- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Lakeport City Council elects Froio as mayor, approves Behavioral Health agreement
The meeting began with the annual council reorganization.
“It is that time of year,” said City Clerk/Administrative Services Director Kelly Buendia, who led the council through the nominating process.
Councilmember Kim Costa nominated Mayor Pro Tem Michael Froio for mayor for 2024. With that being the only nomination, Buendia called for the vote, which was unanimous.
When it came to elect the mayor pro tem, Stacey Mattina, the outgoing mayor, nominated Brandon Disney, with Froio nominating Costa.
After separate votes for each, the council ended up selecting Costa as mayor pro tem.
Froio and Mattina then switched seats and Buendia reorganized their name plates.
Froio thanked Mattina for her leadership. “No one runs a meeting as nicely as Stacey does,” he said, leading a round of applause for her.
He also thanked those who had come for the meeting to support him, and thanked council members for selecting him mayor.
Council members then went on to approve the new cellphone policy for themselves and for city management.
That policy calls for issuing city phones for management and City Council members. “Under the proposed policy, city-issued phones are recognized as the property of the city and are designated exclusively for official city business,” Buendia’s written report explained.
“To enhance transparency and minimize potential privacy concerns, the policy prohibits the use of personal cell devices for conducting city business. This precautionary measure aims to mitigate any privacy issues that may arise in the event of a search related to city business, emphasizing the importance of using city-issued phones exclusively for official matters,” the report said.
She said the policy also “explicitly states” that city staff are not obligated to respond after regular work hours unless they are officially designated to do so during emergencies or similar circumstances.
In other business, in response to the growing popularity of pickleball, the council approved a request to accept a proposed amendment to the Westside Community Park, Phase II Master Plan to include a designated area for the future development of pickleball courts.
Dennis Rollins from the Westside Community Park Committee said a group of pickleball enthusiasts attended a committee meeting a few months ago to ask about including pickleball courts at the park. Rollins said they would be to the east of the Lions playground, and will require a grading and drainage plan.
Rollins said the committee voted unanimously to support the proposal and try to assist with fundraising for the improvements.
Costa moved to approve the proposed change to the park master plan to include pickleball, with Disney seconding and the council voting 5-0.
Also on Tuesday, Police Chief Brad Rasmussen asked for, and received, the council’s approval of a license agreement between the city and Lake County Behavioral Health for crisis staff to work out of the Lakeport Police Department station.
Rasmussen said the arrangement is meant to build relationships between the agencies and to better serve the community.
It’s part of a new collaborative effort between Behavioral Health and law enforcement, and will allow for a much faster response time for crisis staff, he said.
A high number of Behavioral Health clients have an initial contact with law enforcement, and Rasmussen said it will allow crisis workers to accompany law enforcement on welfare checks.
Rasmussen said it will complement and work in conjunction with the crisis response program the Lakeport Police Department currently has in partnership with Lake Family Resource Center.
The Board of Supervisors approved the same agreement at its Dec. 12 meeting, Rasmussen said.
City Manager Kevin Ingram said that during the town hall earlier this year held to address the issues with homelessness in the city, they had discussed a wide array of ways to address the crisis. This is part of a multipronged approach and has been on the city’s list for some time.
He said Behavioral Health Director Elise Jones spearheaded getting the agreement done.
Rasmussen said this agreement was first brought to the City Council in May of 2018. That same month, both the City Council and the Board of Supervisors approved it. For various reasons, however, it never worked like it was supposed to.
Costa moved to approve the agreement, with Mattina seconding and the council approving it 5-0.
At the end of his first meeting as mayor, Froio noted, “Stacey, you made it look so easy.”
After thanking everyone, Froio adjourned the hourlong meeting.
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.