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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
LAKEPORT – Will BoardStock take place in Lakeport this September? The question was opened once more at Tuesday night's City Council meeting, but the event organizer says he now has an offer from Konocti Vista Casino to host the event.
Rob Stimmel of BoardStock Promotions has been trying to find a new home for his event since mid-February, when Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa said the event wouldn't be welcomed back for a third year.
Stimmel said the reason cited at the time was a concern about the resort losing its alcohol license, an issue that Stimmel maintains is less about his event and more about the resort's security operations.
Not long after that decision, Stimmel and Ron Campos of Campos Casuals approached the City of Lakeport to ask that BoardStock be hosted there.
Talks continued for about a month before the City Council voted on March 20 to decline hosting the August event.
Stimmel went back to the council Tuesday to ask them to reconsider. The council voted to do just that, and to have a May 1 public hearing. But the council once again voiced numerous concerns about BoardStock, and showed little enthusiasm about seeing the event come to town.
“It wasn't bad but it wasn't good,” said Stimmel Wednesday of the previous night's meeting.
Stimmel said he had expected more of a public workshop at Tuesday's meeting. Instead, the council limited discussion to its members, setting the public meeting for another two weeks out.
The original August dates for the event aren't workable now, said Stimmel, and he's instead asking the city to consider the third or fourth weekend of September. That date change already has lost him some event sponsors, he said.
“I'm really at a point of critical mass,” Stimmel said. “I have to make a decision really quick about where I'm going to go and what I'm going to do.”
Enter Konocti Vista. Stimmel said he's been talking with the casino for several weeks about holding the event there.
Having the event go to Konocti Vista was a concern Mayor Roy Parmentier voiced at Tuesday night's meeting.
If BoardStock was based in Lakeport, said Parmentier, they could require Stimmel to pay upfront for police and emergency services. That wouldn't be possible if it went somewhere else nearby, he said.
That may well be what ends up happening with BoardStock, said Stimmel.
On Wednesday, Stimmel said Konocti Vista “handed me a contract today.”
The casino, he said, is asking for a few stipulations, one of them being that if they reach an agreement to host the event, that Stimmel must commit to stay there and not to pull out should the city decide to welcome him.
“They pretty well want me locked in,” Stimmel said, on either of the September weekends he's already suggesting.
Stimmel said he's going to go over the Konocti Vista contract with his attorney before making any decision.
Where is he inclined to go? Stimmel isn't sure.
“I honestly don't know what I'm going to do,” said Stimmel, noting there are benefits for both locations.
While downtown Lakeport would look great on television, the lake near Konocti Vista might end up being better for event competitors, Stimmel said.
“If my attorney tells me that this is all good and I should go forward with the deal with Konocti Vista, I would probably do that,” he said.
Stimmel said he's still considering whether to continue discussions with Lakeport's city staff and council.
“I can't really afford to wait another two weeks and then have the council vote it down again,” Stimmel said.
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THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED.
LAKEPORT – A week after his employment ended with the Lake County Sheriff's Office, a former deputy was arrested on felony charges of having sex with an underage girl and a misdemeanor charge involving a second minor female.
Derik Navarro, 35, of Kelseyville, faces a total of 18 felony counts and two misdemeanor counts of criminal wrongdoing, according to District Attorney Jon Hopkins.
In brief statements released Wednesday, Hopkins and Sheriff Rod Mitchell reported that Navarro had just been arrested that morning on charges of committing lewd and lascivious acts with a minor, sodomy with a minor and having sex with a minor under age 16.
Hopkins said the arrest followed a lengthy investigation by his office into allegations of sexual misconduct while Navarro was still a deputy sheriff.
Mitchell reported that his command staff received information on Jan. 23 that led to an internal investigation into “allegations of misconduct” by Navarro.
“The matter was of such consequence that we asked Lake County District Attorney investigators to conduct a separate and independent criminal investigation,” Mitchell stated.
Navarro was placed on administrative leave on Jan. 23, said Mitchell, pending the internal investigation's outcome.
The majority of the charges against Navarro involve a female juvenile, said Hopkins. Navarro is alleged to have had a sexual relationship with the 14-year-old girl from May 2005 through May 2006, after she had turned 15.
The complaint against Navarro also includes one misdemeanor charge stemming from his alleged involvement with a second female juvenile, Hopkins reported.
None of the alleged crimes took place while Navarro was on duty as a sheriff's deputy, Mitchell said.
Navarro joined LCSO in December 2002. Last week, on April 11, Navarro's employment with LCSO ended, Mitchell reported.
Chief DA Investigator Michael Clements arrested Navarro Wednesday on a felony arrest warrant issued by Superior Court Judge Richard Martin.
Navarro was booked into the Lake County Jail, with bail set at $20,000. A court appearance has been scheduled for April 20.
Mitchell thanked the District Attorney's Office for taking the lead in the investigation. “The DA's investigators' willingness to handle the criminal investigation into this matter allowed my staff to promptly focus on their administrative duties,” he said.
Mitchell said his department would release no other information on the matter. Instead, he deferred any other comment on the case to the District Attorney's Office, saying that state law prohibits him from “disclosing details of matters pertaining to personnel investigations and/or employee discipline.”
In an unusual footnote, last year Navarro was honored by the Lake Family Resource Center as Law Enforcement Officer of the Year for his work on domestic violence cases.
Hopkins asks anyone with information about the case to contact Chief DA Investigator Michael Clements or Deputy District Attorney John R. DeChaine, 263-2251.
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
LAKE PILLSBURY – On the 101st anniversary of the San Francisco Earthquake, a 4.8 quake shook the Lake Pillsbury area.
The quake hit at 1:42 a.m. on Wednesday morning with 17 aftershocks ranging up to 2.0 as of 6:45 a.m., according to the US Geological Survey.
Nine more aftershocks – bringing the total to 26 – hit throughout the early afternoon, the USGS reported.
Originally, USGS had ranked the quake as a 5.0, but scaled it back to a 4.8 by mid-morning.
The epicenter of the quake occurred in the increasing seismic area of between the Maacama fault zone and the Bartlett Springs fault 9 miles west of Lake Pillsbury in Northern Lake County.
The depth of the temblor was 3.8 miles.
Lake County News reported earlier this week that a 3.1 quake had hit the Pillsbury area Sunday morning, near the epicenter of Wednesday's quake.
Lake and Mendocino county residents from Covelo to Ft. Bragg, Clear Lake Oaks to Cloverdale reported feeling a light to moderate shaking.
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LAKEPORT – BoardStock has another chance to call Lakeport home this summer, with the City Council voting Tuesday night to invite the community to come and discuss the event coming to town in late September.
BoardStock promoter Rob Stimmel asked the city earlier this month to reconsider allowing the event to take place in and around Library Park, either Sept. 19-23 or Sept. 26-30.
About 20 people came to hear the discussion, which took place toward the end of Tuesday's meeting.
The council didn't invite public comment, however, saying that they would do so at a May 1 workshop.
At the discussion's onset, Councilman Ron Bertsch said he was against reconsidering the issue.
Mayor Roy Parmentier, who has been against the event coming to Lakeport, said, "If we put it on, we're going to get paid for our police and fire department."
Parmentier had said previously he told Stimmel that he would need to pay upfront for the city's emergency services.
If BoardStock isn't based in Lakeport, Parmentier said he's concerned Konocti Vista Casino may host the event, in which case the city will have the same problems but no extra money to pay for police and fire.
Councilman Buzz Bruns said the lake is low, and is likely to be shallow and filled with weeds during the proposed dates in late September. If visitors see the lake that way, he said, they're likely to come away with a bad impression.
BoardStock would be better held earlier in the season, such as June, Bruns suggested.
Councilman Bob Rumfelt said when he made the motion against BoardStock at the March 20 meeting, it was based on the proposal that the city host the event. This latest plan, said Rumfelt, has Stimmel listed as the event's host.
Despite their concerns, Bruns made a motion to discuss the event, with Rumfelt seconding. The council voted 4-1 to hold a discussion, with Bertsch voting no.
Bruns reiterated his belief that the county and city could suffer “a slap in the face” if the lake wasn't at its best in September. “If we had a high lake like we did last year we would have a shot at it.”
For his part, Parmentier said he thinks June is too soon to hold BoardStock.
Responding to concerns about water quality, Stimmel said, “The reality of it is, if we're talking about the quality of the water, unless it's unfit for someone to be in the water, it's not an issue.”
When the event was in Stockton, they had issues with green water, but it didn't bother the competitors or for the television coverage, Stimmel reported.
Stimmel said he couldn't be ready to hold BoardStock by June or August.
“In the past, we had been a September event," he said, with the event held during what he called “the shoulder season.”
Rumfelt asked about the minimum water depth needed for the competition. Stimmel said 4 feet, with the average depth ranging between 4 and 8 feet.
“We want our lake to look good,” said Bruns.
Parmentier asked other council members for their thoughts.
“I just don't see what's changed," said Bertsch, who said the use of city staff time was a primary reason for turning down the previous proposal.
Bruns said he didn't want to see the park fenced and the city having to collect money during the event.
Parmentier reiterated his concern that if the city doesn't allow BoardStock in, Konocti Vista will host it.
Stimmel told the council that the September dates will reduce attendance by 20 to 25 percent, which Parmentier agreed will remove a problem element.
The discussion's result was that the council voted 4-1 – with Bertsch once more voting no – to schedule a May 1 public meeting where they'll hear what the community thinks about having BoardStock in the city at a different time. Until then, negotiations between Stimmel and the city will continue.
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