LAKE COUNTY — At a meeting Tuesday, the Lake County Board of Supervisors was informed that District Attorney Don Anderson would not be present to report on and answer questions regarding his spending habits as D.A.
District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown suggested that Anderson’s use of County funds for what Brown sees as unnecessary travel and training was “somebody giving the County the finger on the way out.”
Local resident Joan Moss commented that “this could have been taken care of privately.” In response, District 3 Supervisor Jim Steele said the public nature of the board’s inquiry was valuable. “There should be transparency anywhere it looks like there is impropriety,” Steele said, referring to Anderson’s questioned spending habits.
Brown’s essential argument Tuesday was that Anderson should not be spending County money training himself for the D.A. position he is set to depart from in a little over a month, and made a motion, which was passed in a 4–1 vote with District 1 Supervisor Moke Simon opposed, to instruct County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson to subject Anderson’s travel and training expenses to pre-approval by Huchingson herself. The instruction will be reviewed in the board’s December 4 meeting, but may be continued until the end of Anderson’s term.
Sheriff Brian Martin warned that from his own experience heading a County department that incurs many expenses, “taking [a County credit card] away from any department head is going to have some unintended consequences.” Martin also suggested that the investigation should be handled in a different forum, mentioning that the Lake County Civil Grand Jury would be interested in such a query, and would be fit to pursue one.
Dark Skies proclamation well-supported
Also Tuesday, the board approved a proclamation to recognize the county as a Dark Sky Destination and lend momentum to planned outdoor lighting regulations which would seek to protect Lake County’s night skies.
The proclamation received letters of support from organizations like the Redbud Audubon Society, the Lake County Rural Arts Initiative and the Lake County Land Trust as well as multiple members of the community.
According to the proclamation, about 90 percent of the United States population cannot experience a natural night sky due to “sky glow,” which is defined as the brightening of night sky through backscatter from air pollution and the use of artificial light.
Lake County has been at the top of California’s healthy air list for 28 years and for the third consecutive year the county’s air quality is being rated cleanest in the state on a scale that takes into account fine particulate pollution among other factors. Lake County also regularly scores within the top four in the nation for air quality, according to the proclamation.
According to Supervisor Steele, who sponsored the proclamation with District 4 Supervisor Tina Scott, the County is working to promote and interpret local building regulations that would result in dark sky friendly development to help preserve the clear sight of the night sky, including visibility of the Milky Way.
Among Lake County’s stargazing attributes is the Lake County Taylor Observatory-Norton Planetarium, which features a research telescope that is capable of locating around 140,000 celestial objects in the sky.
The proclamation describes how Lake County Dark Skies provide an astrotourism destination for individuals who come to the community because they do not have the ability to see many stars due to light pollution from their own homes.
“Lake County is a Dark Sky Destination with beautiful night time viewing experiences that will be preserved for future generations,” reads the proclamation.
In support of the proclamation is a letter from the Redbud Audubon Society, which reveals another way in which lighting regulations will benefit Lake County—in this case, some of Lake County’s animal visitors.
“Redbud Audubon also supports a Dark Skies initiative for Lake County to help the birds, particularly in migration,” the letter reads. “Much has been done in larger cities to control the damage to birdlife that is occurring from brightly-lit night skies. We can opt to start now before more damaging lighting has been installed and to retrofit when the opportunities arise.”
Following Steele’s reading of the proclamation, a representative from the Taylor Observatory spoke before the crowd gathered in the board of supervisors chambers.
“This is a major step forward to getting an International Dark Skies Association Recommendation,” he said, noting that the town of Borrego Springs and a location in the Mojave Desert are currently the only two IDSA-certified places in California.
