Scott, now halfway through her second term, was first elected in 2016.
She announced April 14 that she was stepping down, effective July 31, to become the new career technical education food service and hospitality teacher at Clear Lake High School, beginning in the fall.
Scott is the first supervisor in four decades to step down before completing a term.
Since her resignation announcement, county officials had said on several occasions that the board would take up the matter and plan for how to fill the seat. It was on the agenda for the May 17 meeting but was pulled.
The matter didn’t finally make it to a board discussion phase until Tuesday.
And even when it did, little resulted.
However, the Governor’s Office already has confirmed to Lake County News in an email that “the Governor will have an opportunity to make an appointment to fill this vacancy. Following the resignation, the opening will be listed on the Governor’s Office appointments website. Interested parties are encouraged to complete the appointment application form at gov.ca.gov/appointments.”
County Counsel Anita Grant, Registrar of Voters Maria Valadez and the County Administrative Office researched state law and looked at how other counties have handled filling supervisorial seats.
Grant produced a five-page memo that went over the options, and on Tuesday she told the supervisors she believed they had two choices. “Neither one is perfect.”
One is to do a special election which would be consolidated with the general election that’s already scheduled on Nov. 8. It would be considered a special election because the time frames for candidates will be abbreviated.
She said the office is not considered vacant until the end of this month.
Grant said the other option was to wait for the Governor’s Office to make the appointment to fill the seat. That’s a process that has worked more quickly for some jurisdictions than for others.
She said the county was not able to discern a completely common and standard approach to filling supervisorial vacancies, and election law has gaping holes.
There was still a third option: Grant said the board could accept Scott’s resignation on Tuesday, but it would not be vacant until July 31. The county could then begin the process of filling the seat, and Scott would not be able to withdraw her resignation.
“Ultimately this would be your board’s decision to make,” Grant said.
A proposed resolution setting a special election that staff presented to the board called for opening the period for candidate nomination papers on July 18 and continuing to Aug. 12. It also noted that while supervisorial boundaries have been updated, the boundaries would be the same as they were when Scott was elected to her last term in 2020.
“I don’t feel comfortable today,” said Supervisor Bruno Sabatier.
Sabatier said Scott could still change her mind, and he raised the issue that by taking action it was akin to replacing by force or firing a colleague.
During his comments, Sabatier said they had already experienced a public official giving a resignation letter and then withdrawing it. That was a reference to Treasurer-Tax Collector Barbara Ringen, who Sabatier and the board had pressured to resign before she pushed back and changed her mind.
He said the majority of other counties wait until after the vacancy occurs to move forward with filling a seat.
“We’ve already asked the governor to appoint somebody,” said Sabatier, noting he wasn’t happy about it as it hadn’t come before the board.
Sabatier was referring to a letter sent to the Governor’s Office on April 21 by then-County Administrative Office Carol Huchingson before the board had any formal public discussion on the matter.
The letter, which Lake County News obtained through a Public Records Act request, can be seen below.
In it, Huchingson — whose abruptly announced retirement went into effect eight days after the letter was written — said that pursuant to Government Code, “Lake County requests your timely action to fill this vacancy by appointment.”
The letter said county staffers also were “taking steps to prepare for voters to elect a replacement at the next General Election; Tuesday, November 8, 2022.”
Grant explained to the board Tuesday that the special election was the only solution staff determined to be viable in dealing with the tight timelines.
Sabatier responded that, whether or not it goes to election or appointment, it was up to Scott. “That is not up to us.”
Scott said she appreciated Sabatier’s statement.
“This seat is not vacant. I’m still here,” she said, adding that the discussion needed to happen when she’s gone.
Supervisor Jessica Pyska said that to not have the primary process and whittling it down to two candidates was setting them up for someone winning without a majority. “I find that fundamentally unfair,” she said, adding she felt the same way about the old boundaries applying.
Valadez said that if the matter came back to the board on Aug. 1, it didn’t give her enough time to prepare and readjust the voting boundaries according to the previous supervisorial district outline, as the candidate filing period ends Aug. 12.
Board Chair EJ Crandell asked how much time Valadez needed if the board met in August.
Valadez said it would be very difficult and she didn’t know how much time it would take to make the adjustments.
Several letters were submitted by community members saying that the position wasn’t open until after Scott left.
Letters from Clearlake Mayor Dirk Slooten and Lakeport City Council member Michael Green emphasized the governor’s power to appoint. Green specifically opposed the resolution calling for a special election and instead asked the board to come back on Aug. 2 and consider a resolution asking Gov. Gavin Newsom to fill the vacancy.
One of the letter writers, Gillian Parrillo, also spoke briefly to the board. Parrillo, who was Scott’s original campaign manager as well as the manager for Pyska’s campaign, said the board could take no action until Scott leaves on July 31.
Grant said the supervisors could come back in August and make an official request of the governor as a board.
As a result, the board chose to take no action until after Scott leaves office at the end of this month.
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.
Letter to Governor Newsom Re Need to Fill District 4 BOS Vacancy Effecti... (1) by LakeCoNews on Scribd