In the wake of some big changes at the local government level, including the recent announcement of the County of Lake’s Economic Development Director Mary Darby’s resignation effective November 4, and following the news that the Elijah House homeless shelter will close in early September, it has become apparent that county administration has not put a premium on keeping the public abreast of these sudden but important developments which have the potential to impact residents for months, if not years to come.
The ever-present need for ongoing transparency is underscored by politicians attempting to “punch holes” in the state’s sunshine laws, as detailed in a recent article by columnist Dan Walters. The state’s “sunshine laws,” such as the California Brown Act, require public agencies to do their business publicly, but Walters writes that pending legislation would “punch loopholes” allowing them to ignore portions of California’s long-standing open meeting laws, such as the 1953 Ralph M. Brown Act.
Walters correctly points out that “the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has affected virtually every aspect of our lives, mostly in the negative, and one effect is disconnecting California’s public officials from their constituents.”
In theory, digital governance is just as accessible and responsive as the physical version, but we think Walters is right to point out that in reality it isn’t. “Not only is the technology cumbersome and sometimes inoperable, but it assumes that everyone has access to computers and the internet, which is not true,” he writes. It is especially not true in a rural place with spotty broadband connectivity such as the County of Lake.
Turning our attention back to local government, at their most recent meeting, the Lake County Board of Supervisors, as part of their consent agenda, approved “the extended use of the County Juvenile Hall facility for a temporary support shelter targeting the county’s chronically homeless population through September 30.” But unless you were paying close attention, you probably wouldn’t have even realized the temporary shelter was closing due to allocated grant funding running out this fall. We don’t recall a lot of discussion about the pending closure of the facility which brought with it a myriad of unanswered questions.
The staff report from the meeting noted that “Staff recommends the board adopt a space use committee recommendation to extend temporary use of the old juvenile hall by Elijah House.” What did this even mean? what or who is the “space committee,” who sits on that committee, and what does the process entail?
Justin Ammon, whose foundation is based out of the area in Oroville in Butte County, filled some of the holes and told the Record-Bee Tuesday that the foundation will continue to offer services at their Lucerne location located at 6110 East Highway 20 including housing navigation, case management and the “Back 2 Work” program because these services are not part of the initial grant associated with running the Lakeport shelter and are still being funded by the nonprofit. No such discussion or elaboration took place at the County level.
The recently released Grand Jury Report form 2021-22 also details adherence to the Brown Act requirements in relation to the Lakeport Fire Protection District and the Measure M parcel tax has been lacking in regard to entrances being unlocked to the public during board meetings, a lack of wheelchair (disabled) access, and that reporting actions have been “intermittent” in regard to reporting actions publicly, if any, along with the vote, occurring during closed session proceedings.
In the case of Darby, we think privacy concerns surrounding her resignation are overridden by the public’s right to know how her department will move forward given the fact she was placed in charge of the county’s cannabis program and post-COVID economic development. To be fair to county admin, they responded quickly to a request for Darby’s resignation letter in which she lists her accomplishments during her brief tenure in her position and cites “family conflicts” as the reason for her having to step down.
Retired County Administrator Carol Huchingson talked a lot about transparency, but we found that a lot of that talk was mostly lip service considering how many instances of questionable communiques and vague announcements residents receive from the county and how many ad hoc committees there are without any oversight. (Ad hocs are not normally bound by state open meeting regulations.) One recent example was a press release communicating the departure of the Public Health Officer (Erik McLaughlin) who exited after only three-and-a-half months on the job. The only explanation given for his resignation was that “this role did not end up being a long-term fit.” Every time the county needs to go out and fill one of these vacated positions, as revealed in recent BOS meetings, the recruitment firms contracted to fulfill this task cost $25,000 to $30,000.
For that amount, we think the public deserves to know more of the details.
—The Editorial Board, Lake County Record-Bee
