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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The meeting – the open portion of which lasted about a half-hour – featured a discussion about a deficit recovery plan.
District officials said the plan is necessary due primarily to a structural deficit and other needs the district must meet.
Chief Business Official Joseph Silveira explained that at the board’s Feb. 11 meeting it received a letter from the Lake County Office of Education regarding the 2020-21 First Interim Budget Report.
The district has to certify that it can meet its financial obligations for the remainder of the current fiscal year and the next two.
Lake County Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg said in his letter that the report showed a structural deficit regarding Lakeport Unified’s ability to meet its financial obligations in 2022-23, which puts it in “qualified status.”
Falkenberg’s letter identifies an ongoing decline in enrollment as an impact on district revenue.
Lakeport Unified Superintendent Jill Falconer’s letter in response to Falkenberg on March 1 said the district needed to reduce expenditures by $668,000 to address the structural deficit, costs to negotiate and two additional teachers.
Silveira said the measures proposed to the school board were meant to get the district out of qualified status by its next budget report.
He went over the deficit recovery plan with the board. The plan, which can be seen below, identifies a structural deficit of $304,000 and $208,000 needed for negotiations.
Proposed additions include two teacher jobs, both at Terrace Middle School, along with a Clear Lake High School counselor – a position that was hired with COVID-19 money to help students adjust and which Falconer said they want to keep on permanently – and three half-time intervention paraeducators, one each for the elementary, middle and high schools.
Proposed reductions include a full-time guidance assistant, one teacher at Clear Lake High, two teachers at the elementary school and one at the middle school, a part-time middle school cafeteria worker and six part-time campus supervisors, two at each of the schools.
Funding changes outlined on the plan include moving several positions in the budget, which will result in no change in cost. In one position, where an elementary school technology staffer is leaving and being replaced by a new person, the savings is $15,000.
Silveira said the changes were to address the current budget, not the situation in 2022-23, when the district could “fall off a cliff” due to reduced student numbers.
If enrollment numbers improve, “we don’t fall off a cliff,” Falconer was quick to point out.
Falconer told the board that the teacher positions being reduced are at schools where enrollment is down.
“This is a very strange year,” she said, explaining that they can’t predict enrollment.
“It’s much better to be understaffed than to be overstaffed,” she added.
Board Chair Dan Buffalo asked about whether the district was planning layoff notices. Falconer said there is the potential for one for a teacher. The district hasn’t yet brought forward potential classified employee layoffs as they don’t have to be laid off by March 15 as teachers do, she said.
There was no public comment on the plan and the board approved it unanimously.
The school board also unanimously approved a resolution regarding the reduction or continuance of particular kinds of services in order to lay off the equivalent of one full-time teaching position, cutting 21st century life skills, current events, earth science and computer skills, and two periods of physical education.
Also on the agenda was an update to the classified substitute salary schedule, needed due to the minimum wage increase, which the board approved along with an application to the US Department of Agriculture’s Community Facilities Grant Program in support of the new Clear Lake High School agriculture class.
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Lakeport Unified School District Deficit Recovery Plan by LakeCoNews on Scribd
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The council will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 4.
Because of the county’s shelter in place order, Clearlake City Hall remains closed to the public, however, the virtual 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.
The agenda can be found here.
Comments and questions can be submitted in writing for City Council consideration by sending them to Administrative Services Director/City Clerk Melissa Swanson at
To give the council adequate time to review your questions and comments, please submit your written comments prior to 4 p.m. on Thursday, March 4.
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 Thursday meeting will start with the presentation of a proclamation declaring March 2021 as March For Meals Month.
Under business, the council will get a presentation on Clearlake’s downtown strategic vision and authorize the city manager to execute a contract with the firm Downtown Strategies consistent with the downtown implementation proposal.
City Manager Alan Flora’s report explains that the city began working with the firm Retail Strategies in 2019 on projects including attracting new businesses to the Highway 53 corridor.
While attracting more business to Clearlake’s downtown is needed, Flora said the city doesn’t have a “traditional downtown environment,” with the downtown struggling due to “a lack of adequate infrastructure, particularly pedestrian and multi-modal transportation amenities, and many, many buildings that are suffering from a lack of investment.”
He said the city found out that Retail Strategies created a new sister company, Downtown Strategies, that focused on addressing those kinds of needs while utilizing a similar data-driven approach.
“The City entered into a contract with Downtown Strategies to develop a Downtown Strategic Vision that built upon previous studies that have been completed and created a path forward that was implementable rather than just a dream. In October of 2020 Downtown Strategies hosted a Stakeholder Input Session which was attended by various business owners and other interested parties within the community,” Flora wrote.
He said Downtown Strategies has completed the strategic vision and will present an
overview of their recommendations on Thursday. He said the city staff has asked Downtown Strategies to provide a proposal for which items from the vision they can assist the city with implementing.
In other business, the council also will consider a facility use agreement with Adventist Health Clear Lake for use of the city's shower trailer and an updated special events policy authorizing the city manager to approve waiving fees for certain special events, and hold a discussion regarding the responsibilities of the Measure V Oversight Committee and the appointment of three members to the committee, and In other business.
Councilmembers will discuss abandoned vehicles, consider the approval of the sole source purchase of k-rail concrete barrier from Eiffel Trading and adopt the ninth amendment to the FY 2020-21 Budget.
The council also will hold a public hearing to consider projects and authorize the application for funding through the Community Development Block Grant Mitigation and Disaster Recovery Program.
On the meeting's consent agenda – items that are not considered controversial and are usually adopted on a single vote – are warrants; continuation of a declaration of local emergency issued on Oct. 9, 2017, and ratified by council action on Oct. 12, 2017, for the Sulphur fire; continuation of a declaration of local emergency issued on March 14, 2020, and ratified by council action on March 19, 2020, for the COVID-19 pandemic; and receive and file the Clearlake Waste Solutions Annual Report.
The council also will hold a closed session for a performance evaluation of the city manager and for property negotiations regarding 14141 Lakeshore Drive, a city-owned apartment building now being offered for sale.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Below-average snow and rain this winter are again posing concerns for state water officials.
The Department of Water Resources on Tuesday conducted the third manual snow survey of the season at Phillips Station.
The manual survey recorded 56 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent, or SWE, of 21 inches, which is 86 percent of average for this location.
The SWE measures the amount of water contained in the snowpack and is a key component of DWR’s water supply forecast.
“As California closes out the fifth consecutive dry month of our water year, absent a series of strong storms in March or April we are going to end with a critically dry year on the heels of last year’s dry conditions,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “With back-to-back dry years, water efficiency and drought preparedness are more important than ever for communities, agriculture and the environment.”
Dry conditions require coordination among state, federal and local entities. State water leaders are preparing to address the current dry conditions adaptively, guided by lessons learned during previous droughts.
With below-average precipitation across the state, California’s reservoirs are showing the impacts of a second consecutive dry year. Lake Oroville is currently at 55 percent of average and Lake Shasta, California’s largest surface reservoir, is currently at 68 percent of average for this date.
Statewide snow survey measurements continue to reflect the overall dry conditions. Measurements from DWR’s electronic snow survey stations indicate that statewide the snowpack’s SWE is 15 inches, or 61 percent of the March 2 average, and 54 percent of the April 1 average.
April 1 is typically when California’s snowpack is the deepest and has the highest SWE.
The current State Water Project, or SWP, allocation of 10 percent amounts to 422,848 acre-feet of water, distributed among the 29 long-term SWP contractors who serve more than 27 million Californians and 750,000 acres of farmland.
Last year the initial allocation was also 10 percent, with a final allocation of 20 percent set in May 2020.
Precipitation in the form of rain – and snowfall at higher elevations – is critical because it refills reservoirs, packs away snow for spring runoff and helps stem the risk of wildfires.
As dry conditions continue to persist, Californians should look at ways to reduce water use at home. Each individual act of increasing water efficiency can make a difference. Visit www.SaveOurWater.com to learn easy ways to save water every day.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
Matthew Daniel Mora, 35, is charged with killing Christine Mora, 56, at the Upper Lake home they shared on Jan. 26, as Lake County News has reported.
Following a 40-minute preliminary hearing on Monday afternoon, Judge J. David Markham ordered Matthew Mora to stand trial for Christine Mora’s murder.
Matthew Mora also faces trial for charges of assault with a semiautomatic weapon on his father William Mora – who he had pointed the gun at before shooting his stepmother – and negligent discharge of a firearm for having shot off a round from his handgun while walking along Highway 20 shortly before the deadly confrontation.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff called two witnesses to the stand during the hearing, both deputies with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office: Andrew Moyeda and Investigator Jeffrey Mora, who is no relation to Matthew Mora and his family.
Moyeda said he was on duty on Tuesday, Jan. 26, when he dispatched to a home in the 600 block of E. Highway 20 in Upper Lake for a gunshot victim.
When he arrived on the scene at 5:45 p.m., he found Christine Mora’s body at the home’s front door. Her husband was outside and he spoke to Moyeda.
“He told me that his son Matthew Mora shot his wife,” Moyeda said.
William Mora told authorities that he took the Glock 27 40-caliber semiautomatic handgun that his son had used to shoot his wife and seized it from his son, taking it to he and his wife’s bedroom at the back of the house and placing it on the foot of the bed.
That’s where Moyeda said he found it with a live round in the chamber and an unknown number of rounds in the magazine.
William Mora said he’d also taken another Glock handgun from his son and placed it in the bedroom, but Moyeda said he didn’t find that weapon.
After the shooting, Matthew Mora left the home. Moyeda assisted with arresting Mora shortly before 9:30 p.m. that same night at the Super 8 Motel in Upper Lake, just over a quarter mile from the shooting scene, and transported him to the sheriff’s office to be interviewed.
Investigator testifies about interviews
Jeffrey Mora was advised of the shooting just after 6 p.m. Jan. 26 and responded to the sheriff’s office administration headquarters in Lakeport to interview William Mora, who told him that his son shot his wife.
Investigators prepared a photo lineup for William Mora who confirmed the shooter was his son, Jeffrey Mora said.
William Mora explained during the interview that he, Christine and Matthew lived together.
Earlier on the day of the shooting, sometime between 4 and 5 p.m., Matthew Mora had arrived home from the nearby Running Creek Casino. William Mora told investigators that his son appeared upset or angry and reported that he had been kicked out of the casino.
Matthew Mora then said, “I’m strapping up and f*** those Indians.”
William Mora told his son that he shouldn’t be at the house intoxicated if his wife Christine was home, although she wasn’t yet there. He recommended his son go to a hotel, and Matthew Mora grabbed a backpack and two handguns and left. At some point before he left, Matthew Mora told his father that he let his wife boss him around.
It was around 30 minutes later that Matthew Mora returned to the house. By that time, Christine Mora had gotten home.
Matthew Mora came inside the home, and William and Christine Mora told him he needed to leave, that he wasn’t welcome because he was intoxicated.
That’s when, according to his father’s account, Matthew Mora pulled out a handgun and pointed it at his father, who was standing about 10 feet away, calling him an expletive and mocking him for flinching.
Then, Matthew Mora pointed the gun at Christine Mora, who was standing directly in front of him, at a distance of about 2 feet. He shot once, hitting her in the face.
After shooting her, Matthew Mora swore and appeared surprised, his father told the investigator.
After his wife was shot, William Mora rushed his son and took the firearm he’d used in the shooting as well as another he’d had tucked in his waistband. William Mora took the guns to his bedroom and then returned, telling his son to leave and pushing him out of the house.
Matthew Mora fell over backwards after being pushed before getting up and leaving on foot. His father opened the gate in the driveway to let in emergency vehicles and then returned to his wife, talking to her and calling her name, but she didn’t respond.
Later in the night, the sheriff’s office received a tip that Matthew Mora was in Room 101 at the Super 8 Motel, which is where he was arrested. Jeffrey Mora said they also recovered his backpack, along with handgun magazines and ammunition.
Investigator Mora later interviewed Matthew Mora. “In summary, Matthew told me he didn’t remember shooting Christine because he was too intoxicated,” and that it was a nightmare and he had blacked out.
Matthew Mora told the investigator that he had a sense of guilt from doing something bad but wouldn’t say what that bad thing was.
He said he and his father and stepmother had their problems, telling the investigator that some days they were nice to him and some days they weren’t, calling him a loser.
When told that his father said he’s shot his stepmother, Matthew Mora said, “Then that’s what I did then, but I don’t remember doing that.”
Jeffrey Mora said deputies had been able to track Matthew Mora’s movements before the shooting, explaining that he was at Woody’s Gas Station about 30 minutes beforehand. There, three employees reported coming in contact with him.
One told investigators that he wished Matthew Mora a good night, to which he responded, “It’s not going to be.”
Matthew Mora purchased a pack of Modelo beer and was walking along the nearby bridge on Highway 20 when he pulled out the handgun and fired a round in the air, according to witnesses. Jeffrey Mora said he and another detective later went to the site and were able to find a 40-caliber shell casing that matched the type used to kill Christine Mora.
Her autopsy, conducted by Dr. Bennet Omalu, concluded that Christine Mora died of a gunshot wound to the head and the face, Jeffrey Mora said.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Dana Liberatore brought up statements William Mora had made about his son drinking for several days before the shooting due to the death of a friend.
He asked if father and son had struggled after the shooting, and Jeffrey Mora said William Mora didn’t describe a struggle, but said his son had left peacefully. He also didn’t describe any specific problems between his wife of 20 years and his son, and didn’t report a motive for the shooting.
Matthew Mora had reportedly told investigators that he hadn’t slept for days before the shooting.
Jeffrey Mora said he interviewed Matthew Mora’s mother by phone, and she said he had alcohol problems and mental health issues for which he’s being treated.
During a brief closing argument, Hinchcliff said there was plenty of evidence to hold Matthew Mora for trial on the charges and Markham agreed, ordering him to stand trial.
Markham set Matthew Mora for arraignment in his Department 2 courtroom at 9 a.m. March 16.
Matthew Mora remains in the Lake County Jail with bail set at $2,150,000, according to jail records.
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