How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
News
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
LUCERNE – After gaining ground in recent months, the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center is once again facing a challenge following the state's seizure of thousands of dollars from the center's bank accounts because of past unpaid state taxes.
Center Executive Director Lee Tyree said the center's accounts were essentially drained last week by a levy from the State Franchise Tax Board's Industrial Health and Safety Collections department.
The State Franchise Tax Board has told the center it owes more than $10,000, said Tyree.
On July 31, without warning, the state took $7,000 out of the center's accounts, said Tyree.
“It wiped us out,” she said. “We couldn't even make payroll.”
A State Franchise Tax Board spokesman told Lake County News on Monday he was looking into the matter to see if the agency could offer a comment on the action this week.
The State Franchise Tax Board is responsible for California's two major tax programs – personal income tax and corporation tax, according to the agency's Web site. It's also responsible for collecting back wages for the state's labor board.
Last August, the center reached a tax settlement of just over $33,000 with the Internal Revenue Service for unpaid federal taxes, an amount the center was able to pay after selling its thrift shop building to the county for $150,000.
Center officials at the time said those taxes had not been paid by Rowland Mosser, 63, who served as the center's executive director from July 2002 to August 2005, as Lake County News has reported.
In April Mosser was arrested for felony embezzlement, grand theft by an employee, grand theft and keeping a false record of government funds in connection with funds that allegedly went missing from the center. Former center board president Jim Swatts said previously he believes as much as $200,000 was unaccounted for in the center's finances.
Mosser's wife, Jayne, 60, also was arrested in April on a felony grand theft charge.
A week before the state levy hit, Tyree said the IRS also levied the center's accounts for $1,800 and required the center show proof that it had paid income tax for 2004 before returning the funds.
Those were taxes that had been settled last year, said Tyree. “And we had to prove it to them again.”
In this latest issue there are labor board claims involved. Tyree said two past employees, hired by Mosser, reported to the board that they were owed for past wages.
Mosser, who has an upcoming court date in his embezzlement case, also has a claim against the center for $5,400 in vacation pay amassed between 2002 and 2005 for which he has claimed he has not been paid, according to Tyree.
“That hasn't gone through yet,” she said.
Brad Onorato, district representative for Congressman Mike Thompson, said Thompson's office and the office of state Assembly member Patty Berg are trying to work with the Franchise Tax Board to see if they can put a hold on the board's actions against the center.
“We're not quite certain if we're going to be successful,” said Onorato. “It's going to take a couple of days until we really know.”
District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing said the county also is monitoring the situation.
Besides buying the thrift shop last year to help the center pay its bills, the county also has been trying to secure the building from further deterioration, said Rushing. That includes setting aside $30,000 earlier this year to help replace the building's leaking roof.
Rushing said the county will look at further action to help the center but needs to make sure it's on a “solid financial footing” before they do much more.
Struggling to keep the center going
Tyree said the state's levy drained all the center's money to support its Meals on Wheels program.
The center serves Meals on Wheels to seniors from Blue Lakes to Paradise Cove, and from Elk Mountain over toward the area of the Passion Play grounds off of Highway 29, Tyree said.
“We're back to square one again,” said Tyree, who called the situation “very, very sad.”
She said it costs at least $1,000 a week to cover expenses for Meals on Wheels and congregate meals served at the center during the week, she said.
Tyree said many people have stepped up to the plate, including volunteers and community members who are making donations out of their own pockets to keep the center going. The center was current on its bills for the levy took place, Tyree noted.
The center has received help on another front, said Tyree.
She said the building's cooling system had broken down and seniors weren't coming for meals because the building was too hot.
Former Supervisor Louise Talley called Piedmont Lumber and spoke to manager Ted Mandrones, who sent out a two-man crew within three hours to install a commercial-grade swamp cooler. Tyree said she was very grateful to the company for its help.
Tyree said the center is seeking contributions and more help in order to keep the doors open. “At the moment we need all the donations we can get,” she said.
For information on how to help call the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center at 274-8779.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
UPPER LAKE – An acclaimed muralist whose work can be seen in Upper Lake and in Lakeport has won a $1.1 million art desecration lawsuit for a downtown Los Angeles mural that was painted over.
Kent Twitchell, 65, is known locally for painting Upper Lake antique shop owner Tony Oliveira in western attire on the side of a building in Upper Lake, a town where Twitchell also lived for a time in recent years.
His work also is featured on the ceiling of the former Bank of Italy on Second and Main streets in downtown Lakeport, which now houses the antique shop Traditions.
But Twitchell also is a world-renowned muralist, whose best-known works are on display in Southern California.
One of those works was called the “Ed Ruscha Monument,” a 70-foot-high painting on the side of a building at 1031 S. Hill St. which Twitchell created between 1978 and 1987. The painting depicts an important Los-Angeles-based pop artist.
In 2006, the building – owned by the US Department of Labor and occupied by the Job Corps – underwent repair and the six-story-tall mural was intentionally painted over, according to Sheldon Mak Rose and Anderson PC, the Pasadena law firm that represented Twitchell.
Twitchell sued the US government and 12 other defendants for painting over the mural, citing the Federal Visual Artists Rights Act and California Art Preservation Act, the firm reported.
Under those laws, Twitchell was to have received prior notification of the government's wish to have the mural removed so he could make arrangements to preserve it. The law requires a 90-day notice, said William Brutocao, Twitchell's attorney.
The US Department of Labor did not respond to Lake County News' request for a comment on the case.
Twitchell originally asked for $5.5 million, said Brutocao. The negotiated final settlement reached late in April was for $1.1 million, believed to be the largest settlement ever reached under the Federal Visual Artists Rights and California Art Preservation Acts. The U.S. Government is contributing $250,000 to the settlement amount.
“This settlement sets an important precedent which will benefit other artists,” Twitchell said in a written statement. “This resolution makes it clear that when it comes to public art, you have to respect the artist’s rights, or incur significant liability.”
Brutocao said who is responsible for deciding to paint over the mural “remains kind of a mystery.” While the government owns the building, they have other people running it. He doesn't think there was a conscious decision to set out to destroy the mural, and attributes the painting over of the mural to a “bureaucratic snafu.”
If Twitchell had been given the notice, he would have removed the mural or negotiated to keep it in place, Brutocao said.
Art consultants have determined that it may still be possible to salvage the 11,000 square-foot mural, although it may be difficult and expensive. Brutocao said it will involve a complicated method using a small machine resembling a jack hammer to remove the outer layers of paint.
“It effectively sort of peels off like wallpaper,” he said.
From the time of the ruling going into effect in April, Twitchell – now living primarily in Southern California – has 14 months to remove the mural, Brutocao said.
Twitchell – who Brutocao called “a treasure” – is happy to have the lawsuit behind him. “This has been a distraction and a burden for him,” said Brutocao.
Defacement of Twitchell's art also has been a problem in Lake County. Several years ago Oliveira's portrait was the victim of graffiti. Following Twitchell's restoration of the work, it was covered by a door that protects the painting, which is displayed only at certain times.
The money wasn't what motivated Twitchell in the suit, said Brutocao. “That's not important to him. What's important to him is to create works of art.”
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Steven Russell Mitten, 18, was arrested late Saturday following a crash that occurred shortly before 10 p.m., according to California Highway Patrol Officer Adam Garcia.
Garcia said Mitten was driving a 1990 Jeep Wrangler eastbound on Soda Bay Road east of Montezuma Way in the Clearlake Riviera when he crossed the double yellow lines. As a result he collided head-on with a 1993 Mercury taxi cab heading westbound and driven by 43-year-old Peter Green of Clearlake.
Green sustained major injuries and was taken by REACH air ambulance to Sutter Lakeside Hospital. From there he was later transferred to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, Garcia said.
Mitten also was transported by REACH to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, said Garcia, where he was treated then released into CHP custody.
Garcia said Mitten was suspected of driving while under the influence of alcohol and was arrested on a felony charge of DUI causing bodily injury. He has since posted the $7,000 bail and been released, according to jail records.
Officer Randy Forslund is investigating the incident, Garcia said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Dave Geck, who heads Lake County's Office of of Education, returned from vacation last week. The grand jury report was released on July 9, the day before he left for a scheduled trip to Alaska.
During his first week back on the job the report was the “main thing on my desk,” Geck said.
“I was really upset and mostly concerned about the issues surrounding fairness and accuracy,” Geck said of the report, which he called “inflammatory.”
The report offered two pages of findings but no final recommendations, noting that the investigation is ongoing and will continue with the newly seated grand jury.
Some of the report's findings raised issues with hiring practices, qualifications of an administrator awarded a new position that gave that person an additional $25,000 a year in salary, a pattern of “exorbitant spending” by one administrator in charge of grant programs, hostile work conditions and fear of retaliation from the office's administration.
Because of the highly confidential nature of the grand jury's work, grand jury Foreman Brondell Locke can't comment on the investigation or elaborate on the findings in the report.
Geck said he was concerned that, by listing facts and findings without the investigation being completed, “the impression is, that this is all true.”
He said he and his staff were asked to testify before the grand jury but given little information ahead of time in order to prepare. Had they known more about the grand jury's questions, Geck said they could have provided the necessary information about department policies and procedures.
Geck said he's planning to make a formal response to the report in order to “clear the air.” The response is due 60 days from the July 9 report release date.
To what does he attribute the report?
“What I believe is there are probably employees who felt they weren't treated fairly,” he said. “Whether they were treated fairly or not is a different question.”
Geck who has been in education for 34 years, said he's not sure why those employees would have taken their complaints to the grand jury, when such matters usually are handled through a process that includes representation for the employee. “So I'm not sure exactly what the intent was.”
He said he can't comment publicly about the personnel issues the report raises. But he said he's willing to share personnel files with the grand jury, and would have done so already if they had provided him with a list of files they wanted to see.
“We have information to share with the grand jury, and we will,” he said. “We're taking it very seriously what they're saying.”
Looking closer at report's findings
Geck said he and his staff are looking at the need for an internal investigation to look at the grand jury's findings. So far, there has been no meeting scheduled between him and the grand jury to discuss the matter, but he said he anticipates contacting Locke to set up a time to talk.
One of the grand jury's findings said one administrator spent more than $9,000 in one year on meal and lodging reimbursement, including expenses for people not employed by the Lake County Office of Education.
Geck said to determine if that amount was appropriate, they have to look at the program involved and what expenditures – such as travel and conferences – that are tied to the program's goals. While it may look like an excessive amount to members of the public, it may not necessarily be out of line.
“We're going to look at all of that,” he said.
Expenditures extending to people outside of the Office of Education may be either for people from other districts or members of the business community who sometimes are invited to participate in certain trips, he said.
Geck added that the state requires annual audits of the Office of Education's finances by an outside auditor.
Regarding allegations of a hostile work environment, Geck said his staff also is looking into that. He said he has never had a written complaint listing a hostile work environment or issues of mental abuse the grand jury report cited.
There are many different departments and programs in the Office of Education, he said. “It could be in a part of the organization, we don't know that.”
Geck said he also can explain to the grand jury about the administrator who received a position that gave them a $25,000 a year salary increase.
The report said the position that administrator received was a new one, created in 2007. “The position's existed in the county office for seven or eight years, so it wasn't a new position,” said Geck.
It was, however, posted internally only, which Geck said is done frequently.
Office of Education Human Resources Director Ed Skeen confirmed that the position existed previously.
Another report finding raised issues of proper certifications for some administrative staff.
Skeen said there is a “strange phenomenon” when it comes to credentialing for teachers and administrators. He estimated 75 to 80 percent of local credential applications go through his office, and his staff reviews all qualifications for those.
However, some credential applications take other routes through colleges or universities, which then send letters to the state recommending certification upon completion of a program.
It's possible in those cases, said Skeen, that the person receiving the credential may not be qualified, but his office wouldn't have access to the qualifying criteria. “We do not see every single credential application or supporting documentation.”
He was careful to add, “I'm not questioning anybody's credential status.”
Skeen said the grand jury's report identified issues to look at that the Office of Education also had identified as needing attention, although he did not specify what those were.
The grand jury's approach, he added, appears to be fair-minded.
“I think there's some validity to their interest” in some areas, he said, adding that they might be misled on other areas.
If mistakes were made, they'll be fixed, said Geck.
While the grand jury report indicated an investigation is still under way, Geck added, “The other side of the story is, we're in process, too.”
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
{mos_sb_discuss:3}