LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Interested community members are being sought for positions on a number of county advisory boards.

The Board of Supervisors is seeking applicants to fill vacancies or seek reappointments on the following boards and commissions:

• Animal Control Advisory Board: One vacancy, Supervisorial District 2.
• Area 1 Developmental Disabilities Board: Two vacancies, two persons with disabilities or the parents or guardians thereof.
• Big Valley Groundwater Management Zone Commission: Three vacancies, one member at large, two in water districts category.
• Building Board of Appeals: One vacancy, Supervisorial District 2.
• Child Care Planning and Development Council: Five vacancies – consumer (two), public agency, discretionary appointee and childcare provider.
• Clear Lake Advisory Committee: Five vacancies in the following categories: wildlife, water quality, fishery, habitat-ecology and aquatic plants (preference will be given for applications showing technical expertise).
• Emergency Medical Care Committee: Five vacancies, Community college district,  paramedic representative, EMT representatives (two) and private ambulance company.
• Fish and Wildlife Advisory Committee: One vacancy, conservation/wildlife industry.
• Heritage Commission: Two vacancies, Supervisorial Districts 2 and 5.
• In-Home Supportive Services Advisory Committee: Two vacancies, senior consumer category.
• Mental Health Advisory Board: One vacancy, member at large.
• Lake County Planning Commission, District 4 – Lakeport.
• Section 8 Resident Advisory Board: Six vacancies, general membership.

The following advisory boards have terms expiring on Jan. 1, 2013:

• Animal Control Advisory Board: Seven vacancies, all supervisorial districts (five) and two members at large (two).
• Areawide Planning Council: Three vacancies, members at large (two) and member at large alternate.
• Audit Committee: One vacancy, general public.
• Big Valley Groundwater Management Zone Commission: Two vacancies, agriculture user and member at large.
• Building Board of Appeals: Five vacancies, all five supervisorial districts.
• Clear Lake Advisory Committee: One vacancy in each of the following categories – agriculture, aquatic plants, environmental restoration, fishery, habitat-ecology, navigation and recreation, shoreline property owners, water quality and wildlife (preference will be given for applications showing technical expertise).
• Emergency Medical Care Committee: Sixteen vacancies – consumer-interested group (four), emergency affiliated medical care coordinator (two), fire department (five), paramedic (one), private ambulance company (two), Redbud Hospital (one) and Sutter Lakeside Hospital (one).
• Fish and Wildlife Advisory Committee: Eight vacancies, one from each supervisorial district (five) and one from the following categories – conservation organization, conservation/wildlife industry, land conservation organization, law enforcement, livestock industry, recreation industry and wildlife preservation organization.
• Glenbrook Cemetery District: One vacancy.
• Hartley Cemetery District: Four vacancies.
• Heritage Commission: Seven vacancies, All five supervisorial districts and two members at large.
• In-Home Support Services Public Authority Advisory Committee: Four vacancies, one in each of the following categories – disabled community representative, disabled consumer, provider and senior consumer.
• Kelseyville Cemetery District: Three vacancies.
• Law Library Board of Trustees: Two vacancies.
• Library Advisory Board: Five vacancies, one from each supervisorial district.
• Lower Lake Cemetery Board: One vacancy.
• Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health Advisory Board: Fourteen vacancies, general membership.
• Mental Health Board: Two vacancies, general membership.
• Middletown Cemetery District: Two vacancies.
• Parks and Recreation Advisory Board: Five vacancies, one from each supervisorial district.
• Public Defender Oversight Committee: Three vacancies, attorney and general public.
• Section 8 Resident Advisory Board: Nine vacancies, general membership.
• Solid Waste Management Task Force: One vacancy, public representative.
• Spring Valley CSA No. 2 Advisory Board: Seven vacancies.
• Vector Control District: One vacancy, public member.

For applications, or if you have questions regarding a vacancy on one of these advisory boards, please contact the Clerk of the Board’s Office at 7707-263-2371.

Applications also are available online at www.lakecountyca.gov or at the Lake County Courthouse, Clerk of the Board’s Office, Room 109, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport, California 95453.

Please note that all memberships on the above referenced advisory boards are voluntary.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – With the Clear Lake hitch proposed for endangered species listings at the state and federal levels, several local groups will host an informational workshop next month to explain the process to the community.

The Chi Council for the Clear Lake Hitch, Lake County Fish and Wildlife Advisory Committee, and University of California Cooperative Extension will co-host a public informational workshop on the Endangered Species Act listing process for the Clear Lake hitch at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 3.

The meeting will take place in the Board of Supervisors chambers, located on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., in Lakeport.

The meeting is free and open to the public, and no reservations are needed.

In September the Center for Biological Diversity filed state and federal petitions to list the hitch – once a staple food of the Pomo tribes – as an endangered species, citing the fish’s plummeting numbers and changing habitat.

The Dec. 3 workshop, which will be co-chaired by Chi Council Chair Peter Windrem and Fish and Wildlife Committee Chair Greg Giusti, will share information about the hitch, their ecology and the listing process, which can last several years.

It’s also meant to foster open dialog in a transparent atmosphere to address the community’s concerns about the process.

An expert panel including representatives from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of Fish and Game, Center for Biological Diversity and local tribes will be on hand to answer questions.

The meeting is informational only; no decisions will be made.

For additional information about the hitch and the listing process, visit the Chi Council Web site, www.lakelive.info/chicouncil .

For more details about the meeting or to submit written questions in advance, email the Chi Council at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Calpine Corp. will hold an informational presentation and discussion for the community this month regarding its application for a time extension of its Davies Estate Geothermal Well Development.  

The meeting will take place beginning at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 27, at the Calpine Geothermal Visitor Center, 15500 Central Park Road, Middletown.

Calpine filed an application for a time extension for this permit with the Lake County Community Development Department on Sept. 20.

The use permit, UP 83-36, covers several existing wells on an existing well pad in the steamfield area, which is located about three-quarters of a mile south of Anderson Springs at 20055 Foard Road.

The Lake County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the Calpine’s application, UPX 12-01, at 9:25 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 13.

The public hearing will be held in the Board of Supervisors’ chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St. Anyone interested may attend and offer input on the application.

Calpine said it is offering several opportunities to visit this well site.

Community members can schedule a tour time at the meeting or by contacting Calpine at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or calling 707-987-4270; those who cannot attend the meeting in person but who have questions about the project also are invited to call or email for more information.

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.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A judge has granted Clearlake’s vice mayor a restraining order against a community member who has increasingly harassed her and her family.

On Friday morning, retired Lake County Superior Court Judge Robert Crone ordered Clearlake resident Estella Creel to stay away from Jeri Spittler, her family, home and business for the next two years.

Crone, however, was mindful of the challenges with such orders in small communities, and wrote the order to allow Creel – a regular attendee at Clearlake City Council meetings – to continue to attend council meetings as long as she leaves Spittler alone.

Clearlake City Manager Joan Phillipe told Lake County News that the city will review the order when it receives a copy next week and decide what actions, if any, it needs to take.

Phillipe said it’s a unique situation, and to her knowledge no other city staff or council members have been harassed or threatened by Creel.

Spittler is halfway through her first term on the Clearlake City Council. She was elected in November 2010 and took office the following month.

Spittler said that Creel has become increasingly threatening toward her and her family, driving by her business and home and yelling insults, and telling Spittler to “go to hell” as she is leaving city hall after council meetings.

The situation has continued to escalate and came to a head last month when Spittler filed a temporary restraining order application with the court after an incident at her salon, Girlfriends, which is located at 14510 Lakeshore Drive, in the same building as her residence.

On Oct. 11, Spittler said an upset Creel brought a stray dog she had found and let it loose in the salon, angry that the city’s animal control officer had not shown up to her home to collect the animal.

Creel, who denied harassing Spittler, testified on Friday that she took the dog to Spittler’s business after repeated requests to the city to pick up the animal. She said she was told the kennels were full and she was asked to keep the dog, which she said was difficult for her to do because she already has three dogs of her own.

As Spittler would note in court on Friday, she sand Creel had “completely different” views of what took place.

Spittler said Creel came to the salon and asked Spittler’s daughter-in-law, who was standing outside, if she was there.

When Creel came in with the dog, Spittler said she told her the dog couldn’t come into the salon. At the same time, Spittler’s grandchild was in a bouncy chair on the floor.

She said Creel replied, “You want dogs in the park, now you’ve got one,” and let go of a 5-foot-long rope she was using as a leash.

Spittler said the dog, which was large in size, ran through the salon and into her residence, and was cowering.

“He was a really sweet dog and that made me feel really bad, too,” Spittler said.

The dog was friendly, and after the initial introduction, later sat outside on a bench, eating potato chips Spittler and her family offered it. Thanks to the dog being microchipped, city animal control officials were able to locate its owners the next day.

Spittler filed the temporary restraining request several days later and a hearing was held in October. She said she tried to mediate, but a mediator told her that Creel saw nothing wrong with what she did and that mediating would not work.

Limits to intrusions of an official’s privacy

On Friday, Creel called Clearlake resident Bill Shields as a character witness. When she asked him if it was in her character to take a dog and let it run through someone’s residence or business, Shields replied by asking if the rope had pulled out of her hands or if she had released the dog. Crone interrupted, telling him he needed to answer the question, not make a statement.

When Spittler asked Shields if he was present for Creel bringing the dog to her business, he said he was not. She asked him if he knew her as an honest person and he said yes. Creel then asked Shields if Spittler was being honest in this particular situation. Crone said it was an improper question.

Creel also took the stand to give her side of the story, which differed from Spittler’s.

In particular, she put the event with the dog as having taken place on Oct. 10.

After she said animal control told her the kennel was full, Creel said she decided to go to Spittler. “Jeri is always saying she’s got an open door policy.”

Creel appeared to give contradictory evidence, at first saying Spittler’s grandchild was not there and later mentioning the child was there.

She said Spittler greeted her, noting she hadn’t been in the salon in over two years. Creel said the rope she was using to hold the dog pulled from her hand and the dog ran around behind Spittler’s manicure chair. “That's as far as this dog got.”

Creel said she told Spittler, “You wanted the job, you got the job, now do the job,” relating to her position on the council.

She said all she wanted to do was get the dog back to where it belonged. “Jeri helped that along because it was home the next day,” Creel said.

Spittler told the court, “My reason for being here is I want my family to feel safe at all times.” She said she also wanted it clearly understood that Creel’s behavior was not normal or safe.

Creel denied harassing Spittler. “I don’t meant to cause her family any harm,” Creel said during her closing statements.

Crone said the court had to decide if there was clear and convincing evidence of harassment. Such evidence could include just one incident or several. He also needed to determine if there was the likelihood of some kind of future harassment.

“Here it seems to the court there is a course of harassment,” Crone said, referencing the incident with the dog, and Creel driving by and yelling at Spittler’s home and business.

Crone noted that Spittler is a public official. “At times people do shout at meetings at public officials.”

However, he said there are limits, especially as it relates to a person’s private life, business and family.

Elected officials sacrifice some privacy, “but not all of it,” said Crone.

Crone issued the limited restraining order, telling Creel she can’t engage in any type of harassing conduct of Spittler, her family and her customers.

“Your honor, I do not really pose a threat to this woman or her family,” Creel said.

“I’ve made the order,” said Crone, who spent a few minutes working over the details.

Spittler said she just wanted the situation to end.

Phillipe said that if there are any violations of the order at the Clearlake City Council meetings, they will be handled by Clearlake Police Chief Craig Clausen.

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 on Tuesday evening approved a new contract with its city manager.

The council’s new contract with City Manager Margaret Silveira, who joined the city in April 2010, will now extend through May 30, 2016. The end date on her original contract was for March 31, 2013.

The contract was included in the council’s consent agenda, which usually is approved as a slate of items on one motion.

The contract, along with the rest of the consent agenda, was approved in a 4-0 vote, with Councilman Tom Engstrom recusing himself because he said he had not been present for the previous discussion of the item.

Before the contract was brought forward, Lakeport resident Nancy Ruzicka asked the council to pull the contract and allow the newly elected council to handle it once they are seated next month.

Councilman Roy Parmentier moved to have it left on the consent agenda, which was seconded by Bob Rumfelt. The terms for both men expire in December.

Mayor Stacy Mattina said the new council can’t make any changes to Silveira’s contract for 90 days, and it was decided the council who worked with Silveira would finalize the new contract.

The new contract includes the requirement that consideration of Silveira’s termination by the Lakeport City Council may not occur within 90 days after a general municipal election or special election in which new members are elected to the council.

“Any decision to terminate or not renew the Agreement shall be made in closed session and confirmed in a public meeting,” the contract says.

Silveira’s initial contract had required a 60-day period between an election and a decision about her employment, what City Attorney Steve Brookes called a “cooling off” period. He said such provisions are common in employment contracts like Silveira’s.

Silveira’s salary remains at $115,000 annually, with the same health care benefits in place, Brookes said.

While she has had positive reviews from the council, her salary is being held flat due to the city’s fiscal challenges, according to Brookes.     

The new contract, like the old one, allows for Silveira to collect six months’ wages – as well as her accrued leave and COBRA, but excluding other benefits – if she is terminated before the contract ends.  

Brookes told Lake County News that the main changes to the contract were the extension of the contract term, increased vacation accrual and a car allowance that wasn’t included in the first contract but which had been granted later. All of those benefits were folded into the new document, Brookes said.

Benefits include a 2.5 percent at age 55 retirement formula; sick time accrued at the rate of one day per month and vacation time at the rate of 20 days per year, per existing city policy; two weeks annual paid administrative leave, with one week to be used and one week available to be cashed out within each fiscal year; a car allowance of $400 per month; and a $60 per month cell phone stipend.

Both the original and new contracts may be seen below.                            

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.