LAKEPORT— The Lake County Board of Supervisors held their weekly meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the County Courthouse in Lakeport and online via Zoom link. This week the board discussed the implementation of a methadone treatment program from Behavioral Health Services. They also considered a special item from Sheriff Martin regarding the purchase of new patrol vehicles.
During closed session the board appointed Mireya Turner, current Interim Community Development Director, to the permanent position. Turner had been interim director since August 13 when Mary Darby suddenly resigned. Prior to that position Turner served as Community Development’s Deputy Director, and spent three years prior to that in Mendocino County. Turner facilitates the newly formed Cannabis Task Force.
According to a county press release, accepting this permanent role led to Turner making the very difficult decision to step away from the Lakeport City Council, effective August 30. Many County residents will be aware Turner has served as Councilmember since December of 2014, most recently as Mayor Pro Tempore.
“Serving as Community Development Director will require a greater commitment of time and attention than any of my previous roles,” affirms Turner. “The authority vested in this position could present possible conflicts with my elected position; so to avoid that, I must step down from the City Council. It has been a great honor to work with all of my colleagues on the Council, and the tremendous City of Lakeport staff, and I look forward to further opportunities to collaborate in my new role.”
“Ms. Turner has accomplished a great deal as a Councilmember, and Lakeport is a better place to live, work and invest as a result of her contributions,” noted Kevin Ingram, Lakeport’s City Manager. “We will miss her insights as part of our Council, and could not be more excited to see her work positively affect the lives of every Lake County resident.”
“Ms. Turner understands the unique needs of Lake County and has the experience and technical knowledge to help us move forward,” noted Eddie Crandell, Chair of the Lake County Board of Supervisors. “Making her appointment as Director permanent will help bring stability and continued growth to a critical County Department. Our Board truly looks forward to an enduring and effective partnership with Ms. Turner and her team.”
At the meeting Sheriff Brian Martin sought the approval of the purchase of seven 2022 Ford Explorer police pursuit vehicles totaling $340,500. Martin noted their current vehicle fleet had aged out and is in need of major repair. He added that this year had been rather difficult placing bids for fleet vehicles. “For example, Chevrolet opened up the bidding opportunity for Chevy Tahoes for a period of less than 24 hours this year,” he said. According to Martin, in accordance with Ford’s bidding dates, the Sheriff’s Department put in five bids, with the lowest being Redwood Ford. The board approved the purchase with District 2 Supervisor Bruno Sabatier stating, “I hope that in the near future, because it looks like we have 13 years and counting, that we might figure out what the game plan is here where we can no longer buy gas patrol cars.”
Coinciding with Sabatier’s proclamation of August 31 as International Overdose Awareness Day, Behavioral Health Services Director Todd Metcalf and Deputy Director April Giambra shared a presentation regarding a new contract with the New Life Clinic and Narcotic Treatment Program located in Ukiah.
According to Giambra, the New Life Clinic offers Methadone treatment for those struggling with substance abuse on a more local level, whereas patients previously had to travel out of county for treatment. Giambra shared “Historically it has been very difficult to find providers, and despite my best effort up until New Life, we haven’t been able to secure a contract.” Since working with the New Life Clinic Giambra said that “To date there have been 34 total Lake County Medi-Cal admitted patients for methadone. Of the 34 patients, 26 are still in treatment and eight have discharged. Lake County patients have a 76 percent retention rate which is nine percent above the total 67 percent retention rate for the entire clinic.” Giambra further shared that from April to May there were 11 new patients admitted and according to a patient survey “95 percent of the respondents indicated that they felt their drug use had gotten better since they began treatment at the New Life Clinic.”
The board heavily considered the agreement focusing on the financial obligations of having to cover the non-federal share, which according to Patrick McCoy, General Counsel for Pinole Pomo Nation and general counsel for One Together Solutions, the manager of the New Life Clinic, “There shouldn’t be any lack of certainty at this point concerning any matter related to economics. We know what the federal rate is as that’s posted in the federal register every year. So that’s an absolutely determined rate for all of 2022. We know that is the rate.”
