LAKEPORT — The Lake County Board of Supervisors (BOS) and Lake County Sheriff Frank Rivero discussed the location of new sheriff”s substations and budget allocations with an array of solid arguments, quick-witted responses and passionate remarks.
Tension and a clear disagreement with Supervisors Rob Brown and Anthony Farrington on one side and the sheriff on the other, ultimately led to the conditional approval of a tentative lease agreement for a new sheriff”s substation in Clearlake Oaks.
The project was proposed last fall but has not been completed because a suitable location has not been agreed upon.
“We should have had something present in Clearlake Oaks two weeks after we got the petition,” Supervisor Jeff Smith said.
Supervisors Denise Rushing and Jim Comstock backed Rivero”s pleas to hold off on approving an incomplete lease agreement for a substation in the Big Oak Center, and continue looking at another location, but Rushing”s motion was struck down in a 3-2 vote.
“I don”t see the harm in giving him (Rivero) a week or two,” Rushing said.
Supervisors Anthony Farrington and Rob Brown led the opposition to Rivero”s recommendation.
The BOS then conditionally approved the still incomplete lease agreement with the Big Oak Center office space owners because of lack of optimistic negotiations for a building on Shady Lane.
Rivero pleaded with the board to keep negotiations open for the Shady Lane building because he deemed it a more suitable building for the new sheriff”s substation.
The Big Oaks building would require alterations, he said, because it has large windows and would leave sheriff”s deputies vulnerable to attacks. The Shady Lane building is better suited and has a garage-like structure that could be used for indoor processing of vehicles.
Though the board agreed that the Shady Lane building is better suited for a sheriff”s substation, the owners of the building have not accepted a lease contract and have only expressed an intent to sell.
Rivero then insisted that there is enough money in the Sheriff”s rural fund to buy the building, but Farrington and Brown did not agree that buying the property would be the best use of funds.
“We do the best that we can with limited resources,” Farrington said.
Part of the problem of using money in the Sheriff”s rural fund, Farrington said, could involve the upcoming expansion of the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility which, with 95-percent of the funding coming from the state, is expected to cost the county roughly $1 million.
The sheriff argued that there was enough money for both projects in the fund, and that these projects are the types of investments the money should be used for. He also said alterations needed to make the Big Oak building safer would cost money that would be inappropriate to spend on a building the county doesn”t own.
In the end, the urgency to finalize the project, and the fact that the owners of the Shady Lane building have not been open to a lease agreement with an option to buy, led the BOS to turn down the sheriff”s request. Nevertheless, Rivero continued to voice his opinion and insisted that until the Attorney General signs off on expenditures for a leased building, he would not approve expenses.
Supervisor Farrington responded by saying that if the sheriff refused to comply with building plans after they have been established necessary for public safety, legal action would be sought.
Supervisor Comstock also added a separate motion to consider placement of a substation in Lower Lake, which was approved by the board.
“The Presence of law enforcement would chase out the rats on that sinking ship,” Comstock said.
The board also went on to approve a budget transfer of $10,000 to fund a legal firm that would represent the county in the matter of Rivero v. Lake County Board of Supervisors. The money would come from an estimated $32,000 surplus in the Sheriff”s Coroner”s budget.
Rivero argued that the remaining money in the coroner”s budget was allocated for background checks of new hires and for ongoing investigations in which outside help was hired.
“I think that (the legal firm) should be either paid by the people who approved it or the people who need it,” Rivero said “not a burden on the Sheriff”s Office.”
“The other option would be not to burden the tax payers and just withdraw your appeal,” Farrington responded.
Isaac Brambila is a staff reporter for Lake County Publishing. Reach him at 263-5636 ext. 37 or at ibrambila@record-bee.com.
