Opinion
- Details
- Written by: Diane Allen
A gentleman called me Friday and said that a friend of his who lives in Lakeport found Kimo wandering in town and took him in before he was taken to the animal shelter. She did not have the room to keep him where she lived in town so he was brought to this man's house in Lucerne until they could figure out where he came from.
His friend seen one of the many fliers that I posted, told him and then he called me.
I want to thank everyone who helped by either posting a flier, spreading the word and keeping an eye out – our family couldn't be anymore proud of the community we live in. Thank you so much for his safe return! God bless!
Diane Allen and her family – including Kimo the Rhodesian Ridgeback – live in Lakeport.
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- Details
- Written by: Judy Barnes
It is true that the Clearlake Oaks Water District has not had a substantial rate increase in several years. The district may need more than the 3 percent rate increase recently imposed.
When I heard about a proposal for a rate increase to be discussed in a special board meeting on May 7, I started attending water company board meetings. It was stated by the manager at the special meeting that without the requested rate increase the water district would be bankrupt in a couple of months. (Initially the proposed increase was 50 percent; now it is proposed to be 39.4 percent.) If you count the fact there will no longer be 200 cubic feet of water included in the base rate there will actually be a 44-percent increase for water for residential service.
In attending board meetings, I do not see any real effort on the part of the water district board or the manager to control district spending. In fact, shortly after the special meeting on May 7, a “special projects coordinator” position was created and filled. On the June 18 board agenda one of the board members had placed a proposal to initiate a hiring freeze and a salary freeze. That board member made a motion to initiate a hiring freeze and a second motion to initiate a salary freeze, neither motion was seconded nor discussed!
The manager said ratepayers have questioned whether or not $200,000 in district funds is missing or unaccounted for and he mentioned some unforeseen expenses for sludge removal at the wastewater treatment plant as an explanation as to where that money was spent. Yet at both the 5/7/08 and the 6/18/08 meetings, missing or accounted for funds of about $200,000 were mentioned and the simplified operating budgets in the agenda packets included an amount labeled “missing depreciation” in the amount of $216,280. However you look at it, there are some serious budget discrepancies that need to be worked out! At the most recent July 16 meeting no budget figures were included in the agenda packet.
It is noteworthy that there has not been a state-mandated annual audit of the water district since 2004-05.
The water district manager stated he is doing three jobs and getting only one salary. I believe his salary is highly competitive in Lake County’s job market, as are all the salaries and benefits paid at the Clearlake Oaks Water District.
I think ratepayers need to be concerned about what happens if the water company goes bankrupt. As I understand it, the state would step in and most likely request County Special Districts to take over. We are in crisis here but I do believe there are many questions that need to be answered and I would encourage people to attend the public hearing scheduled for Saturday, August 16, at 7 p.m. at the Grange Building on Highway 20.
In the meantime, any protests to the rate increase need to be mailed or delivered to the Water District office at P.O. Box 709 or 12952 East Highway 20, Clearlake Oaks, CA 95423. Be sure to include your parcel description (number and/or physical address) and your legal name as it appears on the parcel.
Judy Barnes lives in Clearlake Oaks.
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- Details
- Written by: Dave Geck
What is most upsetting to me at this point is that the focus on the grand jury report is detracting from the effective programs and services that are being provided by the Lake County Office of Education. Our dedicated staff spend long hours supporting students and families as they strive to succeed in our schools.
We serve students in all of the districts in Lake County and we run grants that also serve teachers and schools in the surrounding five counties.
For instance, staff in our office helped train over 600 preschool teachers and directors throughout our region, Our Safe Schools Program provided mental health counseling to over 450 students in schools throughout the county, they also collaborated with 13 agencies and programs in Lake County to sustain services to students and their families.
We provide support to 63 schools that are in Program Improvement because of No Child Left Behind requirements. Our child development programs operate14 high quality preschool classes adding this year a new preschool in Lakeport and one in Middletown and extending the day in Kelseyville serving in total 360 students. After school programs were expanded to serve an additional 280 students this past year.
We provide business services to all of the districts helping them with payroll and budget reporting. Our curriculum and instruction program trains teachers through the year and is currently training over 160 teachers from the districts in how to implement the new math textbook series for this school year. This is only a partial list of the valuable programs and services we are providing. We are compiling an end-of-year report that will list all the accomplishments of the staff at LCOE.
I understand the role of the grand jury in investigating complaints but I am troubled by the process. We believe that many of the findings are based on either misunderstanding of the facts or incomplete information. In the interest of fairness and accuracy we are hopeful we will have the opportunity to share and discuss our response with the grand jury.
In some cases we are hampered by the general nature of the findings. In our followup with the grand jury we look forward to providing the personnel policies and procedures related to the complaints. We also can discuss specific information about specific employee cases.
We are examining all the concerns about expenditures in order to make sure that the expenditures are in line with the grant requirements. It is worth noting that grants often require training of program staff and those trainings or meetings are most often out of the county and in Sacramento, Bay Area or Southern California.
In summary I would like to say that we are committed to operating high quality programs and to continuously work on improving our services. If we have policies or procedures that need to be changed we will do so. We look forward to working with the grand jury and addressing all of their concerns.
Dave Geck is Lake County superintendent of schools.
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- Details
- Written by: Lake County News Reports
His name is Clear Lake Riviera Community Association. His letters have official looking letterheads. He uses words like “abatement,” “code enforcement” and “members in good standing.” His envelopes seem legitimate. Board members wear sanctioned titles like “president” and “first vice president.” Some people say they admire his new clothes.
Unhappily for the emperor, a little boy lives in the Riviera. Some people call him the Riviera-Little-Boy. He keeps saying, the emperor is naked. Heads are turning. Everyone is taking another look.
Riviera Caesar isn’t wearing new clothes at all, says the little boy. He's just another nude old dictator who thinks CC&R laws are for homeowners, not him. The little boy has many naked stories to tell.
Riviera-Little-Boy saw President Alan Siegel and First Vice President Sid Donnell violate two-year term limit laws of the Riviera CC&Rs (Article VI, Section 1 of Riviera rules that establishes term limits, “Directors shall be elected for terms of two years and shall serve until their successors are elected and qualified, and not be eligible for re-election after serving a 2-year term until they shall have not been a director for at least one year…” Also, Article VI, Section 5 of the by-laws says, “The board may fill a vacancy by calling for a special election to choose a new director.”). Alan and Sid didn’t call a new election. They didn’t get the approval of the homeowners to break the by-laws. People saw they were naked and they resigned.
The little boy also saw Alan and Sid (along with board members Boone Bridges and Sandra Orchid) amend Riviera CC&Rs without the acceptance of the owners. Their amendments (mailed to the owners in June 2006) weren't approved by the owners but the emperor started enforcement anyway; flagrant violations of Riviera CC&Rs (Article One) and California civil code (section 1355a). One of the unclad sultan’s amendments instituted a wolfish fining policy.
Outside the above laws, the rapacious and plundering emperor devours Riviera widows and single parents like a dragon. His fines are $250 per month if they don't cut Manzanita bushes according to some freakish desires of his bush inspectors. The little boy saw many disadvantaged and poor people crying because they didn’t have money to cut the bushes or pay the unlawful fines. One widow in Los Angeles can’t sleep at night. She can’t figure out how to raise $3,600 required (by one emperor-recommended bush contractor) to trim her chaparral. She had a worried look on her face because she knows live oak grows fast and the emperor orders it cut every year. He saw money pouring out of the savings accounts of Riviera’s elderly and into the pockets of the emperor's brush-cutting contractors.
Riviera-Little-Boy also saw the disrobed kaiser's invalid election of 2008. The emperor showed no respect for California civil codes that govern elections of homeowners associaitons (1363.03a1, 1363.03 a2, 1363.03 a3, 1363.03 a4, 1363.03 a5, 1363.03 a5a, 1363.03 a6c3a, 1363.03 a6c3d, and 1363.03 a6h). He violated nine laws. Also, the emperor’s ballot said four openings, vote for two, when the law says vote for four when openings are four. Most voters only voted for two in a very close election. The boy saw ballots thrown in the trash and heard board members tell owners they couldn't see ballots when laws say they can. People saw all the nakedness of the election. The emperor ordered a new election after consulting his attorney. Unfortunately, the little boy thinks the emperor will break the same laws in a new election and the people will see the same nakedness.
It gets worse. Riviera-Little-Boy saw one elderly lady drive 300 miles to attend the annual meeting described in a 2008 voting package the emperor mailed. The meeting was canceled at the last minute because a crowd of angry homeowners showed up. The law says emperors must notify shareholders in advance when annual meetings are canceled so they don't waste time and money traveling. The emperor didn't care about this law, either. Homeowners who had questions didn't get answers from emperor au natural.
The naked emperor is not above threatening his critics or even the “free press” with strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) in an attempt to silence them. He’s breaking another law with his threats and intimidation by burdening them with costs of legal defense until they abandon their criticism or opposition (California code of civil procedure 425.17). Winning his suit is not the purpose of his threats. His goal is accomplished when the “free press” spikes stories and homeowners succumb to fear and intimidation and abandon their criticism.
Riviera-Little-Boy sees all this injustice and wonders, where's the law? Who’s protecting the loyal subjects from the wicked ruler? Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, he said. The elderly, poor and disadvantaged, are suffering everywhere. The emperor is crossing state lines and using the US mail to collect his atrocious fines of $250 per month, outside laws of his own CC&Rs. The boy says, it’s not “just breaking civil laws” when dishonest business practices cause the elderly to lose large amounts of money. He says anarchy reigns in the Clear Lake Riviera Community Association clubhouse. Sheriff Mitchell, District Attorney Hopkins and Attorney General Brown all have investigation teams. Riviera-Little-Boy thinks they might be friends with the emperor or don’t care. Why don't they make the naked king keep the CC&Rs? “Hire an attorney,” they say. The little boy may hire an attorney. Something must be done to stop the beastly crimes against humanity.
DA Jon Hopkins has a record of investigating and prosecuting anyone in Lake County who takes a relative's credit card and charges $2,000 or $3,000 without permission. That’s a white collar felony. He's extremely concerned when credit card companies lose money. Apparently, he’s not concerned for real people like retired homeowners in the Riviera. How long can he turn his head and pretend he doesn’t see?
There are other stories the little boy could tell. He will, if the emperor doesn't get dressed.
Darrell Watkins has lived in Clear Lake Riviera for 23 years.
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