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- Written by: Lake County News reports
Newsom’s office said the bills are a critical part of his $22 billion housing affordability and homelessness package.
Altogether, the efforts highlighted on Wednesday represent a comprehensive strategy to get more Californians off the streets faster than ever before and into the health services and housing they need — all at a fraction of the cost of previous efforts, Newsom’s office reported.
“We can’t nibble around the edges of the homelessness crisis, we need to implement bold, transformative solutions — investing more money than ever before to get folks off the street and provide the mental health and other services they need to stay off the streets,” said Gov. Newsom.
Newsom said the legislation, along with the $22 billion housing affordability and homelessness package, “will move the needle on creating more housing for the homeless and will allow us to tackle the homelessness crisis in ways California has never done.”
The governor on Wednesday signed a package of bills to increase coordination and accountability of the state’s homelessness spending, including AB 1220 by Assemblymember Luz Rivas (D-Arleta) which reforms the former Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council, renaming it the California Interagency Council on Homelessness, and bolsters the Council’s powers through new data mandates and oversight authorities.
Further linking housing with health care, the legislation names California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly and Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency Secretary Lourdes Castro Ramírez as Co-Chairs of the Council.
AB 977 by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino) implements new data mandates under the state’s Homeless Management Information System, allowing policymakers to better track and evaluate the effectiveness of homelessness funding around the state.
The California Interagency Council on Homelessness will also be the entity responsible for receiving, reviewing and ultimately approving homelessness plans submitted by cities, counties and continuums of care as part of the state’s $2 billion local homelessness assistance package through the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Program, or HHAP.
Starting now, local governments must commit to quantifiable goals across six standardized metrics and make progress towards meeting or exceeding them in order to receive their full share of HHAP funding. Gov. Newsom demanded this new accountability as part of his multibillion-dollar homelessness investment, and worked with the Legislature to craft these new oversight laws.
The following bills were signed on Wednesday:
AB 27 by Assemblymember Luz Rivas (D-Arleta) — Homeless children and youths and unaccompanied youths: reporting.
AB 362 by Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva (D-Fullerton) — Homeless shelters: safety regulations.
AB 816 by Assemblymember David Chiu (D-San Francisco) — Homelessness: Housing Trust Fund: housing projects.
AB 977 by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino) — Homelessness program data reporting: Homeless Management Information System.
AB 1220 by Assemblymember Luz Rivas (D-Arleta) — Homelessness: California Interagency Council on Homelessness.
AB 1443 by Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento) — Mental health: involuntary treatment.
SB 400 by Senator Brian W. Jones (R-Santee) — Homeless children and youths: local educational agencies: collaboration, training, and reporting.
The bills, along with the four housing bills signed earlier this month and the housing affordability bills signed on Tuesday, represent the most comprehensive strategy to address the homelessness and housing affordability crisis in state history.
California is investing an unprecedented $22 billion to tackle these systemic issues, with $12 billion allocated for homelessness and behavioral health services to help get tens of thousands of people off the streets or avoid homelessness altogether.
Combined, the funding will lead to the creation of over 84,000 new affordable homes for Californians, including over 44,000 new housing units and treatment beds for people exiting homelessness.
The new homelessness funding also includes $5.8 billion to add more than 35,000 new housing units through Homekey — a national model for homeless housing.
Gov. Newsom is especially focused on rebuilding the state’s portfolio of housing and treatment options for people with severe behavioral health challenges.
The California Comeback Plan calls for the biggest expansion of this kind of housing and treatment since Gov. Reagan began dismantling California’s mental health system in the late 1960s.
To that end, $3 billion of the homelessness investment is dedicated to housing for people with the most acute behavioral and physical health needs and will create approximately 22,000 new beds and treatment slots.
In addition to the investments addressing homelessness and housing affordability, the California Comeback Plan includes $1.1 billion to clean up the streets of California by partnering with local governments to pick up trash and beautify downtowns, freeways and neighborhoods across California. The program is expected to generate up to 11,000 jobs over three years.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Following a special Monday night closed session, the district’s board of trustees released Superintendent Michael Cox from his contract.
“We appreciate the service and effort that Superintendent Cox provided to MUSD during his tenure. We thank our MUSD community for their patience and support,” said Middletown Unified Board President Misha Grothe in a brief written statement released to Lake County News on Tuesday evening.
Lake County News was unable to reach Cox for comment on Tuesday.
In April 2020, Middletown Unified announced the hiring of Cox, then the principal of the Alternative Education Center located in Silver Valley Unified School District in Southern California.
He began the job with Middletown Unified on July 1, 2020.
At the time of his hire, the board said it was “extraordinarily pleased” with Cox’s selection, saying he “proved himself the best fit to carry forward the vision of the district” and lauding him for a record of driving academic excellence.
So far, the district has not publicly indicated what led to the decision to terminate Cox’s contract.
However, a review of agendas going back to July of 2020 show that the board had held 10 closed session evaluations of Cox, beginning in August of last year.
Since this past June alone, there had been three special meetings called to discuss the superintendent’s performance and three closed session evaluations held during regular meetings.
At the same time, the district was navigating the work of bringing students back to campuses after the COVID-19 pandemic forced a closure to in-person classes last year.
The school board held a brief meeting on Sept. 22 to discuss the acting superintendent. They emerged from closed session, with Grothe announcing that Dr. David Miller would be appointed acting superintendent while the existing superintendent wasn’t available.
Grothe said at the Sept. 22 meeting that the board will negotiate a contract with Miller and it will come before them during their regular meeting on Oct. 13, pursuant to the Brown Act.
At that time, the board voted unanimously to approve Miller’s appointment until Cox was able to return to work.
Then, on Monday, the board followed up with another special session in which the closed session discussion was agendized as an evaluation of the superintendent’s performance. It was at that meeting that the board terminated Cox’s employment.
Miller’s appointment as the district’s acting superintendent is not his first time working with Middletown Unified.
Miller, a retired Mendocino Unified School District superintendent, was appointed Middletown Unified’s interim superintendent in October 2019 following the board’s termination of then-Superintendent Catherine Stone, who had served four years in the job.
In its Tuesday statement, the school board said it will keep the community updated on a regular basis about its next steps in recruiting a new superintendent.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Tammy Sue Grogan-Robinson, 56, made an in-person appearance in Lake County Superior Court before Judge J. David Markham on Tuesday afternoon.
She is accused of the killing of her on-again, off-again boyfriend, 56-year-old Charles Vernon McClelland of Rohnert Park, whose body was found by deputies on the morning of July 7 in the Clearlake Oaks residence where she was living.
Authorities said Grogan-Robinson shot McClelland several times with a handgun.
Grogan-Robinson later left the state for Missouri, where she has family. She was arrested in Missouri in mid-August, less than a week after the District Attorney’s Office charged her with McClelland’s murder.
In an appearance last week via Zoom, Grogan-Robinson told Judge Markham she wanted to hire an attorney after previously having said she wanted to represent herself, as Lake County News has reported.
On Tuesday, attorney Mitch Hauptman, who has made special appearances to act as her defense attorney, asked Markham to lower Grogan-Robinson’s bail from $2 million to an amount she could afford.
Hauptman told the court that Dr. Chris Lombardo, a surgeon who has worked with Grogan-Robinson at a local hospital — she’s a surgical tech — was vouching for her character and willing to provide her with housing should she be released on lowered bail.
During the brief hearing, Hauptman put Grogan-Robinson on the stand for a few minutes to ask her about her assets to determine if she could afford to hire her own attorney. He concluded she had the ability to post bail as high as $75,000 to $100,000 based on a small 401(k) and limited cash she had on hand.
He emphasized that she had no previous criminal record.
Deputy District Attorney Rich Watson argued that Grogan-Robinson should be held without bail, telling the court McClelland’s murder was premeditated.
Watson said that at 8:40 p.m. the night before the murder, Grogan-Robinson texted a friend to say she was going to shoot McClelland in the face. Ten minutes later, she wrote to ask the friend to erase the texts.
Two hours after that, Grogan-Robinson sent another text saying she was going to shoot McClelland because of the way he treated her, Watson said.
Watson argued that Grogan-Robinson was both a flight risk — citing her going to Missouri — and a substantial risk to the community. Even if she was released with an ankle monitor, he said it wouldn’t stop her from going into a jealous rage and harming someone.
In reply, Hauptman said he had a text about a return flight to Lake County that Grogan-Robinson had planned, and which was scheduled for the day after she ended up being arrested.
He said she was planning to return to Lake County but had simply gone to Missouri to be with her family, as she was freaked out because it was her perception that she was the victim of a rape.
Early on in the investigation, Grogan-Robinson told authorities she had killed McClelland after a sexual assault, but sheriff’s detectives later concluded the shooting had not been justified.
In reviewing the case, Markham said he believed Grogan-Robinson had committed the murder and that she had planned it.
“She told people she was going to do it. She did it and then she left the area afterwards,” Markham said.
Markham said he found there is clear and convincing evidence that no conditions of release can protect the public or ensure Grogan-Robinson’s attendance at her trial.
He then ordered her to be held without bail.
Markham set Grogan-Robinson’s next court appearance for 11 a.m. Oct. 13 in his courtroom, at which time her hired attorney is to make a first appearance and she will enter her plea to the charges.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Board of Supervisors is planning a series of upcoming public hearings as part of the 2021 redistricting process.
All hearings will be held in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St. in Lakeport.
Participation will also be available via Zoom.
The meeting room is wheelchair accessible. Requests for a disability-related modification, language accessibility or other accommodation necessary to participate in the Board of Supervisors meeting should be made in writing to the Clerk of the Board at least 48 hours prior to the meeting.
Public input received may inform redistricting proposals. County-level 2020 U.S. Census data was released Sept. 16.
Additional information, and draft maps, once available will be posted http://www.lakecountyca.gov/redistricting2021/.
A video overview of Lake County’s redistricting process can be viewed above.
The schedule of hearings is as follows.
10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 2
Public hearing No. 2, Communities of interest
Special Board of Supervisors meeting
Zoom link: https://lakecounty.zoom.us/j/94948700750?pwd=WW9IQk54dVg4ZTJ2RWRlVGdmN290Zz09
Webinar ID: 949 4870 0750
Passcode: 948720
6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 2
Public hearing No. 3, Draft maps presented
Regular Board of Supervisors meeting
Zoom link: https://lakecounty.zoom.us/j/94684965839?pwd=NEJnQXgxclN0aHRNWGFjb0cyZXJUQT09
Webinar ID: 946 8496 5839
Passcode: 310792
10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 30
Public hearing No. 4, Adoption of final map
Special Board of Supervisors meeting
Zoom link: https://lakecounty.zoom.us/j/92460090973?pwd=TUk3bEpTYXh5aXpvVWN1TkdLNlBvUT09
Webinar ID: 924 6009 0973
Passcode: 597249