LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council on Tuesday night presented two proclamations to bring attention to sexual assault and child abuse issues.
The main item of business on the council’s short agenda was the presentation of the proclamations designating April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Child Abuse Prevention Month. The Board of Supervisors had offered similar proclamations on Tuesday morning.
Mayor Stacey Mattina read and presented the two proclamations to the staff of Lake Family Resource Center, which has a Rape Crisis Center, hotline services and initiatives to prevent child abuse.
The proclamation on Sexual Assault Awareness Month stated that in 2016 Lake County agencies responded to the needs of at least 248 sexual assault victims, their significant others and/or family members, and emphasized the importance of organizations, agencies and the community in eliminating sexual assault.
The document also explained that one in six boys and one in four girls will experience a sexual assault before the age 18.
Lake Family Resource Center Executive Director Jennifer Dodd thanked the council, and said organizations working together is key to responding to sexual assault in the community.
The proclamation for Child Abuse Prevention Month said approximately three million children are reported abused and neglected in the United States each year, and “child abuse prevention is a community problem and finding solutions depends on the involvement of people throughout the community.”
Jami White from Lake Family Resource Center’s Early Head Start team thanked the council for approving the organization’s application for its Children’s Festival and Advocacy Walk on April 22.
This year, in addition to their paper doll project, White said they also will hold the pinwheel garden challenge, which asks people to place blue pinwheels in yards and gardens to bring attention to child abuse prevention month.
In honor of the event, blue pinwheels were handed out to council members.
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.
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – In two major stops in Lake County on Saturday, Congressman Mike Thompson gave updates on the latest issues in Washington, from health care to immigration.
Thompson, a Democrat from St. Helena who has served Lake County in Congress for 18 years and was a member of the State Legislature before that, held a town hall at Kelseyville High School on Saturday afternoon, following up later in the day with his 26th annual ravioli dinner at Boatique Winery.
Even though it was a clear and warm spring Saturday, the afternoon town hall drew a crowd estimated to be around 250 people, a fact that didn’t surprise Thompson.
“Since November more people seem to be interested in what’s going on in Washington, DC,” Thompson said.
He said he’s held a number of town halls around his district that have drawn hundreds of people each, some of them requiring that people be turned away due to lack of space. At one he held at Piner High School in Santa Rosa along with State Sen. Mike McGuire, Thompson said 2,000 people showed up.
Although those events specifically were dedicated to discussing the aborted effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Thompson said more people are coming out to town halls in general, which he plans to continue holding.
“It's going to be our involvement and our continued involvement that will make sure that we keep going in the right direction,” he said.
On hand with Thompson at the town hall was a group of local, state and regional officials, including Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry; Sheriff Brian Martin; Lake County Board of Supervisors members Moke Simon and Tina Scott; Nancy Mitchell from the Lake County Veterans Services Office; Community Health Initiative, Napa County Executive Director Elba Gonzalez-Mares; and Lake County Assistant Superintendent of Schools April Leiferman, each offering brief updates for their agencies.
Among the updates, Aguiar-Curry said she’s working to create a blue ribbon committee for revitalizing Clear Lake, as well as projects related to agricultural apprenticeships for young people, a constitutional amendment that will help counties and cities pursue funding for affordable housing and public infrastructure, and rural broadband.
“I listened. I heard,” she said of community concerns.
One of the main topics at the town hall was health care and the Affordable Care Act, or ACA.
“We were able to have a victory in Congress last week in regard to the Affordable Care,” said Thompson.
However, he cautioned, “Don't take your eye off the ball. This fight's not over.”
That’s because the majority of Republicans in Congress still want to repeal the ACA, although Thompson said he’s not sure the president knows what he wants to do about it.
Loss of the ACA would have heavy consequences for California, which Thompson said stood to lose 300,000 jobs and $20 billion under the repeal bill.
“It would have been a hard hit for all of us Californians,” said Thompson, asserting it would have imposed an age tax.
The Republicans still need to find money to support their plans for tax cuts. “We've got to be very, very careful about how we go forward here,” said Thompson.
He said Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has said he wants to come back with another ACA repeal bill, otherwise the president might work with the Democrats to do a bipartisan bill.
Thompson said it seemed to him that working in a bipartisan manner to do something good for the American people is something Congress should be thinking about doing, calling Ryan’s sentiment “un-American.”
The ACA made important improvements by allowing young people to stay on their parents’ insurance until age 26 and preventing people with preexisting conditions to be denied coverage, he said.
He went on to explain that no bill – at any level of government – is done being adjusted once it’s passed. Before the ink is dried, it’s important to start working on improvements and addressing unintended consequences. “Health care is no different.”
Regarding improving the ACA, Thompson said there are things that can be done right away, and there are things the president can do administratively. “The administration has a pretty heavy hand in this.”
He said the ACA won’t implode on its own, but the president can do things to cause it to implode. Some of those actions, which the president already has taken, including taking out funding to promote enrollment and removing money to help offset costs in high-risk areas. There’s also a Republican lawsuit that, if it succeeds, would prevent subsidies from being spent without specific congressional action.
Thompson said there are not enough private markets, and even in Lake County there are only two providers. That’s why he and others supported the public option. “We cannot become distracted and we cannot become divided.”
Gonzalez-Mares said 8,823 individuals gained Medi-Cal thanks to the ACA, and another 2,060 more gained coverage through the exchange.
She said the ACA has dropped the uninsured rate across California from 16 percent to 9 percent, preventive care is being used more and consumer protections increased.
Panel responds to variety of questions
Among the questions asked of Thompson and his panel of officials during the town hall included an inquiry about whether there was funding to build a dam on Scotts Creek. Scott said a committee of Scotts Valley residents had been organized to consider issues related to flooding in that area.
Thompson was asked about the “Cadillac” health care plan he has as a member of Congress. He said he and his wife actually pay about $800 a month for health care, not including vision and dental, for a plan he said is very similar to what others may have in the community.
The panel was asked about why roads aren’t be repaired. “Money,” said Aguiar-Curry, who urged people to support SB 1, the transportation package proposed by state legislative leadership to generate $52 billion over 10 years through increased gas tax and vehicle registration fees for statewide infrastructure improvement.
They also were asked about what the state of California is prepared to do in response to climate change concerns. Aguiar-Curry said California is the safest place to be when it comes to that issue.
“California is always going to have our eye on the ball for climate change,” she said, noting the state will continue to fight for clean air.
Sheriff Martin was asked about how the passage of the Truth Act, which took effect earlier this year, impacts his agency’s operations.
That law, signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last year, requires that when the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, places a detainer on someone in local law enforcement custody for the purpose of interviewing or deporting them, the local agency holding the person must must serve a copy of that detainer request to the individual in question.
“My priorities are not to enforce federal immigration law. My priorities are to make sure our communities are safe, and that our communities are safe for everybody,” said Martin.
He said he and Supervisor Scott met with the acting head of ICE in Sacramento the prior week, and that agency official made it clear he will enforce the federal laws for which he is responsible.
Even so, Martin said the Truth Act and the discretionary abilities of sheriffs across the state come into play. He said sometimes law enforcement is asked by ICE to hold individuals who are in custody due to minor offenses beyond their dates of anticipated release. “And there is not a sheriff in the state of California that does that.”
In Sacramento County space is held in the jail for ICE detainees. “In Lake County we do not do that,” Martin said, adding that he will provide information to ICE about violent offenders but not about every individual accused of a crime, especially minor issues.
Martin said the sheriff’s office had two requests for ICE detainers in the previous two weeks, one for an individual who bailed out quickly, one for a person who wasn’t in custody for violent charges.
“I'm not sworn to enforce all laws,” Martin said, emphasizing that’s not what his oath says, and pointing out that he doesn’t enforce tax law or even laws relating to federal waterway regulations.
“I’m here to serve our community,” he said, explaining that he wants the community to feel safe, report issues and know the sheriff’s office will take care of them.
Thompson thanked Martin, adding it was the best appropriate response that he could give.
“This is going to be a bit of a struggle,” Thompson said of issues with federal law enforcement agencies and immigration.
He said his Democratic caucus the week before met with Homeland Security head John Kelly after he had blown off the Latino Caucus the previous week. Thompson said he has never seen a cabinet secretary from either party be as rude and dismissive to members of Congress as Kelly.
Thompson asked Kelly at the meeting about the concerns of law enforcement that ICE agents wear jackets and vets with the word “Police” written on them in huge letters. That’s a concern for local law enforcement, who have spent years working with immigrant communities.
At that point, Thompson presented a letter signed by 50 of his colleagues also raising issue with the practice. Kelly said he would take the letter but would not do anything about the issue.
“We have a real uphill battle in trying to make sure that this administration recognizes that they have a responsibility to local communities across our country. This is where the rubber hits the road,” Thompson said.
There also were questions at the town hall about sanctuary cities, with Aguiar-Curry noting that California in particular is in the crosshairs over the issue. “Our president is looking at us as a target.”
Thompson was asked if he supports privatizing the school system, and he quickly answered with a one word answer: “No.”
He also answered questions about helping getting federal recovery dollars to Lake County for the wildland fires and flooding, and noted he’s committed to working with local and state officials to ensure that they get every available federal dollar.
Likewise, he recognized the high costs for higher education, and recounted efforts that Democrats have made to support the Pell Grant system.
He also was asked about the investigation into President Trump’s Russian ties and his tax returns. Thompson said he agrees with Sen. John McCain of Arizona that there needs to be an independent investigation.
“A foreign government who is an adversary injected themselves into our election,” he said. “They worked to disrupt our democratic process, and that on its own should have everybody in this room and everybody across the United States of America hopping mad.”
Dinner with friends
Later, at his evening dinner event, Thompson would acknowledge the energy across the country right now regarding the developments in the federal government.
“There’s a silver lining to what is depressing us,” he said, noting that people are energized and are once again attending town halls, which he said are “back in popularity today.”
Thompson said he was excited about the turnout at those events, including the one he hosted earlier that day.
He brought up concerns about potential cuts to government operations proposed by the president, including taking $100 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has responded to Lake County during tis recent disasters. There also are concerns about impacts to the National Institutes of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency.
“I’m going to fight like hell to make sure we get the best deal for our district and our country,” Thompson said.
He said he will work with the president and the majority party, and shares their interests in investment in infrastructure.
Thompson said immigration also needs to be fixed, and there is bipartisan support for addressing it.
A former eight-year member of the House Intelligence Committee, Thompson said the “shenanigans” of the last several weeks related to that committee have cast a cloud, and the matter of Russian election interference needs to be investigated.
He added that, in the midst of the turmoil in Washington, it meant a lot to him to be able to return home to his district and be with friends.
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 granting of a major disaster declaration for California is expected to help local agencies pay for repairs and recovery from this winter’s storms and flooding.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that President Donald Trump approved the major disaster declaration and the resulting federal disaster assistance to the state of California to supplement state, tribal and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by severe winter storms, flooding and mudslides from Feb. 1 to 23.
Gov. Jerry Brown had asked for the declaration last month to help dozens of counties, including Lake, as Lake County News has reported.
Lake County was hit particularly hard by the storms, which caused Clear Lake’s level to stay in flood stage for a month and led to mandatory evacuations in parts of the city of Lakeport.
Lakeport City Manager Margaret Silveira told Lake County News that the city – which had significant damage from the storms and flooding – is already working to acquire the federal funding.
Silveira said representatives of FEMA and the California Office of Emergency Services were in Lakeport on Monday for a kick-off meeting to begin the assessments necessary for the city to receive the federal assistance.
City facilities that sustained major impacts included Library Park, where the seawall and nearby sidewalks were damaged, the sod was raised and the gravel on walkways was washed away, according to reports to the Lakeport City Council from Public Works Director Doug Grider.
The city also had to set up a portable pump station because of flood water intruding into the sewer system through Will-O-Point Resort’s sewer system.
It’s also expected that the county of Lake will pursue the emergency funding, as county infrastructure – including roads and the sewer facilities – were impacted. Notably, the Nice-Lucerne Cutoff was closed for weeks because of the flooding.
Lake County Public Works Director Scott De Leon told Lake County News in a March interview that early assessments suggested damage to county-maintained roads ranged between $5 million and $7 million.
Special Districts Administrator Jan Coppinger said the storm and flooding impacts required the use of pumper trucks throughout most of February and the early part of March to keep the sewer system from overflows. However, the water and sewer infrastructure itself didn’t sustain any damage.
She said Special Districts spent an estimated $700,000 on pumper trucks and septic hauling alone during February and March.
Coppinger said the county will ask the California Office of Emergency Services for reimbursement to cover those costs – an emergency measure to prevent catastrophic sewer spills – which weren’t budgeted. In the meantime, Special Districts has had to cancel some maintenance and other projects to cover the hauling costs.
FEMA said the declaration makes federal funding available to state, tribal, and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by severe winter storms, flooding and mudslides in Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Glenn, Humboldt, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Marin, Mariposa, Merced, Modoc, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Plumas, Sacramento, San Benito, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne, Yolo, and Yuba counties.
Federal funding also is available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide, the agency said.
Timothy J. Scranton has been named as the federal coordinating officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area.
Scranton said additional designations may be made at a later date if warranted by the results of damage assessments.
FEMA said the federal declaration provides for payment of not less than 75 percent of the eligible costs for debris removal and emergency protective measures taken to save lives and protect property and public health. Emergency protective measures assistance is available to state, tribal and eligible local governments on a cost-sharing basis.
It also pays for not less than 75 percent of the following:
– Eligible costs for repairing or replacing damaged public facilities, such as roads, bridges, utilities, buildings, schools, recreational areas, and similar publicly owned property, as well as certain private non-profit organizations engaged in community service activities. – Approved costs for hazard mitigation projects undertaken by state, tribal, and local governments to prevent or reduce long-term risk to life and property from natural or technological disasters.
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. – This week the Board of Supervisors is set to hold a discussion regarding the proposal to declare Lake County a place of trust and safety for immigrants who work in the community, and also will consider offering support for a bill to rehabilitate Clear Lake.
The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 4, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
In an untimed item brought to the board by Supervisor Tina Scott, the board is being asked to consider voicing its support for immigrants in the county.
In her report to the board, Scott wrote, “The recent flooding on Clear Lake forced the evacuation of dozens of local residents who live in lakeside mobile home parks in Lakeport. A number of those residents are undocumented local Ag workers who have feared that while under evacuation, their immigration status could come to light, leading to possible deportation. These workers play a very important part in our local Ag industry and the Lake County economy.”
Scott concluded in her memo, “I am requesting that the Board consider directing staff to prepare a resolution in support of our local immigrant community.”
In other untimed items, the board will consider a letter in support of AB 707 by Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, Lake County’s new representative in the State Legislature.
In the bill, Aguiar-Curry is proposing to establish the Blue Ribbon Committee for the Rehabilitation of Clear Lake.
In items timed for 9:10 a.m., the board will present proclamations declaring April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Child Abuse Prevention Month, a proclamation designating the week of April 2 to 8, 2017, as National Crime Victims' Rights Week in Lake County, and a proclamation designating the week of April 3 to 9, 2017, as Public Health Week in Lake County.
The full agenda follows.
CONSENT AGENDA
7.1: Approve letter of support for AB 288 (Obernolte) to extend the period to pay or protest the State Fire Prevention Fee; and authorize the chair to sign.
7.2: Adopt proclamation designating the month of April 2017 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month in Lake County.
7.3: Adopt proclamation designating the month of April 2017 as Child Abuse Prevention Month in Lake County.
7.4: Adopt proclamation designating the week of April 2 to 8, 2017, as National Crime Victims’ Rights Week in Lake County.
7.5: Adopt proclamation designating the week of April 3 to 9, 2017, as Public Health Week in Lake County.
7.6: Authorization to change dates for previously approved long distance travel to Atlanta, Georgia, for Kimberly Baldwin, program coordinator emergency preparedness, Public Health Division, from April 24, 2017, through April 28, 2017, to April 23, 2017 through April 28, 2017.
7.7: Approve the plans and specifications for the Harbin Springs Road at Harbin Creek Bridge Replacement Project; Bid No. 17-04, Federal Aid Project No. BRLO-5914 (106); and authorize the Public Works director / assistant purchasing agent to advertise for bids once authorization to proceed with construction phase is received from Caltrans.
7.8: Adopt resolution approving right of way certification for oak tree mitigation project at Cole Creek Bridge on Soda Bay Road, in Lake County, CA Federal Project Number: BRLS-5914 (108); and authorize the Public Works director to execute the right of way certification.
7.9: Approve late travel claims from the sheriff's office and authorize the auditor's office to process.
7.10: Adopt resolution declaring duty weapons as surplus to the needs of the county and authorizing purchasing agent to sell said weapons.
7.11: Approve the request to add weapons to the sheriff’s office fixed asset inventory.
7.12: Approve the DEA contract for calendar year 2017 (fiscal year 2017/18) in the amount of $150,000; and authorize the sheriff to sign the letter of agreement and the chair to sign the workplace certifications and grant assurances.
7.13: Approve agreement between the Lake County Sheriff's Office and U.S. Forest Service for FY 17/18 annual operating and financial plan, in the amount of $11,000 for Pillsbury Patrol, and authorize the sheriff and the chairman to sign.
7.14: Approve the commercial lease agreement between county of Lake and Penna Realty Property Management for annual rent of $83,355 terminating on June 30, 2020; and authorize the chair to sign.
7.15: Approve the first amendment to lease agreement between Law Offices of Ewing and Associates for CWS staff parking, extending the term through June 30, 2018, for an annual lease rate of $3,600; and authorize the chair to sign.
TIMED ITEMS
8.2, 9:10 a.m.: (a) Presentation of proclamation designating the month of April 2017 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month in Lake County; (b) presentation of proclamation designating the month of April 2017 as Child Abuse Prevention Month in Lake County; (c) presentation of proclamation designating the week of April 2 to 8, 2017, as National Crime Victims' Rights Week in Lake County; and (d) presentation of proclamation designating the week of April 3 to 9, 2017, as Public Health Week in Lake County.
8.3, 9:15 a.m.: Sitting as the Lake County Housing Commission, consideration of approval of Form HUD 50077-CR: Civil Rights Certification for required submission; and authorize the chair to sign.
8.4, 9:16 a.m.: Sitting as the Lake County Housing Commission, consideration of approval of Section 8 Administrative Plan Update from March 28, 2017.
8.5, 9:20 a.m.: Hearing, nuisance abatement assessment confirmation and proposed recordation of notice of lien in the amount of $4252.82, for PO Box 86, Lucerne, CA (APN 034-433-10-Sherry Kuppenger).
8.6, 9:30 a.m.: Hearing, nuisance abatement assessment confirmation and proposed recordation of notice of lien in the amount of $3,529.86, for 2863 Carson St, Nice CA (APN 031-072-32 –Eva M. Tucker).
UNTIMED ITEMS
9.1: Discussion regarding the possibility of Lake County declaring that it is a place of trust and safety for immigrants who work in our community.
9.2: Informational Report from California State Water Resources Control Board on cannabis rules for irrigated lands.
9.3: Consideration of letter of support for Assembly Bill (AB) 707 (Aguiar-Curry) establishing the Blue Ribbon Committee for the Rehabilitation of Clear Lake.
9.4: Consideration of letter of support for Assembly Bill (AB) 920 (Aguiar-Curry) for the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program.
CLOSED SESSION
10.2: Conference with legal counsel: Existing litigation pursuant to Gov. Code sec. 54956.9(d)(1): Lakeside Heights HOA, et al. v. County of Lake, et al.
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 will gather twice this week, once for a special meeting to discuss goals and the second for its regular meeting.
The council’s two meetings will take place on Monday, April 3, and Tuesday, April, 4, both in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.
For the Monday special meeting, which begins at 5 p.m., the council will hold a workshop for the purpose of discussing and setting the goals for fiscal year 2017-18, which is part of the annual budgeting process.
On Tuesday, beginning at 6 p.m., the council will hold its first regular meeting of the month.
On the short agenda is a consent agenda including the following items:
– Ordinances. – Minutes of the regular March 21 meeting. – The March 20 warrant register. – Application No. 2017-012 with staff recommendations, and waive application fee, for the 2017 Downtown Clean Up event to be held on Main Street on May 13. – Application No. 2017-013 with staff recommendations, for the 2017 July Fourth Arts & Crafts Fair to be held on Park Street and Library Park on July 4. – Application No. 2017-014 with staff recommendations, for the 2017 Taste of Lake County event to be held on Main Street on Aug. 26. – Application No. 2017-015 with staff recommendations, for the 2017 Dickens Faire to be held on Main Street on Nov. 25. – Application No. 2017-016 with staff recommendations, and waive application fee, for the annual Trick or Treat Main Street event to be held on Main Street on Oct. 31. – Reject Claim 2017-001 filed by Patricia Felix, as recommended by REMIF. – Receive and file the Fiscal Year 2015/2016 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report.
The council also will present proclamations designating April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Child Abuse Prevention Month to Lake Family Resource Center staff.
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 directed county staff to begin negotiating a new public defender contract with a local partnership.
The board gave unanimous consensus to have staff work with Lake Indigent Defense, led by David Markham and Andrea Sullivan, on the terms of a new contract. Supervisor Jim Steele was absent for the discussion.
That direction overrode a staff recommendation that instead favored a proposal put forward by Shasta County attorney Joseph Ahart.
Ahart had bid $1.3 million on the contract, just $20,000 less than Lake Indigent Defense, with the plan to have all of the work handled by seven attorneys, half of what is offered under the current contract.
Lake Indigent Defense also has proposed to have 14 attorneys – seven for felonies, five for misdemeanors and two for criminal juvenile matters – in addition to attorneys for conservatorships, family law, appeals and writs, and veterans court.
Another bid for more than $1.4 million had been made by the Madera County-based Richard A. Ciummo & Associates, which offers public indigent defense services in several counties.
County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson said the contract has been in effect for a number of years in a variety of forms, with the current contractor, Lake Defense Inc., giving notice, with the last day of the contract on May 6. She said the county is constitutionally mandated to provide public defender services.
She said she, County Deputy Administrator Jeff Rein and County Counsel Anita Grant interviewed the applicants and made the recommendation to the board.
Going over the proposals, Huchingson said Richard A. Ciummo & Associates offers similar services in counties including Madera, Amador and Modoc. The firm intended to hire the current attorneys, put them on salary and provide them a retirement program.
However, the cost was about $200,000 above lowest proposal, which Huchingson said is the cost of four county positions at a time when the county is pressed for money.
Lake Indigent Defense is a new entity that’s based on the impending partnership of Markham and Sullivan, who have both worked under Lake Defense.
Huchingson said the proposal had originally been disqualified because Sullivan is just two months short of the county’s required five-year minimum for having a bar license.
Staff also had concerns about a “timeshare” plan that Markham and Sullivan had put forward to rotate who would administer the contract between them on a weekly basis. Huchingson said staff would want Markham to oversee and be the final decision maker over the contract’s three-year period.
Ahart’s proposal offered assurances that the county would bear no additional costs, and also offered a compensation plan to pay attorneys a little more than they currently are in an effort to attract more qualified candidates.
Sullivan and Markham spoke to the board about their proposal, with Sullivan explaining that as of June 1 she would have had her bar license for five years. She has worked for three years under the current contract, handling significant cases including homicides, armed robberies and vehicular manslaughter. Additionally, she has a busy private practice.
Markham said he was happy to take the lead on the contract and make final decisions, and be the point of contact for the county. He grew up in Lake County. “This is my home, this is where I’m going to stay.”
Markham said they wrote the proposal with the concerns of the county and citizens in mind. He was admitted to the bar in 2000, worked for a time in the District Attorney’s Office and also in private practice and in the defense contract. He was mentored by the late Steve Tulanian.
He praised Sullivan for her abilities and her passion for the job. “She has a lot more to offer than the average attorney who’s been practicing five years,” he said, adding he has no question about her abilities and that she’s the only partner he would have chosen.
Ahart, who has been an attorney for more than 10 years, currently is on the conflict panel for Shasta County’s public offender, and has two homicides in his caseload. For the past three years, he’s also served as an administrator in Shasta County’s juvenile dependency actions.
He said Shasta County has a far higher case filing volume, and he planned to bring professionalism to Lake County. Ahart said there are issues with Lake County’s public defender system, including what he said are a high number of conflicts. He planned to bring in a chief public defender to be on site who currently is a supervisor at the Shasta County Public Defender’s Office.
During his comments, Ahart said Lake County had 763 felonies filed last year, including six homicides.
Brown said those numbers didn’t add up. Based on numbers for the 2016 calendar year he received from the court executive officer, Brown said there were 945 felonies filed last year, and 2,362 misdemeanors, for filings totaling 3,307. He said 90 percent were public defender cases.
The main concern Brown raised with Ahart’s proposal – which would be echoed by others during the meeting – was that he wasn’t offering enough attorneys to handle the caseload. “It just can’t possibly happen.”
He said he was glad to hear Markham and Sullivan had worked out an alternative to the timeshare approach, noting it had been used in the past and was confusing.
Regarding Sullivan’s experience, Brown said the minimum standard for experience can’t always be measured in time, but should be looked at through intensity of caseload. Had she applied for the contract on her own, Brown said he wouldn’t have had a problem with her doing it, based on her ability.
“She’s been baptized by fire in Lake County and Lake County is a whole different animal,” he said.
He added, “There’s no way possible that you can get by with the number of attorneys that are being proposed by Mr. Ahart at this point.”
Brown suggested that, moving forward, he wanted to re-implement meetings of the Public Defender Oversight Committee for a six-month period.
During public comment, the board heard primarily from attorneys supporting Markham and Sullivan, and faulting Ahart’s proposal for its lack of staffing.
Sterling Thayer Jr., who has worked as a public defender on the contract for nearly three years, went over attorney caseloads and the guidelines established in the law profession for how many cases public defenders should carry.
A 1970 bar survey suggested no more than 400 misdemeanors per year and no more than 100 felonies. In 2015, a study that came out of the Texas Legislature suggested a maximum of 220 misdemeanors and 125 felonies, he said.
Based on a calculation of local court cases assuming a 90-percent acceptance rate, and pointing to the 2,000 misdemeanor cases that were accepted last year, Thayer said that would mean 667 cases per attorney per year based on Ahart’s proposal. If 900 felonies were accepted, it would mean 225 cases per felony attorney.
Thayer pointed out that attorneys would have far less time for each client. Brown followed up by pointing out that the grand jury had faulted the county’s public defense contract more than a decade ago due in part to not enough time being spent with defendants. Doubling caseload would raise that concern again.
Edward Savin, who has worked under the current contract for three years and is an attorney with 29 years’ experience, said there currently is a huge caseload. “The idea that there would be fewer attorneys is unfathomable to me.”
He called Sullivan “a superstar” and a dynamic leader who even before she became an attorney was a legal secretary. “She’s the most capable person I can think of.”
He added, “This is a new opportunity, and new opportunities bring new ideas.”
Mary Heare Amodio, who works as an attorney in conservatorships, also voiced her confidence for Markham and Sullivan, adding she supported local management and leadership.
Mitchell Hauptman, who has been practicing law in Lake County for almost 40 years – with about 30 of those years in the public defender system – said both Markham and Sullivan are eminently qualified to handle anything the court system can throw at them. “Their skillset is without fault.”
District Attorney Don Anderson also weighed in, explaining that, over the last 10 years, his office has filed between 900 and 1,000 felony cases per year.
He said he read the three proposals and checked into Ahart’s background, finding that Ahart has a good reputation in Shasta County and is known for high ethics and being a hard worker.
Anderson said the same can be said of Markham and Sullivan. “Both of them have a very high respect in our office.”
He recounted Markham’s successful effort in 2014 to bring to the District Attorney’s Office evidence about a man being wrongfully held in a case. That man later was released thanks to Markham’s work.
The main problem Anderson had with Ahart’s proposal centered on the lawyer numbers. “There is no way in the world seven criminal attorneys can do the work we have in this county,” he said.
Anderson said the result would be an enormous number of appeals that defendants would win based on the allegation of ineffective counsel.
“Only having seven attorneys is going to be an injustice to the criminal defendants,” Anderson said, adding that he expected the state Supreme Court or Court of Appeals would respond by stepping in with a mandate to fix it.
He also pointed to the Ahart proposal’s exclusion of cases that are extremely complicated or have a high number of hours required.
Anderson said the current case going on the Clayton fire arson – Damin Pashilk is being prosecuted for setting that fire and several others – is extremely complicated and time consuming. That case currently is being handled on the contract, with Markham acting as the defense attorney.
If that case goes to trial – which Anderson said he expects it will – he said that under Ahart’s proposal it could cost the county as much as an additional $150,000.
He said Ahart’s proposal also calls for having one attorney each week handling either the felony or misdemeanor calendar. “That’s not going to be a workable situation. There’s going to be backlogs the court.”
Attorney William Conwell, who has worked on the defense contract for three years, also offered his support for Markham and Sullivan.
He questioned Ahart’s proposal. “I do not see how you could cut the staffing in half,” noting that the number of felonies going forward is “enormous.”
When the matter returned to the board for further discussion, Brown said he appreciated the discussion and staff’s review of it. “Everybody agrees. We just want the best system available as required by law.”
He agreed with Anderson on the matter of ineffective assistance of counsel. “That’s a concern. That’s what we don’t want.”
Brown recommended giving staff direction to work with Lake Indigent Defense along with the direction to reestablish the Public Defender Oversight Committee. He said he wanted to see a seamless transition.
Supervisor Tina Scott, who also is assigned to the committee, agreed with Brown’s recommendations.
Scott, who also serves as a juvenile justice commissioner and a court-appointed special advocate for juveniles, said she’s seen judges in the juvenile court have to wait for attorneys. She said she couldn’t imagine the impact of cutting the number of attorneys down to seven.
Supervisor Moke Simon agreed that having the best representation for defendants was key, and that he wanted to keep the contract based locally.
Board Chair Jeff Smith also agreed with directing staff to negotiate with Markham and Sullivan, adding that he didn’t feel Sullivan being two months short of the bar requirement made a difference.
Brown asked for consensus to direct staff to negotiate with Lake Indigent Defense, which he received unanimously.
In a followup interview with Lake County News, Sullivan said she hadn’t been certain about the outcome. “I thought we had a good shot but I definitely didn’t think it was guaranteed.”
Next steps, she said, are for the county to begin negotiations with she and Markham for a contract to take back to the supervisors for approval.
With the existing defense contract set to end May 6, time is of the essence. However, Sullivan said she believes a new contract can be in place with no interruption in service to clients, as she and Markham are using the existing defense contract infrastructure as a basis for the transition.
She was encouraged by Tuesday’s outcome for the proposal she and Markham have put forward.
“It’s really great to see the amount of community support there was for our organization and the public defenders,” she said.
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.
How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
