On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors held an update on how its recently accepted rent stability agreement was being accepted by park owners. Last month members had voiced the desire to see all of the county's parks voluntarily comply or else seek a regulatory option.

So far, the county has received 21 responses out of 85 parks and resorts that were approached. Of those, 16 agreed to offer the agreement in order to keep rents from growing too quickly, while five turned it down.

Supervisor Anthony Farrington, who has sat on the mobile home task force and worked on the agreement over the last few years, called the response “dismal.”

“I was optimistic we would have greater responses,” he said.

Supervisor Rob Brown, who also sat on the task force, said he had received numerous calls from park owners, and said many of those approached were resorts, not permanent residential parks. “I think we need to fine-tune the list a little more.”

Brown added, “It wasn't my goal to have 100-percent compliance and then punish everybody if we don't get it.”

Mary Ann McQueen, who owns Northport Trailer Resort with husband Jerry, has worked with the county on outreach to other park owners, and said it hadn't been easy going. “We have a lot of people who weren't involved in this process.”

She said getting 100-percent compliance may not be a reasonable goal, and asked for more time to continue contacting park owners.

Board Chair Ed Robey asked McQueen how much time she needed. She said a couple of weeks, adding that they didn't have correct phone numbers for some parks, and for others ownership had changed.

Attorney Andy Rossoff was skeptical that the county would see all park owners voluntarily comply with the agreement.

“It's going to be a constant enforcement issue,” he said.

The good park managers and owners who are doing right by their residents aren't going to have problems with it, while the trouble makers won't do it, Rossoff suggested. “Laws are passed to put the bad folks in line.”

Supervisor Denise Rushing said she received an e-mail from a constituent living in a park who reported that they had just received a copy of the supplemental rent stability agreement as an option, but at the same time were told that the owner wasn't going to continue paying the water bill.

“Some of this is about a relationship between the landlord and the tenants,” she said.

Mobile home task force member Gregory Cavness said Rushing's constituent was seeing a reduction in services, and they needed to seek a remedy.

He also offered a sad bit of news – Anita Soames, who had advocated on behalf of park residents around the county, died on Monday night.

Bob Wall, who owns BJ Walls park in Nice, said he's discussed the rent stability agreement with some of his tenants, who he said don't want to obligate themselves to it and don't want to put him out of business.

A bigger problem, he said, is electrical problems in older mobiles, and Wall said he would like to see a mandatory inspection of mobile homes 20 years old or older.

Ralph Cowden, who operates Lucerne's Lorraine Village, said he has talked to about 35 other park owners. “We've got an educational process to go through with some of these people.”

He said of the estimated 85 parks it the county, only about 60 are real.

Cowden said more time is needed to get everyone on the same page, adding he's not sure how a mandatory ordinance would work.

Rushing said she wanted to see the nonregulatory option work, and understood that more time was needed.

She added that if residents don't want to participate in the rent stability agreements, it's their choice.

The board will continue its discussion of the rent stability agreement at 11:14 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 2.

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On Tuesday, voters reelected Clearlake City Council incumbents Judy Thein, Joyce Overton and Curt Giambruno, and Lakeport City Council incumbents Bob Rumfelt and Roy Parmentier.

Lakeport voters also elected a new council member, Suzanne Lyons, who will take the seat currently held by Mayor Willis “Buzz” Bruns, who is retiring from the council at year's end.

Thein said she felt her campaign went very well, and that people were receptive to her efforts.

“I am really very honored and very appreciative for the support of the community,” she said. “My plans are just to work hard for the community and do the best job I can do.”

Mayor Curt Giambruno had been brought up from the Clearlake Planning Commission and appointed to the council to fill a vacancy a few years ago, so Tuesday was his first actual election for his seat.

He watched the results come in at City Hall Tuesday night with his family. Afterward, he went through town at around 1 a.m. to put up thank you messages on his election signs so that city residents would see them first thing Wednesday.

Giambruno said he wants to help keep the city moving in its current positive direction. “We've got some good things happening.”

He said he's looking forward to seeing the city's airport property be developed so it can bring needed sales tax into the community.

Giambruno also has a wish list, including reestablishing a playground for toddlers at Redbud Park and building a dirt BMX bike track at the end of Haverty Field. He'll need to find some money for the projects but, in the case of the BMX track, he's spoken to contractors willing to lend a hand.

He's also looking at ways to make the senior center more energy efficient, including adding solar energy and making adjustments to the building like lowering the dining room ceiling. Giambruno said Supervisor Jeff Smith has helped appropriate money to establish vegetable gardens at the center.

However, the top item on his list is getting two K-9 units for the Clearlake Police Department. They've raised money for half of the first one, which Giambruno wants to help get established before starting on the second.

“That kind of thing is kind of exciting to me,” he said. “It's all positive.”

Overton said she was gratified by the community's show of support at the ballot box.

“It makes me feel good that the people feel we did a good job and they reelected all the council members who have been there,” she said, thanking people for their votes.

Overton said her to do list includes working on addressing growing homeless rates in Clearlake.

“I think it's a big problem,” she said, noting that she's seeing the numbers of homeless people who come to church-sponsored dinners at the park on Friday grow.

She said that, when she was walking the city during the campaign, she met many people who told her that, because of the economy and being out of work, they were facing becoming homeless themselves.

Overton said the city's young people will continue to be a focus for her. She's worked to support the city's youth center and said she wants to combine forces with Thein to bring Team DUI and Friday Night Live activities to the center's youth.

She's now a member of the League of California Cities' state board and is vice president of the group's Redwood Empire division. Overton said in those capacities she wants to help fight to keep the state out of city coffers while also keeping fellow council members and staff apprised of what is going on at the state government level.

Suzanne Lyons topped the field of six seeking the three vacancies on the Lakeport City Council.

“I'm really gratified that people voted for me,” said Lyons, who said she ran as a candidate for change.

She plans to start off by working to build relationships with fellow council members so they can work together for positive outcomes. “I don't think it's going to be easy but I think it can be done.”

Lyons is particularly interested in government openness, both in having the city and its council be more available to residents and also encouraging more people to take part in making the city a better place.

While campaigning, Lyons said she met many people who had good and important suggestions about improving the city's quality of life. Many of those were small things that don't cost much money, like adding a crosswalk in a specific location or marking parking spaces in a particular way.

“There's a lot of things that people talked about that would be really easy,” she said.

Lyons said she believes the city has had a very narrow outlook, and she hopes to be able to open up the scope a bit.

Rumfelt, who is looking forward to his fourth term on the council, had open heart surgery Sept. 23 and is feeling energized both thanks to his renewed health and the positive election results. He finished No. 2 in overall votes.

He thanked everyone for their support. “It's nice to be able to finish the projects that we have in the works.”

Those projects include the new firehouse for the Lakeport Fire Protection District and a new Mendocino College Lake Center.

“They're trying to get some land and build a new campus in Lakeport, so that's one I certainly want to see through,” he said.

Downtown revitalization also is a priority, said Rumfelt. The recently completed Third Street project looks great and, he believes, it will help businesses.

“Instead of being just a nice place to go, it will be a beautiful place to go,” he said.

He's also pleased to see the South Main Street drainage improvement project go forward. On Tuesday night, the council approved awarding the contract for the project, which the city has been working on for two years.

One of the project's benefits, said Rumfelt, is it will add curbs, gutters and sidewalks to a portion of South Main, which will make that part of the city more walkable.

Lakeport Councilman Roy Parmentier could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

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The ordinance, originally accepted in a 3-2 vote on Oct. 21, was scheduled for a second and final reading on Tuesday.

But the Lake County Farm Bureau, which opposes the ban, raised issues with a possible conflict with the state's right to farm ordinance.

The state right to farm ordinance says, “No agricultural activity, operation, or facility, or appurtenances thereof, conducted or maintained for commercial purposes, and in a manner consistent with proper and accepted customs and standards, as established and followed by similar agricultural operations in the same locality, shall be or become a nuisance, private or public, due to any changed condition in or about the locality, after it has been in operation for more than three years if it was not a nuisance at the time it began.”

One local grower has, according to Farm Bureau officials, been growing GE corn for more than three years, and so the GE ban's attempt to declare the crops a nuisance would impact that operation.

Board Chair Ed Robey, who wrote the ordinance, suggested they could accept the ordinance as written and possibly risk litigation or fix with some updated language, which included allowing for preexisting operations or removing the nuisance clause and adding language to offer a limited exemption with time to cease growing any GE crop.

County Counsel Anita Grant drafted the proposed modifications, which not all of the board members had received Tuesday morning. In one of the revisions, Grant suggested using the county right to farm ordinance as a model, since it offered protections for crops that have been grown locally for at least one year, rather than the state's three.

What followed was another lengthy, three-hour discussion by the board and community members. Much of the time was devoted to repeating the strong convictions of those on both sides of the divide that has opened up over the ban.

Supervisor Denise Rushing said she didn't like the issue because it was divisive and seemed to have no middle ground.

She said she was baffled by the Lakeport Regional Chamber of Commerce's recently announced position against the ban, especially since well-known winemaker Jim Fetzer has spoken in favor of the ban two weeks ago.

Rushing said there were two world views at work in the debate – one that believes in taking precautions to protect health and safety, and another that espouses the idea that business people care enough to take the necessary precautions.

“I believe that we do need the ordinance,” she said.

Supervisor Jeff Smith said he wanted to try to get to middle ground, but he continued to oppose the ban. Smith said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Hajik, who would need to enforce the ban, has pointed to problems with it, and he also questioned why no action was taken to form an advisory committee, a proposal brought up at the last meeting.

Robey said they didn't have anyone to sit on such a committee at that point, and they needed to establish a process. Replied Smith, “I think there's some things we have to cover here before we pass anything.”

Supervisors also disagreed amongst themselves over the issues of health dangers. Rob Brown said no evidence had been presented showing a danger to human health. “I disagree with that completely,” replied Rushing.

Finley farmer Phil Murphy blasted Brown for opposing the ban, questioning if he understood the definition of agriculture. Murphy stated that a new marketing plan which incorporates the GE ban will help local agriculture survive.

Attorney Steve Elias, who has been active in advocating for a GE ban, suggested that the state right to farm ordinance is inapplicable to the GE ban. He said he was cynical about concerns raised by the Farm Bureau, Hajik or the chamber, since all have opposed such local regulations.

“All of this can be resolved by people of good will,” he said.

Michelle Scully said that she, like Rushing, didn't like the divisiveness around the issue, but she believed the ordinance had given rise to the division.

The conventional agriculture community isn't saying they don't care about health, they're saying they want to be heard, said Scully.

Scully, who wants to create an event this coming summer to celebrate Lake County agriculture and reintroduce the average person to what agriculture is all about, said it's ridiculous to argue about how people farm when there are hungry people in the community.

Farmer Ron Bartolucci, who as a mobile home park owner also has been involved with the mobile home task force, said putting together a working group is an important first step. The ordinance, he said, appeared to be “done out of fear rather than intelligence.”

Dr. Tim Strong, a local veterinarian and president of the county's Cattlemen's Association chapter, said US farmers are on the cutting edge of new technology. “When you pass a ban like this what you're saying is, you're putting handcuffs on agriculture.”

While Strong said he believed GE crops should be regulated and have a review process like sprays, he also believed farmers needed to have access to them. To do otherwise, he suggested, could result in food becoming like oil, with other countries feeding the US.

Sierra Club Lake Group Chair Victoria Brandon agreed that the rights of growers should be addressed. She said proponents of the GE ban had attempted to initiate a discussion with the Farm Bureau earlier this year, but the effort didn't get a positive reception. She also volunteered to be part of an advisory committee.

Brandon added that to have an attitude that ban proponents are a bunch of eco-terrorists threatening farmers is offensive.

Sarah Ryan of the Coalition for Responsible Agriculture said they've attempted to make their case for the ban by relying on local experts and using good science. The ban wasn't just about farmers but about protecting the environment and people from crops with manmade traits that haven't been thoroughly tested.

Lakeport Regional Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer Melissa Fulton said both sides needed to meet and attempt to reach a compromise to serve the community. She also questioned how the board would rule on exceptions that might be included in the ban.

“It would appear you are setting yourselves up as authorities on agriculture, and I don't believe any of you have that expertise,” she said.

Brown remained firm in his opposition to the ban. “This ordinance is really more about control than a true belief that we can have a marketing advantage,” he said, adding that it will hurt peoples' ability to make a living.

Rushing said she subscribed to the “precautionary principle” – choosing to be cautious when not all the needed data is available. If all the science on GE crops was available and trusted, “I don't think we would be here.”

Brown said she had told him she would not support the ban if Monsanto, a corporation that has helped develop many GE crops, would stay out of the county. Rushing said she was concerned about Monsanto and other companies which develop such crops that have potential longterm impacts that aren't known.

Other countries have chosen to keep the materials out, she said. “The Japanese have decided to wait for 10 years and let American children be the guinea pigs.”

Supervisor Anthony Farrington said he wanted resolution on the issue, which has caused him to lose sleep.

He said for him it wasn't a referendum on a corporation like Monsanto. “This should not be about power struggles and who wins.”

Rushing said she wanted to see an advisory group come together sooner than later to try to present a collective opinion about this form of regulation.

The board eventually decided to continue the discussion at 1:30 p.m. Nov. 18, at which time they'll look at the options and the working group's formation.

While the effort moves forward, its future is in doubt because of another development on Tuesday.

The District 1 supervisorial race to succeed Robey resulted in the election of Middletown rancher James Comstock, who was endorsed by the Lake County Farm Bureau Board.

Comstock told Lake County News on Wednesday that he will seek to have the ban overturned if it's passed before he takes office in January, and listed it as his top priority when his term begins.

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Suzanne Lyons will take the seat vacated by current Mayor Willis “Buzz” Bruns on Lakeport's council, winning with the most votes of the race, ahead of incumbents Robert Rumfelt and Roy Parmentier.

Lyons received 783 votes, or 20 percent of the vote, followed by Rumfelt, 772 votes (19.7 percent); Parmentier, 703 votes (17.9 percent); Marc Chalon Spillman, 618 votes (15.8 percent); Ginger Ingersoll, 601 votes, (15.3 percent); and George Spurr, 443 votes (11.3 percent).

In Clearlake, voters approved giving incumbent council members Judy Thein, Joyce Overton and Curt Giambruno new four-year terms.

Thein received 1,748 votes (24.1 percent); Overton, 1,436 (19.8 percent); Giambruno, 1,290 votes (17.8 percent); James M. Reed, 1,181 votes (16.3 percent); Bill Shields, 931 votes (12.8 percent); and Estella Creel, 663 votes (9.1 percent).

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The Board of Supervisors approved the ordinance on Oct. 21 in a 3-2 vote: ayes were Board Chair Ed Robey, who introduced it, along with Supervisors Anthony Farrington and Denise Rushing; Jeff Smith and Rob Brown voted no.

The ordinance was then advanced to the Tuesday board meeting, when it was expected to undergo a second, confirming vote following a second reading.

However, since then the ordinance's language has been found to possibly conflict with state and local right to farm ordinances.

“It has to do with the word 'nuisance,'” said Robey.

Lake County Farm Bureau Executive Director Chuck March said the group sent a letter to county Agriculture Commissioner Steve Hajik on Oct. 27 that pointed out that the state's right to farm ordinance holds that an agricultural operation that's been in operation three years, and wasn't a nuisance when it started, can't be declared one. That ordinance prevails over local provisions.

The Farm Bureau questioned Hajik about how he would enforce the GE ban in light of the conflicting provisions, March said.

Robey said County Counsel Anita Grant is working on options for approaching the conflict, which she'll bring to the board Tuesday.

“We are now looking at the possibility of modifying our ordinance to try to address this,” said Robey.

That could include adding a clause that would allow a grower who already has GE crops in rotation to apply for an exemption within 30 days of the ordinance becoming final. To gain that exemption, the grower would have to show documentary evidence of having previously grown the crop. They wouldn't be able to add other GE crops or expand their acreage.

Grant said one possible change could include exempting crops that have been in production for one year or more – which would align with the county's right to farm ordinance, rather than the state's, with its three-year time period.

“We're offering more protection to farms by saying a one-year period,” said Grant. “I don't think the state would have an issue there.”

That's enough of an adjustment to the ordinance, said Grant, that if the board decided to advance it, they would need to have the first reading Tuesday and a second reading later this month, likely on Nov. 18 since no meeting will be held on Nov. 11, Veterans Day.

March said there is one local farmer who, for more than three years, has grown a small amount of GE corn. Based on state code, that grower wouldn't have to file any reports with the county for a private database to be kept by Hajik's office.

That database, said March, is another bone of contention; he said public records laws and Article 1, Section 3 of the state's constitution likely would trump keeping such a record system.

Besides that, there is also the issue of the board being able to make a finding that local agriculture can be certified “GE-free,” said March.

He questioned who will do the certification and whether or not the county can be ruled “GE-free” since a GE crop already has been raised here for more than three years.

There's no state or federal standards as far as certifying something GE-free, March added.

Robey, who said he hopes the ordinance will be accepted again on Tuesday, said he's received a “90-percent positive” reaction on it. However, he added that since he introduced it, he doesn't expect opponents to register their opposition with him.

The ordinance has support of groups such as the Sierra Club Lake Group, whose chair, Victoria Brandon, argued that GE crops have been demonstrated to threaten the environment in many different ways, while offering no benefits to Lake County agriculture, which depends on niche markets and a reputation for highest quality in order to prosper.

“If incorporated into a comprehensive marketing plan, the sensible regulations contained in this ordinance will help give local farmers the extra selling point that could make the difference between success and failure, while also protecting the community from unanticipated hazards,” she said.

One local group that has come out against the ordinance in recent days is the Lakeport Regional Chamber of Commerce's Governmental Affairs Committee.

Co-chaired by Bill Brunetti and Jerry McQueen, the committee put out a statement in which it notes that the chamber opposes the GE ban ordinance.

“The Governmental Affairs Committee of the Lakeport Regional Chamber of Commerce, in a discussion on the GE Ban Ordinance, determined that this ordinance is not in the best interests of the County of Lake. Contrary to what the proponents of the ordinance have stated that the ordinance will assist in economic/tourism increases when Lake County advertises itself as GE free, in the four years since a similar ordinance was passed in Mendocino County, there has been no measurable increase in tourism. The Committee made a recommendation to the Board of Directors to oppose the adoption of this ordinance, which was approved by a vote of the Board members,” the committee's statement says.

It adds, “Organic farmers in Lake County farm less than 18 percent of the lands being farmed in Lake County. It is our understanding that not all organic farmers support this ordinance.”

Sarah Ryan, a member of the Coalition for Responsible Agriculture, which has worked for such a local GE prohibition for several years, said the ordinance provides an opportunity for each GE crop to go through a process where both the safety and benefits – if there are any – to the county’s economy have to be proven.

She said GE technology raises concerns because it hasn't been subjected to environmental impact studies to test its ultimate impact on nature and other plants.

“Don’t be fooled – GE crops are not a benign tool in our local farmers’ toolboxes,” she said. “They have the potential to do great harm to our community. These plants have bioengineered traits and proteins that have never before existed on this earth. Any farmer who grows these plants are not allowed to save their seed. If these plants cross with natural varieties, they alter traits that traditional farmers have cultivated for decades and create superweeds that are resistant to safer chemicals.”

The board is scheduled to discuss the GE crop ordinance at 10:30 a.m.

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The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.

City Engineer Scott Harter will take to the council a contract for the South Main Street Drainage Project, which he'll ask them to award to Argonaut Constructors.

Harter's report to the council explains that on Oct. 29 the city received nine bids for the project, ranging from just under $240,000 to $345,000.

Santa Rosa-based Argonaut Constructors' bid was the lowest, at $239,344. According to Harter, funding for the project, at $320,142, is accounted for in the Public Works Department budget.

If the council doesn't approve the contract, all of the bids will need to be rejected and the process started again, Harter reported.

The council also has a closed session scheduled to discuss property negotiations regarding Green Ranch and 1473 Martin St.

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