He promised to end intimidation and practices that would result in unnecessary civil suits against the county.

He promised such blatant and oppressive violations of “POBR” would never occur on his watch and he would create a fair and pleasant working environment for all sheriffs’ employees.

Now we see just one more of a number of law suits specifically naming him by county employees. He is quick to pass the buck and blame everyone else while accusing others of being liars but slow to clean up his act or assume responsibility for mistakes even those, which may have been well meaning at the time.

He has clearly demonstrated a lack of experience, leadership and basic fair management practices. It’s clear now that he is doing exactly what he accused his predecessor of doing during the campaign. Morale, job satisfaction and security is at an all-time low and the many promises and political commitments made have proven to be false.

This harsh dictatorial attitude by our sheriff has caused a number of our employees to leave their jobs and seek employment elsewhere.

Please make no mistake – these are not “bad apples” or sniveling malcontents who failed to measure up, who have been rooted out by a sheriff crusading to clean up a mess made by prior regimes. These are good people dedicated to serving our community who have found working under such a dictatorial, know-it-all, pseudo-professional administration intolerable. This is a loss to our community.

I join a growing number of voting, tax-paying Lake County citizens who are disappointed in this sheriff’s vindictive attitude and total disregard for fair practice.

I, for one, can acknowledge my own mistake in supporting a man who has proven to be a hypocrite without honor or integrity. This is not the professional leadership I had hoped to see in that organization.

I believe in giving the man a fair opportunity to do what he has promised and I encouraged others to do the same. That time has come and gone and I see things to be far worse then ever before.

Jack Baxter ran for Lake County sheriff in 2010. He lives in Lakeport.

Sgt. Corey Paulich filed the lawsuit on Monday in Lake County Superior Court, according to his attorney Christopher Miller of the firm Mastagni, Holstedt, Amick, Miller & Johnsen.

Paulich is alleging that his peace officer due process rights were violated repeatedly by Sheriff Francisco Rivero in the course of an internal investigation that took place in March, according to the suit.

He's seeking a civil penalty of $25,000 for each of the six alleged “malicious” violations of his rights, for a total of $150,000, along with attorney fees, costs of the suit and other damages, and a writ of mandate and peremptory writ setting aside the disciplinary investigation, documents show.

“Sheriff Rivero has shown a blatant disregard for the due process rights of his employees. He appears to be unwilling to follow the law, so this court action was necessary to protect and enforce Sgt. Paulich’s rights and indeed the rights of all of the county’s peace officers,” said Miller, who represents Paulich as general counsel for the Lake County Deputy Sheriff's Association.

The suit names both the county of Lake and the Lake County Sheriff's Office as respondents, along with 10 as-yet unidentified individuals.

Neither Rivero nor his department's public information officer, Capt. James Bauman, responded to Lake County News' request for comment on the lawsuit.

County Counsel Anita Grant said Monday afternoon that the lawsuit hadn't yet been served on the county, and she was not able to comment on it until she saw the document.

In his action, Paulich is asking the court to terminate the internal affairs investigation in which he was interrogated several times by Rivero, without representation, as is required under the Public Safety Officer Procedural Bill of Rights, also referred to as the Peace Officer Bill of Rights (POBR), which was enacted in January 1977 and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown.

According to case documents, Paulich – who began as a Lake County Sheriff's deputy in 1995 – supervised the participation of two sheriff's deputies in a vehicle pursuit initiated by the Clearlake Police Department in the early morning hours of Sunday, March 13.

That incident involved a pursuit of Clearlake resident Matthew Bronsert, with the chase reportedly reaching more than 100 miles per hour, as Lake County News reported in March.

The pursuit, according to court documents, ended after one of the deputies rammed the suspect vehicle, although the original police report had indicated that Bronsert had rammed the deputy.

Later that same day, after Paulich had gone off duty, then-Sgt. Gary Basor – who has since left the agency for the Lakeport Police Department – directed Paulich to contact Rivero, from home, via telephone. Paulich's suit states that during his phone call with Rivero he was interrogated for 30 minutes regarding the pursuit, his actions and those of his deputies.

Rivero called Paulich again at about 6 p.m. March 13, from the agency's sergeant's office, where Basor was with him, according to court documents. Paulich alleged that during both calls Rivero repeatedly admonished him about the incident and questioned him about the deputies' actions as well as Paulich's understanding of departmental pursuit policy.

According to Paulich, Rivero told him he had failed to perform his duties.

At 8 p.m. March 13, Rivero sent Paulich an e-mail admonishing him about the pursuit and telling Paulich he would be “held accountable” for the deputies' actions, as well as once again questioning Paulich's understanding of the agency's pursuit policies and procedures, to which Paulich said he responded.

The following day at 6 a.m. Rivero sent Paulich another e-mail stating that Paulich had failed to handle the pursuit in a proper manner, court documents state. On or about March 14 Paulich was served with an internal affairs investigation alleging that he had violated department rules and regulations in relation to the pursuit.

Lt. Brian Martin interrogated Paulich about the incident on May 6 as part of an internal affairs investigation based on Rivero's complaint, the lawsuit explains.

By that point, Paulich already had filed a claim against the county over the alleged violations. A copy of the claim obtained by Lake County News showed it was filed on April 4.

Miller said the county did not respond to the claim – either to accept or deny it – during a 45-day time period laid out in state statute. That triggered the filing of the complaint on Monday, he said.

Grant said the claim was sent to George Hills Co., the county’s third-party administrator for tort liability claims. She said it's the company's responsibility to respond to the claim, and she didn't see a copy of a denial in the file. Grant added that her office was contacting the company to ascertain the status of the claim.

Suit alleges numerous POBR violations

Paulich's suit alleges that in the investigation regarding the vehicle pursuit Rivero repeatedly violated several basic rules that POBR requires be followed when a peace officer is questioned for alleged misconduct.

Each of the six violations Paulich is alleging has a maximum civil penalty of $25,000 under the POBR statute.

Among the alleged violations, the suit states that Paulich was interrogated outside of his normal duty hours and that Rivero did not compensate him – or offer to do so – for the off-duty time Paulich spent responding to the sheriff's interrogations.

POBR states that, “The interrogation shall be conducted at a reasonable hour, preferably at a time when the public safety officer is on duty, or during the normal waking hours for the public safety officer, unless the seriousness of the investigation requires otherwise. If the interrogation does occur during off-duty time of the public safety officer being interrogated, the public safety officer shall be compensated for any off-duty time in accordance with regular department procedures, and the public safety officer shall not be released from employment for any work missed.”

Paulich's suit also alleges that Rivero violated his rights, specifically relating to POBR's Government Code section 3303(b), which states: “The public safety officer under investigation shall be informed prior to the interrogation of the rank, name, and command of the officer in charge of the interrogation, the interrogating officers, and all other persons to be present during the interrogation. All questions directed to the public safety officer under interrogation shall be asked by and through no more than two interrogators at one time.”

In that instance, Paulich alleges that Rivero did not inform him that Basor would be present during the interview.

Another alleged POBR violation comes in relation to Government Code section 3303(c): “The public safety officer under investigation shall be informed of the nature of the investigation prior to any interrogation.” Paulich alleges Rivero and the county never gave him that information.

In the suit's fourth cause of action, it refers to the following section of POBR, Government Code section 3303(d): “The interrogating session shall be for a reasonable period taking into consideration gravity and complexity of the issue being investigated. The person under interrogation shall be allowed to attend to his or her own personal physical necessities.”

Referring to Rivero's repeated phone and e-mail contacts with Paulich, the document states, “The issue Rivero was investigation as neither 'grave' nor 'complex'; regardless, the time period over which Paulich was interrogated by Sheriff Rivero was not reasonable.”

Paulich alleges in the fifth cause of action that Rivero threatened him with punitive action, in violation of Government Code section 3303(e): “The public safety officer under interrogation shall not be subjected to offensive language or threatened with punitive action, except that an officer refusing to respond to questions or submit to interrogations shall be informed that failure to answer questions directly related to the investigation or interrogation may result in punitive action.”

The suit's sixth cause of action alleges that Paulich was never advised of his right to tape record the investigation, which violates POBR under Government Code section 3303(g): “The complete interrogation of a public safety officer may be recorded. If a tape recording is made of the interrogation, the public safety officer shall have access to the tape if any further proceedings are contemplated or prior to any further interrogation at a subsequent time. The public safety officer shall be entitled to a transcribed copy of any notes made by a stenographer or to any reports or complaints made by investigators or other persons, except those which are deemed by the investigating agency to be confidential. No notes or reports that are deemed to be confidential may be entered in the officer's personnel file. The public safety officer being interrogated shall have the right to bring his or her own recording device and record any and all aspects of the interrogation.”

The last alleged POBR violation alleges that at no time was Paulich advised of his right to representation during the interrogations, in violation of Government Code section 3303(i), which states: “Upon the filing of a formal written statement of charges, or whenever an interrogation focuses on matters that are likely to result in punitive action against any public safety officer, that officer, at his or her request, shall have the right to be represented by a representative of his or her choice who may be present at all times during the interrogation. The representative shall not be a person subject to the same investigation. The representative shall not be required to disclose, nor be subject to any punitive action for refusing to disclose, any information received from the officer under investigation for noncriminal matters.”

Miller said the case's first court date is 11 a.m. on Thursday, July 21.

He said such cases can take the form of a bench trial, although they are more frequently handled through depositions.

Miller said he is aware of at least one other similar case that is pending against the Lake County Sheriff's Office but which has not yet been filed either as a claim with the county or as a lawsuit.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews.

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Desiree Rachael Ramirez, 31, and David Wayne Rank, 33, both of Nice, were arrested in the case, according to a report from Sgt. Tim Hobbs.

Hobbs said that on Friday, July 8, Officer Alan Collier began a burglary and forgery investigation after two stolen checks were cashed at Foods Etc. in Clearlake.

During the investigation Collier obtained video surveillance footage that allegedly showed Ramirez and Rank cashing the stolen checks, Hobbs said.

He said the checks – totaling $1,250 – had been stolen from an insurance company in Yuba City.

On Sunday, Collier went to Ramirez’s and Ranks' residence in the 7000 block of Kelly Road in Nice – accompanied by two Lake County Sheriff's deputies – and arrested Ramirez and Rank, Hobbs said.

Lake County Jail records showed the two were booked on felony charges of first-degree burglary and forgery. Bail for each was set at $10,000.

Ramirez later posted bail and was released while Rank remained in jail early Monday morning, according to jail records.

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Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office issued a statement shortly after 7 p.m. Friday in which he said the agency is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying the source of death threats and malicious radio interference recently transmitted on the sheriff’s primary radio frequency over the July 4 weekend that were aimed at Sheriff Frank Rivero.

The issues with a series of of strange transmissions on law enforcement frequencies actually predate the July 4 weekend, beginning in the spring.

In late March Lake County News began receiving reports from community members who monitor Red-Net, the primary frequency for local fire agencies, that over a period of just under a week an unidentified person or group was broadcasting what was characterized as extreme and graphic language over the airwaves a few times daily.

At that time, Bauman confirmed to Lake County News that it was happening in a “very random” way.

“There are extreme difficulties to investigating because it entails a lot of high tech radio equipment,” and required triangulation, Bauman said in March.

He said the agency was familiar with what was necessary to track down the issues “because we've tried before.”

As quickly as the transmissions had begun, they stopped, with local officials not reporting any more issues.

However, a new transmission that occurred on the night of Sunday, July 3, has raised the concerns all over again.

At approximately 10:05 p.m. Sunday, July 3, radio communications between the Lake County Sheriff’s Dispatch Center and patrol deputies working in the field was suddenly interrupted by over 10 minutes of radio interference on the sheriff’s primary frequency, according to Bauman.

He said the interference came at a time of peak activity during the busiest shift of the day and disrupted public safety operations as sheriff’s personnel were handling calls for service during the holiday weekend.

That same night, within minutes of the transmission, Lake County News received communications from two separate community members who reported hearing an unidentified individual come over the radio and say, “Watch your back, Rivero, you're gonna get shot.”

One of the reporting parties said someone came on the scanner to tell the individual that he was being tracked and he was going to go to prison for the statements. None of those who reported hearing the incident recognized the voice, which they said sounded disguised.

The reporters then said the frequency appeared to be jammed, with static coming over the frequency. The transmission could not be heard on the Lake County News scanners, which are programmed with local law enforcement scanner frequencies.

Early on the morning of July 6, Lake County News submitted a request to Bauman for information on the threats, which he did not answer directly. The press statement came out on Friday.

The statement from Bauman noted, “While the source of the interference is unknown at this time, the radio transmissions were clearly malicious and intentional. Not only did the interference disrupt sheriff’s operations and compromise the safety of sheriff’s deputies trying to serve the public, but the person(s) responsible for the interference also transmitted death threats and inflammatory remarks personally directed at Sheriff Rivero.”

Bauman confirmed in the Friday report that, among other statements made by the suspect, the words, “Watch your back Rivero, you’re going to get shot,” allegedly were transmitted across the radio.

The threats allegedly against Rivero's life made on July 3 aren't the first, according to Bauman's Friday statement.

“Since taking office in January of this year, Sheriff Rivero’s radio communications have been routinely and intentionally 'covered' by unknown suspects transmitting over his transmissions while he was working in the field,” Bauman said in the statement. “There have also been past derogatory remarks and death threats directed toward the sheriff since he has taken office.”

Bauman said the sheriff’s office is currently investigating the source and identity of the person or persons responsible for the radio interference and threats directed toward Rivero.

He said the agency also is requesting the Federal Bureau of Investigation's assistance.

Bauman said that anyone with information that would aid the sheriff's office in identifying those responsible for the malicious radio transmissions is encouraged to call the Lake County Sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit at 707-262-4200.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews.

While the court approved most of a 2008 order on broadcast ownership and other rules, it said it would not affirm the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule, stating that the commission failed to meet the notice and comment requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act.”

The court also instructed the FCC to better consider how its rules will affect and can promote ownership by women and people of color.

“Today’s decision is a sweeping victory for the public interest,” said Corie Wright, policy counsel of Free Press, a national nonprofit working to reform the media. “In rejecting the arguments of the industry and exposing the FCC's failures, the court wisely concluded that competition in the media – not more concentration – will provide Americans with the local news and information they need and want.”

Current commission members praised the decision.

“This decision is a huge victory for the millions of Americans who have gone on record demanding a richer and more diverse media,” said Commissioner Michael J. Copps. “The Third Circuit has brought into clear focus the shortfalls of two previous FCCs on media ownership and their lackluster performances in encouraging more minority and female ownership of our broadcast outlets.”

He said he was pleased that the 2008 newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership rule, which would have opened the door to more consolidation and less news, has now been returned to the commission.

Commissioner Mignon L. Clyburn also lauded the decision, saying it “sends the important message that ownership diversity remains an important aspect of the overall media ownership regulatory framework.”

She added, “As the court noted, the current commission has taken steps towards gathering updated studies on ownership diversity as part of its 2010 Quadrennial Review proceeding. I hope this court decision will serve to encourage all of us at the commission to take a laser like focus on the necessary and long awaited need for robust ownership studies and thoughtful recommendations to advance diverse voices in America's media market place."

The case, Prometheus Radio Project v. FCC, represents the second time the Third Circuit has denied FCC attempts to relax its media ownership rules, according to a statement from Free Press. The first was in 2004, when the same panel of judges struck down then-Chairman Michael Powell’s attempts to loosen media ownership limits.

The current case stems from an FCC decision under then-Chairman Kevin Martin in 2007 to lift the 35-year-old ban on newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership.

The FCC action prompted court challenges from public interest groups, including Free Press, seeking to encourage more competition and diversity in the media industry, as well as from big media corporations that wanted all of the media ownerships rules thrown out.

The court vacated the FCC’s decision to relax the ban on common ownership of local broadcast stations and newspaper located in the same market, finding that the commission’s rule-making procedures were highly irregular and failed to give the public adequate notice and opportunity to weigh in.

The court also determined that record evidence supports the FCC’s decision not to relax any of the other media ownership rules.

“Today the court confirmed that the FCC’s media ownership rules are not only constitutional but necessary to preserve competition, as well as to promote diverse sources of news and information for the American people,” said Wright, who argued the case along with Andrew Jay Schwartzman of Media Access Project, on behalf of Prometheus Radio Project, Media Alliance, the Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ and Free Press. The Georgetown Institute for Public Representation also provided legal counsel for the public interest groups.

The court blasted the FCC for its repeated failure to consider the impact of its rules on media ownership opportunities for women and people of color. It took the FCC to task for ignoring research presented by Free Press showing that media concentration makes it harder for new entrants and underrepresented groups to become broadcast media owners.

“Innovative and creative media entrepreneurs deserve the opportunity to serve local communities – but they can’t break through when large corporations have a lockdown on local media markets,” said Wright.

Free Press said the court’s findings are key as the FCC embarks on yet another review of media ownership limits this summer.

That proceeding, which was supposed to be completed in 2010, has stalled while the FCC awaited the court’s decision.

“Even though the court upheld the need for media ownership limits, industry groups are still pushing the FCC to eliminate them," Wright said. "It’s not the commission’s job to protect industry profit margins. The FCC cannot ignore the overwhelming evidence that existing media consolidation levels adversely impact the amount and quality of news from diverse sources. Instead it should tighten current ownership limits and promote media diversity, localism and competition.”

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070711 US Court of Appeals FCC Media Ownership Decision

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Clearlake's acting police chief said Wednesday that the investigation into a June 18 shooting that killed a child and wounded five others is getting close to completion, with all of the main suspects in custody.

Chief Craig Clausen gave that update on the case during a special Clearlake town hall Wednesday evening.

The June 18 shooting claimed the life of 4-year-old Skyler Rapp, who was buried on Wednesday.

The five people who were wounded and survived the nighttime attack included his mother, 22-year-old Desiree Kirby; her boyfriend, Ross Sparks, 25; his brother, Andrew Sparks, 23; Ian Griffith, 19; and Joey Armijo, 15.

The Wednesday town hall was organized by Clearlake City Council member Jeri Spittler in the wake of the shooting and in response to community concerns about public safety.

Clausen told those in attendance that he couldn't discuss the case in detail.

“I can say that the primary suspects are all in custody and the investigation is going very positively,” he said, adding, “We have the majority of the case as of now.”

In custody and facing charges that include murder, five counts of attempted murder, two counts of mayhem, six counts of assault with a deadly weapon and numerous special allegations are 23-year-old Orlando Joseph Lopez and 21-year-old Paul William Braden, both of Clearlake Oaks.

Facing the same charges is Kevin Ray Stone, 29, who was arrested July 1 after nearly two weeks on the run, as Lake County News has reported.

Sonoma County Sheriff's deputies arrested Stone and his girlfriend, 25-year-old Leighann Painchaud, in Santa Rosa after they were found together in a Ford Explorer that Painchaud allegedly stole from Clearlake on July 29, according to Clearlake Police.

Sgt. Tim Hobbs had said previously that Clearlake Police had seven days to transport Stone and Painchaud back to Lake County.

As of early Thursday morning, Stone – who had been booked into the Sonoma County Jail last week on an arrest warrant for murder – had not been transported and booked into the Lake County Jail, according to jail records.

A staffer with the Sonoma County Jail Main Adult Detention Facility said Painchaud had posted bail and been released on July 2.

Clausen told Lake County News on Wednesday that he didn't know when Stone was supposed to be transported, but he expected it to happen this week.

Braden, who was sentenced to state prison for a second-degree burglary conviction, was paroled on June 7 – just 11 days before the shooting – according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Aug. 1, while Lopez is scheduled to return to court later this week, based on his booking records.

Clausen told community members at the Wednesday town hall that the Clearlake Police Department is down to nine officers due to budget cuts and injuries.

However, “Even with nine guys we were able to wrap this case up very quickly,” he said to a round of applause.

He said he was able to put a total of 17 staffers – officers and nonsworn employees – on the street the night of the shooting in support of the investigation.

Police staff had to be told to go home to rest the next day – which happened to be Father's Day – because they didn't want to stop working the case before it was complete, Clausen said.

He said that desire to keep working the case showed the department's true dedication to bringing the suspects in the case to justice.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews.