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LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors has voted to extend for another six months a program of Friday closures for key county offices in Lakeport.

The board voted 4-0 on Tuesday morning to extend the closure, requested by County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson. Supervisor Rob Brown was absent for the discussion.

In August, at Huchingson’s request, the board approved an initial six-month pilot program to close offices in and around the Lake County Courthouse in Lakeport on Fridays in order to let county departments work on backlogs, as Lake County News has reported.

“Today I’m requesting an extension for another six months of that pilot,” Huchingson said on Tuesday.

During the coming six months, there will be one exception to those closures: Huchingson said that the Auditor-Controller’s Office said it will need to be open to the public on the last day of the fiscal year, which is Friday, June 28.

Huchingson said she convened a committee of department heads after the initial pilot began to review problems that came up.

“The complications with this have been very minimal. All have been worked out as they have come up,” she said.

“Many of our department heads speak of the benefit of having the Friday closure day,” said Huchingson, which she added has enabled staff in some departments to focus on backlogs of work resulting from position vacancies.

As of this week, the county’s vacancy rate was 22 percent, according to Huchingson, as compared to 20 percent reported when the board first approved the closure pilot program in August.

“We are about at the same spot we were six months ago when your board recognized the need to do this,” said Huchingson.

Huchingson said both the cities of Clearlake and Lakeport are “permanently closed” on Fridays.

“It would appear that our public is sort of adjusting to that,” Huchingson said.

Supervisor Moke Simon moved to approve the request to continue the Friday closures, with Supervisor Bruno Sabatier seconding and the board approving it 4-0.

Sabatier told Lake County News in a followup interview that he felt it necessary to continue the closures because of the high vacancy rate.

Once the county’s vacancies get back up to the range of 85 to 90 percent, Sabatier said the board can reconsider the closures.

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.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Clearlake Police Chief Andrew White swore in his agency’s newest sergeant and Animal Control officer at the Clearlake City Council meeting on Thursday evening.

Taking the oath were Sgt. Ryan Peterson and Animal Control Officer Willow Goldtooth.

Sgt. Peterson has been with the Clearlake Police Department since 2007 and has held a variety of positions, including patrol, field training officer, and detective.

Peterson has developed a reputation as one of the top detectives in Lake County.

Goldtooth has been employed by the Animal Control Division as a part-time kennel technician since March 2018.

She loves animals and hiking, and has been looking forward to becoming an Animal Control officer and making a positive impact on the community.

“Sgt. Peterson has been an outstanding detective for the Clearlake Police Department and I am confident that he will be an outstanding sergeant as well,” said City Manager Greg Folsom. “I am also pleased that we have been able to promote Willow Goldtooth into the important position of Animal Control officer.”

MENDOCINO NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. – Mendocino National Forest officials have issued a new Forest Order for the Ranch fire area and locking gates to enforce the area closure.

Forest Order No. 08-19-01 is effective from March 13, 2019 until July 1, 2020.

The amount of work that needs to be done before the fire area is reasonably safe to open is immense, forest officials said.

“This wet winter is delaying our efforts to begin the hazard tree management work needed to provide a safe transportation system in the fire area. We appreciate your patience while we continue the recovery and restoration process,” said Forest Supervisor Ann Carlson.

Post-fire threats for the public, residents of private lands and agency personnel include flooding, debris flows, hazard trees and loss of ingress and egress along roads, trails, recreation areas, and facilities.

While the large Ranch fire area remains closed, there are over 600,000 acres of the Forest for people to explore when summer arrives.

Campgrounds in the northern portion of the forest generally open around Memorial Day weekend.

The maximum possible penalty for a violation is up to a $5,000 fine, six months incarceration or both.

Forest Order No. 08-19-01 supersedes Order No. 08-18-17 dated Nov. 22, 2018.

The order and maps are published below.

Mendocino National Forest O... by on Scribd

LAKEPORT, Calif. – A judge has ordered a Clearlake man to stand trial on charges that he set the Clayton fire – which destroyed hundreds of structures in Lower Lake – and a series of other fires in Lake County in the summers of 2015 and 2016.

Judge Andrew Blum handed down his decision at the end of the preliminary hearing for Damin Anthony Pashilk, 43, on Wednesday afternoon.

During the preliminary hearing – a proceeding which began on Feb. 14 and stretched over nine days – Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff presented evidence for 23 charges related to Pashilk’s alleged setting of the Clayton fire in August 2016 and 15 other fires between July of 2015 and August of 2016, plus an attempted start of a 17th fire that self-extinguished. The charge for one of the fires was dropped on Wednesday.

Hinchcliff called to the stand numerous law enforcement officers and investigators, the majority of them from Cal Fire, which had Pashilk under surveillance for more than a year.

The last witness in the case was Cal Fire Deputy Chief James Engel, who has been present with Hinchcliff throughout the proceedings. Engel oversaw Cal Fire’s investigation of Pashilk, and his testimony wrapped up on Wednesday morning.

Rather than lengthy closing arguments, Hinchcliff wrote a summary of evidence presented in the case and submitted it as an exhibit, which Blum accepted as the hearing reconvened on Wednesday afternoon.

During the afternoon session, Hinchcliff said in short closing statements that the prosecution believed there is sufficient evidence for Pashilk to face trial on all counts except for count 11, which related to a fire set at Crestview Drive and North Drive in Clearlake on July 17, 2016. Hinchcliff said he was not requesting a holding order on that count.

In his closing statements, defense attorney Mitch Hauptman, focused on count one, which relates to the Clayton fire, which destroyed 300 structures in and around Lower Lake, nearly 200 of them homes. The historic downtown also suffered significant losses.

For his alleged setting of the Clayton fire, Pashilk is charged with felony aggravated arson under California Penal Code Section 451.5.

That penal code section states that any person “who willfully, maliciously, deliberately, with premeditation, and with intent to cause injury to one or more persons or to cause damage to property under circumstances likely to produce injury to one or more persons or to cause damage to one or more structures or inhabited dwellings, sets fire to, burns, or causes to be burned, or aids, counsels, or procures the burning of any residence, structure, forest land, or property is guilty of aggravated arson” if one or more aggravating factors exists.

In Pashilk’s case, the factor that makes it aggravated arson is that the Clayton fire caused property damage and other losses in excess of $7 million.

On day five of the preliminary hearing, Marnie Patchett, an analyst in Cal Fire’s cost recovery unit, testified to conducting calculations for the costs to fight the Clayton fire, which she said totaled $22.7 million.

The sunset date of that aggravated arson statute, incidentally, was extended by a bill by North Coast Sen. Mike McGuire that was signed last year by then-Gov. Jerry Brown. McGuire, who had cited the Clayton fire case as a reason to pursue it, said the bill meant to ensure law enforcement agencies “maintain a valuable deterrent to prevent arson-caused wildfires.”

Hauptman called the statute “unusual.” He said that the aggravated arson count requires that several things be proved: that the setting of the fire was willful, malicious and premeditated.

“I don't think that's been proven. I don't think there's even a hint of that,” Hauptman said.

He added, “I think there is a significant difference between a willful and malicious act and premeditation.”

While Hauptman said he wasn’t conceding that Pashilk set any of the fires, he said that all but one fire prior to the Clayton fire had failed to cause any damage to structures, and that 16 prior efforts had resulted in no injuries, with the fires set in remote areas away from homes.

“It's not a casual argument that I'm throwing out here,” Hauptman said, explaining that, even at the low evidentiary standard of a preliminary hearing, he found there to be difficulty in establishing the elements that form the basis of an aggravated arson finding.

In his response, Hinchcliff said that Pashilk, in an interview with investigators, acknowledged that he knew fires can be deadly and that he had worked as a firefighter at a prison fire camp.

Hinchcliff said the prosecution didn’t have to prove that Pashilk acted with premeditation.

He pointed to a fire set on Seigler Canyon Road in Lower Lake on the evening of Aug. 9, 2016 – four days before the Clayton fire – that had burned a residence. He said Pashilk is alleged to have set numerous fires, over and over.

“He himself was well aware, as he said during his interview, that fire can be destructive and deadly,” Hinchcliff said, adding there is more than sufficient evidence to hold Pashilk to stand trial for the Clayton fire.

Judge reviews evidence, makes determination

Once the prosecution and defense had offered their brief closing arguments, Judge Blum offered his conclusions.

“In the summer of 2015 and 2016 we had numerous fires. They had a lot in common,” he said, explaining they all started in the same way, at the edges of roadway or turnouts, with no other sources and no indications that vehicles had sparked them.

“I think it's reasonable to interpret that each of these fires is arson caused. In fact, there's no other plausible explanation for them,” Blum said, adding that all were located in places where they could easily be set.

“So I certainly infer that each of these was arson caused,” he said.

He said that in each of the fires, Pashilk had been determined to have been close by within minutes.

Testimony throughout the preliminary hearing had noted that a green Subaru station wagon that Pashilk was known to drive in 2015 had been caught on two surveillance cameras at several fire sites on different dates. A gray Chrysler Sebring he drove the following summer also was seen in the area of fires by surveillance cameras and law enforcement officers.

Cal Fire law enforcement officers followed him into the fire areas, visually observing him and also tracking him with a GPS device that they had received clearance to place on both vehicles through a search warrant.

Pashilk was known to drive into remote areas where the fires started, and Blum said there was “no apparent lawful reason” for Pashilk’s driving pattern.

On Aug. 13, 2016, the day the Clayton fire was set, investigators followed Pashilk. He was shown on the GPS tracker to have pulled off onto Clayton Creek Road, where his vehicle was seen to have been about 90 seconds before a fire was sparked there. Cal Fire officers who tracked him discovered the fire, which immediately took off and, the next day, would tear through downtown Lower Lake.

Blum said there were several examples of Pashilk being in the immediate area before a fire started.

When he was arrested on Aug. 15, 2016 – by a Lake County Sheriff’s deputy who took him into custody for driving on a suspended license – Cal Fire confiscated the Chrysler and searched it at the Clearlake Police Department.

Blum said that in the car the investigators found matches and lighters and a lot of pieces of paper and paper napkins, including a twisted napkin like one that had been determined to be an ignition source on the Canyon fire on Aug. 9, 2016.

Investigators recovered an Otter Pop wrapper at the Clayton fire scene that they determined was the ignition source. Blum said the search of the Chrysler found another empty Otter Pop wrapper.

“It's only reasonable for the court to conclude that Mr. Pashilk started each of these fires,” Blum said.

“He has fought fires. He knows fires,” and he knows what fires can do, Blum said.

Blum said he had a strong suspicion that each fire was arson and that Pashilk had started them. He also found that each of the special allegations – including causing multiple structures to burn in the Clayton fire, and setting the Clayton fire and another fire on Highway 29 near Lower Lake on Aug. 7, 2016, in an area where the governor had declared a state of emergency – had been proven.

Regarding the ignition location of the Clayton fire, on an upward slope leading toward the town of Lower Lake, “You're trying to burn down things. You're trying to burn down structures,” said Blum.

Blum ordered Pashilk to be held to answer and stand trial on all of the counts except count 11 regarding the fire on July 17, 2016, on Crestview Drive and North Drive in Clearlake, as the District Attorney’s Office had requested.

The judge also ordered Pashilk to return to court on March 26 for the next steps in the case, beginning with another arraignment.

Charges and incidents

The following is a list of the fires Pashilk is alleged to have set, in chronological order, with each incident's corresponding count in the criminal filing and the charges:

• July 2, 2015, 7:32 a.m.: Highway 20 at Judge Davis Trail (“Judge” fire No. 1), Clearlake Oaks (Count IV); arson.
• July 2, 2015, 7:50 a.m.: Highway 20 at Walker Ridge Road (“Judge” fire No. 2), Clearlake Oaks (Count V); arson.
• July 29, 2015, 8:30 p.m.: Highway 20 east of New Long Valley Road (the “Long” fire), Clearlake Oaks (Count VI); arson.
• Aug. 8, 2015, 2:27 p.m.: High Valley Road and Cerrito Road, Clearlake Oaks (Count VII); arson.
• Aug. 13, 2015, 11 a.m. : Woodland Drive, Clearlake (Count VIII); arson.
• Aug. 14, 2015, 8:18 p.m.: Sulphur Bank Road, south of North Drive, Clearlake (Count IX); arson.
• Aug. 25, 2015, 3:47 p.m.: East Lake Drive, Clearlake (Count X); arson.
• July 17, 2016, 5:08 p.m.: Crestview Drive and North Drive, Clearlake (Count XI); arson.
• July 21, 2016, 5:08 p.m.: 18000 block of Morgan Valley Road near Staehle Lane, Lower Lake (Count XII); arson.
• July 23, 2016, 7:03 p.m.: Western Mine Road, Middletown (Count XIII); arson.
• July 26, 2016, 6:48 p.m.: Sulphur Bank Road, north of North Drive, Clearlake (Count XIV); arson.
• July 27, 2016, 7:23 p.m.: Lakeshore Drive and San Joaquin Drive, Clearlake (Count XV); arson.
• July 29, 2016, 2:47 p.m.: Ogulin Canyon Road, east of Highway 53, Clearlake (Count XVI); arson.
• Aug. 7, 2016 (start time not listed): Highway 29 near mile post marker 16.29, Lower Lake (Count XVII); arson.
• Aug. 9, 2016, 5 p.m.: Seigler Canyon Road, Lower Lake (Count XVIII); arson.
• Aug. 9, 2016, 5:25 p.m.: Clayton Creek Road, Lower Lake (Count XIX); attempted arson.
• Aug. 13, 2016, 5:01 p.m.: Clayton fire, Clayton Creek Road, Lower Lake (Counts I, II and III); aggravated arson, arson.

Special allegations include causing multiple structures to burn in the Clayton fire, and setting the Clayton fire and another fire on Highway 29 near Lower Lake this past Aug. 7, because both of those fire were in an area Gov. Jerry Brown has declared to be in a state of emergency.

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.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Fire Protection District Board is exploring different approaches to getting its budget on track, including tightening up on expenses, and considering property and equipment sales, while preparing for this spring’s parcel tax election.

The board held its regular meeting on Tuesday evening at the district’s downtown fire station.

In recent months, the board has welcomed two new members: Alan Flora, who is the assistant city manager and finance director for Clearlake, and Bill Gabe, a retired Lakeport Fire lieutenant and high school and college teacher. They join Chair John Whitehead and board members Randy Williams and Don Davidson, the latter who was absent from Tuesday’s meeting.

The district also has a new interim chief, Rick Bergem, who succeeded Chief Doug Hutchison.

Bergem brings to the table decades of experience with the district. He told Lake County News that he has committed to serving as chief for a year before retiring. Taking the job allowed him to rehire one of the three firefighters the district laid off last year.

He’s received high praise from the members of the district’s professional firefighters’ union.

At Tuesday’s meeting, firefighter/paramedic Spencer Johnson, speaking on behalf of the union, thanked Bergem for his work as incident commander on fires and for the open and transparent communication with district personnel.

“It’s been a tremendous breath of fresh air that we've desperately needed,” Johnson said.

In the midst of responding to fires, meeting with other agencies’ chiefs and looking at ways to improve ambulance services for Sutter Lakeside Hospital, Bergem is overseeing the completion of a Federal Emergency Management Agency SAFER grant due later this month that aims to restore firefighter positions. He’s also looking at what surplus equipment the district can sell.

On Tuesday, Bergem presented to the board a 2019-20 strategic plan, which he explained is an overview of what he believes are priorities for this year. It’s divided into a list of monthly goals.

Tasks he’s working on include selecting a new full-time administrative assistant to succeed longtime staffer Linda Buckner, who is preparing to retire; hiring a new part-time administrative assistant; finalizing the FEMA SAFER grant; and beginning Measure M fire tax campaign activities ahead of the May 7 election.

The plan includes the recruitment for a new fire chief. Advertising will begin in July, the job application deadline and interviews are in August, a final selection is anticipated in September and the new chief is expected to start in October or November, after fire season.

Flora thanked Bergem for creating the document, and Whitehead said it will be put on an upcoming agenda to discuss it further.

The board also discussed preparation for Measure M, with staff explaining that all of the necessary paperwork has been submitted to the Lake County Registrar of Voters Office.

With the county in the midst of an ongoing recruitment process for the registrar’s job, Flora expressed concern about the county being able to handle the election. Buckner said she’d had repeated conversations with various county employees to ensure that everything is in order.

Flora has developed a five-year expenditure plan based on projections for what Measure M will bring in, starting at just over $1.2 million in year one and graduating to $1.3 million in year five. It’s meant to offer accountability for spending to voters.

Stabilizing the budget in the near term

While the district board hopes to bring in new revenue through Measure M, if the measure passes it will be close to a year before any of that new money comes in.

In the meantime, the board has to meet the district’s immediate and ongoing fiscal challenges.

Flora said they have been looking at a budget plan for the upcoming 2019-20 fiscal year, but haven’t made a lot of progress yet and are instead focusing on the current fiscal year.

“That's what really concerns me the most right now,” said Flora.

“It's going to take a lot of work, I think, to balance our budget by the end of this fiscal year,” Flora said, adding, “It’s extremely tight right now.”

Flora suggested the board take several immediate actions to address the budget situation.

The first is to have a discussion of the 2018-19 budget on every agenda through the end of the fiscal year.

“So ordered,” Whitehead said.

Flora said the board also needed to provide direction to the chief to not make any expenditures that aren’t critical through the end of the fiscal year and look at existing reserve balances for when there are critical needs.

He said it will be extremely difficult for the district to balance its budget, even with a FEMA reimbursement of about $248,000 for the River fire. They put $114,000 into the equipment reserve but Flora suggested they may need to use that elsewhere.

Bergem is looking at selling unneeded surplus equipment and Flora said they will need all the money they can get. “We're all going to have to get creative, I think.”

As of Tuesday, Flora said the district had a deficit in excess of $300,000. While it likely won’t be that bad by the end of the year, “We shouldn't assume that everything's going to work out fine,” he said.

District considering sale of Finley fire station

One possible action the district may take – which was first brought forward at a previous meeting – is the potential sale of the Finley fire station, which some board members are hesitant to pursue.

It hasn’t been used for a fire station in about 20 years, and is now used by the Clearlake Gleaners for its food program.

By the time of Tuesday’s meeting, Bergem said he hadn’t had a chance to speak with the Gleaners to see if the group is interested in purchasing the building. He said he can get an estimate of the cost for an appraisal.

However, Bergem also said he’s considering the potential benefits of putting the station back in service. Keeping a piece of fire equipment there could reduce the Insurance Service Office rating which could, in turn, improve homeowners insurance rates for area residents. He said the district also has three volunteers who live in the area and they could help take care of the boundary drop with Kelseyville Fire.

While there are concerns that a large fire truck may not fit in the building, one of the smaller type 2 units could, Bergem said.

Whitehead said he had spoken to the Gleaners previously and they indicated their interest in purchasing the building. However, he added that he and Davidson are reluctant to sell it right away, at least not until they have a new station – which could be made possible through the district’s grant-writing efforts. Williams said they also could use it for storage.

Buckner said they receive rent of $360 a month for the building, with $3,684 budgeted for rent last year. She said the rent increases 10 percent per year.

“I think it's good that we look at all options,” said Flora, noting that it doesn’t make sense to make a kneejerk, short-term decision that prompts the need to make another decision later.

Whitehead suggested they keep the Finley station discussion on future district agendas.

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.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake Police Department will be hosting a citizen academy next month.

The academy will begin on Wednesday, April 3, and will be held Wednesday evenings from 6 to 9 p.m. during the month of April.

There will be one longer day – approximately seven hours – at the end of the academy to accommodate for certain training scenarios and graduation.

The academy will be open to anyone over the age of 18 who can pass a brief background check, has no felony convictions and has an interest in learning more about law enforcement, specifically the Clearlake Police Department.

Attendees who complete the course will have the opportunity to join the Clearlake Police Volunteer Program, also known as the VIP Program.

Those who decide to accept the challenge of joining the VIP Program will receive additional training to meet the requirements for the program.

Academy attendees can expect to enjoy an inside look at the Clearlake Police Department. Attendees will learn of the various programs and divisions, receive interesting information about the law and how to apply that information to scenarios and have the opportunity to see some exciting demonstrations.

Attendees will participate in classroom training along with practical exercises, hands-on learning and demonstrations throughout the academy.

The city of Clearlake and the Clearlake Police Department have made many positive changes and is continuing to make many more.

This is an opportunity for community members to learn about some of the things that are going on within the city’s largest department and to be a part of those future changes.

Police department officials believe that in order to make Clearlake a cleaner, safer city, they must enhance public safety by providing professional, trustworthy service in partnership with our community.

Through the citizens Academy you will have the opportunity to be a partner.
If you are interested in attending the academy please complete an application and return it by March 25.

Approved applicants will be contacted via telephone and invited to attend the course as applications are processed.

Pick up an application at the police department located at 14050 Olympic Drive in Clearlake or print one from the city of Clearlake website at www.Clearlake.ca.us and follow the prompts to the police department and locate “Citizens Academy.”