CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake Police Department is seeking the community's help in locating and identifying a man who attempted to sexually assault a woman earlier this week.

The incident occurred on Monday, May 9, according to a report from Sgt. Rodd Joseph.

Joseph said at around 8:15 p.m. that day Clearlake Police Officer Andrew Jones took a report of a sexual assault from 21-year-old Clearlake woman.

The woman reported that just a short time earlier she had been walking alone on Valley Avenue near the intersection with Arnold Avenue when she was pushed from behind into the brush along the side of the road, Joseph said.

She said she fell onto her back, and the male suspect crouched over her. Joseph said the woman reported that the male suspect did not say anything and attempted to unzip the woman’s pants.

The woman was able to fight off the attacker and ran home, where she called police, Joseph said.

The suspect was described as a male with dark-colored skin and a thin build. Joseph said the man was last seen wearing a black, short-sleeved sweatshirt, blue jeans and wearing a black ski face mask covering his face.

The suspect’s age and other physical descriptors are not known, Joseph said.

Anyone with information on this case or any other Clearlake Police Department investigation is urged to contact the police department at 707-994-8251. You may remain anonymous.

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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – On Tuesday the U.S. Senate voted 56-42 to confirm Magistrate Judge Edward Chen’s nomination to serve as a U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of California.

The district stretches from the Monterey Coast to the state’s northern border with Oregon and from the Pacific Ocean east nearly to Sacramento.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) spoke on the Senate floor Tuesday in support of Chen’s nomination.

She has strongly supported Judge Chen’s nomination, which the Senate Judiciary Committee approved on three separate occasions. Senate Republicans had blocked his confirmation since 2009, reportedly because he worked as a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, handling civil rights cases.

During her remarks Boxer said, “This momentous day that is long overdue,” and credited her colleague, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) for her efforts in support of Chen.

Since 2001, Chen has served as a magistrate judge in the Northern District of California, where he has issued more than 350 published legal opinions, according to Boxer.

Before coming to the bench, Chen was a respected civil rights lawyer and part of the trial team that successfully overturned the wartime conviction of Fred Korematsu.

He made history when he became the first Asian-American Magistrate Judge to serve in the Northern District.

When confirmed, Chen will be only the second Asian-American in the 150-year history of the Northern District to be confirmed as a judge.

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Thanks for your excellent coverage of this critically important story!

It sounds to me like Sheriff Frank Rivero has very good reasons not to release confidential databases and interdepartmental communication tools to the Robinson Rancheria Police, who do indeed appear to be strong-arming the Lake County Sheriff “gangsta style,” in order to bend the department to their will, using as bait $874,000 in much-needed funding, while Supervisor Rob Brown shamelessly plays one off against the other for his own political agenda, all the while acting like an innocent bystander to this naked power play.

If this is how the Robinson Rancheria Police operate, how can we possibly trust what they would do with the confidential databases and communication channels they so desperately want access to? Indeed, I would NEVER trust anybody who operates like a “Godfather,” pretending that every man woman and child in America is for sale. I don’t trust the Robinson Rancheria tribal police even one tiny little bit after reading the statements of Dave Mendoza, less so after reading Rob Brown's seemingly conflicted statements on the matter.

That Supervisor Brown has an ax to grind with Sheriff Rivero is no surprise; Brown actively campaigned for former Sheriff Rod Mitchell (who also commendably declined to give up the database for good cause, but who did receive Robinson Rancheria funding). That Supervisor Brown would not do everything in his power to see that the sheriff’s department has all of the resources it needs to protect the citizens of Lake County, instead playing politics for his own personal and political gain, surprises and deeply disappoints me. Unfortunately, it’s just typical of the narcissistic and divisive “blood sport” politics which are driving America, California and Lake County to ruin.

That Sheriff Rivero doesn’t respond to these strong-arm tactics does not surprise me either. I am extremely proud of our new sheriff for standing up to the “old guard” bullies who seek to undermine his integrity, his department and his ability to police Lake County. Sheriff Rivero is a breath of fresh air as far as I am concerned.

Supervisor Rob Brown is conversely revealing himself here to be a consummate political player, cynically working the angles, while crying insincere crocodile tears for Sheriff Rivero. Like we really need political brinksmanship and power games to be causing the financial deprivation of vital public services in this besieged county! Rob Brown should be throwing all of his considerable political weight behind Sheriff Rivero. The man won fair and square, and he obviously has guts and integrity. Sheriff Rivero is OUR sheriff!

The Robinson Rancheria Tribal Police and tribal council, Dave Mendoza and Supervisor Rob Brown are playing games with OUR families’ and our community’s safety.

The “Good Ole Boys” network of thinly disguised political payoffs and cronyism has GOT to go, in order for Lake County to move forward into a brighter future.

 

Paul D. Carlsen lives in Cobb, Calif.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A deepening disagreement between a local tribe and Lake County's sheriff over law enforcement and jurisdictional issues took a new turn this week, with the sheriff's office losing important funding from local gaming revenues, a decision he said he intends to fight.

On Thursday, the Lake County Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee held a meeting to discuss which local agencies' requests would receive portions of about $874,000 from the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund, to which Big Valley and Robinson Rancheria contribute. Middletown Rancheria does not pay into the fund.

Sheriff Frank Rivero – in his first funding request since taking office earlier this year – had submitted requests totaling about $450,000, according to committee documents Lake County News obtained from county officials.

However, the committee's vote resulted in Rivero receiving no funds.

On Friday Rivero said that he believes the vote against his request by Buffy Jimenez, Robinson's member on the commission, was in response to his refusal to grant Robinson Rancheria's tribal police access to certain sheriff's records and radio systems, as well as to his reported statement to the Robinson Rancheria tribal council that, “The sheriff’s office is not for sale.”

The tribe's attorney, Lester Marston, has not responded to requests from Lake County News for a comment on relations between the tribe and Rivero, and Robinson Rancheria Tribal Police Chief Dave Mendoza recently refused to accept a call from this reporter regarding interactions with the sheriff's office.

Supervisor Rob Brown, who sits on the committee and voted in favor of the sheriff's office getting the funds, told Lake County News, “I am not privy to the details and issues that either tribe uses when making their decisions on which application to support but, rather than focus on the applications that were not successful, I think that we should be grateful for those that did receive funding.”

Since 2003, the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund has generated more than $5 million in benefits to local agencies, including new ambulances for fire departments, equipment for law enforcement and other mitigations to balance the impacts of local gaming, according to county documents.

“In each year that funding has been available to distribute in the past, the Lake County Sheriff's Office has received the majority of the funding,” said Brown. “It has been very helpful and I appreciate the consideration and support that the tribes have given.”

However, on Thursday, when the committee met, two committee members were absent, and with a basic quorum present the group's rules required unanimous votes for all funding requests, Brown said.

While Brown and fellow Supervisor Jeff Smith voted for the sheriff's requests, Jimenez didn't. As a result, Rivero's funding requests – including one for $188,000 that had been endorsed by Big Valley Rancheria – weren't granted, according to statements both by Brown and Rivero.

Robinson's issues with Rivero surfaced at the committee's April 7 meeting.

The minutes of the meeting stated that the committee discussed Rivero's requests. “The committee felt more explanation and justification was needed form the Sheriff. Robinson expressed their strong opposition to funding any of the Sheriff's grant applications. Supervisor Brown suggested giving the Sheriff several weeks to respond to the committee with justification for his requests for funding.”

At another point in the meeting, when discussing a funding request from South Lake County Fire Protection District, Nicholas Medina, a member of the Robinson Rancheria tribal council, suggested that the fire district's application should be funded with monies requested by Rivero for his Southshore office.

The committee at that time also had discussed having the sheriff come to a meeting.

On Thursday, in addition to the committee members, Brown said District Attorney Don Anderson, Lakeport Fire Chief Ken Wells, County Administrative Office staff, a member of the media and several members of the Robinson Tribal Council were in attendance. He added that the meeting was a public meeting and any department head advocating for their application was free to attend.

Both Brown and Anderson said Rivero didn't attend the meeting.

Anderson said that Rivero's absence was noted at the end of the meeting by Robinson tribal council member Stoney Timmons. Paraphrasing Timmons' comment, Anderson said, “By not showing up he (Rivero) showed them no respect.”

Rivero said it was Jimenez who voted against the distributions for his agency and “ultimately blocked” any other distributions, including the one that had been supported by Big Valley.

However, Brown rose to Jimenez's defense.

“As far as Buffy Jimenez, I have been on this committee from its inception and I have enjoyed working with Buffy in this capacity,” Brown said. “She is thoughtful and informed in her decisions and she has never acted independent of the wishes of the tribal council that she represents.”

The District Attorney's Office received $279,000, the full requested allocation. Anderson said more than half of that funding will go toward a district attorney investigator position that will work solely on casino-related crimes.

“It's going to be very proactive,” Anderson said of the position. “That's what I offered to the tribe.”

The other half of the funding will support partial position allocations for a prosecutor, an investigator and a Victim-Witness advocate, as well as $20,000 in video and audio equipment to assist with investigations, Anderson said.

In response to the news that the sheriff's funding requests hadn't been granted, the Lake County Deputy Sheriff's Association weighed in on the situation Friday.

In a statement issued to Lake County News, the group said, “The Deputy Sheriff's Association is highly concerned about this financial shortfall. We hope that this matter does not affect staffing or services to the community. While there may be several underlying issues that may have led to the tribal leaders' final decision, we remain committed to our service to the community and tribal lands. The Deputy Sheriff's Association will continue to work with administration in an attempt to meet common goals in these financially difficult times.”

Disagreements over law enforcement interactions

Rivero believes Robinson's vote against him was influenced by an ongoing disagreement that he's had with the tribe's leadership regarding access to law enforcement resources by the tribe's police department, formed in 2008.

To back up that assertion, he released two e-mails sent to him earlier this year by Mendoza, a former Lakeport Police officer.

On Jan. 19, Mendoza wrote to Rivero and provided him with a draft agreement that had been presented to former Sheriff Rod Mitchell in August 2009 regarding access to county services. Mendoza also sent Rivero a copy of a Bureau of Indian Affairs/Office of Justice Services deputization agreement.

“I was provided some information on some upcoming financial opportunities that you may be

interested in,” said Mendoza, who then requested the chance to meet with Rivero that afternoon.

On Jan. 25, Mendoza sent another e-mail notifying Rivero that he had been appointed to oversee all Special Distribution Fund requests concerning the Robinson Rancheria and the 2011 Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund.

“In the past years we have not supported the Lake County Sheriff's Department on their funding requests,” Mendoza wrote. “This year there is approx. 800,000 (sic) in funds to distribute. This provides your agency an opportunity to demonstrate your commitment to the Tribes by supporting the

Robinson Rancheria Police Department in a partnership which would include the financial

support and services of the SDF. There is a time line on the application of March 11, 2011 and

the need for letters of support from the Tribes. This is an important opportunity for the Sheriff’s

Department to obtain an additional funding source while providing services which will have very

little impact on your agency.”

According to Rivero, the “services” Mendoza said the sheriff’s office would be expected to provide in exchange for any Special Distribution Fund allocations related to Mendoza's past requests for deputization as a California peace officer, access to the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (CLETS) and the California Law Enforcement Mutual Aid Radio System (CLEMARS).

CLETS is a criminal history information database maintained by the state of California and governed by the Government Code. Rivero said California’s 58 sheriffs hold master agreements with the state for allowing access to law enforcement agencies within their respective counties to CLETS.

The sheriff said Robinson Rancheria “is statutorily ineligible for access to the system as they are not a state agency, or part of a city, county or public agency.”

He said that CLEMARS – a radio frequency intended only for law enforcement agencies’ use during emergencies – also is entrusted to the sheriff for access, and requires that those agencies receiving permission from the sheriff be California law enforcement agencies capable of providing mutual aid in an emergency.

“Once again, the Robinson Rancheria does not conform to these mandates,” Rivero said in his Friday statement.

Rivero said that access to either system can only be granted by the sheriff and that he's “properly denied” that request, along with the deputization of Robinson's two police officers – including Mendoza and a sergeant.

He acknowledged that Robinson Rancheria Tribal Police have federal special law enforcement commission authority to enforce certain federal laws on Indian lands, but he asserted that the commission does not authorize those officers to enforce state law in California.

“Deputizing Robinson officers and granting them access to state automated systems reserved for use by California peace officers would place all of the liability for their actions on the county of Lake and would jeopardize the sheriffs’ office and other local law enforcement agencies access to CLETS and CLEMARS in the event it were misused by the Robinson Rancheria,” Rivero said.

According to Rivero, he attempted to explain his position during meetings with the Robinson Tribal Council without success.

Rivero said he concluded from those meetings that the Robinson Rancheria Tribal Council “was interested in having their own police force to further their own agenda.”

He said he told the tribe, in response to its demands, that the sheriff’s office was not for sale.

Issues between sheriff, tribes predate Rivero

The apparent tensions between Robinson Rancheria Tribal Police and the Lake County Sheriff's Office over access to resources predate Rivero's election or his taking office.

In Sept. 13, 2010, Mendoza sent the full Board of Supervisors a nearly four-and-a-half-page e-mail – a copy of which was obtained by Lake County News – that sharply criticized then-Sheriff Rod Mitchell for not granting access to the same systems Mendoza has since sought Rivero's approval to use.

Mendoza said he had adopted the most restrictive policies in establishing the department, pointing out that the agency has submitted thousands of cases to the District Attorney’s Office and made thousands of arrests processed into the Lake County Jail.

He asserted that the agency had been recognized by local, state and federal agencies and had established working relationships with all but the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Mendoza alleged that Mitchell was “compromising the safety of the public, my officers, and all law enforcement officers working in the county by refusing to provide the Robinson Police Department access to standardized police services which would allow the agency to have access to communications and access to the Lake County Jail.”

He said that Mitchell never approved a proposed August 2009 agreement with the tribal police. Mendoza sent a copy of that agreement to Rivero in January.

Meanwhile, the District Attorney's Office appears to be enjoying a good relationship with the local tribes. Anderson said he had promised during last year's campaign to work with them, and that's what he's doing.

His predecessor, Jon Hopkins, signed a memorandum of understanding with Robinson Rancheria last August to allow its tribal police to directly file cases with the District Attorney's Office.

“Robinson tribal police will directly file with our office and they have been for some time,” Anderson said.

Anderson said the tribes want law and order at their casinos. “They're doing everything they can to get this law and order.”

A Department of the Interior official sent Hopkins a letter last September outlining several concerns about the agreement – namely relating to language that designated the tribal police as an agency of the Department of the Interior rather than the tribe itself, calling the tribe's police “federal law enforcement officers” and clarifying that the Department of Interior didn't recognize the officers as having authority to make arrests for violations of California law, because the agency views that as being exclusively within the state's jurisdiction.

Anderson said he believes those concerns were addressed by Hopkins before he left office. County Counsel Anita Grant said the District Attorney's Office hasn't been in contact with her to discuss the agreement relating to the issues raised by the Department of the Interior.

Rivero said he's planning to take his complaint about the way the funding distribution was handled to the California State Sheriffs’ Association.

He said he will request that the association propose legislation “to prevent funds intended to mitigate the effects of the gambling casinos on crime and law enforcement from being held hostage to the demands of the individual tribes.”

Brown said the fact that the sheriff's office didn't receive its allocation this year shouldn't overshadow the benefit that many other county departments, fire departments and the Lakeport Police Department will realize.

“In the event that this funding is available in future years, I look forward to continuing with the excellent working relationship that I have enjoyed with the Robinson and Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians to find appropriate uses for this funding,” he said.

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 Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .

Robinson Rancheria and DA MOU August 2010

USDOI Letter to DA 090710

011911 Mendoza E-mail to Rivero

012511 Mendoza E-mail to Rivero

MINUTES 040711 - Lake County Indian Gaming Local Community Benefit Committee

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A Clearlake man who fled from the scene of a Tuesday night crash has been arrested.

 

Daniel Hitchcock, 20, was taken into custody Tuesday evening after officers located him a short distance from the scene of the collision, according to Sgt. Rodd Joseph.

 

Joseph said that Clearlake Police received a call of a traffic collision with injury involving two vehicles on Old Highway 53 near Airport Road just after 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

 

Officers responded to the scene and discovered one vehicle, a badly damaged red Toyota Tercel, containing three injured persons, Joseph said.

 

The three occupants of the other involved vehicle, a moderately damaged dark-colored Chevrolet Camaro, all had fled the scene on foot, according to Joseph.

 

Lake County Fire Protection District utilized the jaws of life to free the three injured occupants from the red Toyota. Joseph said the injured included a 24-year-old woman who was the driver, and two 24-year-old men, all from Clearlake.

 

All three occupants of the red Toyota were flown by helicopter to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with life-threatening injuries. Joseph said their names are not being released at this time.

 

He said several witnesses provided officers with a description of the driver of the Camaro. Officers located the driver in the 15100 block of Woodside Drive, a short distance from the collision scene. The driver of the Camaro was identified as Hitchcock.

 

Joseph said Hitchcock was alleged to have been drinking and was subsequently arrested.

 

Hitchcock was medically cleared at St. Helena Hospital Clearlake and later booked into the Lake County Jail. Joseph said Hitchcock was charged with a felony count of driving under the influence of alcohol causing bodily injury and a felony count of hit and run with bodily injury.

 

Hitchcock’s two male passengers, both of Clearlake, also were located and found to have minor injuries, Joseph said. One of Hitchcock’s passengers was treated and released from St. Helena Hospital Clearlake.

 

The collision is still under investigation, Joseph said.

 

The Clearlake Police Department thanked all the witnesses who came forward with information which ultimately led to Hitchcock’s arrest.

 

The department said tragic incidents like this are completely avoidable, and they urged community members to use a sober designated driver when drinking alcoholic beverages or using other controlled substances.

 

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LAKEPORT, Calif. – A Board of Supervisors discussion last week on the early stages of design for the new Lakeport courthouse has led to state officials issuing an update on the building plans, which don't include moving it from the chosen site.

The board, at Supervisor Anthony Farrington's request, voted to send letters opposing one of the siting locations for the building to the Judicial Council of California's Administrative Office of the Courts, the city of Lakeport and the county's state legislators. The clerk of the board confirmed that the letters went out last week.

In response to the April 26 discussion, the Administrative Office of the Courts cautioned that design is in the very early stages, and that it hasn't decided on a set design or situation for the building.

The design process “is just getting started” and is expected to last about a year, said Administrative Office of the Courts spokesperson Teresa Ruano.

Nor is the state going to consider an alternate site in Lakeport for the courthouse, an idea put forward by supervisors and community members at the board's meeting last week.

The state has purchased a six-acre property at 675 Lakeport Blvd., situated just below the Vista Point overlook where the Lake County Chamber of Commerce building is located, for the new building, which will be 50,158 square feet, have two stories and a basement, and include four courtrooms, according to the Administrative Office of the Courts.

The project is funded by Senate Bill 1407, which Rona Rothenberg, senior manager of the Administrative Office of the Courts' Office of Court Construction and Management, told the board raised $5 billion through judicial branch fees, fines and penalties to finance courthouse projects around the state.

The Administrative Office of the Courts said that locating the building on the north side of the project – what would be referred to as the “north scheme” – is its preferred option, although it emphasized that how the building will be sited isn't yet finalized.

Farrington is among the members of a project advisory committee that has met over the last few years to consult the state on its selection site for the new courthouse, which was ruled a priority due to the cramped conditions on the fourth floor of the current courthouse on N. Forbes Street.

At an April 18 meeting, Farrington said the committee was presented with two “schemes” – one with the building facing north, the other facing south.

The north scheme, said Farrington, would have had the building rising 10 feet above the level of the Vista Point parking lot, where many visitors and residents go to enjoy the view. He also criticized what he said was a very plain looking design that, coupled with the north scheme siting, wouldn't be in the community's best interest.

Farrington said his concerns “should have some weight in this proceeding.” He said he asked the state for more public hearings and workshops, and was told by the state that it's not their practice to hold such meetings.

He said he had advocated for the state purchasing the nearby Vista Point Shopping Center, part of which has a collapsed roof, and building a new courthouse there.

However, Anne Ording, an Administrative Office of the Courts project manager, told the board that the shopping center property was only three acres and was priced too high.

The current owner, Windsor developer Matt Riveras, purchased the property from the city of Lakeport in 2007 for $1,001,000. Ording said Riveras had wanted $3 million for the property, despite the fact that the property appraised at under $1 million.

Ording said the property was “way over what our budget was to purchase.”

Rothenberg told the board that the Lakeport courthouse was ranked among the top 50 courthouses projects among hundreds that were ranked, and that the Lakeport Boulevard site that the state purchased was one of 36 separate sites that had been “diligently evaluated.”

The shopping center and the 675 Lakeport Blvd. sites were the top two locations, and the latter was chosen after negotiations with Riveras didn't yield an agreement, Rothenberg said.

She said the Judicial Council doesn't have the ability to pursue eminent domain, one method for acquiring the property that was raised during the supervisors' discussion.

“The building will be a lasting edifice” expected to last between 50 and 75 years, Rothenberg said.

But she warned that any delays could preempt the county seeing the $53 million project completed in light of the state's fiscal issues. She said the county's support of the project was critical to keeping it moving.

Supervisor Denise Rushing asked if the county risked losing the money for the project if it took any actions to delay it. “We do,” Rothenberg said.

“I'm not going to be leveraged like that,” Farrington told Rothenberg. “That's not going to work with me.”

He asked if the city of Lakeport could exercise eminent domain to take the shopping center property, but Rothenberg said they're already under way on the selected land.

Rothenberg said there is no resistance by the Administrative Office of the Courts to public input, and noted that, while the state can design and build the courthouse without public input, it seeks to be a good neighbor.

Melissa Fulton, another project advisory committee member and the chief executive officer of the Lake County Chamber of Commerce, said her board of directors supported the southern scheme, which doesn't block Vista Point's view. “I have spoken to no one who said the north scheme is the way to go.”

Lower Lake resident Victoria Brandon said everyone was in support of preserving the view, and she also suggested that eminent domain be looked at with regard to the shopping center property, noting that relocating the building site would have some benefits.

“What we are is that lake and that mountain, not a courthouse,” she said.

County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox, who was at the April 18 meeting, said he was under the impression there would be more excavating to have the building located at a lower height. “I suspect other people thought that, too.”

Rothenberg said excavation is an option that's not been fully vetted.

The discussion ended with the board voting unanimously to send letters of opposition to the north scheme, with a second unanimous vote to send letters to the city of Lakeport and state legislators opposing the siting proposal.

State: Early proposals easy to misinterpret

The state said the location of the building is set, and they're not going to look at an alternative following a yearlong process that resulted in the Lakeport Boulevard site being chosen in the fall of 2010.

Lake County News requested from the Administrative Office of the Courts the initial look at the siting proposals that had been shown to the project advisory committee, but Ruano said nothing is available for the public at this time.

She said the state will wait to release plans to the public, as the early concepts are very easy to misinterpret.

“What the project advisory board saw was really, really preliminary,” she said, and not intended to be a representation of what the building would look like.

“They were all very aware of that,” she said. “It was a concept piece.”

Richard Knoll, the city of Lakeport's community development and redevelopment director, worked to lobby the state to keep the courthouse in Lakeport, and now sits on the advisory committee.

He said the April 18 meeting was the first in a long time for the group, and he had been anxious to see how the state's plans had progressed. What they were shown were very early ideas. “I would stress the term 'conceptual,'” Knoll said.

In designing the building on the site, Knoll said the state has to take into account a “cone of vision,” an easement the city put in place in the late 1960s that is meant to preserve views from Vista Point. He said said the easement starts in the overlook's parking lot and extends out in a triangular shape eastward toward Mt. Konocti and Clear Lake.

It also includes a height limit. “You cannot build a building into this cone of vision area,” he said, and so the easement creates a limitation on where the building can be located on the property while still complying with the height limits.

The Administrative Office of the Courts said it's trying to take the city's “cone of vision” easement on the property into account while making the building the most functional and accessible. Ording told the Board of Supervisors last week that the north scheme doesn't violate the easement.

The early concepts showed a two-story building with a flat roof, the use of a lot of glass on the southern exposure, and a lot of stone and masonry, Knoll said.

He said there were probably more people at the meeting who opposed the north scheme than those who supported it. Knoll said he was in the group who supported orienting the building more toward the north and Lakeport Boulevard.

Originally, the Administrative Office of the Courts had chosen the architectural firm Shepley Bulfinch to design the building. However, the state has since switched to the award-winning San Francisco-based Mark Cavagnero Associates for the task, Ruano said.

Mark Cavagnero Associates, which Ruano said isn't yet under contract with the state, has designed courthouses in San Francisco as well as the new Mammoth Lakes courthouse in Mono County for the Mark Cavagnero Associates, which now is under construction, according to the state.

Ruano said the reason for changing architects is unlikely to be made public.

The initial phase for architectural design and the creation of preliminary plans is expected to take about a year, said Ruano.

As a result of the dialog with the Board of Supervisors last week, Ruano said the Mark Cavagnero Associates is going back to the architect to discuss the design and siting further.

Still, even after the discussion with the county, the north scheme is the one preferred both by the Administrative Office of the Courts and the court, as “it appears to provide the most appropriate access both for the public and for secure transport of in-custody defendants, accommodate required setbacks, involve the least site work, and provide visibility and prominence at the gateway to town from the freeway,” the state said.

Ruano said there will be opportunities for the public to comment on the final plans once they're released. “We recognize the importance of the building to the community,” she said.

Such buildings “symbolize the rule of law in our democracy, so there's a reason they're important,” Ruano added.

The Administrative Office of the Courts said the current project schedule calls for the new building's construction to begin in fall 2012 and be completed in 2014.

More details and background on the project can be found at www.courts.ca.gov/2798.htm.

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 Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews.