LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A new series of storms heading for Northern California and Lake County is forecast to bring more rain as well as mountain snow.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch for the northern third of Lake County – from Upper Lake north – from 6 p.m. Saturday to 11 a.m. Monday.

A winter storm watch means there is potential for significant snow, sleet or ice accumulations that may impact travel, the National Weather Service said.

The National Weather Service said the series of storms will bring mountain snow, gusty winds
and hazardous mountain travel to Northern California from the weekend and into next week.

The watch said locations above the 4,000-foot level are expected to see heavy snow accumulations.

Across Lake County, the specific forecast calls for chances of rain from Saturday through Friday. Rain is expected to be heavy at times on Monday and Tuesday.

Daytime temperatures over the coming week will range from the high 40s to mid 50s, and from the high 30s to low 40s at night, based on the forecast.

Light winds also are forecast for Saturday and Sunday.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – This week, Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) – who represents Lake County – introduced Assembly Bill 958, to provide local, organic food to children in schools.

School meals with organic foods offer benefits for health, the environment, and California’s economy by increasing access to organic food for low-income children, decreasing pesticide exposure, increasing climate resilience, and supporting the organic market for California farmers.

California farmers grow food for the whole nation, and they grow more organic produce than any other state. Despite this, many low-income California communities do not have an adequate food supply of their own, and many children lack access to fresh, healthy food.

“Farm to School Programs are a great way to provide more local, fresh, organic produce to our children’s school meals,” said Aguiar-Curry. “In Winters where I live, our small, rural community surrounded by farms has been running a Farm to School Program for years. Over time, the community farms and school cafeterias have partnered to make local, fresh food available to our kids and their families, so they learn the importance of where their food comes from and why eating local is good for their health. And, we need to support our local farmers who produce sustainable, healthy foods.”

School meals provide a primary source of food and nutrition for millions of California public school students, and are a major support for low-income families struggling to make ends meet.

While cost and availability issues prevent many of California’s communities from accessing organic food, meals provided in the school setting are a practical way to increase children’s nutrition.

According to Allison Johnson, Sustainable Food Policy Advocate for the Natural Resources Defense Council, “Bringing more organic food to California’s schools is great for the health of our children, a win for climate, and a boost for innovative farming communities growing food without toxic pesticides.”

AB 958 will create the “California Organic-to-School Pilot Program” within the Office of Farm to Fork. This pilot program will allow school districts to apply for up to fifteen cents of additional funding on every school meal to purchase certified organic, California-grown foods.

Schools that serve a high percentage of children who qualify for free or reduced-price meals and are located in close proximity to agricultural production will be prioritized for the first grants.

By reporting information on the outcomes of the program back to the state, the goal of the California Organic-to-School Pilot Program is to demonstrate that providing kids with healthy local food is money well spent.

The benefits of bringing healthy, locally-grown, and organic foods to our schools stretch beyond internal health benefits. Through this program, school children will become more connected to both what they eat and where their food comes from.

Aguiar-Curry represents the Fourth Assembly District, which includes all of Lake and Napa Counties, parts of Colusa, Solano and Sonoma counties, and all of Yolo County except West Sacramento.

WASHINGTON, DC – Gun Violence Prevention Task Force Chairman Mike Thompson (CA-05) announced that H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019, will be considered for a vote next week.

This historic vote represents the first major action on gun violence in more than two decades.

“Next week, we take bipartisan action to prevent gun violence. We break the cycle of stagnation and finally hold a vote. We make history,” Thompson said.

“This is a deeply humbling moment, one for which I have been fighting for six years since the inception of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. It’s thanks to the leadership of Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Nadler, the dedication of my colleagues both Republican and Democratic, and the energy and enthusiasm of advocates across our nation that this is possible. I am so proud of our hard work together on this issue and stand ready to finally cast my vote to expand background checks and help prevent gun violence,” he said.

Congressman represents California’s Fifth Congressional District, which includes all or part of Contra Costa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.

A compilation of scientific results from The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, SOFIA, reveal new clues to how stars form and galaxies evolve, and closer to understanding the environment of Europa and its subsurface ocean.

The airborne observatory carries a suite of instruments, each sensitive to different properties of infrared light, that gives astronomers insights into the flow of matter in galaxies.

“Much of the light in the universe is emitted as infrared light that does not reach Earth’s surface,” said Bill Reach, chief science advisor at the University Space Research Association’s SOFIA Science Center. “Infrared observations from SOFIA, which flies above most of the atmosphere, let us study what’s happening deep inside cosmic clouds, analyze celestial magnetic fields and investigate the chemical universe in ways that are not possible with visible light.”

Unlike space-based telescopes, SOFIA’s instruments can be exchanged, serviced or upgraded to harness new technologies. Its newest instrument, called the High-resolution Airborne Wideband Camera-Plus, or HAWC+, enables studies of celestial magnetic fields with ground-breaking precision.

“How magnetic fields affect the process of star formation has not been well understood, though it has long been suspected that they play an important role,” said David Chuss, professor of physics at Villanova University in Pennsylvania. “With SOFIA’s HAWC+ instrument, we can now begin to understand how these fields influence the dynamics of regions where gas and dust are collapsing to produce new stars."

Some observations highlighted in the Astrophysical Journal “Focus on Results from SOFIA” include:

– The magnetic fields in the Orion Nebula are preventing star-forming clouds from collapsing under gravity, thereby regulating the formation of new stars. This can help better explain the number of stars in our galaxy and those that may form in the future. If magnetic fields inhibit the gravitational collapse of celestial clouds in other regions of the galaxy, the number of new stars may be lower than current models predict.

– Magnetic fields are trapping material, keeping it close enough to be fed into the black hole in the Cygnus A Galaxy. These findings may mean that magnetic fields regulate black hole activity and explain why some are actively gobbling up material from their surroundings, while others, like the one in our own Milky Way Galaxy, are not.

– A map of the entire grand-design spiral galaxy M51 (also known as the Whirlpool Galaxy), including its small companion galaxy, reveals that the companion is not forming new stars at the same rate as the its larger neighbor. Understanding how stars are born in different celestial environments is key to learning how star birth evolved from the early universe to the present day.

– The region called Sagittarius B1 – near the black hole at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy – must be part of a large, young star-formation complex, but the stars were formed elsewhere and are remnants of a previous generation of star formation, which includes the Arches cluster. Observations like these are helping researchers develop a template to understand distant galaxies, which are often too far away for even the most powerful telescopes to see clearly, and ultimately learn how the universe works.

– Water plumes that may be erupting from Jupiter’s moon Europa, suggested by data from NASA’s Galileo and Hubble spacecraft, contain, at most, the amount of water in an Olympic-sized swimming pool. SOFIA’s observations in 2017 did not directly detect the plume, but established an upper limit on how much water could be in the plumes. This upper limit is crucial to ongoing studies that will analyze the contents of the plumes and investigate their origins, which will help reveal if Europa has the ingredients to support life.

SOFIA is a Boeing 747SP jetliner modified to carry a 106-inch diameter telescope. It is a joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center, DLR. NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley manages the SOFIA program, science and mission operations in cooperation with the Universities Space Research Association headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, and the German SOFIA Institute at the University of Stuttgart.

The aircraft is maintained and operated from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center Hangar 703, in Palmdale, California.

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Konocti Unified School Board trustees gathered on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the traits they are seeking in the district’s new superintendent as the recruitment process gets under way.

Superintendent Donna Becnel is retiring in June, at the end of the school year, after a 35-year education career, so the board is embarking on the search for her successor.

On Wednesday afternoon, ahead of its regular meeting, the five-member board met with the consulting firm it has hired to discuss the traits they want in their next superintendent as well as to go over the interview process.

Becnel was at the district office, preparing for the regular meeting that night, but didn’t take part in the workshop, telling board members that the recruitment is up to them and she is there to support them.

Last month the board hired Education Leadership Solutions to help them with the search. The firm’s two principals are retired Lake County Superintendent of Schools Wally Holbrook and Dr. C. Richard Smith, also a former school administrator who lives in Kelseyville.

Holbrook wanted to go over the nuts and bolts of the process and update the recruitment calendar. The calendar includes numerous meetings with district staff and community members to gather input on the search, as well as tentative deadlines for advertising the job announcement – expected to close at the end of March – and early April interviews.

The process of selecting a superintendent is one of the most important tasks a school board can take on.

In Konocti Unified’s case, it’s the largest district in the county, with a $40 million budget and one of the county’s largest workforces.

The superintendent has a variety of key responsibilities. As an example, in her seven years with the district Becnel has guided it through major bonds issues, renovations and building projects, the opening of new schools and an ongoing response to wildland fires, while overseeing school performance and adherence to complex educational standards.

Based on board member input on Wednesday, they are looking for a person who is prepared to lead, face unique challenges and recognize opportunities, and do it with compassion and a view toward what’s best for the community.

In finding that person, Konocti Unified’s board is approaching it with attention to detail and a desire to hear from all community groups and individuals.

The recruitment process includes numerous meetings with district staff and community members. After Wednesday’s workshop, Holbrook and Smith headed next to a community meeting at Burns Valley School to get more public input.

“We've gotten really good input – constructive, positive, interactive,” said Holbrook. He added, “There's a lot of committed people here.”

Smith said that, so far, they’ve heard no negative comments in the meetings they’ve held.

The district is seeking to assemble a 17-member community panel that will be one interview team, while the board will be the second interview team. Both teams will take turns interviewing candidates on April 6, with final candidates to be interviewed by the board alone on April 7.

Holbrook said that, as the district seeks to assemble the community panel, there have been concerns about people being available for that April interview weekend, as it’s close to spring break.

However, the board decided to hold firm on scheduling their interviews that first weekend, with a view to being able to complete the recruitment process by mid-April. Board member Bill Diener said that if they got pushed off schedule, they could find themselves too close to graduation.

Over the next several weeks, the process will begin to move quickly. The application packet will be available on March 1, the job announcement will begin on the Association of California School Administrators’ EdCal job board on March 4 and the application period will close on March 22.

Holbrook and Smith went over the interview process with the board, explaining that candidates will be asked about 20 questions, some of which already have been written. They also talked about how the teams would rank candidates.

They then had the board list for them their preferences and priorities for the next superintendent.

“We're looking at two types of evidence about the qualities of this candidate,” said Smith.

He said the preferences and priorities “will form the basis for the questions that you’re going to ask the candidates.”

Smith said they had created two categories: skills, which are learned in school or through experience, such as budgeting, technology and supervising, and dispositions, which include feelings, beliefs and character. “Disposition is what’s in the person’s head,” he said.

On the walls of the district office meeting room Holbrook and Smith had hung large pieces of paper with different headings. The sheets included skills such as learning, human resources, finance, climate - safety, communication, facilities, dispositions and “parking lot” – that final category being a catch-all.

They gave the board members yellow sticky notes and asked them to write their priorities and place them under the various headings.

Across the categories, the board listed a broad-ranging set of capabilities that they’re seeking: a good listener; a philosophy that all students can learn; experience with dealing compassionately with poverty – mentally and physically – along with low self-esteem and family issues; knowledge about the local control funding formula; how to work with a board; being firm but fair; honesty; openness to change; organization; patience; ability to work on a team; ability to work with unions; knowledge of dealing with personnel; understanding of the state budget; knowledge of common core and curriculum; someone who will honestly answer why they want to come to Lake County; the ability to handle discipline; solutions for stopping bullying; and kindness.

“I’m confident we’re on the right road. I feel good about the process,” Board President Sue Burton said as she and her fellow board members worked on outlining the traits.

Afterward, looking at the sheets of paper that were filled up with the yellow sticky notes, Holbrook said of the process, “This has been really fun to watch.”

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – The California Highway Patrol is continuing to investigate a Thursday morning crash east of Clearlake Oaks that killed one person.

The crash was first reported just after 7 a.m. Thursday on Highway 20, about a mile west of Walker Ridge Road, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The CHP’s initial report said that a white van had gone into a ditch.

Over the course of the day, the CHP requested a response from the Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team, or MAIT, to assist, according to scene reports.

Officer Joel Skeen of the CHP’s Clear Lake Area office told Lake County News that they are still investigating.

“What we know is that it was a solo vehicle which was a white sprinter van traveling eastbound on State Route 20,” Skeen said.

“There was some suspicion that a second vehicle may have been involved which is why the MAIT team was called out,” Skeen explained. “As of now it appears the second vehicle was not involved but we will know more with some follow-up investigation.”

Skeen said a male occupant who was alone in the vehicle died.

The man will be identified pending next of kin notification, Skeen said.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The preliminary hearing of the man accused of setting the August 2016 Clayton fire and more than a dozen others during a year-long period continued on Thursday, with more members of the surveillance team who tracked the suspect taking the stand.

Damin Anthony Pashilk, 43, of Clearlake is facing 23 counts for what authorities say was a series of arson fires – 16 fires, counting the Clayton fire, plus the attempted start of a 17th that self-extinguished – between July of 2015 and August of 2016.

In testimony this week, the focus has continued on the men who were involved with keeping Pashilk under surveillance and investigating the fires they maintain that he set.

On Thursday, Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff called to the stand Cal Fire employees Travis Needler, Jeremy Monroe, Dan White and Michael Thompson.

Travis Needler is a fire captain who has investigated 30 wildland, structure and vehicle fires, but Thursday was his first experience giving testimony in court about a fire’s cause and origin.

He investigated a fire on Aug. 8, 2015, on High Valley Road and Cerrito Road in Clearlake Oaks for which Pashilk is charged. Needler said he concluded – after interviewing two witnesses and reviewing the scene – that the roadside fire was intentionally set, having ruled out other potential causes.

During defense attorney Mitch Hauptman’s questioning, Needler acknowledged that when he originally completed the report, he had eliminated arson. But a year and a half later, when the report was sent to him for review, he modified it and changed the cause to arson.

Jeremy Monroe, Cal Fire’s deputy chief of law enforcement and fire intelligence, followed Needler to the stand.

He was on duty and assigned to conduct surveillance of Pashilk driving a gray Chrysler Sebring on July 23, 2016. On that evening, just after 7 p.m., the Western fire began on Western Mine Road near Middletown.

Testimony last week and on Thursday recounted how the surveillance team physically followed Pashilk and also used a GPS tracker that had been attached to the Chrysler.

Monroe followed Pashilk at a distance that evening. He had been positioned at Redbud Library when the operations chief requested he move to the Clearlake Safeway store’s parking lot in an effort to keep Pashilk under constant surveillance. From there, he followed Pashilk to the AutoZone shortly after 6 p.m. and then on to Twin Pine Casino in Middletown, where Pashilk parked and entered the building.

At 6:50 p.m., Monroe received a radio call from Damon Denman, a Cal Fire law enforcement officer who also was on the surveillance team, telling him that Pashilk’s vehicle was on the move.

Vehicles got between Monroe and Pashilk’s vehicles, and Monroe watched as Pashilk turned southbound onto Highway 29. Monroe said he could see in the distance a vehicle that appeared to be Pashilk’s, traveling about a mile ahead of him.

Both Monroe and Denman, traveling separately, followed the vehicle into Napa County, where they determined it wasn’t Pashilk’s car and headed back to the casino. When they arrived, Pashilk’s vehicle was back, parked near the loading and unloading area, where he had originally parked.

Monroe also tracked Pashilk on the afternoon and evening of July 26, 2016. At 6:48 p.m. that day, the Sulphur fire started on Sulphur Bank Road north of North Drive in Clearlake.

That day, Monroe said he trailed Pashilk from Clearlake to Twin Pine Casino, where he photographed him getting into his vehicle and leaving the casino parking lot while smoking a cigarette.

Dan White, who works for Cal Fire’s northern region law enforcement division, conducts complex fire investigations and arson surveillance, and also is a peace officer.

He was part of the Pashilk surveillance team, and was monitoring him on the evening of July 23, 2016, at the same time as Monroe. He recounted seeing Pashilk at the Clearlake AutoZone, with a woman in the front passenger seat who he said was the Chrysler’s registered owner, as well as another unknown female in the back seat.

White said he followed the Chrysler to Twin Pine Casino, where it was parked in the no parking area near the doors. He went inside and saw Pashilk sitting at a slot machine, watching one of the women he traveled with playing on another machine.

Pashilk then got up and left at about 6:45 p.m., getting in the Chrysler alone and heading south on Highway 29. White notified the other surveillance team members to let them know of Pashilk’s movements.

Like the others, he attempted to follow Pashilk south before turning around and returning to the casino, where he found the Chrysler parked once more. When White went into the casino, he saw Pashilk at the customer service counter just after 7 p.m.

Battalion Chief Michael Thompson, also a law enforcement officer for Cal Fire, gave most of the testimony on Thursday, explaining his efforts to investigate several of the fires Pashilk is accused of starting.

They include the Judge fire No. 1, which began just after 7:30 a.m. July 2, 2015, at Highway 20 at Judge Davis Trail east of Clearlake Oaks. Thompson excluded all possible causes but arson for that roadside fire.

He also helped investigate the Arrowhead fire on the afternoon of Aug. 25, 2015, on East Lake Drive in Clearlake; the Morgan fire on July 21, 2016, in the 18000 block of Morgan Valley Road near Staehle Lane in Lower Lake; the fire on Sulphur Bank Road, north of North Drive in Clearlake on the evening of July 26, 2016; the County fire on the evening of July 27, 2016, at Lakeshore and San Joaquin drive in Clearlake; the North Branch fire on the afternoon of July 29, 2016, on Ogulin Canyon Road, east of Highway 53 in Clearlake; the Agua fire on Aug. 7, 2016, on Highway 29 near mile post marker 16.29 near Lower Lake; and the Canyon fire at 5 p.m. Aug. 9, 2016, on Seigler Canyon Road in Lower Lake.

In the case of the Sulphur and Aqua fires, Thompson testified to finding depressions in the ground and vegetation in the area of origin, leading him to believe that was the location of an ignition source – possibly made of paper – that had been consumed by the fire.

The North Branch fire was located close to several businesses at an area known as “industrial court.” Thompson spoke to local business owners who helped him acquire surveillance video that showed a light-colored, two-door vehicle with a sunroof speeding away from the area, not stopping at the stop sign at Ogulin Canyon Road and Highway 53 before turning south onto the highway shortly before 2:45 p.m. He said he believed the individual driving the car was responsible for the fire.

When he investigated the Canyon fire on Aug. 9, 2016, he identified the origin area – less than 6 feet off the roadway edge – and said he found the remains of what appeared to be a twisted napkin that had been set on fire and had gotten into the dry vegetation. He said he could still see the twist in the paper product and it was starting to disintegrate. Thompson believed something similar could have been used to light the other fires.

Although it was completely burned – it was remnants of ash, still in form – he used an index card to collect the material and place it in a clear hard container with cotton balls. It disintegrated once he put it in the container, which was admitted into Cal Fire evidence.

All three witnesses were told that they are subject to recall. Testimony will continue on Friday.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – In an effort to reduce the number of biting adult mosquitoes emerging this spring, the Lake County Vector Control District will be making an aerial treatment to the marshlands adjacent to the lake between Clear Lake State Park and Lakeport, parts of Anderson Marsh State Park, a small section east of the Clearlake Keys, and a small area near Bridge Arbor South in North Lakeport.

The treatment is expected to occur during daylight hours between Wednesday, Feb. 27, and Friday, March 8.

The specific date will be determined based on mosquito surveillance data, lake level and the weather.

The application date and any subsequent changes will be posted on the district’s Web site.

The application is being made because the district’s winter mosquito surveillance program has detected large numbers of mosquito larvae in the marshlands along the perimeter of the lake that flooded as the lake rose due to the abundant rains.

These mosquito larvae are an early-season floodwater species (Aedes increpitus) that hatch from eggs laid in the mud in previous years as the lake receded.

When winter rains flooded the eggs, the larvae hatched and began developing in the still, shallow water. As temperatures and day length increase in early spring, the Ae. increpitus mosquito larvae will pupate and then emerge as biting adults.

These mosquitoes are the aggressive biters experienced every spring by people living and recreating near this area.

The application will be made by a yellow, bi-winged crop duster flying at a low altitude over these marshy areas.

Some of the marshy areas are near homes, and people may experience a brief noise nuisance from the plane.

The product applied will be VectoBac G, a biological larvicide used to control mosquito larvae in aquatic habitats. VectoBac is manufactured by Valent BioSciences, and is based on the naturally occurring soil bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti).

The district said it’s a highly effective and economical microbial insecticide is registered with the Environmental Protection Agency for the control of larval mosquitoes in nearly all aquatic habitats.

Bti is highly selective for the control of mosquito larvae in water and does not affect plants, animals, or beneficial insects that live in or drink the water. The formulation is a biodegradable solid corncob granule coated with Bti.

The Bti breaks down rapidly in nature so there is no persistence of the active ingredient. The use of a solid formulation reduces the possibility of drift onto adjacent property.

The Lake County Vector Control District said it makes every effort to use the safest product available to minimize any health concerns the public may have. The VectoBac G label and the Safety Data Sheet are available from the Lake County Vector Control District’s Web site at http://www.lcvcd.org/ or may be requested by calling 707-263-4770.

CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – Authorities are investigating a fatal Thursday morning wreck that took place on Highway 20, east of Clearlake Oaks.

The California Highway Patrol reported that the crash occurred just after 7 a.m. on eastbound Highway 20, about one mile west of Walker Ridge Road.

The initial report said that a white Dodge van had gone into a ditch. No other vehicles were said to be involved.

An evidence tow was ordered for the vehicle, according to the report.

Additional details about the crash were not available early Thursday, as investigators are still working at the scene.

An update will be published as soon as it's available.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Clearlake’s city manager of the past four years, credited with helping turn the city around and put it onto a better path, is leaving for a new job.

On Wednesday morning, the Suisun City Council began its meeting with the announcement from closed session that it had voted unanimously to hire Greg Folsom as its next city manager.

Suisun City, located in Solano County, has an estimated population of more than 28,000, nearly twice the Clearlake population. It’s where Clearlake Police Chief Andrew White came from last year, as Lake County News has reported.

Folsom told Lake County News he was pleased to hear of the unanimous vote.

“It is just a career opportunity,” he said of his decision to pursue the job. “Suisun is similar but in a more organized area with similar issues and I think my background here will be beneficial to helping with their issues.”

"I wish him well and hate to see him go,” said Clearlake Mayor Nick Bennett. “He's done so much for this community it's unbelievable. He's brought our City Hall staff together as a working team. He's brought on a new finance director who is now assistant city manager, He was a major component of passing the Measure V road tax and initiated the state of the city events."

District 2 Lake County Supervisor Bruno Sabatier, who until December worked with Folsom while he was on the Clearlake City Council, said Folsom will be remembered for his great service to the city, and he wishes him the best of luck as he starts a new adventure in Suisun City. “They are lucky to have him.”

Suisun City has been looking for a new city manager for over a year. It was explained at Wednesday’s meeting that Folsom’s hiring will be finalized at the next Suisun City Council meeting on March 5.

Folsom said he believes he’ll be starting with Suisun City on April 2. He doesn’t plan to take a break between jobs; his last council meeting in Clearlake will be March 14 and his final day with the city will be March 30.

Between now and then he said he will be focusing on getting some things onto the agenda and to the council “as well as organizing files and data for my successor.”

Folsom currently makes $151,000 a year for Clearlake, which in Suisun City will rise to $205,000 a year, he said.

Asked if Assistant City Manager Alan Flora will be tapped to succeed him or if an open recruitment will be pursued, Folsom said, “That is going to be up to the City Council.”

The Clearlake City Council appears headed to take up the matter immediately.

The council has a special 5 p.m. meeting on Thursday during which it will consider awarding a contract to demolish several old structures in the city – one of Folsom’s successful efforts to clean up and abate dilapidated structures – and hold a closed session discussion regarding the city manager’s job.

An accomplished career

Folsom began his career in government in 1992, working as a Small Business Administration loan officer, before moving on to work for 20 years for the city of Stockton city manager’s office, specializing in economic development and redevelopment.

In 2014, he went to work as deputy director of economic development for the county of Riverside, and was appointed the following year to the Menifee Planning Commission.

In early 2015, the city of Clearlake began its recruitment after City Manager Joan Phillipe submitted a letter to the council announcing her plans to retire.

Following a lengthy search, the Clearlake City Council voted in May 2015 to hire Folsom, who started with the city the following month.

With his ascent to a city manager’s post, Folsom became one of the few city managers in California who is a tribal member. He belongs to the Choctaw Nation, a federally recognized tribe based in Oklahoma.

At the time of his hire, city leaders said that Folsom’s economic development and business recruitment experience had been of particular interest to them, and they hoped he would help them keep their forward momentum.

More than just maintaining momentum, Folsom gave the city a shot of rocket fuel.

He set about getting grants for city cleanup and a variety of projects, worked on marketing – including new logos and motto for the city – and bringing in new business, assisting with the process that led to the Ray’s Food Place building now houses Tractor Supply and Big 5.

Folsom partnered with community groups such as Citizens Caring for Clearlake to address illegal dumping and abatements.

Folsom earned the respect and affection of longtime staff and brought in new administrators as well. He has been lauded for his leadership and team building, and the ability to bring the best out of Clearlake’s employees.

He and his staff crafted rules to give commercial opportunities to cannabis businesses, placing the city well ahead of the rest of the county in that regard.

When the county pursued the creation of a tourism improvement district, Folsom advocated for it and after its creation was finalized earlier this year, he was named as a member of its board.

He’s also a member of the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce board, and his efforts helped complete the long-running project to renovate the chamber’s lakeside headquarters.

Folsom also has instituted “State of the City” events, which are annual celebrations of the city in which goals and accomplishments are highlighted and community members are invited to take part.

“Bringing in the ‘State of the City’ events, one of the strategies was changing the image of Clearlake,” Folsom explained. “You have to talk about what you're doing in order to change the image. The strategy was to talk about our successes. It’s turned out to be a successful effort.”

While racking up these accomplishments, Folsom had to face unique challenges for the city.

Within months of Folsom arriving, he would be among the local leaders responding to that summer’s furious wildland fire season, which endangered the city and ended up leaving a trail of devastation in the south county.

Fires hit close to home again in 2016, when the Clayton fire burned Lower Lake, and then in October 2017, when the North Bay Fire Storm – which included Clearlake’s Sulphur fire – struck.

The Sulphur fire burned 2,207 acres and destroyed 162 structures – most of them in Clearlake – and led to the evacuation of thousands of people, Folsom and his wife included. The city has since joined litigation against Pacific Gas and Electric over the fire.

With its lakeside location, the city of Clearlake also suffered some damage from the 2017 atmospheric river storm that caused Clear Lake to top 10 feet Rumsey and led to a temporary closure of the lake.

‘A game changer’

It was Folsom’s work to get Measure V passed – the 1-cent sales tax dedicated to repairing and rebuilding Clearlake’s system of roads – that may be one of his most enduring accomplishments.

It wasn’t an easy task. By the time Measure V passed in November 2016, the city had attempted several sales tax measures for various uses, all of them failing to get the necessary supermajority.

But with Measure V, the city listened to what voters wanted and crafted it to be a dedicated funding source specific to roads, which can’t be used for anything else. “What we did different was we asked what people would support. They said they’d support dedicated funds and sunset and they did,” he said.

“Measure V is an absolute game changer,” said Folsom, noting he’s very proud that the city managed to get it passed. He personally donated his time and expertise – not working on city hours – to ensure the effort was successful.

Prior to its passage, the city had about $50,000 to $100,000 each year for road work. Now, Measure V brings in more than $2 million annually, according to Folsom. “That’s how we’re able to do a lot of the projects we have planned. The city didn’t generate enough to repair the roads in the past.”

He said Measure V is helping pull Clearlake up by its bootstraps. “If you can fix and maintain roads, home values and property tax revenues go up.”

Folsom said that, over the long run, Measure V will improve properties and revenues. “It’s going to take a few years to see big impact but it’s happening.”

Last year, the city spent about $1 million on new road repair equipment to replace the 20-year-old equipment it had. Now, they’re looking at road patching equipment. Folsom said they’ve been using short-lived cold patch equipment and are looking at switching to hot asphalt equipment for much more permanent fixes. “I hope to have that on the agenda prior to leaving.”

Having the money to purchase equipment such as an asphalt recycler and a hot box “was way beyond our ability to purchase in past.”

As to what he’s most proud of, Folsom explained that one notable thing is that the comments he’s hearing about the city are completely different than when he first started.

He said when he and his wife, Georgianna, were looking for housing, they asked around and were told to choose a place “anywhere but Clearlake.”

Folsom added, “Now the comments are that Clearlake has turned around.” He’s also proud of the changes and progress that have been made “and that Clearlake is now the example of how to do better.”

He noted that the city just won a special award at the Stars of Lake County Community Awards ceremony. “For Clearlake to be first municipality to win that award says a huge amount.”

While he has accomplished a lot, he said he didn’t quite complete everything he’d hoped to do, such as the Austin and Highlands Park projects. “But they are in process and I hope to be back for the grand openings.”

"Greg is one of my heroes,” said Bennett. “I've been in the political business a couple of years but around municipalities since 1964 through my work in law enforcement and he's the best city manager I've had the pleasure of working with."

“Greg Folsom was the leader that Clearlake needed for its revival,” said Sabatier, who served as Clearlake’s mayor and worked closely with Folsom. He was elected to the Board of Supervisors last year and took his seat in January.

Folsom and his wife plan to maintain a presence in Lake County. He said they own property here and are planning to keep their house in Clearlake.

He said they’ve come to love Lake County. “It’s actually very difficult for us to make this decision because we love it here so much.”

Folsom said their eventual plan, barring life changes, is to return to Lake County and retire.

“I appreciate the opportunity that the City Council gave me,” he said. “It’s been an honor working with the council and I had a tremendous staff. Between all of us, we’ve made a difference.”

John Jensen contributed to this report.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council on Tuesday night indicated it is willing to grant the city’s new Dollar General store a liquor license to sell beer and wine, a process expected to be completed next month.

The new store, which opened in January, is located at 1405 S. Main St. It’s the third Dollar General in Lake County. Two on the Northshore, in Clearlake Oaks and Nice, opened in 2015.

There also have been efforts to build a Dollar General in Kelseyville, which the community has so far fended off.

In Middletown, there has been an ongoing fight to keep out a Dollar General, but that project has received the go-ahead from the county and is now awaiting final design review and a hearing before the Lake County Planning Commission.

More recently, an application has been submitted for a Dollar General in Upper Lake. That project is incomplete, but once the final items are submitted, a 180-day environmental review period will begin. No Lake County Planning Commission hearing has so far been set, according to Mireya Turner, a Lake County Community Development Department staffer handling the Dollar Projects who also is a member of the Lakeport City Council.

Turner and her fellow council members on Tuesday heard a presentation from Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen, who recommended they approve the Dollar General liquor license.

The staff report for the discussion begins on page 146 of the agenda packet below and can be seen starting at the 1:02:35 mark in the video above.

Rasmussen said the company is seeking a Type 20 off sale beer and wine sales license. In granting it, California’s Alcohol Beverage Control looks at several factors, including location in a crime reporting district which has a 20-percent greater number of reported crimes than other reporting districts within a particular law enforcement jurisdiction, and undue concentration of current alcohol licenses.

In this case, Rasmussen said there is an undue concentration of liquor licenses in Lakeport based on the definition in California Business and Professional Code Section 23958.4. He said there are not separate crime reporting districts in the city; the only district is the entire city itself.

According to Rasmussen, despite the undue concentration issue, ABC can still issue the license if the City Council determines public convenience or necessity would be served by it.

“Based on our police department’s calls for service and knowledge of the types of calls we get as related to liquor license establishments, I do not feel that the issuance of a beer and wine license for that Dollar General location will create any increased crime, just based on the fact that they’re selling beer and wine,” he said.

Rasmussen said he also looks at loitering and other nuisance crimes when assessing such a request, explaining that those types of problems aren’t seen with such beer and wine liquor licenses in the city.

City Attorney David Ruderman said that the council has broad discretion in determining public convenience and necessity, and that it’s up to the council to make such determinations on a case by case basis. He asked the council to provide staff with direction so they can return with a resolution with the appropriate findings.

Regarding the matter of undue concentration, Ruderman explained that it means that the ratio of such licenses within Lakeport is greater than it is within the county as a whole. “That’s all they look at.”

There was no in-person public input on the matter at Tuesday night’s meeting, but a letter was submitted by Lakeport resident John Saare, who had been at the meeting but had to leave for another event, as well as an email from Sacramento-based Grundman Law, both advocating against approving the liquor license request.

Consultant Steve Rawlings of Murietta-based Alcoholic Beverage Specialists appeared before the council on behalf of Dollar General.

“Dollar General, I know, is happy to be here as part of the community,” he said, explaining that the company, previously based mostly east of the Mississippi, is one of the largest U.S. retailers with more than 15,000 stores in 41 states.

Dollar General has more than 200 stores in California and more than 200 active ABC licenses, with beer and wine standard inventory items, Rawlings said.

Rawlings said the stores usually have two to four cooler doors and one to three shelving units devoted to beer and wine, and they don’t sell singles. He said their inventory is intended for the person shopping for the entire family, and it’s meant to be convenient.

Councilman Kenny Parlet, who owns Lakeview Market and Deli in Lucerne, quizzed Rawlings about what kinds of meat and fresh vegetables are available at the stores. Rawlings acknowledged that they may not have those items.

Later in the discussion, Parlet said he was shocked to find out Dollar General didn’t already have a beer and wine license. In spite of not being a fan of Dollar General, he didn’t think it was fair to deny the license to the store.

Turner said she thought the area where the store is located is appropriate for such retail.

City Manager Margaret Silveira said staff could have the resolution approving the liquor license ready for the next city council meeting.

Ruderman said the city had only received the completed application on Feb. 12, and an additional meeting will be sufficient to meet the license requirements.

“I don’t particularly care for the Dollar General,” said Mayor Tim Barnes, but he said not allowing the store to have the license “is kind of petty.”

The council gave staff direction to bring back the resolution for the March 5 meeting, which Rawlings indicated he would attend.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

021919 Lakeport City Counci... by on Scribd

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The current project of the Lake County Land Trust is the purchase of the 200-acre Wright property, a parcel located in the Big Valley Wetlands area of Lake County.

This area is the No. 1 priority for the Lake County Land Trust, or LCLT, as it seeks to protect the largest remaining area of unprotected wetland habitats adjacent to Clear Lake.

The project includes the Clear Lake shoreline and uplands from Clear Lake State Park west to Lakeport. It consists of high value habitats – pristine lakeshore vegetation along with mature oaks and other trees required by a variety of wildlife species.

To determine their priorities, LCLT held a comprehensive series of public workshops in 2007 and again in 2017, which included participation from federal, state, and local agencies and experts in land use and conservation. As an outcome of these sessions, the Big Valley area become the clear leader for prioritization.

Five major streams run through this area: Cole, Kelsey, Hill, Adobe and Manning creeks, providing a total of 25 percent of the drainage for the Clear Lake Watershed.

The Big Valley Wetlands is also home to the Clear Lake hitch, a fish which found nowhere else in the world. It is on the California Endangered Species Act’s Threatened Species list, and is currently being considered for placement on the Endangered Species list by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Once numbering in the several millions, according to the Center for Biological Diversity, “these fish were a vital part of the Clear Lake ecosystem and an important food source for numerous birds, fish and other wildlife. They were also a staple food and cultural component for the original Pomo inhabitants of the region. Hitch once spawned in every tributary to Clear Lake but have disappeared from most former spawning streams. Now fewer than a thousand fish regularly spawn in only two streams – Kelsey and Adobe creeks south of Clear Lake.”

“Conserving this land is in the interest of all who reside in Lake County, live downstream, or enjoy Clear Lake. Protecting the wetlands, which filter the nutrient rich waters that run into Clear Lake, is the first step in helping our lake get healthy. And a healthy lake appeals to everyone, from tourists to local businesses. It’s good for the economy of our county,” said Lake County Land Trust President Val Nixon.

Nixon also noted that once the plans to purchase the Wright property had been announced, several other landowners in the Big Valley area began expressing interest in protecting their lands.

LCLT is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and conserving land in Lake County for the protection of native plant and animal species as well as the appreciation and study of nature by current and future generations, and for the beneficial biological impact of keeping the land natural.

As a nonprofit run by a volunteer board and three part-time staff members, LCLT relies on the generosity of its members and concerned citizens. As donations to the Land Trust grow, the organization will continue to invest in land that will be able to stay forever wild, adding properties in the Big Valley Wetlands area until the vision of several adjacent properties can be strung together creating a large, park-like area for individuals to enjoy and respect the native land.

In 2016, the Land Trust completed the purchase of the Melo property, a 32-acre parcel in the Big Valley Wetlands, its first property in this area, and the fourth in its land portfolio.

The Wright property would increase – by five times – the size of the Big Valley Wetlands protected by the Lake County Land Trust.

The Lake County Land Trust needs $120,000 to acquire the Wright property. It’s off to a great start with a generous matching gift of $40,000 from Lynne and Bernie Butcher and an additional $26,000 raised in individual gifts.

“If you love Clear Lake and Lake County, now is a great time to donate, because the Butchers’ match grows each donor’s gift by 50 percent,” said Melissa Kinsel, outreach coordinator for LCLT.

With $54,000 for the Wright property still needed, the Land Trust has a way to go before the end of the year.

To donate, visit www.lakecountylandtrust.org or call 707-262-0707.