Tom Gibson has served as Clearlake’s city attorney for the past two years. He is a partner in the Sacramento-based law firm Best, Best and Krieger, which specializes in public law.

However, Gibson is leaving the firm to take a job with the state, City Administrator Dale Neiman reported in open session Thursday evening.

“Personally I’m very sorry to see Tom leave,” said Neiman. “He’s by far the best city attorney I’ve worked with.”

The council met in closed session at 5:15 p.m., during which they discussed appointing a new city attorney.

Neiman reported that the recommendation from closed session was to appoint another Best, Best and Krieger partner, Malathy Subramanian, to succeed Gibson.

Subramanian has been the Clearlake Redevelopment Agency’s general counsel, and Neiman said she has worked with the council before.

Councilmember Joyce Overton confirmed that, saying she thought Subramanian was a very good attorney.

According to her biography on the Best, Best and Krieger Web site, Subramanian also is the City of Lafayette's attorney, and serves as general council to the Merced County Local Area Formation Commission, the Lafayette Redevelopment Agency and the East Palo Alto Sanitary District.

The council approved Subramanian’s appointment 5-0.

Mayor Curt Giambruno presented Gibson with a proclamation thanking him for his service.

Gibson thanked the city for the proclamation. “We’ve definitely had some interesting times over the last two years.”

Overton later thanked Gibson for his help during her tenure as mayor in 2006.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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At their regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, PEG Committee members discussed how they might work with the recently established Joint Powers Authority of the City of Clearlake and Lake County, the only government entities in the county which still have active cable TV franchises with Mediacom. Lakeport's franchise has expired and the Lakeport City Council opted not to be involved in the JPA.

Current representatives on the JPA are Ed Robey, District 1 member of the board of supervisors, and the board's new chairman; Joyce Overton, a Clearlake City Council member; and Shawn Swatosh, Mediacom's Lake County manager.

That trio is tasked with appointing two new members, probably one from the educational sphere and another representing the general public.

Overton suggested that people who want to serve send a letter of interest to her at the city of Clearlake, 14050 Olympic Drive, Clearlake, CA 95422, or to her e-mail address, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Overton and Robey, both present at the Wednesday meeting, agreed with the PEG members that the new JPA should be the financial overseer, while the PEG committee handles programming and content for the public access channel and works on fund raising and volunteer efforts.

The public access channel is funded by contributions from the city and county, which receives franchise fees from Mediacom and credits them to their general funds.

The current annual budget is $13,261, which includes $5,400 in revenue from Yuba College and $2,000 in revenue from the county for broadcasting the Board of Supervisors meetings.

The PEG Committee also seeks a new member representing education. The committee has had discussions about that appointment with the Konocti Unified School District, without reaching an agreement.

Committee member Hiram Dukes, a video producer, suggested the appointment of an education representative be turned over to the County Office of Education. He said he had heard from interested people in other school districts. The suggestion was accepted.

The PEG Committee's next meeting will be on Feb. 13, at 2:30 p.m., a permanent change from its usual 2 p.m.

E-mail Sophie Annan Jensen at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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The Board of Supervisors – serving jointly as the Board of Directors for the Lake County Public Authority, which oversees the IHSS program – announced the agreement with the California United Homecare Workers Tuesday afternoon.

IHSS providers offer in-home care to elderly, ill and physically challenged clients.

County Counsel Anita Grant said Wednesday that the agreement must next go to the union membership. Until the IHSS providers ratify the agreement, which covers both wages and benefits, its terms can't be discussed.

Grant said the prohibition against releasing information at this time was based on ground rules the county agreed to during negotiations.

Once the agreement is formalized, it will become public, said Grant, and will be taken up at a public meeting.

She confirmed that Tuesday's closed session during the board meeting involved the negotiations, but she could not disclose more specifics.

Scott Mann, spokesman for California United Homecare Workers, echoed Grant's remarks on Wednesday. “At this point in time the details are not being disclosed.”

The vote of the county's more than 1,300 IHSS workers to ratify the contract should be coming up very quickly, Mann said.

“The bargaining team is quite pleased,” Mann said. “They're hopeful that the membership will agree.”

The union and the county clashed last year over a proposed two-tier pay system that would have given $1 more an hour to IHSS providers who agreed to several conditions, including drug testing. Lake County's IHSS workers currently receive minimum wage and no health benefits.

Last June, the union filed an unfair labor practices charge against the Lake County Public Authority with the state's Public Employment Relations Board, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by Lake County News.

In its complaint, the union charged that the county violated the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act and employment relations board regulations by failing to meet and confer in good faith with the union on the two-tier pay proposal.

Public Employee Relations Program staffer Les Chisholm said Wednesday that the complaint is still working its way through the system.

Although the case hasn't reached the full board yet, Chisholm said the agency issued a complaint on the matter Jan. 2.

“The issuance of a complaint means that the initial review resulted in a conclusion that there was what's known as a 'prima facie' case,” Chisholm said.

He explained that prima facie (a Latin phrase which means “on its first appearance”) means that, if the facts of the case are true, it would constitute conduct that is a violation.

Issuing the complaint is a step in the process. “It's not,” Chisholm emphasized, “a finding that the act has been violated.”

Chisholm said the agency has scheduled a settlement conference between the county and union for Jan. 31.

In that conference, a Public Employee Relations Program staffer will meet with both parties and attempt to mediate an agreement, said Chisholm.

He added that the agency places a “big premium” on working with parties to come to voluntary settlements.

If a settlement isn't reached, said Chisholm, both parties would go before a Public Employee Relations Program judge. At that point the union would have the burden of proof in proving the county had violated labor regulations.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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The open portion of the council meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday. The council will convene for a closed session at 5:15 p.m. to discuss a potential property purchase on Davis Avenue, the city attorney's appointment and a possible case of litigation.

Council business will include a public hearing on amending the budget for fiscal year 2007-08, although City Administrator Dale Neiman said Wednesday that he expects that item may be continued because he wants to offer the council more detail.

The budget amendments proposed have to do specifically with streets, said Neiman. “In terms of how we're spending our street money, I want to make some changes.”

In particular, Neiman said he wants to ask to ask the council for direction on which projects they'd like to spend about $400,000 of Proposition 1B money.

Neiman said the city needs to buy some new road repair equipment, adding that some of the city's current equipment is “junk.”

There also is crack sealing that needs to be done on Lakeshore Drive and Old Highway 53, along with needed street overlays, he said. “What we need to do is get the biggest bang for our buck.”

Another public hearing will consider amending the five-year implementation plan for the Highlands Park Community Redevelopment Plan.

Neiman said the council, which sits jointly as the board of directors for the redevelopment agency, will look at two amendments.

One will deal with a $500,000 debt the redevelopment agency owes the city's housing fund, said Neiman. A second amendment for consideration will update the plan and extend its life.

Neiman will also present to the council updated emergency response procedures.

When Neiman worked for the City of Fortuna, a large earthquake hit there, he said. “It was an absolute mess. Nobody knew what they were doing.”

So he, the police department and Public Works have created a set of response procedures, which create a central location for emergency calls and prioritize how responses will be handled, he said.

“One of my goals is to get it formalized,” said Neiman.

In other business, other items for the council's consideration Thursday include: a resolution confirming an assessment for administrative penalties for a failure to abate a public nuisance; abatement of the property of Grant Meyer, located at 3981 Pine Ave.; a possible amendment to the city's sign regulations; rejection of a $1,000 claim by Buffey Marie Herman; an amendment to an agreement with Best, Best and Krieger for providing the city with legal services; a job description and salary level for the Public Works supervisor position; a contract for vehicle maintenance and repairs of city vehicles; and mayor's appointments for 2008.

The meeting will be held at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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A statement issued Tuesday afternoon by the Board of Supervisors said that the board, acting as the Lake County Public Authority's Board of Directors, “is pleased to announce that in negotiations with the County’s In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) providers, a tentative agreement has been reached today.

“The union will now submit the proposed wages and benefits and other contractual conditions to its membership for a ratification vote,” the board's statement said.

During its morning session the board held a closed session discussion relating to its ongoing negotiations with the California United Homecare Workers, the union that has represented county IHSS workers – whose numbers most recently totaled just under 1,400 – since 2005.

However, newly elected Board Chair Ed Robey made no announcement after the board emerged from closed session.

The specifics of the tentative agreement have so far not been made available.

The board deferred requests for more information to the Public Authority, which did not return a call from Lake County News.

California United Homecare Workers also did not have definitive information for release Tuesday.

The news of a possible agreement comes after a year of tense interactions between the union and the Board of Supervisors.

Last May, the Board of Supervisors asked the state to consider at two-tier pay scale for IHSS providers. The proposal would have given $1 more an hour to top-tier workers for, among other things, agreeing to undergo drug testing.

IHSS providers currently make minimum wage – $8 an hour as of Jan. 1 – and receive no health benefits, as Lake County News has reported.

The union responded by announcing last July that it planned to launch a recall effort of Supervisors Anthony Farrington, Ed Robey, Jeff Smith and Rob Brown.

That announcement came within days of the union stating it planned to launch a similar recall of four members of Imperial County's Board of Supervisors, also over pay and other contractual issues related to IHSS providers.

However, that recall appears to have stopped after the Imperial County Board of Supervisors voted to approve a new contract with the union on Oct. 23, according to a union report.

Whether Lake County's recall could similarly, and permanently, end also is not yet known; union officials so far have offered no new statements on their plans.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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On Monday Supervisor Rob Brown announced he will seek election for a third term.

"It is an honor to serve the citizens of Lake County," Brown said in a statement he issued Monday. "During my two terms on the board, I have fought hard to protect our quality of life and make our county government more responsive and accountable.”

When the county primary rolls around next June, Brown, 47, will face competition from Robert Stark, who already has taken out paperwork to run for the supervisorial seat, as Lake County News reported last month.

Stark is the manager for the Cobb Area Water District and a member of the South Lake County Fire Protection District's newly formed Master Plan Committee.

Brown said that, working together with the community, he's achieved a strong record of success for District 5 residents.

He pointed to several important accomplishments in his tenure so far, including the highest level of road repairs and highway safety improvements including a stoplight at Kit's Corner; a new ambulance for the local fire department; a new Animal Care and Control Facility; a new park for the Clear Lake Riviera community; county funding for the installation of a much-needed bridge on Cobb Mountain; and, a "build green" proposal to promote the use of solar power and alternative energy in future county building projects.

“In addition, we stood up to developers and defeated the proposed casino that would have brought increased crime and traffic congestion to our community," said Brown.

That casino plan, which came to light at this time last year, would have located an Indian casino at Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa. Brown took to the Board of Supervisors a resolution – which they accepted unanimously – to oppose any such casino project at the resort.

While proud of his successes, Brown said there is still much work that needs to be done in order to reform county government.

Looking ahead, Brown has several top priorities that he said he plans to pursue. They include working with county staff to improve foster care services for local families; protecting vulnerable senior citizens from abuse; maintaining county road improvement programs; and providing the highest level of law enforcement to our communities.

“I am also dedicated to protecting our county's vital water rights and maintaining the quality of our lakes and streams,” said Brown, who serves as chair of the Clean Water Protection Advisory Council.

"I will continue to insist on the highest standards of integrity in our county government and to provide independent leadership that puts the public's interests ahead of the special interests," Brown added.

Three supervisorial seats are up for election this year; in addition to Brown's, seats held by Supervisors Anthony Farrington and Ed Robey also will be on the ballot.

Last summer, Robey announced that he would not seek reelection in 2008, as Lake County News reported. Since then a large field has formed to seek Robey's District 1 seat.

With Brown's announcement, only Farrington has not yet made a formal statement about his plans. So far, however, no challengers for Farrington's seat have come forward, according to the Lake County Elections Office.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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