- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Clearlake City Council honors Black History Month, approves pursuing potential property purchase
Council members began their work Thursday evening with a half-hour workshop in which they discussed with staff projected changes to the current fiscal year budget.
At the start of the regular meeting, which convened at 6 p.m., Mayor Russell Perdock presented a proclamation in honor of Black History Month to the Lake County Branch of the NAACP.
Branch President Rick Mayo, accompanied by Branch Secretary Greta Zeit, praised city staff and council members for their efforts, but said there is still a lot of work yet to do, pointing to the fact that the city has one of the largest disabled populations in the county.
In other business on Thursday, City Manager Alan Flora asked the council to approve an application to the county of Lake for direct sale of various tax defaulted properties for up to $150,000.
“One of the best things that’s happened this year is a new tax collector,” said Flora, referring to the departure of Treasurer-Tax Collector Barbara Ringen, whose performance in relation to tax defaulted property sales had resulted in the city suing the county.
Ringen, who retired at the end of her term, was succeeded by Patrick Sullivan at the start of the year, and Flora reported that the city already is making progress in working with Sullivan.
Sullivan is willing to work with the city and has strategies to work on issues with such tax defaulted properties not just in Clearlake but throughout the county, Flora said.
Flora reported that state law allows taxing agencies such as the city to negotiate directly with the county on defaulted properties without having to go through the auction process. He added that, for some time, the city has wanted to pursue such a direct sales agreement with the county.
There are 20 to 25 properties that Flora said it would be within the city’s interest to purchase in order to “break the cycle” of ongoing problems that include blight.
Flora said he didn’t want to publicly disclose the list of properties at this time.
Sullivan is moving forward on the work for a tax sale in May and Flora wanted to prepare the application, outlined in a process by the State Controller’s Office, to buy those roughly two dozen properties, spending up to $150,000.
Flora said some of the parcels he thinks the city should purchase are not well suited to development. However, the city has advantages in being able to merge properties and prepare them for sale.
Councilwoman Joyce Overton asked about homes that could be rehabilitated. Flora said two of the properties have such homes, one of them is very blighted and in a high visibility area so it makes sense to put effort into fixing it and offering more quality housing.
Councilman Russell Cremer moved to approve the application to purchase the properties, with Councilman David Claffey seconding and the council approving the motion 5-0.
Also on Thursday, the council voted unanimously to approve a resolution approving a joint exercise of powers agreement among the cities of Clearlake and Lakeport, and the county of Lake to form the Lake County Recreation Agency.
The agency’s creation developed from a series of discussions with interested parties that began in 2019 to to discuss the possibilities of improving recreational opportunities in Lakeport. The interest later expanded to include groups from around the county and has become known as the Lake County Recreation Task Force.
The council appointed Claffey and Councilman Dirk Slooten to serve on the new agency’s board.
The council also heard the 2022 Clearlake Police report from new Chief Tim Hobbs, approved updates to its norms and procedures, and held the first reading of an ordinance amending the municipal code relating to the method of service for property maintenance, nuisance and vehicle abatement, which City Attorney Ryan Jones said would fix existing issues within city code.
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