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LAKEPORT, Calif. – The response to this year’s grand jury report, an update on the Mendocino Complex and honors for a retiring deputy are among the items on this week’s Board of Supervisors agenda.

The board will meet beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 2, 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.

In an untimed item, the board will consider a formal response to the 2017-18 Lake County Grand Jury Final Report, which came out during the summer.

At the start of August, the county asked for, and received, an extension of time to respond to the report from Lake County Superior Court Presiding Judge Andrew Blum due to the Mendocino Complex.

In timed items, at 9:07 a.m. the board will consider continuing a proclamation of a local health emergency by the Lake County health officer due to the Mendocino Complex fire and get a status report on the complex.

At 9:10 a.m., the board will present a proclamation commending Deputy Cynthia Radoumis for 37 years of service as a career law enforcement officer also recognize October 2018 as National Disability Employment Awareness Month in Lake County.

The full agenda follows.

CONSENT AGENDA

6.1: Adopt proclamation posthumously recognizing Deputy Sheriff Robert Rumfelt for his dedication, service and his ultimate sacrifice; and authorize the chair to sign and present the proclamation at the Oct. 11 ceremony being held in Lakeport.

6.2: Adopt proclamation designating the month of October 2018 as National Disability Employment Awareness Month in Lake County.

6.3: Approve minutes of the Board of Supervisors meetings held June 26, Aug. 7, Aug. 14 and Sept. 11.

6.4: Adopt the memorandum of understanding between the county of Lake and the Lake County Deputy Sheriff’s Association for the period from Jan. 1, 2018, through Feb. 28, 2019.

6.5: (a) Waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 38.2, as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of goods or services; and (b) approve the agreement between the county of Lake and Resource Development Associates for technical assistance with the MHSA Three Year Plan for Fiscal Year 2018-19 for a contract maximum of $32,300 and authorize the board chair to sign the agreement.

6.6: (a) Waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 38.2, as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of goods or services; and (b) approve the agreement between the county of Lake and Redwood Community Services Inc. for the Transitional Age Youth Peer Support Program for Fiscal Year 2018-19 for the amount of $40,000 and authorize the board chair to sign the agreement.

6.7: (a) Waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 38.2, as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of goods or services; and (b) approve the agreement between the county of Lake and Redwood Community Services Inc. for perinatal SUD services for Fiscal Year 2018-19 for a contract maximum of $84,000 and authorize the board chair to sign the agreement.

6.8: (a) Waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 38.2, as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of goods or services; and (b) approve the agreement between the county of Lake and Resource Development Associates for implementation and maintenance of the Network of Care Web site for Fiscal Year 2018-19 for a contract maximum of $53,300 and authorize the board chair to sign the agreement.

6.9: Approve addendum to the commercial lease agreement between the county of Lake and Tri-Star Properties, L.P. for the lease of property located at 845 and 849 Bevins St., Lakeport, in the amount of $1,912.43 per month and authorize the chair to sign.

6.10: Sitting as Lake County Sanitation District Board of Directors, (a) waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 38.2 as it is not in the public interest due to the unique nature of the goods or services; and (b) approve the purchase of the budgeted SCADA system upgrades for the LACOSAN Northwest Treatment Plant authorizing the Special Districts administrator acting as the assistant purchasing agent to issue and sign a purchase order not to exceed $55,000.

6.11: Sitting as Lake County Watershed Protection District Board of Directors, adopt resolution to accept $35,000 in grant funds from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Office of Spill Prevention and Response for oil spill response equipment and training.

6.12: Approve Amendment No. 2 to equipment repair and service contract between the county of Lake and Peterson Tractor Co. in the amount of $50,000.00 and authorize the chair to sign.

6.13: Authorize the Public Services director / assistant purchasing agent to issue a purchase order to Bobcat Central, Inc in the amount of $84,192.10.

6.14: Approve the Sun Ridge Systems Software Support Services Agreement for the FY 2018/19 in the amount of $38,173 for the support of its Law Enforcement Software Suite and authorize the chair to sign.

6.15: (a) Waive the formal bidding process, pursuant to Lake County Code Section 38.2, for the purchase of a 2018 Ram 2500 Power Wagon; and (b) approve the cancellation of purchase order SO0019 in the amount of $44,022.05 to Matt Mazzei and authorize the sheriff or his designee to issue a purchase order to Hoblit in the amount of $45,241.48.

6.16: Adopt Proclamation Commending Deputy Cynthia Radoumis for 37 years of service as a career law enforcement officer.

6.17: Approve contract with NCO Emergency Child Care Bridge Program for children in foster care in the amount of $121,522 from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019, and authorize the chair to sign.

6.18: Authorize the Water Resources director/assistant purchasing agent to issue a purchase order not to exceed $42,540.44 to Hillside Powersports for the purchase of a used boat.

TIMED ITEMS

7.2, 9:06 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, 9:07 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; and (b) status report on Mendocino Complex, also known as the River and Ranch fires.

7.4, 9:10 a.m.: (a) Presentation of proclamation commending Deputy Cynthia Radoumis for 37 years of service as a career law enforcement officer; and (b) presentation of proclamation designating the month of October 2018 as National Disability Employment Awareness Month in Lake County.

UNTIMED ITEMS

8.2: Consideration of letter of support for the county of Lake to receive the Land Use Planning Assistance to Reduce Community Wildfire Grant.

8.3: Consideration of Response to the 2017-18 Grand Jury Final Report.

8.4: Consideration of resolution authorizing the 2018-19 Grant Project-Lake County Victim-Witness Assistance Program and authorize the chair to sign the certification and assurance of compliance.

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 Police Department will present to the Lakeport City Council this week an update on a speed survey for a city neighborhood.

The council will meet in closed session at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 2, for negotiations regarding property at 910 Bevins St. and discuss anticipated litigation before the public portion of the meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.

The council will consider a report from Lakeport Police Lt. Jason Ferguson on speeding, speed surveys and traffic control measures being taken on 20th Street between Alden Avenue and Hartley Street.

Due to state law, the city had to raise the speed limit in that area from 25 to 30 miles per hour in November 2016, but Ferguson noted in his report that during the hearing on the matter “it became clear that residents had serious concerns regarding vehicles speeding in the area.”

He pointed out that the city had no choice in the matter. “Due to state restrictions, if the speed zone was not reset, police would have been unable to enforce the speed limit.”

Ferguson’s report said that the council approved the recommendation with the understanding that police would strictly enforce the new speed, provide public education and that departments would investigate appropriate traffic control measures with the goal of reducing the 85th percentile speed back down to between 25 and 30 miles per hour.

He said the city has worked to develop a traffic enforcement plan for the area that has included releasing public education materials to residents, Nixle community messages, social media information, and additional patrols and radar certified officers to work traffic enforcement in the area. Last fall, the Lakeport Public Works Department completed traffic control measures that included raised traffic dots that narrowed the travel lanes, white fog lines and a double yellow centerline.

Despite that work, additional speed data collected between December and march showed that the 85th percentile speed was 37 miles per hour, Ferguson reported.

He said that from April to September radar-certified officers continued to work the area, writing citations and educating drivers about speed.

Ferguson said the River fire and staffing shortages have hampered the department’s ability to be more proactive on the speed effort.

“At this time, deployment of the radar trailer, increased enforcement and public education is planned for the area prior to staff recommending another formal speed survey,” he wrote.

Also on the agenda is the introduction of new city employees Anthony Lynott and Alex Sharp; the presentation of a proclamation to representatives of the Lake Family Resource Center designating the month of October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month in the city; and a public hearing to adopt a proposed ordinance amending Chapter 3.05 to the Lakeport Municipal Code to take advantage of the Uniform Public Construction Cost Accounting Act.

On the consent agenda – items considered noncontroversial and usually accepted as a slate on one vote – are ordinances; minutes of the council’s regular meeting on Sept. 18; the Sept. 24 warrant register; confirmation of the continuing existence of a local emergency in the city of Lakeport, approval of Application 2018-028, with staff recommendations, for the 2018 Clear Lake High School homecoming parade, to be held Oct. 12 on Main Street; and approval of a letter of support for a Community Planning Assistance for Wildfire Program Grant Application.

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.

100218 Lakeport City Council agenda packet by LakeCoNews on Scribd

California State Controller Betty T. Yee has updated her Government Compensation in California Web site to include 2017 self-reported data for the University of California and California Community College districts – a total of 428,661 positions and more than $19.21 billion in wages.

The newly published data include 298,066 positions at 11 UC institutions, and 130,595 positions at 50 CCC districts.

The available data show nine of the top 10 highest-paid government employees in 2017 were at UC institutions.

The top two employees were athletics coaches, topping off with a salary of $3,689,042.

California law requires cities, counties, and special districts to annually report compensation data to the State Controller.

The state controller also maintains and publishes state government and California State University salary data. No such statutory requirement exists for superior courts, UC, community college districts, fairs and expositions, First 5 commissions, or K-12 education providers; their reporting is voluntary.

A list of entities that did not file or filed incomplete reports is available here.

Users of the site can:

· View compensation levels on maps and search for compensation by region;

· Narrow results by name of employer or by job title; and

· Export custom reports or raw data.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – After a four-year tenure, the commander of the Clear Lake Area office of the California Highway Patrol has retired, with plans to continue his successful and lifesaving efforts to educate student athletes and their families about congenital heart defects, which brought heartbreak to his own family.

Lt. Hector Paredes said he’s built close friendships and ties to the community since he arrived in Lake County in September 2014.

By the time he finished up work at the Clear Lake Area office in Kelseyville on Friday, Aug. 17, Paredes, now 58, had spent approximately 35 years and eight months in the California Highway Patrol.

At the time of his retirement he also was the senior ranking CHP lieutenant, with the longest tenure statewide. He’d held the lieutenant’s rank since March 1, 2001, and Clear Lake was his third and final command.

The CHP began advertising for Paredes’ successor during his last week in the job. He said the goal was to have a new commander selected by October.

And that goal has been accomplished: On Tuesday, the Clear Lake Area CHP office is set to welcome its new commander. Lt. Randy England, who is coming from Garberville.

Since Paredes left for retirement, Sgt. Steve Krul, the Clear Lake Area office’s senior sergeant, has served as acting commander.

Making the community safer

His four years in Lake County proved to be busy and productive for Paredes, whose command was tested in a string of disasters – both fire and flood.

The office’s more than two dozen officers assisted in evacuating thousands of Lake County residents out of the paths of eight devastating wildland fires and helped patrol evacuated communities, while also managing road and highway closures.

One of his officers, Steven Patrick, was injured when a Clearlake Oaks man went on an October 2017 shooting rampage that killed two others. Patrick was struck in his bulletproof vest and eventually helped pursue and capture the suspect. Paredes hailed Patrick as a hero.

Besides dealing with disasters and the daily challenges of protecting the public and patrolling highways in Lake County – where Paredes said roads can be dangerous, dark, windy and often only two lanes – Paredes collaborated closely with other agencies to solve problems.

In March 2016, when the Lakeport Police Department was facing a staffing shortage, Paredes reached an agreement with Chief Brad Rasmussen to handle traffic enforcement within the city on a limited basis.

Under Paredes’ leadership, the local CHP office also took part in community outreach, including the “Coffee with a Cop” events to connect law enforcement with area residents.

Paredes said the focus after he arrived was to reach out to all segments of the community and let them know the CHP was there to serve them. He also wanted to place more emphasis on education and what the CHP can do for county residents.

Paredes’ interest in education led to an increase in “Start Smart” classes for teen drivers, working with the organization Impact Teen Drivers on local educational outreach, and “Age Well, Drive Smart” courses for seniors. The classes were well received, and Paredes said the classes for seniors were always full.

He also managed to increase local CHP staffing, which is now up to 25 assigned officers and three sergeants. Paredes put in motion the work to secure another officer and another sergeant.

“It's hard because everyone is asking for more officers,” he said, but he nonetheless pushed forward because, as he noted, Lake County has many needs.

During his time in the county, Paredes – whose parents immigrated from El Salvador – said he saw a tremendous need for outreach in the Hispanic and tribal communities, and worked with partners to create a program to address their concerns and bridge gaps in their awareness of traffic laws.

Paredes said he has enjoyed the community’s warmth and its people, and said he took pleasure in working with his law enforcement peers, including Rasmussen, Sheriff Brian Martin, Bill Salata of State Parks and the Clearlake Police Department.

“We just get along great here,” he said.

During Paredes’ time in Lake County, state laws regulating and legalizing cannabis went into effect. He believes that California is years away from getting a proper handle on the impacts of those laws and on how cannabis use will impact users – especially those who drive.

In Lake County, Paredes said he could see the results of the CHP’s work more clearly as compared to bigger cities. “What they do out in the field makes a direct impact,” he said, explaining his staff are making contact with people and keeping the road safer.

His conclusions are based on statistical data the department keeps, he said. Paredes reviewed those numbers monthly, and he said overall services including enforcement contacts, have gone up.

The goal, he said, “is to make our community safer.”

The CHP also is working on a public trust initiative, supported by CHP Commissioner Warren Stanley.

Paredes said that every other week he received a great message or social media post about one of his officers who went out of their way to assist a community member. He said his officers frequently went above and beyond.

He added that earning public trust requires first acting from the heart.

On a lighter note, another question was posed to Paredes about the CHP: In an organization noted for its vehicles, he was asked to weigh in on the best patrol vehicle.

Without hesitation, Paredes said it was the 1994 Chevy Impala, which was very fast thanks to its Corvette engine. Even so, it was only in service in the CHP for a few years.

The Ford Mustang patrol cars used in the 1980s were powerful but had a short wheel base, so they could spin easily and weren’t good for young officers. “They went fast. And fast was fun,” he admitted.

He said the worst were the Dodge Diplomats, which were uncomfortable and had no power.

The Ford Crown Victorias eventually were phased out because they couldn’t support the weight of the equipment officers are required to carry.

In recent years, the CHP has transitioned to Ford Explorer SUVs. Paredes said he doesn’t like the SUVs as well because of their handling, although he said that has improved.

He said the CHP is now moving to Dodge Chargers, more of which are appearing around Lake County.



Labor of love, saving lives

Before his arrival in Lake County, Paredes formed the nonprofit Eric Paredes Save A Life Foundation, named for his son, who died in 2009 at age 17 from an undetected heart defect.

While working as Clear Lake’s commander, Paredes continued to run the foundation created to honor his son, and the organization is continuing to grow and rack up a list of accomplishments, from passing legislation to detecting student athletes with potentially fatal heart issues.

The organization’s latest statistics show its growing impact: To date, it has screened 28,707 teenagers, detected 462 cardiac abnormalities – of which 203 were at risk – and placed 88 automated external defibrillators in youth communities that it said are now protecting 75,188 hearts.

Eric Paredes died of long QT syndrome, a malfunction of the heart's electrical activity, Hector Paredes said.

Before that, Paredes said he’d never heard of such a thing.

Many people still don’t know about the dangers of such heart conditions, and confuse them with other problems, believing heart attacks are responsible, he said.

However, Paredes pointed out, “If people are collapsing in their 20s or younger, that's not a heart attack.”

Sudden cardiac arrest among youth is the single largest killer of student athletes, he said.

“We lose a teen about every three days,” said Paredes, noting he knows of three students in Lake County who died of it.

“It is preventable,” he said.

Paredes said his son was a contact sport athlete from the time he was small. He showed no symptoms of any problems leading up to his death.

It was after his son’s death that Paredes began to understand the widespread nature of heart health for children.

“You know that there are kids in this county walking around with an undiagnosed heart condition,” he said.

On a normal basis, he estimated that about 1.5 percent of the young people who his foundation screens are found to have an undiagnosed heart condition.

He said the foundation is now one of the largest nonprofits doing this type of screening work in the nation, and Duke University and other research entities have approached them because they want the data they’ve collected.

At the larger screening events in Southern California, they see up to 1,200 students, which usually requires about 120 volunteers, he said. There are usually a few students identified with heart conditions at each event.

If their basic heart tests find anything, the students are referred to their doctor to follow up with echocardiograms. Paredes said they don’t diagnose at screenings, but instead their medical director will follow up with the student’s doctor to share findings.

For some students, the solution is as simple as treatment with medicine. For others, some surgery may be required, he said.

Paredes said an enlarged heart is the leading cause of sudden cardiac death, and often results in students not being able to play sports. Most universities test everything but the heart, he said. “The literature isn't forcing them to do it.”

However, Paredes said concerns about concussion injury is “driving the needle” a little more when it comes to taking a new and more comprehensive approach to student athlete health.

Some leading doctors in Seattle are now championing the issue with the NCAA, and Paredes’ foundation is pushing more as literature comes out to support testing.

“There's no downside,” he said.

One of the foundation’s major achievement is the passage of a bill in the California Legislature.

In September 2016, Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB 1639, The Eric Paredes Sudden Cardiac Arrest Prevention Act.

Hector Paredes said the bill requires that all public school athletic coaches complete a webinar that teaches them to know the symptoms of sudden cardiac arrest.

The law also requires that a fact sheet about sudden cardiac death go home with children playing sports, and that both parents and children are required to read and sign them as pat of the education process, Paredes said.

He’s now pursuing an amendment to the legislation that would require the fact sheet go out to all families with children in grades kindergarten through 12th grade, regardless of whether or not they are playing sports. He said parents need to know certain symptoms may be related to the heart.

Paredes has another goal as well: To make electrocardiograms, or EKGs, mandatory for school sports physicals.

He said he was working with Lakeport Fire and Sutter Lakeside Hospital to set up screenings local for student athletes, an effort which was interrupted by the recent fires.

Paredes, however, still wants to see them established locally and plans to come back to help run them if the effort can get back on track.

Just a week after he retired, Paredes was back in San Diego, where the foundation was doing health screenings for student athletes ahead of school in an effort to save lives.

Paredes, who is the foundation’s president, wants to focus more of the foundation’s efforts on native communities. Habematolel Pomo Chair Sherry Treppa has connected him with tribal leaders in Southern California who he plans to meet with as part of that goal.

Follow the foundation on Twitter @EPSaveALife and Facebook, and visit its Web site for more information and ways to help.

A new chapter

When he arrived in Lake County, Paredes said he thought he would stay a few years and possibly move toward Sacramento. In the end, he stayed a few years longer than he had intended.

“The last couple of years I really connected with the community. I loved what we were doing here,” he said, adding that he also enjoyed the people.

Ultimately, he decided to head back south to San Diego, where he was raised; much of his family, including his daughter – who was married within a few weeks of his retirement – lives there, and he has kept a home there as well.

He enjoyed his time in the CHP immensely. “I can't believe they paid me to do this,” he said, sitting in his office on that final Friday.

There’s “an incredible amount of satisfaction that comes from knowing you were able to help,” he said.

“That's the part I think I will miss, that I was blessed to serve with this particular organization,” he explained.

“I was trained to help people and I've done that most of my adult life,” he added.

“It has been an honor to serve in this community, and that's what I take away,” he said. “I made a lot of great friends, a lot of caring people.”

Paredes also promised he’ll be back for visits in the future. But, not one to slow down, he’s already off and away on another adventure.

In 2012, Paredes hiked the Camino de Santiago, also known as the Pilgrimage of Compostela or the Way of St. James, the 500-mile-long route that stretches from southern France to northwest Spain and crosses the Pyrenees. Countless pilgrims have traveled the camino since the Middle Ages.

This month, Paredes and his 79-year-old father, Oscar, are following the path of the camino not on foot – but on bicycle.

On Sunday morning they took a break in Sahagún, Spain, after riding 26 miles, and are hoping to get to Leon, Spain, by day’s end, which is another 40 miles along on their ride.

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.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – In a solemn remembrance echoing centuries of firehouse tradition, uniformed firefighters, family members and grateful citizens gathered on Saturday in the heart of California’s capital to pay tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

The 16th annual California Firefighters Memorial Ceremony recognized 37 California firefighters who have died in the line of duty, whether from traumatic injury or job-related illness.

Their names were added to nearly 1,400 fellow fallen firefighters inscribed on the brushed limestone wall of the California Firefighters Memorial in Sacramento’s Capitol Park.

“These 37 fallen heroes are now inscribed into the history of California,” said Brian K. Rice, president of California Professional Firefighters and Chair of the California Fire Foundation “Forever after, our fellow citizens will look at this Memorial wall, touch the names etched into it and admire their courage. We miss them terribly, but we will never forget what they gave to all of us.”

The midday ceremony included a procession of uniformed firefighters through Capitol Park and presentation of flags to family members of the 37 honorees, including Ernesto Torres, surviving partner of slain Long Beach Fire Captain David Rosa, who presented the folded United States flag to Captain Rosa’s wife, Lynley Rosa.

Long Beach Battalion Chief Jeff Hardin also spoke in remembrance of Captain Rosa, who was gunned down this past June while responding to an explosion and fire. The ceremony concluded with the traditional ringing of the “Last Alarm.”

“California firefighters represent the very best our state has to offer. Today, we honor 37 heroes who sacrificed, who gave their life to protect us, to keep us safe,” said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. “We owe a debt to these 37 heroes and their families. We can do that best by giving our firefighters every resource they need to do their job well and safely.”

The memorial ceremony comes at a time when the cost of the job has been especially steep.

Among those being added to the memorial is Cal Fire firefighter Cory Iverson, who lost his life last December battling the Thomas Fire in Southern California.

This past summer, four more firefighters lost their lives battling California’s ferocious wildfires, including Draper City Fire Battalion Chief Matt Burchett, who died in August while fighting the Ranch fire portio of the Mendocino Complex.

Officials said those four firefighters will be honored at next year’s memorial ceremony.

Also in attendance was California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, California State Senate President pro tem Toni Atkins, State Senators Ricardo Lara and Richard Pan, Assemblymembers Jim Cooper, Ken Cooley, Freddie Rodriguez, Jose Medina, Kevin Kiley and Heath Flora, and Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg.

Unveiled in April of 2002, the California Firefighters Memorial features two stunning statues and a dramatic memorial wall on which the names of nearly 1,400 fallen firefighters are now engraved.

The memorial was created through private contributions to the California Fire Foundation, most of them directly from firefighters.

The annual ceremony is conducted by the California Fire Foundation, a nonprofit charitable organization created by California Professional Firefighters in 1987. The foundation’s mission is to aid fallen firefighter families and the communities they protect through an array of public education and victim assistance projects. California Professional Firefighters represents 30,000 career firefighters and paramedics. It has over 170 affiliated local unions, and is the State Council for the International Association of Fire Fighters.

It was originally just supposed to depict heroes of the American West – Red Cloud, Buffalo Bill Cody and Lewis and Clarke. But then Gutzon Borglum was tapped for the position of artist.

In reality, the project was a regional solution to a regional problem. You see, according to state historian Doane Robinson, the awe and splendor of the Black Hills of South Dakota were quick to wear off. “Tourists soon get fed up on scenery unless it has something of special interest connected with it to make it impressive,” he said.

Spoken like a historian and not a naturalist, to be sure.

Although many modern lovers of the great outdoors might disagree with Robinson today, back in the 1920s Americans loved to imprint their presence on the natural world. What better way to do that than carve American heroes into the sheer granite cliff of an imposing mountain?

The ambitious sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, full-heartedly agreed. When Robinson first approached Borglum about the project of Mt. Rushmore in 1924, the sculptor was working on another monumental sculpture in Georgia. Funded by the Stone Mountain Monumental Association, the artist had been commissioned to carve the leaders of the Confederacy onto the stone face of a Georgia mountain. But he was having some creative differences with the association.

Borglum’s vision was as monumental as his artwork and he was becoming fed up with the penny-pinching frugality of the association. They simply wanted him to depict Robert E. Lee, General Stonewall Jackson and maybe one or two other iconic figures – that’s all they could afford. Borglum, on the other hand, envisioned an entire stone army marching forth out of the sheer face of the cliff.

Robinson’s invitation to the Black Hills therefore came at a propitious moment for Borglum. He was already looking for an exit strategy and when he first walked in the shadows of the towering, precipitous South Dakota mountains, he saw the potential for a canvas suitable to the size of his vision. Here, he could make art on a grand scale. It took traipsing around the mountains to finally find the site fit for his masterpiece: Mt. Rushmore, named after an attorney who assessed mining claims in the area in the 1880s.

Having already worked out the logistics of sculpting on such a large scale, Borglum was eager to get to work on this new project. But, once again there was that pesky need for money. Mount Rushmore was part of federal land, but with the help of Robinson and other well-connected supporters, Borglum was able to get the mountain set aside for his project. Carving finally began on Oct. 4, 1927, and after wooing President Coolidge with the audacity of his vision and an invitation to the site, Borglum and team finagled federal funding a few years later.

With the funding secured, Borglum could now devote himself to his work. He pretty quickly vetoed Robinson’s earlier plan to depict only western heroes.

“I want to create a monument so inspiring that people from all over America will be drawn to come and look and go home better citizens,” said Borglum, in 1927.

For such a monument, the subject matter would have to be national in scope. So, he envisioned the monument depicting the first 150 years of America’s history, summed up in four presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt.

That was not all, of course. The ambitious sculptor had also envisioned a grand staircase, built from the rubble blasted from the mountain, to climb from the base to just behind the President’s heads. There, a Hall of Records would hold the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, a record of American history, information about the four presidents and an explanation for why Mount Rushmore was built.

The only reason he wasn’t able to sculpt the presidents down to their waists was because of an impenetrable layer of mica schist. So, he had to resign himself to six-story tall visages.

In the end, Borglum’s grand plans were cut to size by reality. The first blow came when the artist himself died in 1941 at the age of 73. Although his son, Lincoln, took over operations of the great monument, America’s impending entry into World War II forestalled any additional work on the site, and construction was ended on Mt. Rushmore, with the monument declared complete, as is, on October 31, 1941.

Although the ultimate scope of his plan was never realized, any visitor to Mt. Rushmore today can attest to the awe and majesty of what Borglum was able to accomplish.

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.