Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce moves to new location, hires interim executive director

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Lake County’s oldest business organization is making changes in leadership and location as it completes its 70th year in existence.

The Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors has hired Joey Luiz as interim executive director. He started his duties with the chamber on Aug. 5.

Besides being a past president and board member of the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce, Luiz has 10 years of experience in the local wine and industry, most recently as sales and hospitality manager for Shannon Ridge Vineyards and Winery, and sits on the Clearlake City Council.

He also has past involvement with several other local business organizations including serving on the Board of Directors for the Northshore Business Association and Glenhaven-Clearlake Oaks Business Association.

“I look forward to continuing the legacy and commitment the Clear Lake Chamber has to serve businesses and the community,” Luiz said.

Luiz succeeds former Executive Director Tamara Richmond.

“Joey already knows how the chamber works,” Chamber President Carol Webb said. “He is the type that takes charge and we are lucky he has joined us.”

The first order of business with its new management is relocating the chamber office and visitor information center, currently located in the Clearlake Community/Senior Center, 3245 Bowers Ave. in Clearlake.

Luiz said this move is dependent on the completion of the new visitor center, to be located on Lakeshore Drive next to Highlands Park.

“The new visitor’s center project is currently on hold pending the state’s decision on that property as it has to do with the city’s dissolution of the Clearlake Redevelopment Agency,” he said.

That decision, according to Luiz, could take several months and no work can be done on the site without the ruling going in the city’s favor.

The chamber currently has a contract with the city to operate a visitor center there. Until then the chamber office, which has been relocated several times in the past two years, will utilize the space at the Bowers Avenue location that it previously occupied from 2009 to 2011.

The office is currently in that location and the visitor information center will start holding regular hours by Sept. 1.

Another challenge the Clear Lake Chamber has had in the past years is a mutually beneficial relationship with the city government.

Luiz, who is a council member and past mayor, is confident that the chamber and the city will soon be working together with full confidence in each other.

“The chamber's success weighs high in the overall success of the city in many ways, the Chamber Board of Directors and I see the many direction changes in the chamber’s recent history may have been damaging to the confidence in the organization from our members, the city and community,” Luiz said. “We plan on creating stability and consistency in the chamber's operations that will quickly turn these issues around.”

While working for the chamber, Luiz will not be able to vote on any issues regarding the chamber that go before the Clearlake City Council.

The Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce is a membership organization dedicated to developing, promoting, and serving your business and community.

Its goal is to sustain a unique and high quality of life by achieving economic vitality, with sensitivity and respect for the environment as we foster economic opportunity and a favorable business climate within the region.

The Clear Lake Chamber will hold its next monthly dinner meeting at “The Spot” diner in Clearlake on Sept. 3.

For more information on this and other upcoming chamber events visit www.visitclearlakeca.com or call 707-994-3600.

The chamber also can be contacted by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ClearLakeChamber .

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Written by: Lake County News reports

Published: 16 August 2013

Striking Lake Transit workers vote to return to the job

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A day after they failed to get intercession from the Lake Transit Authority Board in a labor dispute, striking transit workers voted to immediately return to work.

The 28 striking members of Teamsters Local 665 voted to return to work at Lake Transit unconditionally in order to restore full service on Friday, according to a Thursday afternoon statement released by the union.

Teamsters Local President Ralph Miranda said the workers are planning to show up at 6 a.m. Friday.

“They're anxious to get back to work but they're also genuinely concerned about the inexperienced drivers that are on the road,” said Miranda, noting that striking workers have followed the buses and witnessed safety issues.

The union wasn't sure on Thursday afternoon if Paratransit Services – the Washington-based nonprofit that has held the operations agreement for Lake Transit since 2007 – would be ready to accept workers back on Friday. Miranda suggested it could take several days to get drivers back to work.

Christie Scheffer, Paratransit Services' executive vice president and chief operating officer, said in an email message to Lake County News early Thursday evening that under the National Labor Relations Act, Paratransit Services has five days to process the return to work.

“The reason for this is to insure that all administrative matters are handled in a legally appropriate manner and the rights of all parties are protected in the process,” she said.

Scheffer said Paratransit Services will retain and continue to train the replacement workers it has hired since the strike began.

She said striking employees will be placed on a preferential recall list and brought back to work to fill open positions.

The union members began an indefinite strike on July 29 after failing to reach an agreement for a new three-year contract with Paratransit Services.

Union members say they want step pay increases – which they agreed to give up in 2010 due to the bad economy – restored in the new agreement.

On Wednesday they and their supporters filled the Lakeport City Council chambers and asked the Lake Transit Authority Board to create a fact-finding group and to support binding arbitration, as Lake County News has reported.

However, the board told the union that Lake Transit's contract with Paratransit Services prohibited them from interfering in the employer-employee relationship.

On Thursday, state Sen. Noreen Evans and Assemblymember Mariko Yamada sent Miranda and Lake Transit General Manager Mark Wall a letter supporting binding arbitration “to bring the current labor dispute to a speedy, fair and equitable conclusion.”

The letter continued, “This impasse in negotiations has thus far caused considerable harm to some of our most vulnerable constituents, many of whom rely on these services to conduct their daily lives.”

Miranda said the union also has contacted Congressman Mike Thompson and Congressman John Garamendi to ask for their support for binding arbitration.

Yamada is scheduled to be in Lower Lake at 2:30 p.m. Friday to visit with workers and union officials.

Lake Transit had planned to increase some of its curtailed services beginning on Friday, reporting that more routes would be added back and full service restoration would take place beginning Sept. 3.

The union and its striking workers have maintained that full service restoration was impossible with the replacement workers Paratransit Services has been hiring since the strike began.

Scheffer said Thursday Paratransit Services is moving forward with its service restoration plan, and they're working closely with their attorney “to make sure that we manage the return to work appropriately.

Despite the vote to return to work, Miranda emphasized, “We're still at odds in negotiations.”

At the Wednesday board meeting Miranda had indicated he would contact the federal mediator involved in the negotiations to ask that Paratransit Services return to the table. On Thursday he emailed that request to the mediator.

“I await their response,” he said.

Scheffer told Lake County News that Paratransit Services would return to the bargaining table if the federal mediator asked them to do so.

In her Thursday evening message Scheffer said Paratransit would continue to bargain with the union in good faith.

The 28 striking workers have been getting out-of-work benefits from the union and received their most recent paychecks, which are staggered every two weeks, which is helping them make ends meet, said Miranda. “They're doing OK.”

Miranda said none of the striking workers have received any vacation cash outs, which Scheffer confirmed.

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: 15 August 2013

Lake Transit Authority Board declines to take action in transit strike

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake Transit Authority Board found itself at the center of an ongoing labor dispute on Wednesday, as its board meeting was the scene of a lengthy discussion about an indefinite strike of the county's transit workers.

Paratransit Services, the Washington-based nonprofit operating Lake Transit since 2007, and Teamsters Local 665 are deadlocked in their efforts to reach a new contract.

That led late in July to union members voting to go out on strike for the second time in less than a month.

The indefinite strike, which began on July 29, would be a source of discussion throughout the meeting, but in particular Teamsters Local 665 President Ralph Miranda had asked for the board to discuss restoring the county's transit services “with qualified, experienced, certified, competent employees,” according to the item's precise wording on the agenda.

Miranda, along with Local 665 Secretary-Treasurer Mark Gleason, asked the transit board to support binding arbitration between the union and Paratransit Services, which Gleason said was a path to getting services restored immediately – within 24 hours.

Union representatives also suggested that the board should appoint a neutral fact-finding group to help bring the negotiations, and the strike, to an end.

Board members received a Tuesday night email from Lake County Supervisor Anthony Farrington supporting the binding arbitration proposal. In addition to Farrington, the union said it had received support for the idea from state Sen. Noreen Evans.

While board members said they sympathized with transit workers, appreciated them and wanted to see them get back to work as soon as possible, board members maintained that the contract between Paratransit Services and Lake Transit prohibited the agency from interfering with the employer-employee relationship.

Board member Martin Scheel, a Lakeport City Council representative, questioned what action the board could take legally.

“I hate to say that our hands are tied,” said Scheel. “I know that's not what any of you want to hear. But in many aspects they are.”

Miranda would say toward the end of the meeting a while the workers appreciated the favorable sentiments of the board, ultimately they didn't hear what they wanted to from the board members.

Union members and their supporters suggested Wednesday that Paratransit Services is involved in attempts to bust the union, while Paratransit Services officials replied that the union has used heavy-handed tactics during the strike, alleging that drivers have been followed, harassed and threatened.

Board member Joey Luiz, a representative from the Clearlake city Council, reported that he was called a scab by striking workers as he was visiting the Lake Transit offices this week. Union members apologized to him during the meeting for that incident.

Both the union and Paratransit Services said they have filed charges against each other with the National Labor Relations Board.

During her report to the board, Christie Scheffer, Paratransit Services' chief operating officer and executive vice president, told the board with regard to the efforts to settle on a new contract, “We have to be reasonable, we have to be realistic, and the proposal that's been laid before us is completely unrealistic.”

Scheffer said Lake Transit's payroll runs a little over $1 million annually, and Paratransit Services has had to absorb large medical and insurance cost increases, which have outstripped the increases included in the Lake Transit contract.

During the meeting it was revealed that there may be a light at the end of the tunnel.

Miranda, who reiterated that Local 665 notified Paratransit Services last month in its strike notice that the union remained ready to return to the bargaining table, said he intended to call a federal mediator on Wednesday afternoon to ask that Paratransit Services return to the bargaining table.

Scheffer told Lake County News that Paratransit Services absolutely would return to negotiations if the federal mediator asked them to do so.

However, Scheffer qualified the news by explaining that mediators usually will ask if there are changes to the situation before attempting to get the sides back to the table. In this case, said Scheffer, there have been no changes in the stances of the two sides.

Support for experienced workers

Wednesday's meeting, held in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, was a departure from most, as Board Chair Marsha Wharff noted that the meetings usually are sparsely attended.

This time, however, it was standing room only, with numerous union members, community members there to show their support and Paratransit Services staff in the room.

During the nearly three-hour-long meeting, the board heard several impassioned pleas from community members who rely on the services offered by Lake Transit.

Among them was Lakeport resident Dana Spahn, who needs the services to get around. Spahn, a double amputee who is confined to a wheelchair, said no one else can lift her heavy motorized wheelchair, which can be handled by the lifts on the Lake Transit buses.

“This is ridiculous. No one is trying to make amends here,” she said.

Lake Transit general manager Mark Wall said he believed everyone in the room was concerned about the effects of people not having transit services, but he added that it takes more than one person to work at an agreement.

In discussing pay for Lake Transit's drivers, Wall said that in understanding how transit drivers are paid, the best way to get a true comparison between Lake and other counties is to consider the funding available to the transit system, the single greatest source of which comes from a sales tax.

Lake County doesn't have as much sales tax because it doesn't have as many retail outlets, Wall said.

For 2010-2011, Lake County received more than $1.2 million in transportation funds, compared to $3.6 million in Mendocino County, more than $16 million in Sonoma County, $5 million in Napa County and $6 million in Yolo County, Wall said.

He said counties with a closer comparison to Lake County for sales tax revenue include Siskiyou, Tehama, San Benito, Colusa, Glenn and Amador.

Wall said Paratransit Services reported increasing wages by 23.1 percent since 2007.

Among the riders the board heard from was Mendocino College political science professor Phil Warf, who because of a health issue had to stop driving. He's been taking Lake Transit buses from his Upper Lake home to Mendocino College in Ukiah until the strike hit.

“It's been a really great thing for me,” he said, adding that many college students also use the bus.

Warf was upset that the Lake Transit Board wasn't taking action, telling board members that they should be acting on behalf of the public, not Paratransit Services.

Gleason told the board that the union wanted binding arbitration. He said the “fiction” Paratransit Services is putting forth about the restoration of services will only prolong the suffering for riders. He suggested it could take months before services are fully restored.

“We call on the Lake Transit Authority to join us in this remedy to restore transit service to the people of this county,” he said.

Roger Elliott, a striking union member who has been a driver for Lake Transit since February 2009, recounted the long process of learning the job, which he estimated took about a year and a half.

“This job is all about on the job training and learning as you go,” he said, adding, “When they send a new driver out, that's when the learning process begins.”

Driver and union negotiator Don Joachimstaler said the workers previously had step increases in a contract with Laidlaw before Paratransit Services took over.

Due to the bad economy, he said, the union agreed to give up the step increases temporarily when negotiating in 2010. He said the understanding was the step increases eventually would be restored, but they haven't been, and the union has said that the step increases are a major sticking point.

Joachimstaler said the drivers know their riders' life stories and work with them daily. He accused Paratransit Services of holding the county hostage.

“To do this job, you do have to be committed to it,” said Elliott, returning to the podium. “At the very end of the day, you're responsible for people's lives.”

Elliott, who works full-time, said he is one of only five Lake Transit employees who carries the full insurance package, and he can't afford to add his wife to it.

He said bringing in new employees won't solve the issues, as the problems will still remain. Elliott added that he can't count all the people he's seen come and go from jobs at Lake Transit.

When Miranda asked the board if it would take action, Board member Chuck Leonard responded that he was amazed that the union would ask someone from the outside to get involved in the situation.

“It doesn't make sense for us to get involved in something like,” said Leonard, adding that they needed to go through the negotiation process.

Luiz said he wanted to see the situation resolved quickly, noting he has met with both sides over the last few weeks. “I know there are problems here that need to be fixed.”

Noting that the services really affect people's lives, Luiz said he's a fan of living wages and honoring contracts, and pointed to the large spectrum of people who use the services.

Board member Jim Comstock, a Lake County supervisor, commended the drivers for their work. “You are dedicated, good people. There is no question about it.”

Comstock said he wanted to see service restored soon so the workers can get back to the job. But he said that the contract with Paratransit Services prohibited them from getting involved.

“Let's cool down, figure this out and make it work,” he said.

In her report to the board, Scheffer said Paratransit Services wants to restore transit services as quickly and safely as possible, and is on track with training and credentialing to fully restore all routes after the start of September.

“We're not resting. People are not taking days off,” she said.

Outside after the meeting's discussion on Miranda's requested item, Gleason spoke to workers and said that they should keep in mind the names of the elected officials on the board so that they could vote against them when they come up for their respective elections.

The union also is suggesting that it will go to Sacramento to lobby to have funds that support Paratransit Services' Lake Transit contract cut off.

“This is probably going to be a long fight,” Gleason told union members.

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: 15 August 2013

Supervisors direct staff to create lake sales tax working group

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted unanimously to approve the formation of an advisory group to work on a sales tax proposal for next June's ballot.

Supervisor Anthony Farrington took the proposal to the board, along with a suggestion to create a large advisory board with representatives from numerous groups and organizations.

The sales tax proposal, which would go before voters next June, would raise funds for lake-related projects, including weed and algae abatement, invasive species prevention and water quality.

A similar measure, Measure E, was put on last fall's ballot.

Measure E proposed a half-cent sales tax in the unincorporated area of the county, which would have raised an estimated $2.4 million to benefit Clear Lake.

The measure failed by just a few percentage points to get the necessary number of votes.

Having learned from Measure E, and with more lead time, Farrington told his board colleagues, “We're in a position to where we can put a proposal before the voters with much more input, much more collaboration.”

While Measure E was what Farrington called a “ninth inning effort,” with just a few months to lobby the community, the new sales tax measure would have several months for development and campaigning.

He said Measure E also had bigger obstacles to overcome, including a poor economy, two state proposed sales tax measures, and one sales tax measure in Clearlake, which also failed to get the needed votes.

Even so, he said Measure E did surprisingly well, receiving 63 percent of the vote. It needed 66 percent in order to be able to lock in the use of the funds for the lake, rather than have the money deposited into the general fund with no requirements.

Since Measure E's failure, Farrington said he has been approached by a number of organizations and individuals who asked him to take up the effort again.

Measure E is not a perfect document, but Farrington said it was a good starting point for a new effort.

He proposed the formation of a large advisory group that would include a member of the Board of Supervisors, representatives from the city councils of Lakeport and Clearlake, the Lake County Chamber and Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce, the Sierra Club, the Lake County Farm Bureau, local tribes, the Clear Lake Advisory Committee, nine members of the public, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, California Department of Food and Agriculture and the local board of Realtors.

Farrington was concerned, however, that if the group had to be a Brown Act-compliant organization, it could slow the process down.

Supervisor Rob Brown said the measure needed a specific plan, as that had been part of the downfall of Measure E.

Referring to the large size of the advisory group, Brown said, “It's going to take some time.”

County Counsel Anita Grant cautioned that enough time would be needed to have the measure approved by the state. She didn't have that deadlines available at the meeting on Tuesday.

“Probably the first thing the group should do is sit down and understand what that timeline is,” said Grant, noting it could be easy to pass the deadlines.

Regarding Brown Act requirements, she said that law has expanded its application. As such, if the board creates a committee and designates who it will include, “The Brown Act is going to apply.”

However, if the group is created privately, she said the board can allow staff to take part without the Brown Act requirements.

In offering her recommendation, Supervisor Denise Rushing said, “The goal is to come up with a really good plan that the public will trust enough to vote for and that will work.”

Keeping that goal in mind, Rushing questioned how they could go about coming up with a good plan quickly that also has a transparency that the public will trust. She said such processes can take months and they don't have months.

She suggested holding a series of public workshops where any member of the public with a plan could present it. In addition, Measure E and a plan formed by the Clear Lake Advisory Committee could be used to help create the new measure.

“There should be a small committee, the smaller the better,” she said.

At a minimum, she said they should be able to get all the ideas are on the table.

Farrington said holding workshops is a great idea.

County Water Resources and Public Works Director Scott De Leon didn't have any comments on the plan, but added he was happy to participate in any way the board directed him.

Farrington moved to direct De Leon to create the ad hoc working group to bring forward a proposal – including a detailed expenditure plan – for board consideration for placement on the June 2014 general election ballot.

By consensus, the board also encouraged Farrington to work with the ad hoc working group.

The board approved the motion 5-0.

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: 14 August 2013