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The meeting originally had been scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 12.
However, Superintendent Tim Gill told Lake County News that the meeting has been postponed until 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 18.
“One of our board members is in Covid quarantine,” he wrote in an email. “With the vaccine mandate resolution on the agenda, we want all of our board members present.”
The Middletown Unified board is set to consider, for the second time, a resolution that asks that state not to mandate the COVID-19 vaccination for its students and staff.
It’s a resolution identical to those approved last month by the Lakeport Unified, Lucerne Elementary and Konocti Unified school boards.
Middletown Unified’s trustees originally had considered the resolution at its Dec. 15 meeting.
That was the first board meeting for new board members Annette Lee and Allison Berlogar, appointed Dec. 1 to fill two vacancies that resulted this fall from the resignations of LaTrease Walker and Thad Owens.
At that time, Lee suggested alternate language that emphasized choice, calling for the district to uphold California citizens’ rights to provide informed consent and to petition the state to ensure and maintain the personal belief exemption in any and all upcoming COVID-19 legislation.
The board ultimately didn’t accept that language and put off taking action on the resolution.
However, Lee’s attempt at taking all sides into account has made her the target of a petition to challenge her provisional appointment. Berlogar’s appointment has not been challenged and so has gone into effect.
The Lake County Office of Education is working with the Registrar of Voters Office to verify the signatures on the petitions, a process that must be completed by the end of this month.
In the meantime, the board is going to take up the resolution again. No changes have been made to it since it was considered last month.
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011222 MUSD COVID Resolution by LakeCoNews on Scribd
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The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 13, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.
The agenda is here.
To participate in real-time, join the Zoom meeting by clicking this link.
The webinar ID is 969 1770 2795, the pass code is 102691.
Access the meeting via one tap mobile at +16699006833,,96917702795#,,,,*102691# or dial in at 669-900-6833.
The meeting also can be viewed on the county’s website or Facebook page.
In an item timed for 9:10 a.m., the commission will hold a public hearing to consider an amendment to a major use permit, adoption of a major use permit and an addendum to a mitigated negative declaration for Hilltop Recovery Services Inc.
Located at 14725 Catholic Church Road in Clearlake Oaks, Hilltop Recovery Services is proposing to expand its substance abuse rehabilitation treatment facility to allow a total maximum capacity of 20 residents to serve only women in an existing residential home to be converted as a treatment facility.
The staff report says planning staff recommend approval of the project.
On Thursday, the commission also will hold public hearings on three cannabis projects, two located in Kelseyville and one in Middletown.
The full agenda follows.
AGENDA
9:05 a.m.: Public hearing on consideration of a major use permit (UP 20-75) and a mitigated negative declaration (IS 20-88). The project applicant North Coast Select Inc., is proposing a co-location/clustering of permits for cannabis cultivation operation to allow 70,560 square feet mixed-light canopy area within greenhouses equipped with air filtration systems in a total of 168,680 square feet cultivation area. The project includes additional greenhouses for immature plants, a processing facility, a drying building, thirty-two 2,500 gallon water tanks, security and a perimeter fence. The project is located at 1496 Bell Hill Road, Kelseyville; and further described as A.P.N. (s): 017-002-02, 007-010-24, and 017-002-01.
9:10 a.m.: Public hearing on consideration of an amendment to major use permit (UP 15-15), to adopt major use permit (UP 21-24) and an addendum to a mitigated negative declaration (IS 15-34). The project applicant Hilltop Recovery Services Inc., Lori Carter-Runyon, is proposing an expansion of a substance abuse rehabilitation treatment facility to allow a total maximum capacity of 20 residences to serve only women in an existing residential home to be converted as a treatment facility. The project is located at 14725 Catholic Church Road, Clearlake Oaks; and further described as APN(s): 010-046-06.
9:15 a.m.: Public hearing on consideration of approving an amendment (MMU 21-20) of original major use permit (UP 18-43) and an addendum to a mitigated negative declaration (IS 18-58), The applicant Sunny S Ranch / Shannon Sanders is proposing four 2,499 square foot nursery areas (greenhouses) for immature cannabis plants in conjunction with previously approved project. The project location is 19424 Butts Canyon Road, Middletown; and further described as APN: 014-004-20.
9:20 a.m.: Public hearing on consideration of major use permit (UP 20-74) and a Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS 20-87). The applicant Mountain Green Farms, LLC/Cheryl Forberg is proposing for a cannabis cultivation operation to allow 21,000 square feet of mixed-light canopy area (Located within seven 3,000 square foot greenhouses) and 43,560 square feet of outdoor canopy area located within a total of 67,080 square feet cultivation area. The project includes a processing/drying building, a shed for fertilizer and pesticide storage, four 2,500 gallon water tanks, security and a perimeter fence. The project is located at 7661 State Highway 29, Kelseyville; and further described as APN(s): 009-022-33.
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Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg told Lake County News that he received a petition on Dec. 30 challenging the provisional appointment of Annette Lee to the Middletown Unified board.
California Education Code section 5091 allows for challenges to provisional appointments if a petition with a sufficient number of signatures is submitted to the county superintendent of schools within 30 days of the date of the provisional appointment. Otherwise, the appointment remains in effect.
In October and November, two board members, LaTrease Walker and Thad Owens, respectively, resigned. Both were in their first terms, which end this year.
That led to a public recruitment process. The Middletown Unified School Board held a special meeting on Dec. 1, at which time the board members interviewed 10 candidates and selected Lee and Allison Berlogar.
However, only Lee is named in the petition, which seeks to terminate Lee’s provisional appointment and call for a special election to fill the vacancy.
Proponents listed on the petition are Cobb resident LaTrease Walker, who left the board in October after disagreeing with COVID-19 mandates; and Hidden Valley Lake residents Austin Pullman and Charles Green.
Tim Gill, Middletown Unified’s new superintendent, said he received a letter on Jan. 3 from Falkenberg informing him of the petition.
Lee said Gill notified her that same morning about the petition, with Falkenberg calling her that evening. By the end of the week, she had received a letter from Falkenberg notifying her of the situation.
Lee is an education veteran who teaches at the community college level and formerly was executive dean of Woodland Community College’s Lake County Campus, is trained as a chief business official and just received her doctorate in educational administration. She graduated from the Middletown Unified School District and has two children who attend school there as well.
She told Lake County News that no one had contacted her about the petition before she received the notifications from Gill and Falkenberg. “I didn’t have any indication that it was happening.”
Falkenberg said the petition doesn’t give a reason for targeting Lee.
Lee said she could only assume the reason she’s being targeted by the petition is because she suggested alternate language be added to a resolution the board considered on Dec. 15 that asked the state to recommend, not require, the COVID-19 vaccine for students and staff. A similar resolution has been accepted by several other county school districts in the county.
In an email exchange with Lake County News, Walker confirmed that the reason for the action arose from Lee’s statements during that December board meeting.
Lee had suggested new language emphasizing the need for choice, and calling for the district to uphold California citizens’ rights to provide informed consent and to petition the state to ensure and maintain the personal belief exemption in any and all upcoming COVID-19 legislation.
She told Lake County News that in offering that alternative language, she was considering the large number of parents that are against the district submitting a resolution to the state asking for no mandates.
Ultimately, the board chose to postpone taking any action.
An unusual situation
Falkenberg said the petitioners must submit a petition with signatures totaling 1.5% of the 6,129 voters registered in the district’s last election to be successful. That means they need 92 verified signatures.
“My office has 30 days to review the qualification of the petition and to verify the signatures,” Falkenberg said.
Since his office is a small one, Falkenberg said he spoke with the Registrar of Voters Office which has agreed to assist in the signature verification process. He said the Registrar of Voters Office staff “has expertise and experience that my office lacks in the verification process.”
Falkenberg said he was working to confirm some details with his office’s attorney before sending the petition signatures to the elections office, which will oversee the work on its schedule.
“The timeline has started but the actual process has not,” said Falkenberg.
Registrar Maria Valadez confirmed she and her staff will be working with the Office of Education.
As of Monday, she said she had not yet received the petition from Falkenberg to begin the process, which now must be completed in less than three weeks.
While the names of the proponents are public information, Government Code section 6253.5 specifically prohibits the release of names on petitions done under Education Code 5091, which deals with how vacancies are to be filled.
“It’s a very unusual event or situation,” Falkenberg said of the petition to challenge Lee’s provisional appointment.
He said he’s reached out to about half a dozen bigger counties and they also haven’t seen the process used.
Valadez said it’s a first in her three decades in the elections office as well.
“Since I’ve been here, I’ve never seen one of these filed,” she said, adding that he checked with her predecessor, Diane Fridley, to find out if she was familiar with it happening in Lake County.
“We haven’t had one in at least the last 40 years,” Valadez said.
Troy Flint, chief information officer for the California School Boards Association, said the organization is familiar with the petition process because every vacancy that is filled by a provisional appointment — called that because voters have 30 days to file a petition with the County Supe challenging the appointment — is subject to challenge.
Without the filing of a successful petition in 30 days, the appointment becomes final, he said. If the petition is successfully filed, the appointment is vacated and the former appointee, if they so choose, has to run in a special election, Flint explained.
“As for frequency, it's not the norm, but it's not unheard of. I expect we will see this strategy more often as school board races occupy a bigger space in the political spotlight and public discourse,” Flint said.
The two seats Lee and Berlogar were appointed to fill are up for election later this year. However, rather than waiting, the petitioners want to have a special election called ahead of the fall election.
The petition states, “The Elections Division of Lake County has estimated the cost to conduct a special election in the Middletown Unified School District will be $50,000.”
“That’s a big chunk of change for our district,” said Lee.
Elections Code 5091 explains the next steps in the process this way:
“If the petition is determined to be legally sufficient by the county superintendent of schools, the provisional appointment is terminated, and the county superintendent of schools shall order a special election to be conducted no later than the 130th day after the determination. However, if an established election date, as defined in Section 1000 of the Elections Code, occurs between the 130th day and the 150th day following the order of the election, the county superintendent of schools may order the special election to be conducted on the established election date.”
Under Elections Code section 1000, established election dates include the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June in each even-numbered year that is not evenly divisible by four — which this year is the June primary for local, state and federal seats.
The timing suggests that if the Middletown Unified petition is determined to be sufficient, it raises the possibility that Falkenberg could seek to consolidate that special election with the state’s June 7 primary election. That, in turn, could reduce the cost to the district.
Petitioner explains action
Falkenberg said the petition requires that individuals who are supporting or backing it be identified. “It does not require that potential candidates be identified.”
One of the individuals sponsoring the petition is LaTrease Walker, the person who Lee succeeded on the board.
Walker, who was elected in 2018, abruptly resigned her Middletown Unified School Board seat in October during a contentious meeting. She cited disagreement with COVID-related mandates, including vaccination, among her reasons for leaving the board.
The following month, Trustee Thad Owens also resigned. He did not give a reason.
Lee and Alison Berlogar were appointed to fill the vacated seats in December in unanimous votes on Dec. 1. Lee said she was appointed to fill Walker’s seat.
Lee and Berlogar have so far served at just one regular meeting, on Dec. 15, since their appointment.
Lee said she didn’t know the resolution addressing state mandates was going to be considered until Lakeport Unified considered its version of the document less than a week beforehand. She only got the resolution in hand days later. “Everything happened so fast.”
She said she didn’t feel that a resolution was the best strategy for the district. “I really care about the community and I really wanted to bring the community together,” and since she had heard from both sides, she wanted to try to find something on which everyone could agree.
One of the big arguments offered in support of the resolution, said Lee, was that the vaccine is readily available. However, she noted the district’s former superintendent, Michael Cox, wouldn’t allow vaccinations to take place at district facilities, as other school districts had done. “
“To me that’s an equity and an access issue,” Lee said.
Walker said she does not intend to run to fill the seat she previously held in a special election.
Asked why she decided to file the petition against Lee's appointment, Walker wrote in an email response, “As a community, we felt Mrs. Lee's actions in the December board meeting were contradictory to how she answered the interview questions, asked of all candidates by the Board, during the interview process.”
When Lake County News asked if this decision was predicated on Lee’s suggestion of alternate language for the board's resolution on COVID-19 vaccine mandates last month, Walker wrote, “As a community, we feel medically related decisions should not be mandated.”
However, it should be noted, Lee specifically said the district should not initiate or implement local medical mandates as they were waiting to see what the state might do during the Dec. 1 interview. She also did not suggest local mandates at the Dec. 15 meeting when the resolution was discussed.
Lake County News also asked Walker if she had spoken directly to Lee or district officials about her concerns with Lee’s appointment before taking this action.
“As a community we have voiced our concerns,” Walker replied in the email.
In the email exchange, Walker did not identify a potential candidate when asked.
“With board appointment the board asked questions and then chose who they saw as the best fit without community input. As a community we believe in democracy. An election gives the community the opportunity to question candidates before choosing who they vote for. Hard questions need to be asked, our children deserve the most qualified board members. It's time to rebuild our district. In the 2018 election our district was granted a $42 million bond to modernize and grow our sites. In order to execute the projects we need someone with bond knowledge. New Assembly & Senate bills are coming to public schools as a community, we have the right to choose who sits on our board as the district navigates the implementation of these new bills,” she wrote.
Lee told Lake County News that she’s being encouraged by community members to run if a special election results.
“That would be my intent, to throw my hat in the ring and let the community decide,” she said.
Lee said Middletown Unified has been through a couple of really rough years, and now it’s “code red” for the district. The reason she got involved was to help it recover.
“There is a lot to do to get this district back on the right track,” she said, noting Gill is ramping up to do important work.
There are meetings planned every Wednesday night from now until the middle of March to work on the district’s issues as well as the Local Control and Accountability Plan. If Lee has to step down in expectation of a special election, she said that’s one less board member to do this important work.
“It’s a critical time that we need all five board members working hard,” she said, adding she’s ready to do the work.
The Middletown Unified School Board will meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 12. At that time, they will again consider the resolution asking the state not to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for students and staff.
The only differences between the resolution to be considered this week and the one the board put off voting on in December are the dates and the resolution numbers, based on a document comparison.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Lakeport Planning Commission this week will discuss plans for a new shopping center and hotel development.
The commission will meet at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 12, in the council chambers at Lakeport City Hall, 225 Park St.
The council chambers will be open to the public for the meeting. In accordance with updated guidelines from the state of California and revised Cal OSHA Emergency Temporary Standards, persons who are not fully vaccinated for COVID-19 are required to wear a face covering at this meeting.
The agenda is available here.
To speak on an agenda item, access the meeting remotely here; the meeting ID is 986 6166 5155. To join by phone, dial 1-669-900-9128.
Comments can be submitted by email to
Please indicate in the email subject line "for public comment" and list the item number of the agenda item that is the topic of the comment. Comments that are read to the council will be subject to the three minute time limitation (approximately 350 words). Written comments that are only to be provided to the council and not read at the meeting will be distributed to the council before the meeting.
On Wednesday, the commission will consider an application from Fremont-based New Vista Developers for “Lakeport Hub Project,” a shopping center and hotel development on 15.5 acres at 1842 Todd Road.
The site, currently an old walnut orchard, is near “Hamburger Hill,” the site of numerous fast food restaurants at the intersection of Lakeport Boulevard and Highway 29.
The applicants are seeking an architectural and design review, tentative subdivision, use permit, zoning permit and environmental review for a new combined development for a vacant commercial property.
The project is proposed to include a service station, six to eight restaurants — including drive-thrus — along with two retail buildings and a 70-room hotel.
Also on the agenda Wednesday is a use permit application from the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians who wants to change a motel at 175 First St. to a residential use.
The project consists of redesigning previous motel rooms to provide seven one-bedroom residential units, one of which will be accessible by Americans with Disabilities Act standards, according to city documents.
“Each residential unit would consist of one bedroom, a bathroom, kitchen and living room area to provide the opportunity to house tribal members currently in need of safe, healthy living environments,” wrote Planning Director Jennifer Byers.
She said the applicant proposes to eventually tear down a building parallel to First Street that is being used as storage and replace it with a one bedroom manufactured unit and two new parking spots to the east of the new unit.
Byers said the shuttered motel has been a nuisance for several years. “Even if the site were to be reestablished as a motel, the circulation and parking would continue to be an issue. Due to the limited options for a viable commercial project and in light of the housing crisis, staff reviewed all the criteria applicable to this project and has determined that the proposed improvements are in compliance with the use permit standards set forth in the Municipal Code at this location.”
Staff is recommending that the Planning Commission approve the use permit application subject to conditions, including having fire alarms and sprinklers, right of way improvements, submission of a detailed landscaping plan and that the applicant/owner maintain a business license.
On Wednesday, the commission also will be asked to consider amending the Lakeport Municipal Code for compliance with Senate Bill 35, which requires that local jurisdictions provide a streamlined ministerial approval process for multifamily residential developments that meet specific eligibility requirements.
The commission also will hold a discussion and study session regarding a process to modify the zoning ordinance to allow a process to approve zoning permits as a replacement to the current COVID-19 emergency temporary zoning permits.
Last week, the Lakeport City Council chose to continue to allow the temporary zoning permits to allow outdoor dining in what the city is calling “parklets” while the commission develops the new requirements.
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