LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – There was a bit of chair switching on Tuesday as the Board of Supervisors established new leadership for 2014 at the first board meeting of the new year.

During the first order of business at the Tuesday meeting, Denise Rushing was elected chair for the new year, with Anthony Farrington to serve as her vice chair.

Outgoing Chair Jeff Smith told his colleagues, “I'm really proud of our board, the way we work together.”

Even when they disagree, the supervisors are able to come back together with no interruptions, he said, noting that some local boards and councils fight and don't get along.

“We’ve always gotten along and I really appreciate that,” he said.

The past year saw some controversial matters before the board, Smith noted. Yet, he felt the board members worked well and the vast majority of citizens were respectful.

Overall, he said it was a fairly easy term, and his colleagues congratulated him on his efforts.

He and Rushing then switched seats.

The board then continued with votes to place members on other boards and commissions.

Farrington was elected chair of the Lake County Board of Equalization, with Jim Comstock elected vice chair.

Farrington and Comstock also will be the representative and alternate, respectively, to the Rural County Representatives of California.

Rushing will chair the In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority, with Farrington as vice chair.

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.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council has rejected a wrongful termination and breach of contract claim filed against the city by its former attorney.

Following a closed session held before the council's regular Tuesday night meeting, Lakeport Mayor Kenny Parlet reported that the council had rejected the unlimited civil claim case Steve Brookes filed Dec. 30.

Brookes, 56, of Kelseyville had served as the city's attorney for 30 years by the time the council unanimously voted to terminate him during a closed session last July 2, as Lake County News has reported.

In addition to wrongful termination, Brookes alleges the city breached his contract – particularly as it related to payment of salary, health, retirement and other benefits – and failed to provide him with due process.

City officials have told Lake County News that they cannot disclose the reasons for terminating Brookes, who about two and a half years before his firing had been arrested for DUI and hit and run with property damage in Kelseyville.

The case later was settled as a misdemeanor DUI, but it would earn Brookes a public reproval by the State Bar in January 2012.

Brookes previously also had withheld comment on why he was terminated, but in his claim document he alleges that it was City Manager Margaret Silveira who urged the council to fire him.

He alleges that city officials “were presented with various allegations to support City Manager Margaret Silveira's desire to remove a potential rival as Claimant had exercised his free speech rights with respect to certain matters in which City Manager Margaret Silveira maintained a position contrary to that of Claimant.”

Silveira and city Finance Director Dan Buffalo are listed as the two principal witnesses to the issues that had arisen between Silveira and Brookes, according to the claim.

The most recent contract the city council had approved with Brookes in December 2012 – which had been good through the following December – gave him an annual salary of $50,796 and a retirement package of 2.5 percent at age 55 under the California Public Employees' Retirement System.

That same contract provided that if Brookes was terminated prior to Dec. 31, 2013, he was to be paid six months' compensation and accrued paid leave.

However, the contract also stated that Brookes wouldn't receive the six months' pay if he was terminated for a number of reasons, including malfeasance, dishonesty, moral turpitude, willful or corrupt misconduct, willfully causing damage to public property or wasting public supplies, acts or misconduct that bring scandal or disrepute to the city, insubordination or absence without leave.

Brookes' claim indicates he did not receive the six months' pay.

It states that he has lost six months of full salary as well as a variety of benefits – vested insurance, health insurance, retiree health coverage, vacation and sick time.

The California Tort Claims Act requires that claims against public entities be filed within six months for death or for injury to a person or to personal property, with all other claims to be filed within a year.

Based on the law, the council had 45 days to act after the matter was presented to it, and in fact took action just a week after the case was filed with the city.

Once a claim is rejected, the claimant has six months to file a lawsuit, according to the government code.

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.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Board of Supervisors will help kick off a 14-week countywide physical activity challenge during their regular meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 14.

The proclamation will be presented at 9:10 a.m. in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes S., Lakeport.

Move More 20+14 ( http://movemore2014.org ) is a first-time endeavor to engage Lake County residents with adding more physical activity into their daily routine.  

The challenge takes advantage of the 2014 New Year as an ideal time for folks to consider how they can get 20 minutes or more of moderate physical activity daily for the next 14 weeks.  

It only takes a few weeks to begin a positive habit, therefore participation in 14 weeks of this effort will be a fun way to establish a healthy habit that can continue indefinitely.

Regular physical activity has more positive benefits than nearly any other single choice one can make.  

It’s an excellent way to feel better physically, mentally and emotionally by increasing energy levels, helping to maintain weight, calming stress, elevating mood and emotional well-being, improving sleep patterns and preventing a number of chronic health conditions from heart disease to diabetes, and various cancers – to name only a few.  

It’s really not too difficult to add 20 minutes of activity to your day. You don’t have to get it all at once – climbing the stairs, walking around the block, taking a walk during lunch break at work, doing a few calisthenics at your workstation, parking your car a distance away from the store in the parking lot, taking a family bike ride – it all adds up.

The endeavor is one way to encourage building physical activity into daily routines in whatever way works for you. Small steps reap big rewards.

Stay tuned for more information about the celebration scheduled at the end of April for all who participate in the challenge.     

Individuals, classrooms, and groups are encouraged to sign up to take the challenge at  http://movemore2014.org .

If you would like a speaker to make a presentation about this challenge to your club, classroom, organization or business, send an email with your request to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .  

Move More 20+14 is a collaborative activity across several organizations and stakeholders who are participating in a Community Transformation Grant awarded to St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake by the National Centers of Disease Control as a means to reduce chronic disease and lift Lake County from its poor overall health ranking.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The agenda for the Clearlake City Council's first meeting of 2014 will include consideration of a requested donation for a homeless warming center and discussion on ending a local emergency declared in response to a fall windstorm.

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 9, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.

At the start of the meeting Clearlake Police Chief Craig Clausen will introduce new employees and present department commendations.

During council business, Lake Family Resource Center Executive Director Gloria Flaherty will present an update on the overnight warming center opened last month for the homeless at the nonprofit's Clearlake office, 15312 Lakeshore Drive.

Flaherty is asking the council to consider a financial contribution of $1,000 to the warming center, which she has indicated she intends to keep open into February.

Last month Flaherty asked the Board of Supervisors for $7,500 to match $7,500 Lake Family Resource Center is raising to keep the center open on freezing winter nights.

Also on Thursday, the council will consider terminating the city emergency declaration that resulted from a damaging windstorm on Nov. 21 and 22.

In other business, the council will consider awarding a contract for the city's state-mandated housing element update for the 2009-2014 period – plus an optional task to update the zoning code as necessary to meet housing element requirements – to Price Consulting Services.

The contract amount is for $19,515, with the optional zoning code update priced at $4,940, for a total of $25,455, according to City Manager Joan Phillipe's report to the council.

The council also will hold a first reading of an ordinance amending the city's purchasing system in order to provide for local vendor preference, consider appointments to the League of California Cities Redwood Empire Division and receive Mayor Denise Loustalot's appointments.

Items on the consent agenda – considered to be noncontroversial and accepted as a slate with one vote – include warrant registers; minutes of the Dec. 3 and Dec. 12 council meetings; Lake County Vector Control District Board meeting minutes from Nov. 19; receipt of the Mediacom video franchise application with the California Public Utilities Commission; and approval of the Fair Political Practices Form 806 reporting public official appointments.

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.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors will begin a new year by establishing new board leadership, and consider an agreement for a grant to pay for relocating the Lakeside Heights sewer system as well as a proposal to enter an agreement for operation of a warming center.

The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 7, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport. TV8 will broadcast the meeting live.

The board's first order of business for the meeting will be electing the chair and vice chair for the new year, as well as appointing the chair and vice chair of the Lake County Local Board of Equalization and the Lake County In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority Board of Directors.

At 9:45 a.m., the board will consider a funding agreement with State Water Resources Control Board for permanent relocation of the sewer line at Lakeside Heights Subdivision.

The county was notified last month that it has received a $215,300 grant from the state agency for the sewer line work, as Lake County News has reported.

At 10:30 a.m., the board will get an update on last month's hard freeze event, and consider a budget transfer from general fund contingencies to provide matching funds for the warming center in Clearlake being run by Lake Family Resource Center.

The board also is expected to consider an agreement between the county of Lake and Lake Family Resource Center for the warming center's operation.

In other news the board will consider plans, specifications and the bid process for the Lucerne Castle elevator; consider appointments to the Area Agency on Aging Governing Board, Child Care Planning Council and Emergency Medical Care Committee; and discuss a proposal to eliminate the Clear Lake Advisory Committee.

The full agenda follows. Some items are out of order due to the issuance of an agenda addendum.

TIMED ITEMS

9 a.m., A-1: (a) Election of chair and vice chair of the Board of Supervisors for 2014; (b) election of representative and alternate to the Regional Council of Rural Counties (RCRC) and to the RCRC affiliate joint powers authority CRHMFA Homebuyers Fund Boards of Directors; (c) election of chair and vice chair of the Lake County Local Board of Equalization for 2014; and (d) election of chair and vice chair of the Lake County In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority Board of Directors for 2014.

9:05 a.m., A-2 to A-4: Approval of consent agenda, which includes items that are expected to be routine and noncontroversial, and will be acted upon by the board at one time without discussion; presentation of animals available for adoption at Lake County Animal Care and Control; consideration of items not appearing on the posted agenda, and contract change orders for current construction projects.

9:07 a.m., A-5: Citizen's input. Any person may speak for three minutes about any subject of concern, provided that it is within the jurisdiction of the Board of Supervisors and is not already on the agenda. Prior to this time, speakers must fill out a slip giving name, address and subject (available in the clerk of the board’s office, first floor, courthouse).

9:08 a.m., A-6: Presentation of Proclamation recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Federal Wilderness Act.

9:10 a.m. A-7: Public hearing, consideration of the conveyance of personal property from the county of Lake to Deputy Joe Dutra (Protection Canine Zap).

9:15 a.m., A-8: Public hearing, consideration of ordinance amending Article IV of the Lake County Code (the Right to Farm Ordinance) to eliminate the disclosure statement recordation requirement.

9:30 a.m., A-9: Public hearing, consideration of ordinance establishing fees for the Auditor-Controller/County Clerk’s Office.

9:45 a.m., A-10: Consideration of funding agreement with State Water Resources Control Board for permanent relocation of sewer line at Lakeside Heights Subdivision.

10 a.m., A-11: Presentation of Drought Management Plan Update.

10:30 a.m., A-12: (a) Update on hard freeze event; (b) consideration of budget transfer from general fund contingencies to provide matching funds for warming center ; and (c) consideration of agreement between the county of Lake and Lake Family Resource Center for the operation of the warming center.

10:45 a.m., A-13: (a) Consideration of the following appointments: Area Agency on Aging Governing Board, Child Care Planning Council, Emergency Medical Care Committee; and (b) consideration of elimination of Clear Lake Advisory Committee.

NONTIMED ITEMS

A-14: Supervisors’ weekly calendar, travel and reports.

A-15: (a) Consideration of chairman’s recommended 2014 committee assignments for members of the Board of Supervisors; and (b) discussion of future committee meetings.

A-16: (a) Consideration of bid process for Lucerne Castle elevator; and (b) consideration of proposed plans and specifications for the Lucerne Castle elevator.

A-17: Consideration of proposed memorandum of understanding between the Social Services Department and the Office of the District Attorney for Welfare and In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) fraud prosecution.

A-19: Consideration of issuance of county letter to the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) affirming the county’s intent in executing contract documents and amendments with Quincy Engineering Inc., for engineering and design services to improve the county’s South Main Street/Soda Bay Road Corridor.

CLOSED SESSION

A-18: 1. Conference with labor negotiator: (a) county negotiators: A. Grant, L. Guintivano, S. Harry, M. Perry, A. Flora and C. Shaver; and (b) employee organization: Deputy District Attorney's Association, Lake County Deputy Sheriff's Association, Lake County Correctional Officers Association, Lake County Employees Association and Lake County Safety Employees Association.

A-18: 2. Public employee performance evaluation of Human Resources Director Kathy Ferguson.

A-18: 3. Conference with real property negotiator, (a) property located at: 3980 Gard St., Kelseyville (APN 024-081-01); (b) negotiating parties for county: Supervisor Rob Brown, Child Support Services Director Gail Woodworth, County Administrative Officer Matt Perry and Deputy County Administrative Officer Alan Flora; for seller, Kelseyville Unified School District representatives; (c) under negotiation, lease terms.

A-18: 4. Employee grievance hearing.

CONSENT AGENDA

C-1: Approve minutes of the Board of Supervisors meeting held on Dec. 17, 2013.

C-2: Adopt proclamation recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Federal Wilderness Act.

C-3: (a) approve Agreement between the county of Lake and the Lake County Chamber of Commerce for FY 2013-2014 marketing, economic development and visitor information services, in the amount of $50,000, and authorize the chair to sign; and (b) approve the 2014 California State Fair Counties Exhibit Entry Form, and authorize the chair to sign.

C-4: Approve reissuance of check in the amount of $2,692.56, to Jeanette Ditter Trustee.

C-5: Adopt resolution approving the standard agreement between the county of Lake and Partnership Health Plan of California to facilitate coordination of care for Lake County Medi-Cal beneficiaries for Fiscal Year 2013/14, and authorizing the Director of Behavioral Health to sign agreement.

C-6: Approve agreement between the county of Lake and Rebekah Children’s Services for FY 2013-14 specialty mental health services, total amount $55,000, and authorize the chair to sign.

C-7: Adopt resolution approving the application for Land and Water Conservation Fund Hammond Avenue Park Project.

C-8: Waive 900-hour limit for extra help Buildings and Grounds Maintenance Worker Lupeli Faleagufulu.

C-9: Adopt resolution authorizing the Lake County Public Services Department to submit an application to California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) for a Local Government Waste Tire Cleanup Grant for FY 2014/15.

C-10: Approve Budget Transfer B-099 BU 7011 Parks, from Utilities to Capital Improvements-Equipment, total amount $15,000, to upgrade the Alpine Park pump system.

C-11: Adopt resolution authorizing the director, Public Works Department, to sign a notice of completion for work performed under agreement dated July 23, 2013 (Chippewa South CSA Pavement Rehabilitation, Bid No. 13-07).

C-12: Carried over from Dec. 17, adopt resolution approving right of way certification for Soda Bay/Cole Creek Bridge Replacement Project (State Agreement No. BROS-5914(025)).

C-13: Authorize distribution of excess proceeds from tax defaulted land sale No. 152 in the amount of $27,413.92, in accordance with staff memorandum dated December 30, 2013.

LOCAL BOARD OF EQUALIZATION

C-14: Approve stipulation change in assessment for Appeal No. 469-2011, DaVita Inc., APN 039-570-230-000, in land from $379,341 to $370,000 and improvements from $1,978,723 to $1,230,000 for a change in total from $2,358,064 to $1,600,000 for the 2011 tax year.

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.

This story has been updated regarding the closed session.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – In its first meeting of 2014 the Lakeport City Council will discuss appointing its members to various boards and committees, get an update from staff on social media outreach efforts and consider submitting a grant application to upgrade park facilities.

The council will convene for a closed session at 5:30 p.m. to discuss receipt of a claim under the Tort Claims Act or other written communication threatening litigation from former City Attorney Steve Brooks before the open session begins at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 7, in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.

Items for consideration include appointment of council members to various commissions, boards and committees for Lakeport Fire Protection District, Lakeport Regional Chamber of Commerce, Lakeport Main Street Association, League of California Cities, Lake County/City Area Planning Council, Invasive Species Task Force Committee and the Lakeport Unified School District committee, among others.

The council also is expected to adopt a resolution appointing representatives to vote on behalf of the city at the League of California Cities, Redwood Empire Division Business meetings and at Division Legislative Committee meetings.

In other business, Planning Services Manager Andrew Britton will give the council an update on the city's social media outreach efforts.

During a February 2013 strategic planning session the council identified opportunities including enhancing the city's social media presence through the use of the city's Web site, www.cityoflakeport.com ; its Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/CityofLakeport ; and through Twitter, @CityofLakeport .

“Improving our social media presence was one of the strategies identified to enhance the level of communication with our residents,” Britton said in his written report to the council.

He noted that the city's social media efforts began in earnest in July, “and since that time we have seen a large increase in the amount of total (Facebook) page 'likes' and the increase in the level of engagement with our residents.”

On Tuesday, City Manager Margaret Silveira will take to the council an application to the State of California Department of Housing and Community Development for a Housing Related Parks Grant.

Silveira's report to the council explained that, based on affordable housing units created either by new construction or a substantial remodel – in this case, the new Bella Vista Senior Complex on Martin Street – the city is eligible for $77,400 in noncompetitive grant funding.

“Staff is recommending the use of these funds for preliminary engineering for non-treated irrigation water supply for Westside Park, and implementation,” wrote Silveira, noting that in November 2012 Ruzicka Associates gave city staff a proposal for a preliminary engineering report for such a water supply for the park.

On the meeting's consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are ordinances; minutes of the council's Dec. 17 meeting; warrant registers dated Dec. 12 and Dec. 18; approval of a professional services agreement with Adams Ashby Group LLC for USDA loan and grant administration; and approval of an agreement for professional services with Community Development Services.

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.

010714 Lakeport City Council agenda packet