LAKE COUNTY – The Tuesday Board of Supervisors meeting will host a discussion with Sheriff Rod Mitchell to ask questions about a federal marijuana eradication grant and contracts for helicopter services.

The board meeting will begin at 9 a.m. in the board chambers at the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St.

The discussion is timed for 9:15 a.m.

“It's on the agenda because the board wants to know what's going on,” Board Chair Denise Rushing told Lake County News on Sunday.

What's bringing the issue to the board is news of a forced landing that occurred late last month involving a helicopter rented by the sheriff's office from Cutting Edge Helicopters for marijuana surveillance.

On June 30, the sheriff's office issued a report about the incident, which occurred on the afternoon of June 25 at Cow Mountain. The helicopter itself was “substantially damaged” but the crew, including a company pilot and sheriff's Lt. Dave Garzoli, were unhurt.

The original report said that Garzoli was undergoing flight instruction, and while simulating an emergency 180-degree autorotation and power recovery procedure at an altitude of about 500 feet the helicopter's engine failed.

On July 1, the story appeared in this and other local publications.

The sheriff's office later issued a statement explaining that Garzoli – who has a private pilot license – was on his own time during the flight, and that he had an arrangement with the company's pilot to pay for flight time toward his commercial pilot license when not on surveillance or sheriff's office business. The helicopter went to Ukiah to refuel and when it took off Garzoli was paying for the time.

Mitchell told Lake County News at that time that the incident was a “nonevent.”

He explained that Garzoli and the company pilot had been flying on reconnaissance and then, for the hour preceding the forced landing, Garzoli changed his status to off-duty in order to work on his flying.

Mitchell said it was an impromptu arrangement. Garzoli, he said, explained to him in detail his duty status at the time of the crash.

“It was Dave's attempt to avoid the county having any responsibility for it,” said Mitchell, adding that having to explain the duty status was worse for Garzoli than the hard landing.

The crash was covered by the helicopter company's insurance, said Mitchell. “I don't see any liability to the county.”

The story's publication was the first time that members of the board heard about it, said Rushing.

“It has come to the Board's attention that an incident has recently occurred relative to operation of the helicopter leased to the County for the marijuana eradication program,” Rushing's memorandum to the board stated. “This has resulted in in our becoming aware that certain elements of the program may be operating differently than the Board intended when we approved the contracts earlier this year.”

In April, the board approved helicopter rental agreements with Cutting Edge Helicopters, PJ Helicopters and A&P Helicopters for the hourly rates of $490, $700 and $750, respectively, as Lake County News has reported. A federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) grant covers those costs.

After hearing about the helicopter incident, Rushing said at least two board members wanted to discuss the marijuana eradication program, and find out whether or not there is exposure to the county if the department has a pilot operating on county time.

Rushing said the sheriff confirmed that he will be at the Tuesday meeting to answer the board's questions.

“The sheriff is an elected official” and can run his department the way he wants, but Rushing pointed out that the board has oversight responsibilities for the DEA grant.

The sheriff's operational plan with the DEA for the marijuana funding for helicopters states, “In an effort to reduce costs and increase available flight time to our agency; and be able to offer support to surrounding agencies, we intend to begin operating a leased/rented aircraft in-house. Our pilot(s) must receive recurrent and required training pursuant to Title 14 CFR part 61, in order to maintain be capable of flying marijuana recon, interdiction, and investigation flights; as well as manufacturer safety course(s).”

As far as flying in relation to the grant, Garzoli is the only person from the sheriff's office “who's been participating in that aspect of things,” Mitchell said in an interview earlier this month. He said that many agencies end up with certified pilots through the experience they receive in such programs.

Mitchell said his staff has researched having its own aircraft because the cost of leasing helicopters on an hourly basis may not be the best use of money. “It is not intended to be an immediate thing, rather something we've been exploring for awhile.”

He said the DEA grant might increase significant if his department operated its own aircraft.

Rushing said the board wants to look more closely at the grant and the eradication program and discuss it with the sheriff.

“I think we just need to get everything out on the table and understand what is actually happening,” Rushing said.

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