LAKEPORT, Calif. – In a brief meeting scheduled for this week the Lakeport City Council will present a proclamation in honor of Child Abuse Prevention Month.

The meeting will take place beginning at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 2, in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.

The main item of business for the evening is the presentation of the proclamation designating the month of April 2013 as Child Abuse Prevention Month.

On the council’s consent agenda – items usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are ordinances, warrant registers from March 20 and minutes of the council meeting on March 19.

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.

040213 Lakeport City Council agenda packet

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On Friday the county’s sheriff filed a response to the notice served to him last week by a group that plans to circulate a petition in an effort to recall him from office.
 
Sheriff Frank Rivero filed the response with the Lake County Registrar of Voters Office within the seven day time period, as required by California election code.
 
“Based solely on inaccuracies and mistruths, this recall petition unjustly nullifies the will of the people and your vote to end corruption. It is as reckless and faulty as the District Attorney’s deceptive ‘Brady’ process,” Rivero states in the opening paragraph, referring to the process in which it was determined that he had lied about a 2008 shooting.
 
On March 22, the Committee to Recall Rivero and Restore Integrity served him with the notice, signed by 39 people.
 
The notice of the recall effort came the same week as Rivero received a unanimous no confidence vote from the Board of Supervisors, which also sent Rivero a letter asking for his resignation. He refused.
 
The notice of intention to circulate the recall petition accused Rivero of conducting himself in an unethical manner, cited his failure to form a citizens oversight committee or meet with the public as promised, and stated that he alienated every law enforcement agency in the county as well as the entire Board of Supervisors “with your lack of accountability and your failed leadership.”
 
The notice also made several mentions of District Attorney Don Anderson’s findings that Rivero had lied about his actions in a February 2008 nonfatal shooting.
 
Rivero, then working as a sheriff’s deputy, had shot at a man holding pepper spray during a welfare check. The man was unhurt.
 
Shooting at a person holding pepper spray was a violation of department policy, and Rivero allegedly changed his version of events during different statements to investigators.
 
When new evidence was brought forward to Anderson in 2011, not long after he took office, he began a nearly two-year-long investigation into the matter under the auspices of the 1963 US Supreme Court case Brady v. Maryland.
 
That case requires that prosecutors disclose to defendants in criminal cases any evidence that could clear them, including credibility issues of peace officers involved in their cases.
 
In February, Anderson concluded that Rivero had lied about the shooting and placed him on a “Brady” list of officers with credibility issues.
 
In a court appearance earlier this month, Rivero attempted to get a restraining order against Anderson to prevent disclosure of the finding. Instead, retired Butte County Judge William Lamb ordered that the documents be unsealed and made open to the public.
 
Attempting to withhold that information from the public was another of the points cited by the recall committee.
 
In his response, Rivero said that in 2008 a “thorough internal affairs investigation” determined his actions were “appropriate,” “justified” and within department policy.
 
Anderson’s investigation, said Rivero, “is politically motivated, violates due process, and has serious negative implications for law enforcement. A lawsuit underway will ultimately expose those false allegations and the political corruption upon which they are based.”
 
Former Sheriff Rod Mitchell confirmed during a 2010 interview that the sheriff’s office’s internal affairs investigation cleared Rivero.
 
However, a 2010 report by then-District Attorney Jon Hopkins noted that Rivero “does somewhat contradict himself relating to whether he could see the object in the subject’s hand,” and explained that Rivero told a sergeant that the subject was holding a can of pepper spray, while he later tells a detective that he could not tell what was in the man’s hand.
 
Anderson’s findings in Rivero’s Brady investigation cited the discrepancies Hopkins noted in his report.
 
In his response to the recall petition notice, Rivero did not answer all of the points raised by the recall committee, particularly the allegation that he failed to form the citizens oversight committee.
 
In an apparent response to the allegations of failed leadership and lack of ethics, Rivero stated that under his leadership the sheriff’s office has “assembled a professional and superior staff equal to any in the U.S. My administration performs at the highest level of ethics and accountability. Deputies are preventing and solving crime at a record rate.”
 
Rivero’s other claims in his response include that he returned more than $1 million to the county’s general fund in his first year, reinstated a drug task force, and has made significant progress reducing drugs and street crimes.
 
He said the school patrol program is working and the jail has been “improved from neglect and disrepair to a functional detention facility.”
 
He added, “Complaints are rare and thoroughly investigated.”
 
Rivero had, during his campaign for sheriff, said he would reinstate the drug task force that he claimed had been discontinued, a statement that local law enforcement officials said at that time was inaccurate.
 
The California Department of Justice Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement withdrew from the local task force in 2009 citing budget issues but local law enforcement agencies – including the California Highway Patrol, Lake County Sheriff’s Office, and the Clearlake and Lakeport police departments – said they were continuing to keep full-time staff assigned to drug enforcement efforts.
 
A school resource officer recently had been assigned to Kelseyville Unified School District after meetings with sheriff’s command staff and district officials. The school resource officer at Lower Lake High School is supplied by the Clearlake Police Department.
 
Next steps in the recall process include publishing the notice of intention to circulate the petition in a local newspaper of general circulation and approval of the signature petition forms.
 
Once those steps are finalized, signature gathering can begin.
 
The recall proponents will have 120 days to gather the necessary 7,026 signatures to place Rivero’s recall on the ballot, according to the Lake County Registrar of Voters Office.
 
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.

032913 Rivero Recall Petition Response

030413 Lake County District Attorney's Final Report Regarding Sheriff Rivero Brady determination by LakeCoNews

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – On Thursday a county supervisor delivered a check to the city of Clearlake to assist with operating a new visitor center.

Supervisor Jeff Smith, whose district includes Clearlake, presented a check for $50,000 to Clearlake Mayor Jeri Spittler at the Clearlake City Council’s Thursday night meeting.

The funds are part of an agreement approved last year between the county of Lake and the city of Clearlake for the operation of the new visitor center, which will be located at 14295 Lakeshore Drive, next to Highlands Park.

“It gives me a great deal of pleasure to finally be able to do this,” said Smith.

Referring to the giant ceremonial check he held, Smith said, “This is actually the first installment.”

Smith said there will be two more payments of $25,000 each.

At one point several years ago the city had tried to purchase the property through an estate sale, Smith said.

He said he was glad that the sale hadn’t taken place at that time, since the city eventually got the property for about a third of the original asking price.

In June 2011 the council approved purchasing the property for $207,199 plus closing costs, as Lake County News has reported. At the time, the property – which was in foreclosure – was valued at $667,250.

Smith said the new center has been a long time in coming, and will be a great improvement for the city.

According to the lease agreement the city council approved last September with the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce, the chamber will be housed in the center, with a $1 per year lease.

The city currently is working to bring the building up to code, which includes removing asbestos and lead paint, and will construct curb, gutter and sidewalk improvements.

The lease allows for the lakeside property to be used for chamber events, with weddings and kayak rentals among the other allowed uses.

The chamber also will provide Saturday hours during the “peak” season from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend, according to the lease terms.

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 on Tuesday approved an emergency item giving approval for a site analysis at a Lakeport subdivision where saturated ground – believed to be because of leaking water pipes – has led to a potential landslide situation.

Jan Coppinger and Stan Schubert of Lake County Special Districts asked the board to add the emergency item for the contract with geotechnical firm RGH Consultants to the agenda, because the situation at Lakeside Heights in north Lakeport had developed since the agenda was released late last week.

Several homes have been red-tagged since late last week because of damage that resulted from the sinking ground and ground fractures.

Supervisor Rob Brown, who has an immediate family member who lives next door to the damaged homes, recused himself from the discussion and the vote to add the matter to the agenda.

Coppinger said Special Districts had become aware of significant water leakage at the subdivision, which sits on a hilltop off of Hill Road.

The leakage, said Coppinger, “saturated an already unstable hillside and is creating landslide conditions.”

She said the potential for the landslide is threatening several homes, and public water, sewer and stormwater systems.

They were seeking an agreement with RGH Consultants not to exceed $25,000, although the proposed agreement is anticipated to be less than half that amount, she said.

The analysis RGH will complete is meant to answer several key questions, Coppinger said. Those include: How can a replacement 6-inch gravity sewer line be relocated to serve the community and avoid further unstable ground conditions? Is the public water system at risk of failing due to landslide and if so, where should it be relocated? Which homes affected by the landslide are uninhabitable? And is there risk to Hill Road from further slide movement?

Supervisor Anthony Farrington asked if they had been able to determine the source of the leakage – whether it was a 2-inch irrigation pipe owned by the Lakeside Heights Homeowners Association or a Special Districts-run public water line system.

Coppinger said a leak study is under way, with the final results expected on Wednesday.

Farrington asked if any leaks had been detected in the Special Districts pipes. Coppinger and Schubert said no, adding that there appeared to be a significant leak in the irrigation system.

Schubert said the homes are at the top of a slope, and the site’s geomorphology suggests a history of landslides there. He said the 2-inch pipe also puts out a lot of water.

Special Districts staff suggested that the slide-prone area, compounded with water leakage, had led to the situation.

“This development has had a history of other issues,” said Farrington.

Board Chair Jeff Smith cautioned that those other issues weren’t on the agenda.

Some Lakeside Heights residents were at the meeting, raising concerns about potentially having to leave if the situation became worse.

Coppinger said there is a temporary pump station in place so that sewer services won’t be interrupted.

Schubert said the domestic water side was not imperiled by the ground movement, just the sewer system.

The board approved the contract with the geotechnical firm 4-0.

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. – County officials are investigating what led to sinking earth and a potential landslide situation that’s threatening several homes, along with water, sewer and storm drain systems at a Lakeport subdivision, with the Board of Supervisors to hear an emergency item on the matter Tuesday.

Several homes have had structural damage because of the conditions that have developed at Lakeside Heights, a cluster of mostly Tudor-style homes on a hilltop across the street from Sutter Lakeside Hospital in north Lakeport.

A visit to the site Monday revealed that a roughly 30-foot-wide path of earth sank, damaging the homes, one of which had a large split up its exterior wall, with the home appearing crooked when viewed from the front. Another home was pulling off of its foundation.

A roughly 5-foot-deep fracture in the ground surface has made its way under the homes and through several empty lots between the homes. An emergency pumping system also was set up at the site.

While a landslide hasn’t yet occurred, officials – and neighbors – are concerned that a slide could still happen.

The issue appears to be a broken water line, according to Kevin Ingram of the Lake County Administrative Office.

“There are two possible culprits out there,” said Ingram.

The first is a Special Districts-run public water line system, the second a 2-inch irrigation line that belongs to the Lakeside Heights Homeowners Association, the county reported.

Special Districts had a leak detection company at the scene on Monday in an attempt to figure out which line had saturated the ground and caused the earth to sink, Ingram said.

Earlier this month, Special District’s staff performed a video inspection of the public sewer line serving residents of Lakeside Heights, Special Districts Administrator Mark Dellinger reported Monday.

During the inspection, they discovered that a point repair that had been completed in December 2012 had failed, Dellinger said.

While performing site inspections to determine the cause of the point repair failure, Special Districts’ staff noticed significant surface ground cracking and structural damage to several homes, according to Dellinger’s report.

Due to the severity of the offset sewer pipe, Special Districts implemented an emergency temporary bypass in order to continue to provide sewer service to the community in Lakeside Heights, Dellinger said.

Last Thursday Special Districts alerted the Community Development Department to the structural damage and ground movement occurring at Lakeside Heights, according to Dellinger.

Ingram said several homes have been red-tagged on Lancaster Road, the main street that continues through the subdivision. One home was tagged on Friday and the other two on Monday.

Altogether, there is one duplex, a fourplex and a single family dwelling that have been affected, said Ingram. Only individual units with damage were tagged, so one unit in the fourplex did not get a red-tag. Some of the units also were unoccupied.

Community Development was reported to be notifying PG&E of the potential for further movement of the red-tagged homes.

In addition to the damage to the homes, Dellinger reported Monday that he’s very concerned about the potential loss of the public water and sewer systems that serve the Lakeside Heights community. There also may be damage to the storm drain system managed by the Lakeside Heights Property Owner’s Association.

On Monday a leak detection survey began, Dellinger said. Special Districts contracted with a firm to identify potential water leaks from the public water system and the Lakeside Heights Homeowners Association’s irrigation line.

Dellinger reported that on Monday his staff met with a geotechnical engineer at the subdivision to develop a scope and budget for geotechnical recommendations that will look at answering a number of questions, including how to relocate a 6-inch gravity sewer line in order both to serve the community and avoid further unstable ground conditions, determining if the public water system is at risk of failure to the slide, and if so, where it should be relocated.

They also worked to determine what homes affected by the landslide are uninhabitable and if there is a risk to Hill Road from further slide movement, Dellinger said.

Dellinger and his staff will take to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday an emergency item for contracting with the geotechnical firm RGH Consultants to complete the site analysis and answer the questions about the site and conditions.

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 discuss a proposed move of the county’s Child Support Services, honor the Kelseyville High School Academic Decathlon team and get a report from the Clear Lake Advisory Committee when it meets this week.

The meeting will take place beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, March 26, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport. It will be broadcast live on TV8.

At 10:15 a.m., the board will get a staff update regarding relocation options for Child Support Services offices.

Staff is requesting board direction regarding the finalization of a lease agreement, with the Gard Street School in Kelseyville a proposed option for a new location.

Also on Tuesday, at 9:10 a.m. the Kelseyville High School Academic Decathlon team will be honored with a certificate of commendation for its performance at the state competition earlier this month.

At 9:15 a.m., the Clear Lake Advisory Committee Quarterly Report Committee will be presented.

The board will consider reestablishing the Geothermal Advisory Committee in a 10 a.m. discussion.

The full agenda follows. Some items are out of order due to A-7, for a public hearing on a public access television pass-through fee, was inadvertently placed on the March 26 agenda, when it is scheduled for April 9.

TIMED ITEMS

9 a.m., A-1 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.

9:05 a.m.: 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).

9:10 a.m., A-5: Presentation of certificates of commendation to the 2013 Kelseyville High School Academic Decathlon team.

9:15 a.m., A-6: Presentation of Clear Lake Advisory Committee Quarterly Report Committee.

10 a.m., A-8: Consideration of reestablishment of the Geothermal Advisory Committee, including its purpose and membership categories.

10:15 a.m., A-9: Presentation of update regarding relocation options for Child Support Services offices and request for board direction regarding the finalization of a lease agreement.

NONTIMED ITEMS

A-10: Supervisors’ weekly calendar, travel and reports.

A-11: Consideration of Classification and Compensation Committee Findings and Recommendations for FY 2013-14.

CLOSED SESSION

A-12: 1.Conference with labor negotiator: (a) county negotiators: A. Grant, L. Guintivano, M. Perry, and A. Flora; and (b) employee organizations: 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-12: 2. Conference with legal counsel: Existing litigation pursuant to Gov. Code Sec. 54956.9(d)(1): Michael Fowler and Emily Ford v. County of Lake, et al., Case No. CV412464.

CONSENT AGENDA

C-1: Approve minutes of the Board of Supervisors meeting held on March 19, 2013.

C-2: Adopt certificates of commendation to the 2013 Kelseyville High School Academic Decathlon team.

C-3: Approve first amendment to agreement between the county of Lake and Redwood Children’s Services for FY 2012-13 specialty mental health services, an increase of $75,000, and authorize the chair to sign.

C-4: Approve second amendment to agreement between the county of Lake and Redwood Children’s Services for FY 2012-13 specialty mental health services for children and youth enrolled in the WRAP Program, a decrease of $75,000, and authorize the chair to sign.

C-5: Approve first amendment to agreement between the county of Lake and Peterson Tractor Co. for equipment repair and service, an increase in the annual compensation amount of $75,000, and authorize the chair to sign.

C-6: Approve agreement between the county of Lake and Lake Family Resource Center for FY 2013-14 Cal-Learn teen parenting services, in the amount of $52,095, and authorize the chair to sign.

C-7: Award Bid No. SD 13-08 for two new 2013 3/4-ton extended cab standard bed trucks to Hansel Ford, for a total amount of $47,110.98, and authorize the Special Districts administrator/assistant purchasing agent to issue the purchase order.

C-8: Award Bid No. SD 13-05 for one new 2013 3/4-ton utility truck to Ukiah Ford, for an amount of $31,058, and authorize the Special Districts administrator/assistant purchasing agent to issue the
purchase order.

C-9: Approve encroachment permit for NorCal Boat and Ski Club for boat and ski races on Clear Lake during 2013, and authorize the chair to sign.

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.