CLEARLAKE— Focusing on public safety, Russell Perdock, candidate for reelection noted it is a priority for any government jurisdiction. “Finding fault with anything, anyone is easy,” he said. “What is tough is listening to a person who is angry, pointing fingers, but who clearly needs help. That’s when we need to listen most.”
As a new Council member in 2014, the city was in crisis. Unregulated cannabis grows proliferated, yet the chief of police at that time felt he was unable to enforce the laws. “I promised to get control of it,” Perdock said. “I was part of an Ad Hoc Committee to bring order to chaos. Within a year improvements were reached and we put a violent period behind us.”
In 2016, after attending classes to address homelessness, Perdock learned there was a group who we were identified as “‘high utilizers’ of our community resources,” he said. “I then saw this group, went to work with a team from Adventist Health Clear Lake and saw the creation of Restoration House.” By identifying 16 domains of care, guests of Restoration House, were within 10 months transitioned into stable housing.
By 2018, Perdock was offered a position with Adventist Health Clear Lake as a director. “I was able to help the work at Restoration House and was then tasked with finding and building a shower trailer.” Another group of people built an operations plan so that when the shower trailer arrived, they could put it to work.
As a former law enforcement officer Perdock used experience to improve the relationship between the city and the police officers’ bargaining unit. “Today, our law enforcement team has stayed with us instead of the constant exit,” he said. “The city is retaining command level officers and support staff. It is for those reasons we have seen improvements in response times.”
To address overcrowding in state prisons, Prop. 47, a.k.a. the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, was approved by voters in November 2014. It downgraded drug possession offenses from felonies to misdemeanors, and sanctioned early release for some inmates. But with the reduction of penalties, Perdock states that it is difficult to investigate and obtain a conviction. Today, officers can issue citations to for opioids/fentanyl. “I alerted our community to their dangers.” he added.
Clearlake also built a good relationship with Woodland Community College. “Using funding from the pharmaceutical settlement the city received, a program to help residents to attend college at no cost was created,” Perdock confirmed.
Regarding transportation, Perdock is currently serving on the Vehicle Abatement Committee. He is pleased he and other members pushed to get Measure V on the ballot. “Thankfully for the voters in Clearlake, they passed Measure V and have seen significant improvement on the city’s residential streets,” he said.
Having lived in Lake County a lifetime, he has seen significant algae blooms and cyanobacteria in the lake. The City of Clearlake has tried a variety of efforts to reduce algae. “If elected I will continue to support projects to align with the federal and state jurisdictions as the City doesn’t have jurisdiction over the lake management, but we feel the impacts.
Perdock recognized the work that Highlands Mutual Water Company has done and the quality of water that has been provided for 99 years. While Clearlake asked to see plans to replace old equipment that is over 50 years old, and according to the city, are failing. They believe a conversation is needed. If they can put personal differences aside, they can assure 3,000 residents will not wake up to no water in the morning.
This past year Clearlake received notification from the California State Water Board of a concern with Highland Water one of the city’s water providers. A report that had been created by a water engineering firm for that water company. It identified seven points of concern and can be found on Clearlake’s webpage.
Council members directed the city manager to reach out to the water company’s general manager to inquire if the city could help. The city manager received a letter from Highland’s attorney, not to have further contact with their employees. The city manager then attempted to attend their water board meeting and while not welcomed, was escorted out of the building and the door was locked behind him.
Since that time the city, Highlands’ largest water user, requested financial reports which are typically available to ratepayers, only to be denied. In response the city tried to have its council members elected to the water board, to learn more about future growth. After an election was tallied, the city argued votes were wrongfully dismissed that were submitted by property owners within the water company’s service boundaries. Highlands Water Board disagreed and validated the election, which the city contested and brought to court. The court later agreed with the city and directed another election be conducted.
There has been an effort to make people believe water rates would increase. “I’ve heard many rumors about what has become a hot topic,” said Perdock. “All I can ask is that you become informed and look at both sides of this issue and make your own decisions.”
