How to resolve AdBlock issue? LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council on Tuesday night honored an outgoing Lakeport Fire Protection District Board member for his service and presented a proclamation honoring the entire district for its efforts to protect the city and the surrounding communities from the Mendocino Complex.
As a room filled with firefighters and other community members looked on, Mayor Mireya Turner presented a proclamation to Lakeport Fire Protection District Board member Gerry Mills, who is retiring after 20 years of service.
Mills was a California Highway Patrol captain who served as commander of the CHP’s Clear Lake Area office as well as the Eureka office before he retired.
He also is a past member of Rotary International and a current member of the Elks Club, and serves on the Lake Local Area Formation Commission, according to the proclamation Turner read.
“It’s been very nice working with the city over these years,” Mills said, noting the experience has been “very positive.”
He said it’s been a distinct honor to work with the fire department, where the main job is to do good things for the community. He said Lakeport Fire has a great group of firefighters and directors.
Mills said former County Supervisor Karan Mackay had appointed him, but it was his predecessor on the board, Ray Benavides – also a former Lake County sheriff – who talked him into serving.
“I’m sorry,” Benevides said from the audience.
The council then had a brief presentation on the Mendocino Complex that included a time lapse of the complex’s growth that was created by Community Development Director Kevin Ingram.
Turner then called up Lakeport Fire personnel, about a dozen of them gathering in front of the dais as she read a proclamation honoring them for their efforts to keep the community safe.
The proclamation recounted how that the Mendocino Complex, which includes the Ranch and River fires, began on July 27, triggering mass evacuations throughout the county, including the entire city of Lakeport, which was in the path of the River fire.
While their own families were evacuated and homes were unprotected, Turner said Lakeport Fire Protection District’s staff of professional and volunteer firefighters were called upon to stay to fight the River fire.
The district’s firefighters “battled tirelessly in the field to hold the River fire west of Highway
29, ultimately preventing any loss of homes or businesses in the city limits,” Turner said.
The proclamation recognized the district’s personnel “for their unwavering courage and professionalism in the face of a deadly threat to both the city and county residents,” which drew a standing ovation.
Lakeport Fire Chief Doug Hutchison thanked the council on behalf of the district for the proclamation.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the folks that we have, how they responded to this incident. I think it was of a magnitude that we haven’t really seen here before, and everybody stepped up to a level that we really couldn’t even imagine that we were able to do,” Hutchison said.
Pointing to the firefighters with him, Hutchison said they were a small number of people who were part of the response. He said 31 of the district’s 37 staffers out around the clock, seven days a week, for an extended time.
“Everybody just pitched in, did what had to be done, didn’t need a lot of leadership because everybody just did their job,” he said.
He added, “I’m very proud of these folks,” before the audience gave them another standing ovation.
In other business on Tuesday evening, the council met new employees Kris Perkins and Jonathan Ohlen and approved a resolution supporting opposition to Proposition 6, “Repeal of the Road Repair and Accountability Act,” which will appear on the Nov. 6 ballot,
At the request of Public Works Director Doug Grider, the council approved the purchase of a John Deere 210L Skip Loader at a cost of $88,427.75.
The council also adopted a grievance procedure under the American Disabilities Act and designated the Administrative Services director as the ADA coordinator, and directed the city’s voting delegate to the League of California Cities Annual Conference to support the two resolutions provided in the annual conference resolutions packet.
A presentation by Sutter Lakeside Hospital Chief Administrative Officer Dan Peterson was postponed to a future meeting.
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