The board also wants to explore seeking reimbursement from sheriff's Lt. Dave Garzoli, who was receiving pilot training while taking part in marijuana overflight operations.
On June 25, a helicopter the county rents from Cutting Edge Helicopters as part of its illicit marijuana eradication program had a forced landing on Cow Mountain due to engine failure, as Lake County News has reported.
Garzoli was at the controls, accompanied by a certified flight instructor from Cutting Edge, according to the preliminary report completed by the National Transportation Safety Board.
They were doing a 180-degree autorotation with a power recovery. The procedure generally is an emergency descending maneuver done in the case of an engine failure. A search of YouTube for “180-degree autorotation” brings up numerous video examples of the maneuver.
As the helicopter Garzoli was piloting went into a glide the instructor noticed the oil and auxiliary fuel pump lights were on, the NTSB report noted. The instructor attempted to increase the throttle but had to take a hard landing, damaging the helicopter.
Sheriff's officials have reported that Garzoli, who has been with the agency about 20 years, has a private pilot license and is seeking a commercial license.
Members of the Board of Supervisors said they became aware of the incident after reading about it in the local media.
Board Chair Denise Rushing on Tuesday cited the July 1 Lake County News story on the landing, and then pointed to a paragraph in a Monday Lake County News story that quoted the sheriff's operational plan under the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agreement that funds the helicopter.
That plan noted that the sheriff's office, in an effort to reduce costs and increase flight time, intends “to begin operating a leased/rented aircraft in-house.”
That's a document that board members said they have never seen, and which Mitchell said, historically, hasn't been something he's submitted to the board.
Mitchell, who presented to the board an extensive packet of information on Tuesday to address their questions and concerns, said his office has contacted 24 other agencies and found that only about a third of them submit their operational plans to their boards of supervisors.
Supervisor Rob Brown pointed out that the board doesn't get operational plans on a lot of things.
He said they should all be grateful no one was hurt or killed in the June 25 incident.
“I was personally surprised that we had the program in place at all,” he said.
He also was concerned that a county employee, Garzoli, was taking flying lessons.
Brown pointed to a Feb. 13, 1996, vote by the board against having a helicopter program. Mitchell clarified that the vote was to turn down buying three military surplus aircraft.
“For me the bottom line question is, there's an individual that's getting some flight training,” Rushing said. She asked if that was happening on county time and at county expense.
Mitchell said it was on county time, but the costs are covered by the DEA grant. In a 5-0 vote the board approved an agreement with the DEA for $275,000 to cover costs of eradicating illegal marijuana on April 14.
For Rushing, another issue that arose was the fact that “the individual benefiting from the flight training was the negotiator,” referring to Garzoli, who worked with the DEA on the contract.
“In my mind it makes it difficult to say that that's a pure process,” she said.
County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox emphasized the liability issue for the county that results from having a county employee flying an aircraft.
“The board needs to make it clear that it's not to happen any more,” he said, urging supervisors to pass a motion saying that a county employee shouldn't be piloting an aircraft on work time. “It's not covered in our insurance.”
County Counsel Anita Grant said she spoke with the county's insurance carrier, who informed her that if the county leases an aircraft for more than 30 days, the insurance treats that aircraft as belonging to the county. As a result, the county's use of a helicopter on a long-term lease isn't covered by the liability program, necessitating a separate policy.
She said the insurance carrier is telling the county “the risk exposure is huge and the cost would be commensurate.”
Questions arose about whether or not Garzoli was on or off duty at the time.
While Garzoli had told the sheriff he changed his status to off duty in order to take responsibility, Mitchell said, “You can't separate the fact that he was on duty at the time that he turned over controls to the pilot.”
He added, “The incident, from my perspective, was an on-duty incident.”
Supervisor Anthony Farrington said this was a situation in which the board has jurisdiction regarding oversight of public safety. He asked Mitchell if he was aware of everything that had taken place regarding the incident. “I was not,” Mitchell replied.
County worried about liability, reimbursement
The sheriff told the board he recognized its authority to put limitations on job duties, and that it has the right to give direction against employees flying, a directive that he would follow.
Farrington said they had to address any perceptions about misuse of public monies.
Brown said they need more detail on how long it's been going on, which means they need flight logs, which will help determine if some of the lesson time is reimbursable. Mitchell said he hasn't yet received those documents from the company.
Liability to the county is clear, said Brown. It's one thing to train someone to land a helicopter in an emergency, quite another to do “dangerous” maneuvers. “I question you're actually looking for marijuana” at such times, he said.
“We need to determine what's right and what's wrong,” Brown said.
Supervisor Jeff Smith said he wanted a copy of Garzoli's flight book, and Rushing said she wanted to see his payroll time sheets.
“It sounds to me at this point that he was all on duty for every hour,” said Smith, which Mitchell confirmed was correct.
Grant said it's likely there has been some insurance coverage up until now, bu there won't be on a long-term lease.
She also noted during the meeting that the agreement with Cutting Edge Helicopters doesn't provide for flight instruction.
Farrington wanted to know if they can take action to seek reimbursement from Garzoli, who he noted has already offered to pay for the flight time out of pocket.
Grant said adding that to a motion would be premature because county staff hasn't concluded that anything inappropriate has occurred. They still need more information to make that determination.
Mitchell said there are a variety of issues that will need to be vetted, including the fact that some of the work done while Garzoli was flying led to arrests on Monday.
Brown said they need to find out how long the lessons have been taking place, and they also need to examine the practice of allowing others to ride in the helicopter while lessons are being given. He said he knows it's taking place because people have said they were in the helicopter with Garzoli.
Cox recommended that the board pass a prohibition against anyone not part of the marijuana program riding in the helicopter, noting that they didn't lease the helicopters to give rides.
Brown said he and Rushing have ridden in the helicopter when Garzoli wasn't piloting.
Mitchell said district attorney investigator Von Morshed has ridden in the helicopter and used the time to photograph three homicide scenes.
Brown said using the helicopter for homicide investigations is completely separate from marijuana, and a student pilot shouldn't be at the controls during those flights. He said he knows others – such as Community Development Director Rick Coel, who had just come into the chambers for another agenda item – also had been offered a ride in the helicopter.
Smith said under the county's contracts it has a right to the flight instructor's books, but he wasn't sure the county has a right to Garzoli's.
“I will make a determination whether or not it will be compelled,” said Mitchell, adding that he believed Garzoli would turn over to him those records.
“He'll give it to me and we will do a thorough review” and make sure it's an appropriate use of staff time, said Mitchell, adding that the duties need to be specific to marijuana eradication.
Rushing said she wanted to know how much county time was spent. Whether or not it's reimbursable is a future determination.
She reiterated her concern about the helicopter contracts themselves – which also were approved in April – and Garzoli's part in negotiating them. “I don't know that I could have voted for the contracts knowing what I know now.”
Cox said they need to look at the contracts. “There's no ifs, ands or buts what the board's direction has been” about aircraft, said Cox.
He said he can't find any instance in which his office ever was made aware that a county employee was piloting the helicopters. “It came as a complete surprise to us,” said Cox. “We do think there is an incredible liability exposure to the county.”
Cox added, “Every asset the county has was at stake,” and it would have been a disaster had an accident occurred. The board needs to make it clear from now on that county employees will not be allowed to pilot aircraft.
Cox said he pulled invoices for the helicopter services, and found one that charges for helicopter time and no pilot. “So I presume that means we must have been piloting it ourselves,” he said.
Supervisor Jim Comstock moved that there would be no county employees flying aircraft or taking flying lessons “in any way, shape or form.” He added that no unauthorized individuals should be riding in helicopters as part of the program. The board approved that motion 5-0, and
Comstock also moved to request the flight logs. Farrington asked that they add language that specifies they'll examine the logs for need for restitution. The board also approved that unanimously.
Mitchell, who noted he was “in 100 percent agreement with the board direction,” said he hopes to have all of the information within a few weeks so he can bring it to the board by next month.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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