LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to direct the Registrar of Voters Office to move forward with verifying more than 2,000 signatures submitted as a referendum challenge to an ordinance passed last month to enforce state and local Public Health orders.
The Tuesday morning vote was unanimous, with Rob Brown and Bruno Sabatier – who had voted against the ordinance last month – joining the rest of the board, explaining that they wanted to follow the normal verification process, which would ultimately determine whether or not the board needs to take action.
The other option was for the board to vote to rescind the ordinance, passed on Aug. 18. It was to have gone into effect 30 days from approval but it is now suspended because of the referendum petition’s submission, said County Counsel Anita Grant.
The ordinance, set to sunset on Oct. 1, 2021, unless the board extended it, would enforce state and local Public Health orders related to COVID-19, including masking, social distancing, mandated hygiene requirements and failure to close specific business sectors when required.
A combination of education and training is to be the first approach for compliance before using an administrative fine process of up to $100 for a first violation, up to $200 for a second violation of the same ordinance within one year of the first violation and not more than $500 for each additional violation of the same ordinance within one year of the first violation.
The ordinance only applies to the unincorporated county, Grant pointed out Tuesday.
“There are existing administrative fine ordinances in both the city of Lakeport and the city of Clearlake, which have been in effect for some time,” said Grant. “Those are unaffected.”
The board’s discussion of the matter came on the same day that Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace released a video in which he said that Lake County’s recent increase in COVID-19 cases has landed it in the state’s most restrictive tier in its recovery blueprint, and so could see new restrictions implemented if numbers don’t improve over the next two weeks.
Over the past week, the county’s COVID-19 caseload grew by nearly 100 to a total of 516 on Tuesday, with four deaths reported for the week, for an overall total of 11.
County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson said her office received the referendum petition on Sept. 16. Approximately 2,507 signatures were submitted.
During the meeting, Frank Dollosso, who filed the petition, said he collected more than 400 additional signatures to make sure there were enough.
Huchingson told the board that it would likely want to have the Registrar of Voters Office verify the signatures. The registrar has 30 working days from the petition’s submission to determine if it’s sufficient.
If there were enough qualified signatures, Registrar of Voters Maria Valadez would then certify the results to the board, at which time the board could rescind the ordinance in its entirety or present it to the county’s voters.
If there aren’t enough signatures, Huchingson said the board would need to take no action and the ordinance would take effect.
Board supports following the established process
During public comment, several members of the audience, both those speaking in person in the board chambers and those taking part virtually, wanted to return to the debate over the effectiveness of masking and other measures that have been directed at the state level to protect against COVID-19, and which Lake County has adopted in its own health orders.
The supervisors also heard from concerned residents that the enforcement ordinance is pitting businesses and people against each other, with businesses reporting some customers becoming violent and threatening when told they need to comply with masking requirements.
Grant, however, repeatedly reminded the board and public that comments needed to be limited to the agenda item – whether or not to rescind the ordinance or direct signature verification. She said the board didn’t have the ability to change state law.
Bryan Dobrowski, representing a group calling itself the Konocti Patriots, told the board it had a choice, to respect the voice of its constituents and rescind “this ridiculous ordinance” or ignore them.
He followed up by telling Supervisor Tina Scott that they only needed to collect 1,900 signatures to start a recall against her and that they only needed 450 to begin a recall against Board Chair Moke Simon.
Dollosso told the board he filed the referendum because of his issues with the vague language regarding who is responsible for enforcement. He said the ordinance isn’t limited to just masks but any order by local and state health officials.
He said the board had good intentions but went about it the wrong way.
Scott said she was concerned that the petitioners didn’t want the signatures verified, and she and Sabatier both said they wanted to have the Registrar of Voters Office move forward with the verification process.
“The referendum is not complete until the signatures are counted. Right now it’s just a piece of paper that’s unverified,” said Sabatier.
In reference to an unnamed commenter on Zoom who misquoted numbers on tuberculosis deaths as a way of arguing against masking, Sabatier said, “We really need to stop pulling numbers out of our butts that make no sense at all,” offering accurate numbers and asking people to do proper research and reading.
Sabatier also wanted to talk to Valadez about whether or not she would need extra help, as he didn’t want the signature verification process to impede her preparations for the presidential election on Nov. 3.
Pointing out that prior boards have taken similar action with having referendum petition signatures verified, Brown said, “It’s just part of the process.”
In response to Sabatier’s concerns about Valadez needing help, Brown said she could come to the board if she wanted a conversation and needed help.
Brown said that, whether he agreed with the ordinance or not, he joined with the rest of the board in supporting signature verification, saying that simply rescinding it without that step is not how the process works.
“Out of respect for the process, we have to run its course,” he said.
Supervisor EJ Crandell agreed and moved to direct the registrar of voters to conduct the signature verification, which Scott seconded and the board approved 5-0.
The Board of Supervisors last had an ordinance challenged by the referendum process in early 2014 when a petition was filed against Ordinance No. 2997, which the board passed in December 2013 to regulate and restrict the cultivation of medicinal marijuana.
The board voted in February 2014 to put that ordinance on the ballot that June, when voters passed it as Measure N.
Measure N was the third referendum the county faced over a nearly three-year period – from the fall of 2011 to the summer of 2014 – with all of them related to marijuana.
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Supervisors direct registrar to verify signatures in Public Health enforcement ordinance referendum petition
- Elizabeth Larson
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