Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. and First Lady Anne Gust Brown joined the California Museum to award the Spirit of California medal to eight Californians inducted into the 12th class of the California Hall of Fame on Tuesday evening.
The inductees of the California Hall of Fame 12th class are musician Joan Baez, mountaineer and scientist Arlene Blum, journalist Belva Davis, Chef Thomas Keller, former San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, public servant Nancy McFadden, Hollywood icon and environmentalist Robert Redford and former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela.
“We are honoring people who did their utmost and exceeded the ordinary,” said Gov. Brown at the ceremony. “Whatever you folks have done, don’t stop now, keep going – and I say the same thing about California.”
During the ceremony, Inductees and family members of posthumous inductees received the Spirit of California medal from the governor and first lady.
In addition to the ceremony, inductees will be commemorated with an exhibition of artifacts highlighting their lives and achievements, which opens to the public at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 5 at the California Museum.
This year’s recipients join 113 inspirational Californians previously inducted for making remarkable achievements across a variety of California industries and areas of influence, including science, philanthropy, sports, business, entertainment, the arts, literature, technology, activism and politics.
The California Highway Patrol joins the American Occupational Therapy Association, or AOTA, in recognizing Dec. 3 to 7 as Older Driver Safety Awareness Week.
According to the AOTA, with increasing age come changes in physical, mental, and sensory abilities that can challenge a person’s continued ability to drive safely.
Family and friends play a major role in identifying changes in driving behavior and beginning discussions about older driver safety.
It is important to start these conversations early and discuss any needed changes in driving habits before it becomes a problem, allowing older drivers to be actively involved in the planning.
“Driving also means independence and the thought of losing that can be troublesome for many,” CHP Commissioner Warren Stanley said. “As a friend or family member, having the discussion with an aging driver about how long it is safe for them to continue driving can be difficult, but it is necessary.”
Last year, more than 3,400 fatal collisions were recorded in California. Preliminary data from the CHP’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System indicates drivers aged 65 and older were involved in 13.5 percent of the fatal collisions in California in 2017.
As part of our efforts to help California’s seniors drive safely for as long as they can, the CHP offers a free, two-hour Age Well, Drive Smart course.
Through this program, seniors can sharpen their driving skills, refresh their knowledge of the rules of the road, and learn how to adjust to typical age-related physical and mental changes.
Information about the free class is available at CHP Area offices throughout the state or at www.chp.ca.gov .
The CHP’s Clear Lake Area office can be contacted at 707-279-0103.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – In an effort to reestablish the Lakeport Police Department’s canine program, the Lakeport City Council will consider this week a federal grant application, and also will discuss a protocol for how to appoint members to the Lakeport Fire Protection District Board.
The council will meet in closed session at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4, to discuss a possible case of litigation regarding Verizon Wireless before convening in open session at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.
On Tuesday the council will hold a public hearing in order to adopt a resolution supporting the application to the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development Communities Facilities Loan and Grant Program for the Lakeport Police canine program.
“In 2018 the Police Department identified a need to re-establish the police canine program. As part of the program the police department was approached by a local business owner who requested to work with the department to establish a non-profit to raise money to help offset the costs associated with developing and implementing the program,” according to the staff report for the meeting written by Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen.
Rasmussen said his department was notified by USDA regarding a grant opportunity to help fund all aspects and development of the program.
“Since the mid 1980's the Police Department has successfully managed canine programs that were instrumental in providing safety to the community and officers alike,” Rasmussen said. “In 2009 the Department’s canine retired and the city was unable to commit to maintaining the program due to staffing and funding deficiencies.”
He said his agency “is excited at the potential to bring the canine program back utilizing the assistance from USDA and the local nonprofit group. This is an opportunity for our community to benefit from a police canine program with very little costs from local tax payers.”
The USDA application is the first step in obtaining funding for the program and if successful, Rasmussen explained. He said the grant would provide $68,480 to develop and operate the program, with funds to be used for equipment, the dog and training, and an outfitted vehicle, which is the largest expense.
An addition $50,000 is anticipated from the nonprofit group, Rasmussen said.
“The benefit of having a canine program includes the canine's superior senses, the ability to search for suspects and locate persons and alert to their presence without hearing or seeing them. All these facts contribute to ensuring community and officer safety,” Rasmussen said. “Additionally, the use of police service dogs can lessen the potential for the need to use lethal force. Canines are also instrumental in detecting and recovering contraband and evidence.
Also on Tuesday’s agenda is adoption of a proposed resolution to establish a protocol for appointing directors to the Lakeport Fire Protection District Board.
Both the board and the council have roles in making appointments, which is based on their population.
Other agenda items for Tuesday include introduction of new employees Hector Heredia and Codie Lairson and presentation of the Government Finance Officers Association Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting to Finance Director Nick Walker on behalf of the city of Lakeport.
On the consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are ordinances; minutes of the council regular meeting of Nov. 20; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency in the City of Lakeport; approval of application 2019-002, with staff recommendations, for the 2019 Shipwreck Day event to be held in Library Park on May 4, 2019; approval of application 2019-003, with staff recommendations, for the 2019 Shakespeare at the Lake production of Taming of the Shrew to be held in Library Park July 27 and 28, 2019; and adoption of a resolution accepting construction of the Carnegie Library Accessibility Upgrade Project by R & C Construction and authorize the filing of the notice of completion.
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.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Rain, a brief midweek sunshine break and then more showers are on tap this week ahead of another cold weather system arriving in the week to come, according to the National Weather Service’s latest forecast for Lake County.
The National Weather Service said chances for light rain – up to half an inch across Lake County – and snow in higher elevations are forecast through Wednesday thanks to a weaker storm system.
A weather model produced by the National Weather Service shows rain falling most heavily in Lake County on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.
Winds with gusts into the 30s are forecast through Wednesday night. Heavy wind gusts occurred in the county late Monday and into early Tuesday, including on the Northshore.
On Thursday and Friday, mostly sunny conditions are predicted to return to Lake County before a new, weak weather system arrives to bring rain over the region beginning on Saturday and continuing into next week.
The forecast also calls for nighttime temperatures this week ranging between the low 30s and low 40s and daytime temperatures from the low to mid 50s.
On Sunday night, another weather system will move over Northern California and forecasters said it’s looking like it will be another cold one that could bring heavy snow to higher elevations.
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.
Beginning on the evening of Dec. 2, Jews will celebrate the eight-day festival of Hanukkah, perhaps the best-known and certainly the most visible Jewish holiday.
While critics sometimes identify Christmas as promoting the prevalence in America today of what one might refer to as Hanukkah kitsch, this assessment misses the social and theological significance of Hanukkah within Judaism itself.
Let’s consider the origin and development of Hanukkah over the past more than 2,000 years.
Early history
Though it is 2,200 years old, Hanukkah is one of Judaism’s newest holidays, an annual Jewish celebration that does not even appear in the Hebrew Bible.
The historical event that is the basis for Hanukkah is told, rather, in the post-biblical Books of the Maccabees, which appear in the Catholic biblical canon but are not even considered part of the Bible by Jews and most Protestant denominations.
Based on the Greco-Roman model of celebrating a military triumph, Hanukkah was instituted in 164 B.C. to celebrate the victory of the Maccabees, a ragtag army of Jews, against the much more powerful army of King Antiochus IV of Syria.
In 168 B.C., Antiochus outlawed Jewish practice and forced Jews to adopt pagan rituals and assimilate into Greek culture.
The Maccabees revolted against this persecution. They captured Jerusalem from Antiochus’s control, removed from the Jerusalem Temple symbols of pagan worship that Antiochus had introduced and restarted the sacrificial worship, ordained by God in the Hebrew Bible, that Antiochus had violated.
Hanukkah, meaning “dedication,” marked this military victory with a celebration that lasted eight days and was modeled on the festival of Tabernacles (Sukkot) that had been banned by Antiochus.
How Hanukkah evolved
The military triumph, however, was short-lived. The Maccabees’ descendants – the Hasmonean dynasty – routinely violated their own Jewish law and tradition.
Even more significantly, the following centuries witnessed the devastation that would be caused when Jews tried again to accomplish what the Maccabees had done. By now, Rome controlled the land of Israel. In A.D. 68-70 and again in A.D. 133-135, the Jews mounted passionate revolts to rid their land of this foreign and oppressing power.
The first of these revolts ended in the destruction of the Second Jerusalem Temple, the preeminent center of Jewish worship, which had stood for 600 years. As a result of the second revolt, the Jewish homeland was devastated and countless Jews were put to death.
War no longer seemed an effective solution to the Jews’ tribulations on the stage of history.
In response, a new ideology deemphasized the idea that Jews should or could change their destiny through military action. What was required, rabbis asserted, was not battle but perfect observance of God’s moral and ritual law. This would lead to God’s intervention in history to restore the Jewish people’s control over their own land and destiny.
In this context, rabbis rethought Hanukkah’s origins as the celebration of a military victory. Instead, they said, Hanukkah should be seen as commemorating a miracle that occurred during the Maccabees’ rededication of the temple: The story now told was how a jar of temple oil sufficient for only one day had sustained the temple’s eternal lamp for a full eight days, until additional ritually appropriate oil could be produced.
The earliest version of this story appears in the Talmud, in a document completed in the sixth century A.D. From that period on, rather than directly commemorating the Maccabees’ victory, Hanukkah celebrated God’s miracle.
This is symbolized by the kindling of an eight-branched candelabra (“Menorah” or “Hanukkiah”), with one candle lit on the holiday’s first night and an additional candle added each night until, on the final night of the festival, all eight branches are lit. The ninth candle in the Hanukkiah is used to light the others.
How then to understand what happened to Hanukkah in the past hundred years, during which it has achieved prominence in Jewish life, both in America and around the world?
The point is that even as the holiday’s prior iterations reflected the distinctive needs of successive ages, so Jews today have reinterpreted Hanukkah in light of contemporary circumstances – a point that is detailed in religion scholar Dianne Ashton’s book, “Hanukkah in America.”
Ashton demonstrates while Hanukkah has evolved in tandem with the extravagance of the American Christmas season, there is much more to this story.
Hanukkah today responds to Jews’ desire to see their history as consequential, as reflecting the value of religious freedom that Jews share with all other Americans. Hanukkah, with its bright decorations, songs, and family- and community-focused celebrations, also fulfills American Jews’ need to reengage disaffected Jews and to keep Jewish children excited about Judaism.
Poignantly, telling a story of persecution and then redemption, Hanukkah today provides a historical paradigm that can help modern Jews think about the Holocaust and the emergence of Zionism.
In short, Hanukkah is as powerful a commemoration as it is today because it responds to a host of factors pertinent to contemporary Jewish history and life.
Over two millennia, Hanukkah has evolved to narrate the story of the Maccabees in ways that meet the distinctive needs of successive generations of Jews. Each generation tells the story as it needs to hear it, in response to the eternal values of Judaism but also as is appropriate to each period’s distinctive cultural forces, ideologies and experiences.
It was going to be the trial of the century. A bloody war had just been fought over the very issue that was now set to be argued before judge and jury.
This was going to be the legal case that finally settled the question of whether or not it was constitutionally legal for states to secede from the Union.
On trial was none other than Jefferson Davis, the former president of the Confederate States of America.
But like most of the goals pursued in Reconstruction America, this trial was never seen through to its bitter conclusion.
The saga of Davis’ trial began in May of 1865 when Jefferson Davis became a prisoner of the United States of America.
Ironically, Davis became such a high-valued target primarily because of the assassination of President Lincoln the month before. President Johnson and other cabinet members suspected that Jefferson Davis had been complicit in the assassination plot and therefore pursued him relentlessly until finally capturing him.
No evidence was uncovered to substantiate the claim of Davis’ complicity in the assassination, and so a charge of treason was instead levelled at Davis, for his role in the recent Civil War. It soon became a trial test to finally determine in the highest courts of law that secession was treasonous.
The executive branch had attempted just such a thing half a century before when charges of treason were levelled at Aaron Burr for his role in a plot to secede the recently-acquired western lands and create his own country.
Burr was acquitted of treason on the grounds that he had not engaged in an “overt act,” which was a requirement of treason as specified by the U.S. Constitution. This would be the very same argument Jefferson Davis’ lawyers would pursue in his treason trial.
It took nearly two years for the federal government to bring formal charges against Jefferson Davis, a delay that castigated the already harried President Johnson, who was facing impeachment proceedings from Congress.
The country had been bloodied, physically and spiritually, during the four years of civil war. The federal occupation of the south following the war, and the continued economic depression elsewhere, had cooled the blood of even the hottest, most fervent Unionists.
Nowhere was this most evident than in the case against Jefferson Davis. When he was finally accused of treason, his bail was set in 1867 for the equivalent of $1 million in today’s money.
More surprising than the size of the bail was the list of 20 wealthy men who ponied up – which included three of the fiercest Unionists in the country.
Gerrit Smith, who was one of six financiers who had supported John Brown’s aborted attempt to take the arsenal at Harpers Ferry before the war, was one of these men, and so too was Cornelius Vanderbilt.
Perhaps the most surprising benefactor of the former Confederate leader was Horace Greeley. The excitable publisher of the New York Tribune had urged readers “Forward to Richmond!” when the war broke out.
When pressed to explain why they were helping Davis, each one expressed his displeasure at the federal government’s prosecution of the trial, namely that they were not granting Davis a timely trial, which is a hallmark of the American justice system.
Davis’ case finally appeared before the circuit court in Virginia Nov. 30 to Dec. 3, 1868. By this time, the government was not convinced it had enough support or legal backing to successfully try Davis for treason.
Rather than risk an unfavorable ruling, and in light of the bitter opposition he faced in Congress, President Johnson signed his proclamation granting amnesty to all who had participated in the late rebellion on Christmas Day, 1868.
There is no doubt that Jefferson Davis did not receive a speedy trial, but the absolution of the leader of the rebellion left a bad taste in many Unionists’ mouths.
In reality, however, Davis’ trial was a perfect encapsulation of the failed attempt to reconstruct America following the war.
In the brief few years of federal supervision of official proceedings in the south, recently freed slaves began to enjoy a level of civic participation that had seemed all by impossible five years before.
The first African Americans were elected to U.S. Congress and to a slew of local and state offices. It was looking as if America would make good on its promise to the millions who had been enslaved.
In Davis’ trial, the first ever-integrated jury in the state of Virginia had been called and the seven black and five white jurors were ready to do their duty.
But at the crest of this movement towards integration, just as things were beginning to look good, federal support vanished.
No sooner did the federal troops pull out of the south than white vigilantes, wearing white hoods, brutalized the former enslaved population, stringing them up in trees and permanently stifling their all-too-brief taste of real freedom.
Apologists will say that the federal occupation of the south was unconstitutional, or that it was starting to cause the same sort of friction that had led to the war in the first place. This is certainly true.
But it is also true that at the risk of creating another civil war, the federal government sacrificed millions of African Americans and damned millions more in future generations to the deprivations of a Jim Crow south.
Those lucky few who had been elected to office in the heady days of emancipation would be the last to hold such office for a century or more in some states.
The trial against Jefferson Davis was just one of many unfulfilled promises that left America as divided as ever. We are still grappling with those unresolved issues to this day.
Antone Pierucci is curator of history at the Riverside County Park and Open Space District and a freelance writer whose work has been featured in such magazines as Archaeology and Wild West as well as regional California newspapers.
NORTH COAST, Calif. – Senators Jim Beall and Mike McGuire have been working for months to develop comprehensive policy and funding legislation focused on housing that is affordable for seniors, nurses, teachers, veterans and low- and middle-income Californians.
The legislation, which will take an aggressive and in-depth approach to the state’s affordable housing crisis, will be introduced in the coming weeks as a series of bills.
The first bill introduced today – SB 5 – is focused on funding that will build affordable housing for working families and seniors and revitalize neighborhoods in communities big and small in every corner of the Golden State.
Sen. Jim Beall, chair of the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee, and Sen. Mike McGuire, chair of the Senate Governance and Finance Committee, are partnering to create innovative programs that won’t rely on one-size-fits-all approaches, but will incentivize communities of all sizes across California to advance solutions that address the housing crisis.
“All across our state, from rural cities of the North Coast to the bustling suburbs of greater Los Angeles, every community is facing an affordable housing crisis,” Sen. McGuire said. “Our affordable housing bills will help working families and seniors live and thrive in the communities they call home by providing funding and innovative solutions to one of this state’s most significant challenges. Senator Beall and I look forward to continuing to work with residents and community leaders across California on this critical legislation in the months to come.”
One of the hallmark bills of McGuire and Beall’s housing legislation will launch an updated approach to the funding for local governments that was lost with the dissolution of redevelopment agencies – which at the time was the largest single source of funds for affordable housing.
Beall and McGuire’s bill – The Affordable Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization Act – will support affordable housing, transit-oriented development, strong neighborhoods, and resiliency from sea-level rise, while providing rigorous state oversight and taxpayer protections to ensure that affordable housing construction occurs quickly and local governments are accountable for the expenditure of funds.
“When voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 1, they sent a message to the Legislature that we are in a housing crisis, and that building more affordable homes is a statewide priority,” said Sen. Beall. “This bill supports their voice by establishing a replacement tool for redevelopment agencies through a state and local partnership funding mechanism to create affordable housing through all corners of the state. Its goal is to thoughtfully tackle housing by also alleviating poverty, creating jobs, and meeting our statewide environmental goals without impacting school funding. Today, we have an opportunity to establish a renewed partnership between the state and cities, with strict accountability measures, to ensure more affordable housing gets built.”
The affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization bill that Beall and McGuire are advancing will be part of a series of housing bills that will create inclusive neighborhoods by streamlining permitting and enabling strategic density without taking a one size fits all approach in communities, along with updating surplus property identification.
The aim of the legislation is to be responsive to the needs of cities and counties, while creating desperately needed housing opportunities for hard-working Californians.
McGuire and Beall are committed to continuing to work with stakeholders and residents from across California in the months to come.
“Housing California is pleased to see state lawmakers already putting forth bold ideas to incentivize and expand development of affordable homes and simultaneously address the inequity of state investment in families earning low incomes or experiencing homelessness,” said Lisa Hershey, executive director, Housing California. “Senators Jim Beall and Mike McGuire are proposing a creative solution to replace the $1 billion per year lost when California eliminated redevelopment funds for affordable homes. This proposal includes the assurance that the money will be used to construct affordable homes. State data reveals that the loss of redevelopment and expended housing bonds contributed to a dramatic 14 percent increase in homelessness statewide in just one year. We are thrilled to see such an innovative state and local partnership proposal early in this legislative session that will take a bite out of this devastating trend.”
“California’s lack of affordable housing, especially in metropolitan areas, is worsened by rising levels of income inequality. These are persistent challenges facing working families which require immediate solutions by policymakers,” said Cesar Diaz, State Building and Construction Trades Council, AFL-CIO. “We thank Senators Jim Beall and Mike McGuire for this legislative proposal to establish a permanent source of funding for affordable housing projects that will provide economic relief to working families while also creating good paying construction jobs in communities throughout our state.”
“The League of California Cities applauds Sen. Beall and Sen. McGuire’s leadership in the effort to restore a more robust form of tax increment financing tool that cities have lacked since the elimination of redevelopment,” said Carolyn Coleman, executive director, League of California Cities. “This effort will help restore and make available resources to communities to help build transit-oriented development, affordable housing, repair infrastructure and revitalize our neighborhoods and downtowns.”
“California’s housing shortage is staggering. This is a clear crisis that has to be addressed and we believe this bill is a solid start. We applaud Senators Beall and McGuire and we look forward to working with them to help not just the homeless but the growing number of working people and their families who can no longer afford even modest housing,” said Daniel M. Curtin, director, California Conference of Carpenters.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A public hearing on a proposed hazardous vegetation abatement ordinance that had been scheduled for the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 4, is being held over a week.
The public hearing has been rescheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 11.
More information about the ordinance, which has caused concern around the county, can be found here.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has a group of adult cats waiting to meet their new families this week.
The following cats at the shelter have been cleared for adoption.
Male brown tabby
This male cat has a short brown tabby coat with white markings.
He’s in kennel No. 49, ID No. 11413.
Male domestic short hair
This handsome male domestic short hair cat has an all-black coat.
He already has been neutered.
He’s in cat room kennel No. 53, ID No. 11370.
‘Princess’
“Princess” is a white domestic short hair cat with a white coat and green eyes.
She already has been spayed.
She’s in cat room kennel No. 70, ID No. 11361.
‘Simon’
“Simon” is a male domestic short hair cat with a blue point coat.
He’s already been neutered.
He’s in kennel No. 74, ID No. 11458.
Male domestic short hair
This male domestic short hair has a brown tabby coat.
He’s in cat room kennel No. 117, ID No. 11418.
Female domestic short hair
This female domestic short hair cat has a gray tabby coat.
She already has been spayed.
She’s in cat room kennel No. 130, ID No. 11166.
Female domestic short hair
This female domestic short hair has a brown tabby coat and green eyes.
She’s in kennel No. 140, ID No. 11225.
‘Francis’
“Francis” is a male domestic short hair cat with an all-white coat and gold eyes.
He already has been neutered.
He’s in cat room kennel No. 150, ID No. 11357.
Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.
Office hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.
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.
KELSEYVILLE, Calif – Operation Tango Mike and the Kelseyville Lions will co-host “Hotcakes For Heroes” on Sunday, Dec. 9.
The breakfast will feature hotcakes, along with choices of sausage, eggs, biscuits and gravy. Beverages include juice and coffee. You may also order the deluxe version, by simply requesting “the works.”
Operation Tango Mike volunteers will take orders and serve patrons.
Santa and Mrs. Claus will be at the event, so bring your camera!
The event will run from 8 to 11 a.m. at the Kelseyville Lions Club, 4335 Sylar Lane, with a suggested donation of $8.
Proceeds benefit Operation Tango Mike in the ongoing effort to ship monthly care packages to deployed military personnel.
Operation Tango Mike is approaching 16 years of supporting the troops and having shipped nearly 21,000 care packages.
Currently, monthly shipping fees alone average $1,900. Coupled with the expense of care package supplies, the all-volunteer non-profit spends nearly $4,000 per month to send the much needed and appreciated care packages.
For further information call 707-349-2838 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will hold a public hearing on a draft ordinance that has raised concerns with community members for its approach to hazardous vegetation abatement, and the supervisors also will get a report from the district attorney on his spending in light of allegations he’s misused public funds.
The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
The meeting can be watched live on Channel 8 and online at https://countyoflake.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx. Accompanying board documents, the agenda and archived board meeting videos also are available at that link.
At 9:30 a.m., the board will hold a public hearing to consider draft ordinance No. 18-1007, adding Article VIII to Chapter 13 of the Lake County Code Regarding hazardous vegetation abatement in the county’s unincorporated portions. Properties in the cities of Clearlake and Lakeport would not be included.
The brief report on the item from County Counsel Anita Grant said the ordinance was initiated by Board Chair Jim Steele, whose term is up at the end of this year.
At its Nov. 6 meeting, the board considered a hazardous vegetation draft ordinance, No. 18-985, that appears to be identical to this newest ordinance.
The 16-page draft ordinance to be considered Tuesday cites the last several years of wildland fire disasters and the county’s anticipated participation in a community risk reduction authority as reasons to enact the new rules.
State law, specifically Public Resources Code section 4291, establishes defensible space requirements for owners of improved parcels who must maintain 100 feet – or to the limit of their property line – of defensible space around structures.
The draft ordinance states that Public Resources Code section 4291 may be extended beyond the property line by adoption of a local ordinance which applies specifically to unimproved parcels that are adjacent to improved properties “if an extra hazardous fire condition exists in that an owner of improved property is at risk because of fuel levels on an adjacent unimproved property and it is impossible for the improved property owner to obtain the full 100 feet of defensible space …”
The document’s findings and purpose acknowledges that Public Resources Code section 4291 “does not address hazardous vegetation abatement on unimproved parcels and the potential impact that hazardous vegetation on an unimproved parcel could have on an adjacent parcel.”
As such, the proposed ordinance seeks to “extend and supplement state law” in order to ensure defensible space is maintained on unimproved parcels adjacent to improved parcels – of five acres or less in residential areas – and along emergency access and evacuation routes, and fire access easements.
It requires removal of hazardous trees or vegetation within 100 feet of a structure – or greater as determined by the county fire official or their designated representative – as well as 100 feet from a neighboring property line or along roadways that are primary ingress and egress routes.
A minimum 10-foot-wide strip of land beyond the shoulder of roadways to a height to of 15 feet along an unimproved parcel’s boundary must be cleared.
If structures are built on a parcel after the ordinance goes into effect, the owner, occupant or any other person in control of that property shall be responsible for 50 percent of the abatement cost on the unimproved parcel.
The ordinance allows the “county fire official” to mandate larger areas of fuel management based on terrain and conditions.
Just who that county fire official would be is not stated, as the position is not included in the document’s definitions.
The county fire official is given significant authority and latitude for action in the ordinance. That individual can conduct voluntary compliance efforts and conduct inspections, send abatement letters, and even skip right to an administrative or criminal citation over abatement with some parcels.
Abatement letters will give property owners 30 calendar days from the notice of abatement to remove the vegetation. The letters will be delivered personally to the legal owners or by certified mail.
The ordinance includes an appeal process, with appeals to be submitted to the clerk of the Board of Supervisors within 30 days of the abatement notice, with a hearing to be held within 30 days of the appeal filing. The Board of Supervisors is the abatement hearing body.
If the parcel is abated, the costs – which can include everything from payments to a county fire protection district, costs for a contractor, site inspections and boundary determinations to measurements, clerical, personnal, consultants and other administrative costs – shall be charged to the property owner. If they don’t pay within 30 days of notification, the costs will be recorded against the property.
The ordinance also states that anyone who violates or fails to comply with it shall be guilty of a misdemeanor – unless the district attorney or county counsel decides to charge it as an infraction. Anyone convicted of a misdemeanor can face fines of between $100 and $1,000, up to a year in the county jail or both.
Infractions carry fines of $100 for a first violation, $200 for a second and $500 for each additional violation.
The ordinance also allows the county fire official to take civil action against property owners.
Also on the agenda Tuesday, in an untimed item, District Attorney Don Anderson is due to give a report on his expenditures in response to allegations of impropriety lodged against him by Supervisor Rob Brown.
The board had discussed the matter previously at its Nov. 20 meeting, which Anderson did not attend, as Lake County News has reported.
The full agenda follows.
CONSENT AGENDA
6.1: Approve Amendment to the Travel Policy Section 15 Subsection 4.1.C increasing the threshold for lodging expenses requiring county administrative officer approval from “in excess of $125 per night before taxes” to “in excess of $175 per night before taxes.”
6.2: Authorize the county administrative officer to execute side letters with Lake County Employee Association Units 3, 4, 5 and 10, Lake County Correctional Officers Association Unit 6, Lake County Deputy District Attorney Association Unit 8 and Lake County Deputy Sheriff Association Unit 16 to increase maximum monthly County contribution for insurance coverage from $800 per month to $1,000 per month for employees who enroll in a County sponsored medical, dental, vision insurance plan, effective Jan. 1, 2019.
6.3: Adopt Resolution of the Board of Supervisors of the County of Lake adopting an amended conflict of interest code for the county of Lake.
6.4: Adopt Resolution of the Board of Supervisors of the County of Lake approving conflict of interest codes of certain local agencies located wholly within the county.
6.5: Adopt resolution amending Resolution No. 2018-73, establishing position allocations for Fiscal Year 2018-2019, Budget Unit No. 1121, Auditor-Controller/County Clerk.
6.6: Adopt resolution authorizing the Konocti Unified School District to Issue its general obligation bonds, election of 2016, Series 2019, in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $9,500,000 without further action of the Board of Supervisors or officers of the county.
6.7: Adopt resolution approving the application and certification statement for the State Department of Health Care Services, CMS Branch’s California Children’s Services Administration Plan Renewal Grant for FY 2018-2019 and authorize the board chair to sign said certification statement .
6.8: adopt resolution approving the application and certification statement for the State Department of Health Services, CMS Branch’s Child Health & Disability Program, Health Care Program for Children in Foster Care Program and monitoring oversight of foster children treated with psychotropic meds grant for fy 2018-2019 and authorize the board chair to sign said certification statement .
6.9: (a) Waive the competitive bid process under Ordinance No. 2406, Section 38.2 as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of the goods; and (b) approve the Special Districts administrator acting as the assistant purchasing agent to issue and sign a purchase order in an amount not to exceed $88,000 to Smith & Loveless Inc. for the purchase of a Everlast Series 1000 pumping station.
6.10: Adopt resolution authorizing the director of Watershed Protection District to sign a notice of completion for work performed under the agreement dated Sept. 6, 2018, for the Levee Patrol Road Gravel Repair Project. Bid No. 18-01.
6.11: Approve advance application submission of FY2019 State Homeland Security grant application in the amount of $139,563.
6.12: (a) Approve Submission of FY2018 State Homeland Security grant application in the amount of $139,563; (b) authorize the sheriff to sign the grant application and grants management assessment; and (c) authorize the chairman of the board or county administrative officer to sign the Grant Assurances, Governing Body Resolution and Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act financial disclosure.
6.13: Approve bid award to Rogue Jet Boatworks in the amount of $95,371 for the purchase of an aluminum patrol/rescue boat.
6.14: Approve the second amendment to the contract between the county of Lake and Regional Housing Authority for housing consultant services in the amount of $117,518, from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2019, and authorize the chair to sign.
6.15: Adopt resolution amending the resolution establishing a geothermal impact mitigation fund and combining the Anderson Spring and Cobb Valley Committees into the Geothermal Advisory Committee.
TIMED ITEMS
7.2: 9:13 a.m.: Consideration of continuing a proclamation of a local health emergency by the Lake County health officer due to the Pawnee fire incident.
7.3, 9:14 a.m.: (a) Consideration of continuing a proclamation of a local health emergency by the Lake County health officer due to the Mendocino Complex fire.
7.4, 9:15 a.m.: Consideration of continuing a proclamation of a local emergency due to the Mendocino Complex fire incident (River and Ranch fires); and and (b) update on the Mendocino Complex - River and Ranch fires recovery.
7.5, 9:16 a.m.: Consideration of continuing a proclamation of a local emergency due to the Pawnee fire incident.
7.6, 9:17 a.m.: Consideration of continuing a proclamation of a local emergency due to the Sulphur fire incident.
7.7, 9:18 a.m.: Consideration of continuing a proclamation of a local emergency due to Clayton fire.
7.8, 9:19 a.m.: Consideration of continuing a proclamation of a local emergency due to the atmospheric river storm.
7.9, 9:30 a.m.: Public hearing, consideration of a draft ordinance adding Article VIII to Chapter 13 of the Lake County Code Regarding hazardous vegetation abatement.
UNTIMED ITEMS
8.2: Continued from Nov. 20, (a) consideration of report from the district attorney on internal controls used with respect to county credit cards, expenses, reimbursements, mileage and maintenance of county vehicles, necessary to protect the public trust; and (b) consideration of report from the district attorney on his use of limited county resources and justification to attend conferences and training himself, despite leaving office 12/31/18, with possible direction to the county administrative officer (CAO)/CalCard administrator to review and approve his expense requests in advance and/or revoke his privilege to use a CalCard.
8.3: Consideration of resolution declaring the Board of Supervisors intent to sell property not required for public use, located at 8695 Soda Bay Road, Kelseyville, California (APN 009-002-430), Pursuant to Government Code Section 25520 Et Seq.
8.4: Consideration of adoption of vehicle policy.
8.5: Consideration of fiscal crisis management plan.
8.6: Second reading, as amended, consideration of ordinance amendment, AM 18-02 to amend Chapter 21 of the Lake County Zoning Ordinance to allow Type N and P Cannabis Manufacturing License in the "C2, C3, M1, M2, and PDC" Districts subject to obtaining a Minor Use Permit, Type 6 Non-Volatile Cannabis Manufacturing License in the "APZ, A, TPZ, C3, M1, M2, and PDC" Districts subject to obtaining a Major Use Permit, Type 7 Volatile Cannabis Manufacturing License in the "M2" District subject to obtaining a Major Use Permit, Type 11 Cannabis Distributor License in the "C3, M1, M2, and PDC" Districts subject to obtaining a Major Use Permit, Type 13 Cannabis Distributor Transport Only License in the "C2, C3, M1, M2, and PDC" Districts subject to obtaining a Major Use Permit, Type 13 Cannabis Distributor Transport Only, Cannabis Self -Distribution License in the "APZ, A, TPZ, RL, RR, SR, C2, C3, M1, M2, and PDC" Districts subject to obtaining a Minor Use Permit, Cannabis Processor License in the "APZ, A, TPZ, and RL" Districts subject to obtaining a Major Use Permit, Type 8 Cannabis Testing Laboratory in the "C2, C3, M1, M2 AND PDC" Districts subject to obtaining a Minor Use Permit.
8.7: Second reading, as amended, consideration of an ordinance amending Article II of Chapter 13 of the Lake County Code regarding the abatement of garbage and refuse and establishing fines and penalties for the accumulation of garbage and other refuse.
CLOSED SESSION
9.1: Public employee appointment pursuant to Gov. Code Section 54957(b)(1): Appointment of interim registrar of voters.
9.2: Conference with legal counsel: Significant exposure to litigation pursuant to Gov. Code Sec. 54956.9(d)(2)(e)(3): California River Watch.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Cal Fire reported that it has initiated pile burning operations for removal of hazardous vegetation on the Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest and will continue to do so throughout the winter of 2019.
The hazardous vegetation is a result of the Valley fire and bark beetle mortality.
Over the past three years the forest management staff have been salvage logging to remove these standing dead trees and brush in preparation for replanting.
As a result of this treatment there are hundreds of residual slash piles that must be disposed of. Disposal of this material is not feasible by other means due to the volume of the material, number of piles, access issues, and time frame of which it must be disposed of, Cal Fire said.
“It is the goal of the department to restore the forest to a condition that is safe for public access. Allowing wood cutting, trail access, and camping is an important part of having this public land in Lake County,” said Cal Fire Sonoma Lake Napa Unit Chief Shana Jones.
While the forest has been open to the public for day use since July, there are still many hazards present on the forest that must be mitigated. Officials said pile burning operations are a key component of this work.
State forest personnel will conduct the pile burns throughout the winter on permissive burn days. A large scale smoke management plan has been completed in coordination with the Sacramento Air Resources Board and the Lake County Air Quality Management District. Department staff will follow the same rules and regulations that apply to the public.
Cal Fire reminded the public that the Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest is open for day use only and is subject to temporary closures due to hazardous conditions at the forest managers discretion per state law.