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- Written by: LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS
Greg Giusti, 66, was reappointed to the North Coastal Regional Water Quality Control Board, where he has served since 2013, the Governor’s Office reported.
Giusti is the former director adviser of forests and wildland ecology for the Lake County University of California, Cooperative Extension from 1985 to 2017. He now serves as adviser emeritus for the UCCE.
He also was agricultural biologist at the San Mateo County Department of Agriculture from 1981 to 1985 and chief biologist at the Marine Ecological Institute from 1978 to 1981.
Giusti has been a registered Professional Forester since 2013.
He earned a Master of Arts degree in Ecology and Systematic Biology from San Francisco State University.
This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $250 per diem. Giusti is registered without party preference.
The Governor’s Office also reported that Santa Rosa resident Valerie Quinto, 37, also was reappointed to the North Coastal Regional Water Quality Control Board. She’s served on the board since 2014.
Quinto has been executive director at the Sonoma Resource Conservation District since 2017, where she was program director from 2012 to 2017. She held several positions at Sotoyome Resource Conservation District between 2009 and 2012 including project coordinator and conservation project manager.
The Governor’s Office said Quinto is a Democrat.
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- Written by: LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS
The California Department of Public Health said it and the San Francisco Department of Public Health have confirmed the case.
The University of California, San Francisco identified the case through its sequencing capabilities.
Now, the state of California is increasing COVID-19 testing at airports for arrivals from countries identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in order to detect and prevent the spread of the new variant.
On Monday, State Public Health Officer and Director of the California Department of Public Health Dr. Tomás J. Aragón reported on the efforts to monitor B.1.1.529, or Omicron, which the World Health Organization has labeled a “variant of concern.”
California has established a public-private partnership through the California SARS-CoV-2 Whole Genome Sequencing Initiative called COVIDNet to provide the state with genomic sequencing to help understand and control the spread of COVID-19.
Health officials are using that surveillance system to monitor the variant’s presence and progress through the state.
CDPH said the state is doubling down on “vaccination and booster efforts to ensure that all Californians have access to safe, effective, and free vaccines that can prevent serious illness and death.”
Members of the public are urged to get vaccinated and boosted, wear masks in indoor settings, get tested if they have symptoms and stay home if they are sick.
Travelers who have been in South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia or Zimbabwe within the last 14 days must follow CDC recommendations to get tested three to five days after arrival, quarantine for seven days even if testing negative and isolate for 10 days if COVID-19 symptoms develop.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday to appoint a new Health Services director, an action that came nearly two months after the previous director resigned in the face of a potential termination action.
Emerging from a closed session during its special Tuesday meeting, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve the hiring of Jonathan C. Portney, MPH, CPH, as the county’s new Health Services director.
“I look forward to serving the community as the Health Services director,” Portney said.
It’s his goal to do everything he can to ensure the betterment of health of all Lake County residents, Portney said. “It’s truly an honor to be here.”
The board applauded and County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson, who has served as interim Health Services director for the past two months, pumped her fist in the air.
Portney’s appointment is effective Jan. 10.
He will start at the second step on the salary scale, which is $10,993 a month, or $131,916 a year, based on the updated salary schedule the board approved in September.
“We are very excited to partner with Jonathan Portney to further our efforts to fight COVID-19, and promote the health and well-being of every Lake County resident,” said Board Chair Bruno Sabatier in a written statement issued by the county following the meeting. “Mr. Portney is a highly motivated and energetic health executive that has shown great capacity in recent years as a community-based public health practitioner in San Francisco and San Mateo County.”
The county reported that, since April of 2020, Portney has been actively engaged in pandemic response as executive director of Daly City Health Center, “ensuring quality care and services in historically complex circumstances.”
His other recent leadership experiences have included a stint from 2018 to 2020 as director of the Community Health Ambassador Program for San Francisco’s Urban Services YMCA, and a two-year term as director of the Hospital Family Resource Center and Rural Mobile Clinic for Waterloo Adventist Hospital in Sierra Leone.
His education includes receiving a master’s degree and pursuing his doctoral degree at Loma Linda University in Southern California, where emphases in his study included health technology and organizational development, program planning and health education training development, as well as treatment of respiratory disorders.
The county reported that Portney also recognizes certain population groups are more vulnerable to adverse health outcomes, due to environmental, behavioral, social and biological factors.
The diversity of contributors to people’s health is a key reason Portney emphasizes a community-focused approach to public health.
“Inclusive and participatory practices are the best way to hear the community’s voice, and for staff to foster meaningful partnerships that build community capacity and bring about community empowerment. I’m truly excited to partner with residents to promote the best possible health outcomes for Lake County,” Portney said in the written statement issued by the county.
In his new job, Portney will work with the county’s Public Health officer.
The county also has been working to hire a new, permanent Public Health officer after Dr. Gary Pace left the job on a full-time basis in the spring.
So far, that effort has not yielded a new hire, with the county in the fourth round of its recruitment.
However, Pace is continuing to provide services to the county in an interim capacity, with the most recent amendment to the agreement between he and the county approved by the board as part of its consent agenda at the Nov. 16 meeting.
That amendment extends the agreement to June 30, 2022, and will be terminated should the board hire a new full-time Public Health officer in the meantime.
Board action regarding previous director
Portney succeeds Denise Pomeroy, who served as Health Services director for nearly five and a half years before her resignation in October, after the board had appeared prepared to terminate her.
On Oct. 5, the board — at Huchingson’s request — added extra items to its agenda including a closed session evaluation of Pomeroy.
Later in the meeting, after the board had emerged from closed session and the video broadcast had stopped, it added several more items to the agenda, including reestablishing the deputy Health Services director as a county classification, the appointment of Jennifer Baker to interim Deputy Health Services director effective Tuesday and the appointment of Huchingson as the interim Health Services director.
Then, on Oct. 7, an addendum was made to the agenda for a special meeting scheduled specifically for department head evaluations. That addendum read, “Public Employee Evaluation/Termination: Title: Director: Health Services Director.”
Later that same day, Sabatier acknowledged that the board had accepted Pomeroy’s resignation.
Then, on Oct. 9, Pomeroy’s husband of 24 years, Arnold, died, following a lengthy illness.
On Oct. 12, Lake County News served the county, including Sabatier and County Counsel Anita Grant, with a cure and correct demand letter due to its belief that the Board of Supervisors had violated the Ralph M. Brown Act in its handling of those extra items at the Oct. 5 meeting out of the public view. The letter requested the items be withdrawn and reagendized in order to be reconsidered at the Oct. 19 meeting.
The county did not acknowledge receipt of the letter. However, on the Oct. 19 agenda was the withdrawal of those items and actions to readopt them. The items were placed on the consent agenda, which normally is not discussed. As such, Lake County News requested the items be pulled and explained for the public’s benefit.
At that time, Sabatier asked Huchingson to explain the situation. She said the board had emerged from closed session on Oct. 5 at 5:15 p.m. and announced its action from closed session.
As a result, she said they needed to add the extra items. All of that was done after support staff had left for the day, and they couldn’t restart the Granicus and Zoom programs.
“On the advice of counsel, it was recommended that we bring it back to you when the public can comment on it, if they wish to,” Huchingson said.
Grant noted, “Everyone realized immediately after that evening that these steps should be taken and so this has been in the works since the very next morning, just in case anybody has any questions in that regard.”
She apologized to the board for how it had been handled. “The important thing going forward is it’s very clear, transparent and visible to the public with this item.”
Sabatier said communications had begun the same night as the Oct. 5 meeting and that it was taken up again on that day to clear it up.
Since then, Huchingson served as the interim director, the latest in a series of interim director posts — including for the Registrar of Voters Office and Community Development — that the supervisors have given her when an issue has arisen with a department head vacancy.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Board Chair Bruno Sabatier had agendized the discussion last week, ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, after he said county school officials asked for support to address the indoor masking requirements.
Sabatier had prepared a letter to California Department of Public Health Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly over concerns about the safety of the practice.
The agenda was posted on Nov. 24, Sabatier said. Later the same day, CDPH posted its updated guidance.
Sabatier said he had spoken on Monday with Lake County Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg, who said the matter is now up to the individual school districts to make the decisions.
Sabatier said the county also had received an email from all county school superintendents to the state about the masking requirements and had planned to join with them in the request for reconsideration, but it is now unnecessary due to the state’s updated guidance.
“The matter is no longer relevant in my opinion,” he said.
Sabatier noted that the new guidance includes wording that allows the option of not masking.
The guidance also appears to be contradictory.
In one paragraph, it states, “Masks are required indoors at all times when participants are not actively practicing, conditioning, competing, or performing.”
It then goes on to say that masks must be worn during such activities.
The guidance states: “When actively practicing, conditioning, or competing in indoor sports, masks are required by participants even during heavy exertion, as practicable. If masks are not worn due to heavy exertion, it is strongly recommended that individuals undergo screening testing at least once weekly. An FDA-approved antigen test, PCR test, or pooled PCR test is acceptable for evaluation of an individual's COVID-19 status.”
While the guidance emphasizes the need to wear masks indoors, Sabatier noted that it includes the words, “as practicable,” which appears to allow an alternative.
The new CDPH guidance on extracurricular activities from Nov. 24 is published below.
16. School-Based Extracurricular Activities
The requirements and recommendations in this guidance apply to all extracurricular activities that are operated or supervised by schools, and all activities that occur on a school site, whether or not they occur during school hours, including, but not limited to, sports, band, chorus, and clubs.
Activities may be performed outdoors without masks. Indoor mask use remains a critical layer in protecting against COVID-19 infection and transmission, including during sports, music, and related activities. Accordingly:
• Masks are required indoors at all times for teachers, referees, officials, coaches, and other support staff.
• Masks are required indoors for all spectators and observers.
• Masks are required indoors at all times when participants are not actively practicing, conditioning, competing, or performing. Masks are also required indoors while on the sidelines, in team meetings, and within locker rooms and weight rooms.
• When actively practicing, conditioning, or competing in indoor sports, masks are required by participants even during heavy exertion, as practicable. If masks are not worn due to heavy exertion, it is strongly recommended that individuals undergo screening testing at least once weekly. An FDA-approved antigen test, PCR test, or pooled PCR test is acceptable for evaluation of an individual's COVID-19 status.
• Individuals using instruments indoors that cannot be played with a mask (e.g., wind instruments) may perform if bell coverings are used when playing wind instruments AND a minimum of 3 feet of physical distancing is maintained between participants. Modified masking may be considered in addition to, but not in place of, bell covers. If bell covers are not used, it is strongly recommended that individuals undergo screening testing at least once weekly. An FDA-approved antigen test, PCR test, or pooled PCR test is acceptable for evaluation of an individual's COVID-19 status.
Email Elizabeth Larson at