LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Lakeport City Council on Tuesday night offered its congratulations to the city’s retiring Public Works director, looked at redistricting scenarios for state and federal elected offices, and discussed COVID-19 safety measures the city has taken.
Among the council’s first items of business on Tuesday was honoring Public Works Director Doug Grider, who is leaving his post after 17 years with the city of Lakeport.
Grider, a Willits resident and an avid outdoorsman who often sports camouflage attire — “camo” is reputed to be his favorite color — appeared before the council for his last meeting on Tuesday evening with more color than normal, in the form of a shock of pink-dyed hair.
He said the pink hair was in honor of his 29-year-old daughter-in-law, Taylor, who has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
Councilwoman Stacey Mattina read a proclamation commending Grider on his retirement, which noted key highlights from his service, beginning with his hire as Public Works superintendent on July 6, 2004, and his promotion to Public Works director in 2016.
In that role, he led six Public Works divisions — administration and compliance, roads and infrastructure, parks, buildings and grounds, the former Westshore Pool, water operations and maintenance and sewer operations and maintenance.
During the meeting, council members also lauded Grider for his careful use of city funds and equipment, and for taking an approach like a businessman.
He implemented the pavement management system to track the condition of the city’s roads and streets; created a process to recycle aggregate materials from city projects; acquired heavy equipment to enable more projects to be completed using city staff; led the replacement of the Library Park sea wall, a lengthy and complex project that required coordination with the Federal Emergency Management Agency; advocated for implementing emergency management practices which qualified the city for disaster aid grants; oversaw the Downtown Improvement Project; and has been a key player in developing the Westside Community Park and the Lakefront Park.
Grider and his staff have been central to the city’s response to floods, fires, power outages and other emergencies.
In 2017 and 2019, the city sustained significant damage from winter storms and flooding, with the 2017 flood ultimately undermining the sea wall in Library Park to such a degree that it led to Grider’s efforts to get a more substantial long-term fix.
In 2018, the entire city was evacuated for about a week due to the Mendocino Complex, which it had been feared would burn through Lakeport.
Since then, Grider and his staff have had to keep city facilities running as Pacific Gas and Electric Co. began implementing proactive public safety power shut-offs to avoid fires. At one point in late 2019, power was off in the entire county for nearly a week due to the shut-offs.
In response to these challenges, Grider earned an Emergency Management certification through the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
Grider also took an active role in assisting with the planning and operation of the city’s popular lineup of events, from concerts, festivals and street fairs to the Seaplane Splash-In.
During the annual July 4 celebration, Grider was consistently on hand to help oversee the event, with he and his crew carrying out a fast cleanup of the parks in the hours after the participants went home.
Grider also was involved with the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission, the Traffic Safety Advisory Committee and the Measure Z Advisory Committee, and was credited for his collaborative work with many community groups and residents.
The proclamation noted that Grider is a devoted family man who enjoys fishing and Reggae on the River, and that the city would miss his common sense and tenacity.
Reading from the proclamation, Mattina said the council extended its sincere and best wishes for whatever comes next for “one of our all-time favorite people.”
The council and the audience then offered Grider a standing ovation.
“It’s been an honor. That’s about all I can say,” Grider said.
“Thank you so much for all your support,” he said, adding that without council supporting staff like it does, all the wonderful things happening in Lakeport wouldn’t be happening.
City Manager Kevin Ingram said it was fitting that one of Grider’s last acts in his job was another agenda item that night, a mutual aid agreement with the Lakeport Fire Protection District.
Grider has championed the agreement, said Ingram. “It really has paid off in keeping the community safe.”
Ingram said he doesn’t think most people appreciate the mountains of bureaucracy needed in response to disasters — not just recovering from them but mitigating them.
He used the sea wall replacement as an example, noting it wasn’t just a repair project but also a mitigation against future floods, and one which will continue to support the community.
Grider worked “closely and carefully” with FEMA, Ingram noted. The agency paid for the majority of the project, which cost nearly $1 million.
Ingram said Grider puts on a “growly bear” front but deeply cares for the city of Lakeport. “Doug has certainly left the city in a much better place than he has found it.”
The council received an email from Mary Claybon from the Lake County Community Development Department congratulating Grider on his retirement. She said it was a pleasure to attend multiple emergency management training courses with him and that she always looked forward to his insight, knowledge, expertise and ability to lead groups with a smile on his face.
Former Councilman George Spurr said he appreciated Grider always having an open door and being willing to answer questions.
Cloverdale Police Chief Jason Ferguson, who was a longtime Lakeport Police Department employee, also was on hand to honor Grider, recalling working with him in the city’s emergency operations center during the Mendocino Complex. He learned a lot from Grider and also laughed a lot with him.
He wished Grider a happy retirement and said he hoped they could go fishing together.
Businesswoman Nancy Ruzicka also praised Grider. “I”m not here tonight to complain about anything,” she said, noting his door was always open to her as well. “He would allow me to vent my frustrations.”
Council members individually offered Grider their thanks, and Michael Green noted he appreciated Grider’s service not just for the things he knew he had done, but for what he guessed was a mountain of things Grider had accomplished that he didn’t know about.
Mattina said she had learned a lot from Grider, that she would miss him and hoped they would see him around. “Don’t just disappear on us.”
Councilman Michael Froio said he appreciated Grider and the hard work he’s done for the city. “What says a lot about you is how many people love you.”
Froio said Grider’s retirement is both happy and sad at the same time.
Mayor Kenny Parlet, who continues to attend the meetings via Zoom, said he was impressed with Grider’s care of equipment and fiduciary responsibility with city funds.
Later in the meeting, Ingram recounted how when he arrived to work at the city from the county, Grider was a huge help to him from day one and taught him a lot. He thanked Grider for his mentorship and said he would miss him a lot.
The city has so far not announced who Grider’s successor will be as Public Works director.
Council approves mutual aid agreement with Lakeport Fire Protection District
Grider’s last official business before the council was the presentation of the mutual aid agreement between the city of Lakeport and the Lakeport Fire Protection District.
He reported that the fire district and the city have been operating without a formal mutual aid agreement since the city fire department was annexed by the Lakeport Fire Protection District in 1999. Such an agreement is needed to meet the current protocols for external agency assistance and also sets up reimbursement.
The agreement Grider presented had a slight modification to remove reference to a map that he said wasn’t necessary.
The joint agreement will be managed by both agencies, he said.
“As small agencies and small rural areas, we all really need to start working together,” Grider said, adding that trying to stand as an island alone doesn’t help anybody.
Over the last five years, as he has gotten into emergency management, Grider said it became apparent, “we need to all work together,” which goes for all the cities and counties in the area, which need to work as a team.
“This is one step in that direction,” Grider said.
The Lakeport Fire Protection District Board is expected to consider and approve the agreement on Nov. 9.
During the discussion, Grider explained that the city also responds to offer mutual aid assistance — in a support capacity — to other parts of the county, as it did in August when the Cache fire burned in Clearlake.
All of the resources in the Clearlake area were depleted, so Grider said the city sent its water truck, which acted as a water tender for fire trucks. The city’s water truck can fill up to five fire engines before needing to refill itself.
Green moved to approve the agreement with the proposed changes, which Turner seconded and the council approved 5-0.
“I think this is a perfect example of what Doug has done for the city,” Ingram said after the vote.
He said getting these formal agreements in place is “so crucial when we’re trying to recover costs or trying to file for grants or other mitigation pieces.”
Mattina said it’s a lot of extra work and she appreciated it.
“I’ve worked really hard because I understood that no individual on their own can make great things happen,” said Grider, who acknowledged his staff as being exceptional. “They made it possible for me to be successful.”
Grider said the city has a unique group of individuals working for it, and he’s worked hard on succession planning over the last year and a half to make sure the city wouldn’t be left in the lurch when he retired.
He said he’s confident the city won’t miss a beat, and that his staff will carry on with the same honor and tradition he did.
“The city is in good hands,” Grider said, adding he hoped the council would give Public Works staff the same support it has given him.
Council consider redistricting commission’s work, COVID-19 measures
In other business during the council’s nearly two-hour meeting, the council discussed the work of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, which is putting together mapping scenarios that will lead to draft maps for congressional, and state Assembly and Senate seats.
Last week, the commission had released initial visualizations that the Board of Supervisors wrote a letter complaining about because Lake County was grouped in ways that would have meant it was losing all of its current representation.
On Tuesday, the commission released updated visualizations that showed Lake County grouped with Napa and Marin counties for Congress, with Napa, Yolo and portions of Sonoma County for State Assembly, and with Napa, Solano and Yolo counties for State Senate.
Ingram said they had just become aware of the new scenarios on Tuesday evening.
“I think this looks better,” Turner said of the new scenarios. Froio agreed.
Ingram said he felt that, ultimately, the changes were good, noting it was most important for Lake County to remain in the same districts. That’s been a challenge since the last redistricting 10 years ago, as Lake County was split in half over two congressional districts.
The council voted to direct Ingram to write a letter to the commission — which is meeting this week to continue working on the scenarios — offering support for the latest iteration of the visualizations and emphasizing the importance of keeping the county together.
The council also considered implementing a mandate for weekly COVID-19 testing for city employees but ultimately took no action, with two motions offered by Green — to have Ingram bring back future agenda items to support a voluntary testing program and a vaccination incentive program — dying for lack of seconds.
The majority of the council voiced support for the work the city’s administrative staff has already done to implement workplace safety measures as well as making efforts to keep the community safe when visiting city facilities.
Turner said that, from the very beginning, city staff had taken a proactive approach to protect staff and the public. “They just went ahead and did it,” he said.
She said she also was encouraged to learn of the high vaccination rate of staff, and council members also noted the fact that there have been no outbreaks among city personnel.
Turner said the city will continue to pivot its response as the science directs.
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