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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Clearlake City Council this week will continue a hearing on the appeal of a cannabis operation approved by the Clearlake Planning Commission in November.
The council will meet in closed session at 5 p.m. to hold negotiations for property at 6820, 6828 and 6885 Old Highway 53 between the city, Sutter Equities and Margetich Development Inc. before the council convenes in open session at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 20, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.
The meeting will be broadcast live on the city's YouTube channel or the Lake County PEGTV YouTube Channel. Community members also can participate via Zoom or can attend in person.
The agenda can be found here.
Comments and questions can be submitted in writing for City Council consideration by sending them to City Clerk Melissa Swanson at
To give the council adequate time to review your questions and comments, please submit your written comments before 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 20.
Each public comment emailed to the city clerk will be read aloud by the mayor or a member of staff for up to three minutes or will be displayed on a screen. Public comment emails and town hall public comment submissions that are received after the beginning of the meeting will not be included in the record.
The meeting will feature an appearance by one of January’s adoptable dogs.
On the agenda is a public hearing, continued from Jan. 6, on the Clearlake Planning Commission's approval of conditional use permit applications and approval of the corresponding mitigated negative declaration for commercial cannabis operations located at 2185 Ogulin Canyon Road (Ogulin Hills, LLC).
City documents indicate that the project on the 21.25-acre parcel includes two 5,000 square foot manufacturing and processing buildings, a 3,000 square foot building for distribution, retail delivery only and the office, 10 greenhouses totaling 18,750 square feet, five 5,000-gallon water storage tanks, a parking lot, loading areas, and related site and security improvements.
The council held a lengthy hearing on the matter on Jan. 6. Staff is recommending denial of the appeal, filed by Dave Hughes.
Following that hearing, the council will consider Ordinance No. 258-2022, approving a development agreement for Ogulin Canyon Holdings LLC to allow a cannabis operation at 2185 Ogulin Canyon Road.
Under council business, council members will review and approve the submittal of the fiscal year 2022-23 recognized obligation payment schedule for the period of July 1, 2022.
Submission of six-month recognized obligation payment schedules for approval to the State Department of Finance is required under AB 1484 as part of the dissolution of redevelopment agencies and state control over the release of former property tax increment funds by the county to the successor agency, according to Finance Director Kelcey Young’s report to the council.
On the meeting's consent agenda — items that are not considered controversial and are usually adopted on a single vote — are warrants; authorization of an amendment of agreement with ECORP Consulting Inc. for extended environmental/archaeological services for the Dam Road Roundabout Project in the amount of $17,000; continuation of authorization to implement and utilize teleconference accessibility to conduct public meetings pursuant to Assembly Bill 361; continuation of declaration of local emergency issued on Aug. 18, 2021, and ratified by council action on Aug. 19, 2021; continuation of declaration of local emergency issued on Aug. 23, 2021, and ratified by council action on Sept. 16, 2021; continuation of declaration of local emergency issued on March 14, 2020, and ratified by council action on March 19, 2020; award of contract for design services for the ATP Dam Road/South Center Improvement Project; amendment of construction contract for additional work for the 2021 Measure V Improvement Project in an amount of up to $180,000; and approval of the continuation of planning services agreement with Price Consulting Services (Gary Price) to extend the contract through Dec. 31, 2023, and increase the contract by an amount not to exceed $70,000.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: JASON SCHACHTER, PETE BORSELLA AND ANTHONY KNAPP
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted international migration patterns both to and from the United States, resulting in the lowest levels of international migration in decades and affecting the data typically used to measure migration flows.
Net international migration, or NIM, added 247,000 to the nation's population between 2020 and 2021, according to U.S. Census Bureau July 1, 2021 population estimates released today.
This is a notable drop from last decade’s high of 1,049,000 between 2015 and 2016. This is also lower than the 477,000 added between 2019 and 2020, which overlapped with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Most COVID restrictions remained in place over the 2021 estimates year (July 1, 2020-June 30, 2021), greatly reducing the movement of people to and from the country.
For example, through June 2021, land borders between the United States, Mexico and Canada remained closed to non-essential travel and three-fourths of U.S. consulates abroad, which issue visas, remained closed.
Travel restrictions from certain countries remained in place and despite changes in immigration policies, the tremendous backlog for issuing visas and settling refugees continued.
All these disruptions required an adjustment to our NIM estimates to reflect the impact of COVID-19 on international migration.
Using publicly available administrative data sources, we adjusted our American Community Survey (ACS)-based NIM estimates based on trends seen with these data, which more accurately reflected migration patterns during the pandemic period. This resulted in the lowest NIM totals in decades.
International migration trends
After last decade’s peak from 2015 to 2016, NIM declined between 2016 and 2019, reflecting three major trends:
• Declining immigration of the foreign born.
• Increasing emigration of the foreign born.
• Changes in Puerto Rican migration following Hurricane Maria in September 2017.
The decline in NIM since 2020 can be attributed in part to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated changes in migration policy.
Florida, Texas, New York, California, and Massachusetts typically gain the most migrants from abroad and comprise about half of NIM for the nation most years.
All five of these states saw decreases in NIM between 2015 and 2021, including a nearly 50% drop from 2020 to 2021.
California experienced the largest decline of these states (both in numeric and percent change) from 148,000 in 2015 to 15,000 in 2021.
Adjusting methodology for COVID-19
In addition to reducing levels of migration, the pandemic also affected data collection. It had a particularly significant impact on the 2020 ACS, which would have been the basis for most of our Vintage 2021 NIM estimates.
The ACS sample was greatly reduced — one-third of the interviewed survey sample was lost — after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which disproportionately affected certain groups and resulted in nonresponse bias in the estimates for the foreign born.
The data collection issues experienced by the 2020 ACS severely affected data quality, so the Census Bureau only released experimental estimates from the 1-year data.
As a result, we decided the 2020 ACS was not a good fit for our purposes, and instead adjusted 2019 ACS data based on trends noted in administrative data between 2019 and 2021.
Administrative sources used included data from the U.S. Department of Justice, the Institute of International Education, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the U.S. State Department Bureau of Consular Affairs and Refugee Processing Center.
Given immigration trends seen in 2019-2021 administrative data and the strong historical relationship between these data and foreign-born immigration ACS estimates, we reduced our 2019 ACS-based estimate by the same degree.
The adjustment factor was created by calculating the percent difference between administrative sources measuring immigration in estimate years 2019 and 2021.
This provided a reasonable adjustment for our foreign-born immigration component, which we then applied to other NIM components (excluding net migration between the United States and Puerto Rico).
We worked under the assumption that the reduction in immigration during the pandemic also applied to both foreign-born emigration and net native migration.
Jason Schachter is chief of the International Migration Branch in the U.S. Census Bureau’s Population Division. Pete Borsella and Anthony Knapp are demographers in the International Migration Branch.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278 or visit the shelter online for information on visiting or adopting.
The following cats at the shelter have been cleared for adoption.
‘Chowder’
“Chowder” is a 4-year-old female domestic shorthair cat with a calico coat.
She is in cat room kennel No. 15, ID No. LCAC-A-982.
‘Blackette’
“Blackette” is a young male domestic shorthair with a black and white coat.
He is in kennel No. 53b, ID No. LCAC-A-2385.
‘Blackie’
“Blackie” is a young male domestic shorthair with a black and white coat.
He is in cat room kennel No. 53c, ID No. LCAC-A-2386.
Male domestic shorthair
This young male domestic shorthair has a unique striped gray tabby coat.
He is in cat room kennel No. 53d, ID No. LCAC-A-2383.
Male domestic shorthair kitten
This male domestic shorthair kitten has an orange tabby coat.
He is in cat room kennel No. 96a, ID No. LCAC-A-1871.
Male domestic shorthair kitten
This male domestic shorthair kitten has an orange tabby coat.
He is in cat room kennel No. 96c, ID No. LCAC-A-1873.
Female domestic shorthair kitten
This female domestic shorthair kitten has an orange tabby coat.
She is in cat room kennel No. 96d, ID No. LCAC-A-1874.
Female domestic shorthair kitten
This female domestic shorthair kitten has a gray tabby coat.
She is in cat room kennel No. 101a, ID No. LCAC-A-1945.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Board of Supervisors has appointed a new agricultural commissioner, a Lake County native who also will be the first woman to hold the position.
The board emerged from closed session at 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 11, to announce the appointment of Katherine Vanderwall as agricultural Commissioner/Sealer of Weights and Measures.
Her appointment is effective Feb. 12.
She will succeed Steve Hajik, Lake County’s longest-serving agricultural commissioner. Hajik retires in February after 20 years of service in the job.
Born and raised in Lake County, Vanderwall brings experience, insight and lived-in local perspective. She is also a highly connected and respected statewide authority. This combination carries great promise for a critical local industry, the county reported.
“Agriculture is a key facet of Lake County’s economy, and it is important to have a Commissioner in place that understands the unique opportunities and challenges our local farmers experience,” said Board Chair Eddie Crandell. “No one could be better positioned to step into this role than Katherine, and we are very excited she has stepped up to serve Lake County communities in this new and expanded way.”
For the past five years, Vanderwall has served as deputy agricultural commissioner and sealer of weights and measures, supporting the work of the department she will soon lead.
In total, she has been in service with the county of Lake for 14 years, starting as an entry-level biologist. Over that time, she has worked hard to expand her qualifications and contributions to her department and County residents.
Now, Vanderwall is fully licensed by the California Department of Food and Agriculture as both an Agricultural Commissioner and Sealer of Weights and Measures.
She is a past president of the California Association of Standards and Agricultural Professionals and received the association’s Distinguished Service Award in 2021. Vanderwall also holds a Bachelor of Science degree from UC Davis, and earned a Senior Executive Credential from the California State Association of Counties’ CSAC Institute, also in 2021.
Many county residents and leaders know Vanderwall from her service on the Executive Board for Lake County’s 4H program and her annual Ag Venture presentations.
“It was a great privilege for me to make the Motion to appoint Katherine to this critical County leadership role,” enthuses Tina Scott, vice chair and District 4 supervisor. “She brings a strong theoretical understanding and lived-in, local experience. Our board is truly looking forward to seeing how the relationships and knowledge Katherine has developed will benefit all Lake County residents in the years to come.”
As commissioner and sealer, Vanderwall will build on effective partnerships with local farmers, gas station and grocery store owners and staff and other stakeholders to promote sustainable success.
Vanderwall said she will be able to hit the ground running because of her experience and familiarity with the programs the department administers and the relationships that have been built.
She said her previous work has given her the opportunity to promote agriculture, as well as protect consumers by building equity in the marketplace.
Serving her home County in such a vital role is truly a logical next step for Vanderwall.
“I sincerely care for the well-being of the communities we serve and staff in the department,” Vanderwall said.