owns Northport Trailer Resort along with husband Jerry, said the county went through the process of creating a long-term lease agreement that owners could adopt. That 2008 agreement limited rent increases to between 3 and 7 percent at a time.
“All the time and effort we've spent, we don't need to go through this again,” McQueen said, adding that the idea that park owners raise rents so people can't rent from them is “ludicrous.”
Mattina asked if the committee that created the county lease was still active. McQueen said no, explaining that a number of parks signed on to offer the leases. The parks that accepted it were to be exempt from future rent control.
Doug Johnson, a representative of the Western Manufactured Home Community Association, told the council he worked on the lease program McQueen described.
“It was one of the hardest projects I've ever worked on in my 20 years in the association,” Johnson said.
Despite the fact that the process was acrimonious and painful at first, Johnson said 82 percent of all the park owners in the unincorporated county offered the lease.
Holding up Strasser's two paragraph initiative, Johnson said most rent control initiatives are 20 to 40 pages long and that the proposed initiative was too short. He suggested it would be the most draconian rental ordinance in the state of California, asserting it was unconstitutional.
Johnson said if the initiative is adopted it will put the city at financial risk. “That's not a scare tactic. That's the truth.”
He urged the council to request the 30 day report and said the park owners are looking at their legal options. “This is dangerous, this is really dangerous.”
Save Our Seniors Committee member Heather Powers, another Sterling Shores resident, said the committee has done a lot of research in the past year and found only one single park in the county using the lease agreement McQueen described.
She said when the committee showed that lease to an attorney, the attorney said the lease was more about protecting park owners.
“Somebody needs to be thinking about the old people and not just the Main Street businesses,” said Powers.
After about an hour's worth of public comment, the council briefly discussed its options, with Councilman Kenny Parlet moving to order the report from city staff.
The council approved Parlet's motion 5-0.
Buendia said at the meeting that the report must be returned to the council within 30 days of the Tuesday meeting.
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Lakeport City Council to consider placing senior mobile home park rent control initiative on ballot
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council this week will discuss whether to put a rent control initiative for senior mobile home parks before city voters next year.
The council will meet on Tuesday, Aug. 20, at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St., for a closed session beginning at 5 p.m.
During the closed session council members will discuss two potential litigation cases and discuss negotiations for price and payment terms on a property at 1025 Martin St.
The open session will begin at 6 p.m.
The council will receive and file Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley's certificate of examination of a senior mobile home rent control initiative petition that has received enough signatures to be placed on the November 2014 ballot, when the next municipal election will take place, as Lake County News has reported.
Lakeport resident Nelson Strasser, a member of the “Save Our Seniors” group, authored the measure
He initially had asked the city to consider taking up the issue but when that didn't happen he began the initiative process late last year and started signature gathering this spring.
Strasser's measure defines senior parks as where there is one inhabitant age 65 or older in 80 percent of the homes.
In such parks, the measure would roll back all rental rates to Jan. 1, 2012, requiring that future rent increases be based on the percent increase for Social Security benefits.
According to Administrative Services Director Kelly Buendia's report to the council, they have three options: adopting the measure within 10 days, voting to place it on the next city election or ordering a report from city agencies on the initiative's impacts.
“The City Attorney identified potential legal issues that could make the initiative invalid and unenforceable should it be adopted by the voters,” Buendia wrote.
For that reason, she said city staff is recommending the third option – that the council order a report on the measure's effects.
The report needs to be submitted no later than 30 days from the Aug. 20 meeting, according to Buendia.
Also on Tuesday, the Lakeport Main Street Association will present a donation to the city to defray costs of the annual July 4 fireworks display at Library Park.
There also will be presentations of certificates of appreciation to donors to the Westside Park’s Jane Barnes Field Project and acknowledgment of assistance from local agencies and businesses that participated in and contributed to the city of Lakeport’s inaugural National Night Out event on Aug. 6.
City Public Works Director Mark Brannigan will take to the council a request by Martha Munoz of Villa’s Snow Cones to sell snow cones at Westside Community Park in conjunction with Konocti Youth Soccer League matches.
The council also will consider two resolutions to be presented at the Sept. 18-20 League of California Cities annual business meeting and determine the city’s position on each, with direction to the city’s voting delegate to represent the city’s position at the meeting.
On the meeting's consent agenda – a slate of items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted on one vote – are ordinances, warrant register from July 24 to Aug. 7, minutes from the council's July 16 and July 23 meetings, July building permit reports, application 2013-016 for Lakeport Elementary School’s Halloween Parade and a resolution declaring certain property surplus and approving its’ sale.
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082013 Lakeport City Council agenda packet
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