LAKEPORT — The Lake County Board of Supervisors (BOS) voted Tuesday to hold a public meeting at the BOS chambers on June 21 for proposed amendments to the zoning ordinance regarding medical marijuana dispensaries in the unincorporated areas of the county.
It was thought the Lake County Sheriff”s Office (LCSO) wanted the BOS meeting to be held at the Lake County Jail because of the reported bomb threat before the April 28 Lake County Planning Commission meeting on the proposed ordinance.
Sheriff Frank Rivero, who did not participate in Tuesday”s BOS discussion, denied in several recent radio appearances that he requested the June 21 meeting be moved.
During an interview on Herb Gura”s “The Law Show” on 88.1 KPFZ Saturday evening, Rivero said he had never asked that the BOS meeting be moved to the jail.
“I never said that,” Rivero said, later adding, “It was my suggestion to do it for the planning commission after the bomb threat at the courthouse, not my idea to move the BOS proceedings anywhere.”
The commission had been scheduled to consider a proposed ordinance establishing regulations on dispensaries operated by collective or cooperative organizations in unincorporated areas of the county during its April 28 meeting.
The County Counsel”s office received a phone call at 9:15 a.m. on April 28, prior to the scheduled 10 a.m. public hearing, from an unidentified man who said a bomb was set to go off in the Lake County Courthouse at 10:30 a.m., according to Capt. James Bauman of the LCSO.
LCSO representatives began clearing the courthouse around 9:20 a.m., which interrupted the commission meeting.
No evidence of a bomb was found after initial sweeps by LCSO personnel and a subsequent search by a military K-9 detection team, according to Bauman.
The “all clear” was given around 1 p.m., and county employees, jurors and lastly members of the public were allowed back in the courthouse.
The commission briefly reconvened at 1:30 p.m. to continue the dispensaries ordinance hearing to May 11.
The commission meeting continued in the main cafeteria of the Lake County Jail on May 11, and after nearly four hours of public testimony, the commission voted to recommend a modified ordinance to the BOS.
The BOS is scheduled to consider that ordinance during its June 21 meeting.
District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing brought up the location of the June 21 meeting, asking the BOS take it up as an extra item. The BOS unanimously agreed to take up the item Tuesday.
Rushing said she had received numerous citizen letters asking that the meeting be held at the courthouse instead of the jail.
District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown said he also requested that the courthouse be the venue of the meeting. He said it becomes a problem when the BOS worries about where to hold a meeting.
District 2 Supervisor Jeff Smith said the county should tighten up security and hold the meeting at the courthouse, to which BOS Chair Jim Comstock and Brown agreed. Brown said the BOS chambers are the public”s venue.
The BOS unanimously voted to hold the meeting at the courthouse.
Kevin N. Hume can be reached at kevin.n.hume@gmail.com or call directly 263-5636 ext. 14.
