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I am pleased to report that Lake County and I have reached an agreement to repay taxpayers for the entire $59,000 cost of removing my crane which accidentally sunk into Clear Lake during a major storm in 2010.
This agreement makes the taxpayers whole and requires me to fully compensate the county for all the expenses it incurred in removing and disposing of the crane.
This was a difficult situation and I appreciate the diligence of our county leaders in working to negotiate a tough, but fair, repayment plan.
The accidental sinking of the crane occurred over five years ago and created no safety concerns or negative environmental impacts to the lake.
I transferred ownership of the crane to the county after its removal. The county then received $ 4,000 in revenues for selling the crane as scrap metal. My agreement with the county provides a complete repayment for the remaining $55,000.
Most residents of Lakeport were fully aware of this situation when they elected me as their city councilmember in November of 2012. Unfortunately, that did not stop Supervisor Farrington and his hand-picked replacement candidate from trying to play politics with the crane agreement. Hopefully, the repayment plan I’ve signed with the county will put an end to their sorry political attacks.
The crane agreement is a financial win for the taxpayers and I thank the citizens of Lake County for your patience and understanding.
Martin Scheel is a member of the city council for Lakeport, Calif., and a candidate in the District 4 supervisorial race.
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The two candidates in the race for the District 1 supervisorial seat fielded questions from community members at an event last week.
The Middletown Area Town Hall hosted the forum for candidates Monica Rosenthal and Jose “Moke” Simon III at the Middletown Community Center on Sept. 8. MATH Chairman Fletcher Thornton moderated the meeting.
Rosenthal and Simon are running to succeed Supervisor Jim Comstock, who is retiring.
The two candidates fielded 24 questions in just under an hour and a half on numerous topics, including marijuana cultivation, protecting the area's water supply, encouraging economic growth, their thoughts on the Wild Diamond Vineyards project, their priorities, who they would select for their planning commissioner, planning for District 1's future, and how to improve public safety and law enforcement.
In the video above, the forum begins at the 14:50 mark and continues for the remainder of the meeting.
California Controller Betty T. Yee has updated her Government Compensation in California Web site to include 2015 self-reported data for special districts.
Special districts are government entities created by a local community to meet a specific need.
The data covers 151,796 positions and a total of nearly $7.77 billion in wages and approximately $2.56 billion in retirement and health care costs for 2,981 special districts.
The new data show that fire protection districts had nine of the 10 highest average salaries in 2015. The top three were the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District and the Chino Valley Independent Fire District.
The three special districts with the biggest overall payrolls were the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District and Palomar Health District.
The three entities with the highest average retirement and health care costs were the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District, the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District and the Novato Fire Protection District.
In Lake County, the three special districts with the largest payroll, retirement and benefits packages are as follows, with average wages and retirement and health costs listed in order: Hidden Valley Lake Community Services District, $48,647, $18,594; Lake County Vector Control District, $40,932, $18,513; and Kelseyville Fire Protection District, $33,373, and $12,560.
Overall, the new data show the number of special district employees statewide went up almost 7.3 percent, while average wages increased by 2.2 percent in 2015. Total retirement and health costs went up by almost 8 percent. The “total retirement and health cost” line sometimes includes payments toward the net pension liabilities of the retirement plan.
In all, 36 special districts failed to file the required reports, and another eight provided non-compliant reports, meaning they were incomplete, in the wrong format, or received after the deadline and still under review.
In Lake County, the Buckingham Park Water District failed to file the required paperwork, according to the controller's Web site.
Since the government compensation Web site was launched in 2010, it has registered nearly nine million page views. The site now contains information on more than two million jobs in California, as reported by each government entity.
Users of the site can:
· View compensation levels on maps and search for compensation by region;
· Narrow results by name of entity or by job title;
· Build charts; and
· Export custom reports or raw data.
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – On Monday, Sept. 12, St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake employees, providers and volunteers gathered for a special event marking the one-year anniversary of the Valley fire and honoring the service of local first responders during the fires of 2015 and 2016.
Organization staff were also recognized during the “Reflect, Recognize & Renew” program for their dedication to providing care to the community during each incident.
Special presentations were made to local first responders, including the Cal Fire Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit, Clearlake Police Department, Lake County Fire Protection District and Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
The chiefs or representatives from these local agencies received standing ovations from the nearly 350 hospital employees, providers, and state, county and city leaders gathered in the large white tent in the hospital parking lot.
“This event was an incredible opportunity for each of us to demonstrate our solidarity with Lake County and with each other,” said David Santos, president and chief executive officer of St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake. “It was meaningful to commemorate this occasion together and to express our deep gratitude to our community’s heroes and our remarkable team.”
Chief Willie Sapeta of the Lake County Fire Protection District praised the hospital for its quick response after receiving evacuation orders during the Clayton fire and commented on the close teamwork between incident commander and Vice President of Patient Care Colleen Assavapisitkul, Emergency Management Coordinator Rick Sanchez and local leaders.
Cal Fire Division Chief Greg Bertelli and Battalion Chief Mike Wink presented David Santos and each county supervisor with challenge coins in recognition of their leadership during the wildfires.
The event also gave hospital and clinic employees the opportunity to reflect on the impact the wildfires had on each person and the organization.
Dozens of employees lost their homes in the Valley fire, three more lost homes in the Clayton fire and numerous employees were evacuated in the various blazes.
Still, the hospital continued to operate during the Rocky, Jerusalem and Valley fires, and outpatient centers provided crucial patient care during each of the incidents.
“You have inspired our entire system, from the Pacific North West to Southern California,” Jeff Eller, president of Adventist Health’s Northern California Region, told the crowd.
Eller announced a grant of $300,000 to St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake from Adventist Health, funds that will be used to continue extending the hospital’s mission of health and hope.
The event concluded with a focus on hope and resilience, as well as a moment of silence in memory of all that was lost in the fires of 2015 and 2016 and the many who continue to rebuild their lives.
St. Helena Hospital’s director of Community Wellness, Shelly Mascari, invited people touched by the fires to stand, until the entire tent was on their feet holding electric candles.
“Hope starts with each of us,” Mascari said. “No matter what we do, we each have the opportunity to be the light for our patients, our coworkers and our community.”
LUCERNE, Calif. – Friends of Locally Owned Water, or FLOW, will meet on Saturday, Sept. 17.
The group will meet for its regular board meeting at 11 a.m. at the Northshore Community Center – formerly the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center – located at 10th and Country Club.
Public comment is welcome.
Health leaders are challenging communities statewide to find creative, innovative ways to improve the health of all Californians.
The California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHS) and California Department of Public Health (CDPH) have announced the second annual Innovation Challenge from Let’s Get Healthy California, a statewide collaborative effort to improve the health of every Californian.
Innovation Challenge 2.0 encourages community and health advocates across the state to share ideas and projects they are working on that will help achieve this goal.
“California is known for setting the pace, spurring innovation, and improving health,” said CHHS Secretary Diana S. Dooley. “Through this Innovation Challenge, Let’s Get Healthy California encourages all of us – state policymakers to local communities to individuals – to find groundbreaking ways that will help make California the healthiest state in the nation.”
Let’s Get Healthy California invites community, health, and human services advocates, health care and human services providers, community and faith-based organizations, nonprofits, civic data enthusiasts and visionary practitioners to participate and share their solutions and ideas for Innovation Challenge 2.0.
Submissions for Innovation Challenge 2.0 began Sept. 14, 2016. To submit an innovation, or for more information, visit the Let’s Get Healthy California Web site or email
This year’s Challenge is focused on what are called the “social determinants of health,” defined as the conditions in which people are born and live.
Some of these social determinants include safe housing, hunger, poverty, quality of education, lack of jobs or job training, public safety, discrimination, racism, exposure to toxic substances, and exposure to crime and violence.
“Every year, we learn more about how profoundly the conditions in which we begin our lives and where and how we live those lives affect our health,” said CDPH Director and State Public Health Officer Dr. Karen Smith. “Health begins in our homes, schools, workplaces, neighborhoods and communities. To have healthy people and healthy communities, we have to create the social and physical environments that give every Californian the opportunities we need to be healthy.”
Last year, Innovation Challenge 1.0 received nearly 100 innovations. One of last year’s Innovation finalists was “Ending Hunger in Orange County,” submitted by the Waste Not OC Coalition.
“Since last year’s Innovation Challenge, we’ve collected more than 280 tons of food,” says Dr. Eric Handler, Orange County public health officer. “Instead of restaurants and grocery stores simply throwing away their unused food, Waste Not OC collects that food and distributes it to feed the hungry. With this one simple idea, I believe we will end hunger in Orange County.”
Finalists will be selected and announced this fall and will be highlighted at the statewide Innovation Conference 2.0 in early 2017. Selected submissions will also be featured on the Let’s Get Healthy California Web site.