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The staff gave the overview to the council at its April 21 meeting.
At that meeting, Lake County Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace had been due to give the council an update, but City Manager Margaret Silveira said he was unable to attend due to a time conflict.
Silveira said the city needs to do everything it can to sustain businesses. “We will survive.”
She said the state has extended the time period up to a year for businesses to pay sales tax. “We just wish them all well.”
Silveria invited businesses to contact the staff and the city to ask about what help is available. Lake County Economic Development Corp. also is a repository for a lot of information.
Finance Director said he’s been trying to figure out what the future is going to look like for the city on the financial side, and that day he met with a sales tax consultant.
To get a picture, they are considering broad assumptions, and Walker said everything is still really uncertain. The plan is to get a budget in front of the council by June, as is normal. He said staff will bring forward an operating budget with some projections on revenues going forward.
Walker recommended suspending discretionary spending in the 2020 budget. As time passes, they will get a better idea of what the revenue is doing.
Regarding the sales tax issue, “Anything that’s going to help the local business is going to help the city,” he said, adding, “It’s simply a cash flow impact.”
Public Works Director Doug Grider said there has been a lot of talk about the COVID-19 testing of raw sewage that Lake County Special Districts has been involved in doing.
He said that testing isn’t yet going on in the city sewer system. Grider said the city initially didn’t have the necessary equipment to do the sampling. However, they have now acquired and installed it.
The issue now, he said, is, “The laboratory that does that test is overwhelmed.” Grider said the city is on a waiting list while the laboratory expands its testing capacity.
At that point, Grider said the new Library Park seawall was nearly complete, but the project had been impacted by supply chain issues. He said a few issues were left to finish the railing.
He said that the sidewalk project is moving along with new concrete scheduled to be poured this week.
Grider said that to reduce the potential for virus exposure, staff has been split. They are doing minor maintenance and addressing other work as needed.
Police Chief Brad Rasmussen said his department has had to implement a major change in operations, implementing restrictions on travel and training, and community policing as they currently know it.
He said they are adapting on a regular basis to protect the community. That includes rolling out a new online reporting system built by Lt. Dale Stoebe.
They’re also conducting all outreach online. “That seems to be working well because all of our social media was so well established before this happened,” Rasmussen said.
As of that date, Rasmussen said the police department had 376 contacts – either educational or enforcement – regarding the shelter in place order, had checked the security of 590 businesses and completed 37 hours of foot patrol.
He said the department had, at that point, had only 28 criminal investigations since the shelter in place order went into effect on March 19, a 55-percent reduction, and had only eight arrests, a 70-percent reduction. Officer-involved contacts were up by 18 percent.
In mid-March, new policies restricted police from being able to book certain crimes into the Lake County Jail. Then, on April 9, the Judicial Council of California instituted a no-bail policy which Rasmussen said created other safety concerns.
As examples, he cited a high intoxicated drunk driver that they can’t book but have to babysit and a wanted parolee at large with felony violations of failing to register as a sex offender. In the latter case, the parolee had an ankle monitor placed on him before he was released.
Rasmussen said the no bail changes will be in effect for 90 days after the governor’s declared state of emergency is over.
“Although crime in Lakeport is currently down, it’s not going to stay that way,” said Rasmussen, noting there will be many individuals they won’t be able to book into the jail.
He said they had a parolee from another county earlier that day who was in violation of a felony domestic violence restraining order. His county of origin didn’t want to deal with him.
As far as the homeless, they are being directed to the Hope Harbor warming shelter at the former Record-Bee building, 2150 S. Main St., Rasmussen said.
Rasmussen said the shelter is having good success helping some people, but others are being ejected for serious rule violations, assaults on staff, and possession of heroin or other drug violations, and are back on the streets.
He said 32 individuals have been banned from the shelter, the only one operating for the homeless in the county right now. “There’s a strain with that,” said Rasmussen.
Rasmussen said many community members don’t understand that police can’t force the homeless to move from one public place to another unless it’s a place like Library Park, which has restrictions.
He also noted the additional police training demands due to COVID-19. All of the training is being done online, with 150 hours overall completed by that time.
Rasmussen said they’re staying very connected with all local, state and federal agencies.
He said the situation has introduced change “like we’ve never seen.”
Rasmussen added, “Law enforcement doesn’t necessarily like change, but they are good at it,” nothing they can almost turn on a dime and keep going.
The chief also thanked the community for its support.
Kelly Buendia, the city’s human resources director and city clerk, said the primary concern has been employee safety and administering personal protective equipment for staff.
She has been working to help department heads with staffing schedules, and they are implementing social distancing measures, telecommuting where possible.
Buendia said she also worked with staff to launch virtual and telephonic meetings for the council and committees.
Assistant City Manager Kevin Ingram said the city’s emergency operations center phone line remains available at 707-263-5683, with call volume.
He said the business assistance environment is changing rapidly, and the best strategy is to put businesses in contact with the Lake County Economic Development Corp.
Ingram said he, Silveira and Walker are following up with the Community Development Block Grant program, which may offer the city $70,000 in relation to the pandemic.
He said work also is still moving forward on two key projects, including the second phase of the Martin Street affordable housing development and the request for proposals for the lakefront park project which is being funded by the state.
“We’re doing our best to keep those things moving despite short staff and a little bit of uncertainty,” said Ingram.
Councilman Kenny Parlet said at the meeting that it looks like some really good things could come out of the pandemic in the long run.
He pointed to developments with telecommuting and said it looks like the economy could emerge in good shape – and that they could be better off in a different way. He said he was very encouraged – and even excited – and believed others should be as well.
In other business, at the April 21 meeting, Mayor George Spurr presented a proclamation declaring April 19 to 25 as National Volunteer Week in the city, and the council delayed approving a resolution adopting the Eleventh Street Corridor Multimodal Engineered Feasibility Study.
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Supervisors approve offering hazardous duty leave benefit to county workers, OK staff masking policy
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson presented the proposals for hazardous duty leave and facial masking to the board in two separate discussions at its April 21 meeting.
Huchingson said she and an ad hoc committee met with all of the department heads the previous week, and they “overwhelmingly conveyed” to staff that to offer hazardous duty leave below the value of emergency paid sick leave would be a disincentive.
As a result, the ad hoc committee recommended a limited, one-time benefit of 80 hours of hazardous duty leave be made available to essential employees, equal to the 80 hours of paid time non-essential employees are receiving while sheltering in place. The leave would need to complete the required forms that would be subject to approval.
On July 30, 2021, approved employees would be able to get 40 hours of payout for the unused balance, she said.
Huchingson said that if all eligible employees took that payout, it would account for 2 percent of the work time for a year. The total cost to the county would be $916,000, of which $363,000 would be general fund costs, with the remainder to be covered by the self-funded departments.
Alternatively, Huchingson said projected costs based on what is budgeted for 2019-2020 – which she said assumed all positions are filled despite the county’s ongoing vacancy rate of above 20 percent – would total $1,080,848, of which $413,791 would be general fund, with the remainder covered by the self-funded departments.
She said staff intended to use salary savings to cover the cost and will reevaluate at midyear during the 2020-21 fiscal year budget.
Huchingson said the cost of lost productivity resulting from the emergency paid leave at 80 hours each for non-essential employees during the shelter in place order – with approximately 200 employees requesting that leave to that date – was still being determined, as the shelter in place remained active and approvals were continuing.
Supervisor Bruno Sabatier said that, from the beginning, the goal has been to support staff who are still being requested to go to work.
“I feel like this is a necessary thing to provide to our staff,” said Sabatier, getting agreement from board Chair Moke Simon.
Supervisor Rob Brown said it’s among the toughest decisions they have to make. “I don’t know the easy answer. I really don’t,” he said.
“I’m not sold on the idea that we can afford it,” said Brown, explaining that this same board may have to look at laying people off rather than just cutting positions due to the economic issues related to the pandemic. “We’ll see who’s really essential at that point.”
Brown said the impacts of the pandemic are going to hit the county hard due to the ripple effect, referring to a recent survey that showed 28 local businesses are closed and may not reopen.
He said he had a hard time committing to almost $1 million in extra costs, not because it’s not for a good purpose but because he doesn’t believe they have the money.
Sabatier said they could cover it without even tapping into the county’s rainy day fund. He mentioned the money used to put into reserves from the sale last year of the Lucerne Hotel – which Huchingson had pushed because she said the county needed the money – and said the county had the money to cover the expense. He added it wouldn’t cause the county to have to cut positions.
Brown replied that he didn’t say, nor imply, that this issue alone was going to break the county. He said it’s a small portion of what is going to hit the county.
The other board members expressed their comfort with going forward with the potential additional expenditure.
Public Services Director Lars Ewing raised to the board his concern that the policy only covers permanent employees, not the county’s extra-help employees. He said he has more than a dozen extra help employees working in essential capacities.
Huchingson told the board that she’s had repeated conversations with Ewing about the topic. “It’s not forgotten,” she said, explaining that they were working on permanent employees at that point.
Sheriff Brian Martin said the issue was a direct response to what the federal government did weeks earlier when mandating two weeks of leave.
The board approved the leave policy 4-1, with Brown voting no, and gave Huchingson the authority to meet and confer with employee union groups.
New masking policy approved
The board followed that discussion by another in which it approved a temporary policy requiring county employees to wear face masks when working in public at county facilities.
“The policy is a very simple one,” said Huchingson.
With Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace having issued guidance on April 13 in which he strongly urged masking in public, Huchingson said the proposed policy was for county employees to wear masks in county facilities when they are working with the public. Masks will be provided to employees by the county. The policy remains in effect until the board ends it.
“This is a great lead-by-example type situation,” said Sabatier.
Huchingson said touchless hand sanitizer also has been placed in the courthouse.
Supervisor Tina Scott asked if they had masks. Huchingson said they have some expired N95 masks and other departments are in the process of acquiring new ones.
Huchingson said employees can wear whatever type of mask they want, they just have to cover their mouth and nose.
Ewing said his department has a process in place for getting masks as part of ordering cleaning supplies.
The board approved the masking policy 5-0.
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“I want to thank Colorado and Nevada for joining the Western States Pact,” said California Governor Newsom. “COVID-19 doesn’t follow state or national boundaries, and it will take every level of government, working together to get the upper hand on this virus.”
“Coloradans are working together to slow the spread of COVID-19 and have important information to share with and to gain from other states. I’m thrilled Colorado is joining the Western States Pact,” said Gov. Polis. “There’s no silver bullet that will solve this pandemic until there is a cure so we must have a multifaceted and bold approach in order to slow the spread of the virus, to keep our people safe and help our economy rebound.”
“I’m honored to have the State of Nevada join the Western States Pact and believe the sharing of critical information and best practices on how to mitigate the spread, protect the health and safety of our residents, and reopen responsibly will be invaluable as we chart our paths forward,” said Gov. Sisolak. “Millions of visitors from our fellow Western states travel to Nevada every year as a premier tourism destination, and this partnership will be vital to our immediate recovery and long-term economic comeback.”
Gov. Newsom, Oregon Governor Kate Brown and Washington Governor Jay Inslee recently announced they would be working together under a shared vision for gradually modifying their states’ stay at home orders and fighting COVID-19.
They listed three shared principles as foundational to the agreement:
– Our residents’ health comes first. As home to nearly one in five Americans and gateway to the rest of the world, the West Coast has an outsized stake in controlling and ultimately defeating COVID-19.
– Health outcomes and science – not politics – will guide these decisions. Modifications to our states’ stay at home orders must be made based off our understanding of the total health impacts of COVID-19, including the direct impact of the disease on our communities; the health impact of measures introduced to control the spread in communities – particularly felt by those already experiencing social disadvantage prior to COVID-19; and our health care systems’ ability to ensure care for those who may become sick with COVID-19 and other conditions. This effort will be guided by data. We need to see a decline in the rate of spread of the virus before large-scale reopening, and we will be working in coordination to identify the best metrics to guide this.
– Our states will only be effective by working together. Each state will work with its local leaders and communities within its borders to understand what’s happening on the ground and adhere to our agreed-upon approach.
As part of the Western States Pact, the governors commit to working together toward the following four goals:
– Protecting vulnerable populations at risk for severe disease if infected. This includes a concerted effort to prevent and fight outbreaks in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
– Ensuring an ability to care for those who may become sick with COVID-19 and other conditions. This will require adequate hospital surge capacity and supplies of personal protective equipment.
– Mitigating the non-direct COVID-19 health impacts, particularly on disadvantaged communities.
Protecting the general public by ensuring any successful lifting of interventions includes the development of a system for testing, tracking and isolating. The states will work together to share best practices.
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KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Lake County Sheriff’s deputies arrested three local residents on Friday in connection to burglaries in Kelseyville and Lucerne.
Chelsea Leann Berry, 27, of Lakeport, Jason Donavon Harlan, 27, of Nice, and Monica Nicole Wright, 26, of Clearlake, were taken into custody on Friday morning, said Lt. Corey Paulich.
At 10:40 a.m. Friday Lake County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a residence on Peninsula Drive in Kelseyville for a reported burglary, Paulich said.
Paulich said a witness reported seeing three subjects enter a residence and leave with a bag of items in a white Dodge with a damaged trunk.
While responding, the deputies saw a vehicle matching the description given by the witness driving on Soda Bay Road towards Lakeport. Paulich said the deputies conducted a vehicle stop at the Fast and Easy Market in Lakeport.
The deputies identified the three people in the vehicle as Berry, Harlan and Wright, and also recognized them as the individuals who had been captured on surveillance video committing a separate burglary earlier in the morning in Lucerne, Paulich said.
He said the deputies saw a suitcase in the vehicle that had a luggage tag with the address to the residence that had been burglarized on Peninsula Drive.
A records check showed Wright had an outstanding misdemeanor arrest warrant and Harlan was on felony probation for possession of stolen property, Paulich said.
Paulich said the three were interviewed about the burglaries. Berry and Wright admitted to participating in both burglaries, while Harlan denied being involved and said he had just been recently picked up by Berry.
Items from the Peninsula Drive and Lucerne burglary were located in the Dodge. The items were later identified by the owners and returned, Paulich said.
The deputies also located methamphetamine and heroin inside the vehicle. Paulich said Berry was in possession of methamphetamine and Wright was found to be in possession of heroin during the booking process.
All three were transported to the Lake County Jail where they were booked, Paulich said.
Paulich said Berry was booked for burglary during a state of emergency, possession of stolen property, conspiracy, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia; Wright for burglary during a state of emergency, possession of stolen property, conspiracy and bringing a controlled substance into a correctional facility; and Harlan for burglary during a state of emergency, possession of stolen property, conspiracy and violation of probation.
Berry and Wright’s bail is set at $50,000 each and Harlan is on a no-bail hold for violation of his probation, Paulich said, adding that all three remained in custody on Monday.