CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council on Thursday bid farewell to one of its members and welcomed a new planning commissioner.

At its regular meeting the council honored Denise Loustalot, who announced on March 10 that she intended to resign as of March 25 due to having purchased a new home just outside of the city limits.

Mayor Russell Perdock presented a proclamation to Loustalot for her service at the end of the four-hour meeting.

Loustalot won election in November 2012 and was sworn in the following month. She served one term as vice mayor in 2013 and back-to-back terms as mayor in 2014 and 2015.

“As mayor she kept this entity under control in some turbulent times,” said Perdock, recalling her leadership during volatile meetings.

He also credited her with a forward-thinking and planning approach to city governance. “You were a good leader.”

When he presented the proclamation, Perdock had invited up Loustalot's husband, Pete, noting that spouses are “a big part of this” when it comes to city service.

Perdock thanked Loustalot for all she had done for the city and wished her the best.

Loustalot thanked her fellow “teammates” on the council, explaining that she couldn't have been the mayor or councilmember she was without them.

She thanked them for electing her mayor. “I hope I served you well,” she said through tears.

Loustalot said she and her husband had wanted some additional space and to move to a quieter area. When they fell in love with their new property, they didn't know it was about 200 yards outside of the city limits, necessitating her resignation.

She said she ran on honesty, transparency and doing the job from the bottom of her heart.

During council member reports later in the meeting, Vice Mayor Gina Fortino Dickson told Loustalot, “It's been a heck of a journey,” and added she couldn't imagine having taken that journey with anyone else.

“I will miss you. But I know where you live,” Fortino Dickson added.

As for the decision about how to fill Loustalot's unfinished term until it expires in December, that matter was pulled from the Thursday agenda and will be brought back an an upcoming meeting.

Also on Thursday, the council honored Bill Perkins, who served on the Clearlake Planning Commission for a decade, and selected his successor, Russell Cremer.

Cremer and Peter Shandera were the two applicants to fill Perkins' term, which ends next March.

The council interviewed both men and then asked them to leave the room while deliberating.

The final vote for Cremer was 3-1, with Perdock recusing himself – he'd served with Cremer on other boards and service clubs – and Councilman Bruno Sabatier voting no.

In other business the council approved an updated franchise agreement with Golden State Water Co. that will allow for the city to be paid a franchise fee totaling about $20,000 annually; reviewed real estate owned by the city and the former redevelopment agency; accepted the final Highlands Park Master Plan; had the first reading of an ordinance to reinstate administrative items and building permits within the area served by the Southeast Wastewater System; presented proclamations declaring April Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Child Abuse Prevention Month; and heard a presentation on the Lake County Economic Profile Report.

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