For 2010, Judy Thein will be the mayor. Council member Joyce Overton nominated Thein, who this past year has served as vice mayor. She will succeed Chuck Leonard as the mayor.
Thein then nominated Overton for vice mayor, which the council also approved.
At the start of the meeting, both Leonard and Thein received thanks from the council for their efforts as mayor and vice mayor, respectively, in the past year.
Leonard thanked Thein for her work and the leadership she has shown. “Your love for this city is apparent,” he said, adding, that she's made an effort to move the city forward, “and I'm proud to work with you.”
During public comment, Aqeela El-Amin Bakheit, president of local branch of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), spoke to the council about several issues.
“This city government can do more, it can offer more, and it can be more open and honest to its citizens,” said Bakheit.
She said people have rights including economic freedom, or the right to make a living.
Bakheit said Andre Williams, who owns barbecue restaurants in Clearlake and Clearlake Oaks, has had businesses in the area for 18 years.
Williams, who is black, has been confronted with a number of restrictions to his liquor license, said Bakheit. She said the Lake County NAACP branch believes the restrictions on his license are unfair, biased and narrow-minded.
Regarding medical marijuana, “We urge the city to tread lightly on the changes to the municipal codes,” Bakheit said.
Another local NAACP member, Rick Mayo, was concerned that while Williams' ABC license transfer may be unfair on its face, it may also be illegal.
He urged the council to avoid the “tactics of the past,” adding that he hoped that the city will do the right thing where Williams' business is concerned.
When the council next moved to the temporary medical marijuana dispensaries moratorium, approved last month and being proposed for a 10 month and 15 day extension, City Administrator Dale Neiman suggested they take comments but continue the hearing to 8 a.m. Dec. 17.
Last week, the council held a meeting to release a report on its findings regarding the ordinance that had to be approved 10 days before the moratorium can be extended.
Retired District 1 Supervisor Ed Robey, who has actively participated in the discussion over medical marijuana rules at the city and county levels, told the council that the temporary moratorium was a wise thing to do, because it will give them the time to create the right regulations for dispensaries, an effort that has been under way for some time.
City to partner on Lakeshore Drive ideas
Neiman next brought to the council a discussion about Lakeshore Drive improvements, with a request for council direction.
He explained that about three months ago the city applied for a $900,000 grant to install curbs, sidewalks and gutters on Lakeshore Drive. The project – which he said would be divided into three phases – also would relocate utilities and add a middle turn lane.
The landscaping and streetlights that would accompany the improvements should be consistent, said Neiman.
The Konocti Unified School District's Career Technical Academy is developing a welding and product fabrication program as part of their occupation education program, Neiman said. Anna McAtee has organized a group called the Ladies of Lakeshore Drive Beautification Project, and the group's first task is to develop designs for planters and benches with the students.
Neiman said the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce has approved the concept, and will encourage business owners to install the benches and planters.
He said the city also wants to install the items in the city's parks; the city currently has two grants that can be used to purchase benches and planters for Highlands Park and Austin Park. People also could purchase memorial benches and planters.
Neiman said the items will be “indestructible,” and will be made of quarter-inch steel.
The council agreed to give staff direction to work with the Konocti Career Technical Academy and the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce to develop a theme for the planters and benches for Austin, Highlands and Redbud parks, and Lakeshore Drive.
Zoning ordinance to be continued
The council held a public hearing on a proposed amendment to the city's zoning ordinance regarding nonconforming provisions, which Neiman said the Clearlake Planning Commission approved.
He said the proposed changes are meant to improve productivity, eliminate duplication and provide clearer language. The proposed amendment reduces the current 33-page ordinance to 12 pages.
Some of the changes include leaving it to council members to submit appeals of planning decisions to the full council, rather than that responsibility being up to the community development director, a role which Neiman also fills.
The modified site plan review permit would allow the city to do an administrative approval by sending notices to neighbors, which Neiman said would be less costly and use less staff time.
Councilman Curt Giambruno, a former planning commissioner, noted, “Glad to see this finally take place,” as he said it had been needed for a long time.
Leonard, who also had sat on the planning commission, agreed, saying their efforts on some of the points hadn't gone anywhere.
But community members raised concerns about some of the new ordinance's provisions.
Robey suggested there were a few places where the language needed improvement. He also asked where in the ordinance's language that it said council members could take an appeal to the council. Neiman said it was in an updated version of the language that he had given the council that night for the meeting.
Next, Robey took issue with a passage that noted that the planning commission's failure to render a decision within 30 days would be deemed a denial of an application.
“Which means you can just sit on your butt and not do anything and deny stuff,” he said. “People deserve a decision.”
In addition, Robey pointed to the proposed amendment's criminal penalties for violating the zoning ordinance. Neiman said he's never not included such provisions, which begin as infractions and only become misdemeanors if compliance doesn't result.
Lower Lake attorney Ron Green, who has worked with Robey on local medical marijuana issues, said he and Robey preferred the original ordinance's language on grandfathering and legal nonconforming uses, as it's clearer.
As Green attempted to continue outlining his concerns, Neiman asked if he would submit them in writing so the council could consider them next time, a request Leonard also made, saying they were having a hard time following the discussion.
Green agreed to do so, and the discussion was continued to Jan. 14.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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