2012 - 2013 Community Events

2009-2011 Community Events Archive

2008 Community Events Archive

2006-2007 Community Events Archive

 

12.31.13 I can hardly believe it is the last day of the year! Time flies when you're having fun, or something like that. Residents are going to be asked to participate in plans for developing the public access to the Eel River as well as issues like the possible restriction of motorized vehicles on the banks of the river. The city will be asking Mr. Barisdale to remove fencing, vegetation and any outbuildings that are encroaching on the historic public right of way to the river at the end of Painter St. which the city wants to restore. The plan is for only foot traffic so parking nearby will have to be provided. Watch for future council meetings to discuss restrictions on access, expanding public areas, etc. The public input is critical so speak up now!

Keep your eye on the mounting pile of wastewater biosolids that the city is accumulating. The plan for giving it away to residents to use as a soil additive throughout the city is currently on hold but the council has asked for more details for a future reconsideration. The biosolids are exactly what you think they are but they have been treated and meet the EPA guidelines for a Grade A-Exceptional Quality designation. We have created a page with links to material you can read regarding the issue which is a much larger problem then we ever knew about. Over 50% of all the waste product biosolids in California is repurposed into compost/soil amendment that is used in a variety of locations that include food crops and livestock pasture. There are no labeling requirements on compost so you may be buying waste products without even knowing it. The EPA does not test for known carcinogens like dioxins and their testing has not been updated since 1993. The waste product is going to have to be dealt with in one way or another but do residents want it in their front yards or their gardens? Council member Melissa Marks was concerned about renters putting the waste product onto the property without the knowledge or consent of the land owner. The city would not be in a position to police where it goes.

Speaking of police...we heard an interesting story about a recent interaction with the Rio Dell Police Department (RDPD) that we wanted to share. A resident paid their water bill at city hall with cash and one of the $10 bills was found to be counterfeit. The RDPD came over to check it out and ask where the bill came from but the resident didn't know for sure. Anyway, the police took the bill as they are required to do so it gets out of circulation. A couple of weeks later, the resident gets an envelope in the mail from RDPD and it had a $10 bill in it. When I heard the story I thought how nice it was that the police department would replace the counterfeit money that the resident had taken away from them. However, the $10 bill that the resident received from the RDPD was the same counterfeit bill that had been confiscated! Now I am not an expert in these kinds of things but isn't sending counterfeit money through the United States Postal Service a crime? And why was it returned in the first place since that could realistically put counterfeit money back into circulation? According to the Federal Reserve, it is illegal to knowingly pass on counterfeit money and a person should turn it into law enforcement as soon as possible. The United States Secret Service takes it pretty seriously as well.

Don't forget to check out the KMUD Reports page for audio clips that include city council updates, water issues and much more!

We hope everyone has a safe and happy new year!

-Sharon

11.21.13 Sorry it has been so long since we have posted updates on this page. If you would like to hear some of the other projects we have been working on, check out the KMUD page that has our audio reports. We do updates on the city council meetings, local issues, etc.

The Rio Dell City Council were finally able to meet on Nov. 12th after rescheduling the usual first Tuesday of the month meeting and then having to cancel the rescheduled meeting due to a lack of a quorum.  The regular council meeting scheduled for Nov. 19th has been cancelled. The meeting began with an announcement of action taken in the closed session. The council voted unanimously to initiate litigation, if necessary, against SHN Consulting Engineers for defects in the water infiltration gallery. This appears to stem from the $3.2 million dollar raw water intake project that was a part of the larger $8.5 million water infrastructure project done in late 2005 and 2006 that we had been taking pictures of back when this site started (you can see them here). You can bet that we will be watching this closely so stay tuned for updates.

The council then approved payment for a $3,191 dollar change order to the Wildwood Ave. project that included approx. 200 square feet of sidewalk replacement between Douglas and Cedar St.  There are numerous areas of sidewalk that need to be replaced along Wildwood at an estimated cost of over $9 thousand dollars but the city was not going to include it in this beautification project as the responsibility for dangerous sidewalks fell on the property owners, according to the city.  However, it has since been determined that 2/3rds of the needed sidewalk repairs clearly were the responsibility of the city.  Three of the newly installed medians in the Wildwood project do not include the trees that were planned initially due to last minute changes, according to the city. It was reported that the businesses and residents in those areas have asked for the trees to be added.  According to the city manager’s report, the city plans on purchasing 3 big leaf maple trees locally to be added in once the project is complete. The town clock that has been installed as part of this project is anticipated to be turned on November 18th, according to City Manager Jim Stretch.

The meeting included a discussion of Senate Bill 405 related to the phasing out of single-use plastic bags in California. The council has been asked if they would support or oppose the bill in its current form. There was a lengthy discussion of issues surrounding reusable grocery bags such as contamination due to the users lack of washing the bags between uses. Mayor Jack Thompson expressed concern over the spread of diseases such as polio from unvaccinated people in the Middle East who may come to this country which could result in the spread of polio (watch the meeting video and maybe you can help explain the convoluted logic to me).  It was determined that the city would not support the bill without significant changes.

Rio Dell will again be considering enrollment in the California Public Employees Retirement System. The issue will be discussed in future meetings.

City Manager Jim Stretch will be retiring in approx. six months and the city is looking to begin the recruitment effort for a replacement.

The next city council meeting will be December 3rd at 6:30pm. Hope to see you there!

-Sharon

5.27.13 The May 21st, 2013 Rio Dell City Council meeting began with a closed door session between council members and city attorney, Russell Gans, to discuss two lawsuits that the city is considering filing against an unknown number of parties. No action was reported on one suit and the council voted unanimously to have the city attorney review the second suit which appears to involve access to 5.5 acres of city owned property off of Monument Rd. according to the very limited information available at this stage. (for a fun activity try searching Google Maps for Metropolitan Rd Rio Dell CA and then count the number of obvious grows you can see along the road and up on Dinsmore Plateau)

A special presentation was given by city engineer Merritt Perry of Winzler & Kelly on the status of multiple city projects. Work on the Wildwood Ave. streetscape project will be going out to bid and is projected to begin in early August; just after Wildwood Days. The streetscape project will include a clock near the Eagle Prairie bridge entrance to town and art work featured in some of the center medians that will be installed throughout the length of Wildwood Ave. There has been minimal public involvement despite numerous meetings and workshops held over the last two years for this project and the drastic changes involved. Work will also include sidewalk additions on Davis Ave. and lighting at the crosswalk on Wildwood Ave. near the school as part of the Safe Routes to School grant.

The wastewater treatment project has been on-hold with drilling stopped at the edge of the Eel River near the Hwy 101 bridge. The city has been waiting for permits to drill under the river in order to pipe the treated sewage over to the other side in Metropolitan where it will be discharged. The city is currently using effluent retention ponds which hold the treated sewage on the banks of the Eel River as it has in years past which will be discharged once the river has returned to a higher flow rate.

The city council approved an agreement with GHD Inc. for CEQA, permitting and biological assessment for an emergency project already initiated which involves alterations to the Eel River required for the city water infiltration gallery to allow for low flow water conditions. The council summary stated there was a sandbar reducing the water flow that needed to be dredged however the summary provided by GHD states the work is needed because the infiltration gallery, which was a part of the large water project in 2005-2006, was designed and constructed in such a way that it could not receive water during low flow conditions which are common during the summer months.  The project would remove gravel from the riverbed in order to direct water flow toward the infiltration system. This project will allow for up to five years of gravel moving while a longer term solution can be designed and permitted.

The council appointed Carol Theuriet to the Rio Dell Planning Commission in the position recently vacated by Gordon Johnson who was appointed to the city council.  Carol is currently on the Board of Directors for the Eagle Prairie Arts District and is an owner of Carleigh Packaging.

Rio Dell city council meetings are held on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month.  The next meeting will be June 4th at 6:30pm in city hall.

RENTAL PROPERTY INSPECTION: Recently proposed changes to the Rio Dell housing code would include a new rental property inspection program to be fully funded by fees charged to property owners. According to the 2010 census, there are 1,442 housing units in Rio Dell with 43% being rental properties. Despite the hundreds of properties that would be affected, there has so far been very little public interest shown in the proposal with only a few residents attending the last study session regarding the inspection program held in February. City Manager Jim Stretch provided a brief update in the May 21st City Council Meeting, stating that the city was still working on a “housing inventory” and future meetings would be scheduled once this was completed.

The deteriorating housing stock in Rio Dell was cited as a major issue in a comprehensive report about the state of the city released in early 2011 by then City Manager Ron Henrickson; along with deteriorating streets and a lack of viable attractive commercial businesses. The Rio Dell Compensation Committee Report provided a stark portrait of the state of the city at that time and possible approaches to improvement. The primary goal cited was to “eliminate all sub-standard housing in the community within 5 years” with the rental inspection program being one of the recommendations in addition to “adoption of a housing maintenance code.”

The rental inspection proposal was first presented to the Humboldt Association of Realtors Government Review Committee in 2011 who expressed concern over the costs that would be passed on to renters as well as significant privacy issues. The matter was dropped at that time but a city council member has asked that the rental inspection program be looked at again in conjunction with the recent housing code update, according to Stretch.

Rentals less than 5 years old and Section 8 subsidized housing would be exempt from the inspection requirement. All other rentals would be required to be inspected before occupancy and then annually after that.  The city would conduct the inspections or in some cases a property owner could take a class to become certified to do self-certifications.  The fees have not yet been finalized but Community Development Director Kevin Caldwell provided the anticipated range.

Rio Dell would be the first city of its size in California to impose rental property inspections according to Caldwell after looking at other jurisdictions 10,000 residents or less. The city has been unable to determine how many of the dilapidated housing structures are actually rentals versus owner occupied.  The idea of expanding the inspections to homeowner properties has already been brought up in earlier council meetings.

The rental inspection program will be addressed in a future city council meeting, stay tuned for meeting dates. The Rio Dell Compensation Committee report and the proposed Housing Code update with the rental inspection program details are available from the city.

3.2.13 We hope everyone is doing well at the start of a new year. The city has shuffled the deck chairs on the Titanic once again and appointed Jack Thompson as Mayor with relative new comer Frank Wilson as Mayor Pro Tem. The next council meeting will include the resignation of long time cronie Richard "Bud" Leonard after 14 years of helping drive the city to its current state of affairs. We can't help but reminisce about some of the more memorable moments over the years since we have been attending council meetings which naturally has to include the infamous yelling at a resident that they were an "a..hole" from the Mayor's seat at the council table because the resident spoke about Leonards' disclosure of confidential grand jury testimony details while drinking at Mingo's (There is only audio of the special moment since we hadn't yet begun video taping the council meetings). Council members Julie Woodall and Melissa Marks tried in vain to defuse the situation but Leonard could not stop himself and just kept his mouth going and going making matters worse. The recent law suit to secure the release of the Public Works Investigation report had curiously required Leonard to recuse himself from the closed door votes. Why was that? The report was redacted by the city to remove the names of everyone except for Jim Hale but it is pretty clear that personal favors were being done with city staff and resources to a select few. We can only guess why Leonard had to recuse himself (and whose idea it was) from the votes but it looks mighty strange. In any case, the city will be looking to appoint a replacement to complete the term.

The city council is also looking seriously at implementing a Rental Inspection Program that would include annual inspections for every rental property in Rio Dell with corresponding fees. The deteriorating state of housing in Rio Dell is certainly not in dispute but it is not clear how much of that is homeowner versus rental properties (the idea of inspecting homeowner properties as well has already been brought up). There was a study session held on 2.26.13 and there will be another one in about a month to go over the details; hopefully more people will show up for the second one then did the first. The city will be looking for code violations inside and outside the home then issuing citations as needed which is ironic since the city inspector has been ignoring severe health & safety code violations for years now. There is a reason why the housing has deteriorated to its current state and you don't have to look much further than the city building inspector (with the full knowledge of the city of course). Community Development Director Kevin Caldwell will be doing the majority of the inspections but the council acknowledged that they may have the current building inspector certified to do these in addition to the property owners who could pay to take a class and become certified. According to City Manager Jim Stretch, if the inspection discovered other code violations or illegal activity then that would be reported as well; including anything they might see "over the fence" into a neighboring homeowners property. The residents of Rio Dell; renters, landlords and homeowners alike, need to pay close attention and participate in the process now to let the council know your concerns and/or comments.

-Sharon

11.12.12 It is worth your time to take a look at the Community Events archive pages linked above if you are interested at all in the ongoing issues that effect us all. The wastewater treatment plant plans go all the way back to the 2006-2007 archive when the city stated in no uncertain terms that they had to annex the Eel River Sawmill site for the new plant as it was impossible to upgrade the current location. After years of study, costing vast amounts of taxpayer money, the city decided that it was going to do the impossible and upgrade the current site. This was after annexing the sawmill site of course. The archives are an invaluable asset to tracking the city activities just since we began the site and they provide an interesting source of background information relevant to current events. There is an amazing amount of information buried in those archives!

We wanted to play a little tennis today at the city courts that were resurfaced not too long ago but found them locked tight in the middle of the day on Veteran's Day. The sign said to call city hall or the business line for the police if the courts are locked which we did but of course neither is open on a holiday. The courts are a public resource that should be available for use but it appears that only the few with the key code for the locks can use them on days like today.

-Sharon

11.7.12 The election results are in and Measure J fails to pass by an even wider margin then the last attempt. There is no question that Rio Dell needs better streets, that has never been in dispute, but clearly the voters have no confidence in the city or their administration of taxpayer funds. In addition to the $2 million dollar street repaving bond measure failure, the unopposed incumbent council members failed to get even a simple majority of votes in what can be described as a "no confidence" outcome. Long time council member Jack Thompson only received 46.1% despite having no opposition; incumbent Frank Wilson also ran unopposed and received 49.9%. I don't think that those numbers indicate any great affection for the council by the residents as City Manager Jim Stretch had asserted in the last council meeting. The city needs to ask itself why the street paving bond measure failed (for the second time) and the answer resides within city hall. If we all agree the streets need substantial work then why would the citizens not be in favor of the bond measure? Because Rio Dell has demonstrated time and time again that it can't be trusted to use taxpayer money as intended; without providing special favors to select cronies or funds/assets being misappropriated. The public works investigation report clearly laid out a small sampling of the kinds of activities that have been going on for a long time and presumably are continuing to this day. The city steadfastly refused to even acknowledge the report findings such as the "felony level embezzlement of city property" let alone address how things have changed to prevent these same problems in the future. The city has lost the trust of the public and has does nothing at all to try and earn it back. What did the city do with the report findings? They buried the report and fought hard to keep it from becoming public. The city spent untold amounts of taxpayer money fighting against public records law until the courts had to step in and order the release of the report. All of that effort and money spent to block public disclosure doesn't instill much confidence in the city and their ability to follow the law.

The citizens of Rio Dell have demonstrated their lack of confidence in the city by the vote last night. The city needs to pay attention and start taking concrete steps to prevent the continuing problems and cronyism that has run rampant for years now.

10.17.12 We hope everyone has taken the time to read the public works investigation report that took 3 years of effort and a court order to finally get a hold of despite its being a public record. We have summarized the timeline of events below from the public record to provide some context to the events surrounding the departure of then public works director Jim Hale as well as former city manager Nancy Flemming. If you want to know how the city responds to public record requests then take a look at our Freedom of Information page. The city spent untold thousands of dollars trying to prevent the taxpayer funded investigation from ever becoming public despite its numerous substantiated allegations, including "felony level embezzlement of city property." The city redacted the report to leave only Hale's name so that he could take all of the blame but it is clear that there are many others involved who are likely still with the city and/or still receiving their special favors at taxpayer expense.

At last nights city council meeting the issue of Measure J was on the agenda (second attempt at $2 million dollar bond measure for street paving). City manager Jim Stretch said there were a number of rumors and false information going around about the measure so they wanted to address it. Perhaps this was in response to the increasing number of "No More Taxes" signs appearing around town in opposition to the rise in property taxes. Some in the audience spoke about the need for better streets (which no one disputes) and their support for Measure J. I spoke about the credibility problem the city has so far refused to address in light of the investigation report findings which described embezzled city assets and misappropriated tax payer resources. Infrastructure projects being used to give special favors for select cronies at the expense of the public is detailed throughout the report. The city has refused to acknowledge the report findings which means they have also refused to make any changes to prevent ongoing and future abuse of city resources. The tax payers have a right and a responsibility to ask the city questions such as what did they do with the report findings? Did they fulfill their fiduciary responsibility and refer the matter to the proper authorities? Why should anyone believe that things have changed in city hall? Without answers to these questions then the residents have no reason to have any confidence in city hall. City manager Stretch alleged that the citizens of Rio Dell must obviously 'love' their council members as they have kept them in office for so many years now but that is more likely due to the fact that they run unopposed year after year.

The city is asking every property owner to take on more taxes and simply trust that the city will administer the money as it is intended without the special favors to cronies or misappropriated city assets. Just looking at the numerous problems to date that have come to light begs the question of what more is out there that hasn't been discovered yet? The city has done nothing to earn back the trust of the taxpayer which has to start with publicly acknowledging the report findings and any steps taken to stop further abuses.

9.30.12 We have been trying to filter through the available information to piece together a timeline of events surrounding the activities outlined in the Hale investigation report we just received as well as other information we have gathered. Take a look at the Freedom of Information page for the lengthy history involved in trying to get the public record released. We always appreciate our anonymous sources who help fill in the blanks and again encourage those with first-hand knowledge to contact us.

Here is the timeline we know so far:

Jan. 2009- Hale threw the first punch in a fight with a resident at the local Shell station regarding an unmetered water line that Hale had run to his personal property during the large water infrastructure project. This fight appears to be the catalyst that blew the lid off years worth of "questionable" activities that were widely known in the community by then Public Works Director Jim Hale. *It is important to note that Hale is only one piece of the puzzle and the investigation report makes it very clear that numerous others were involved and benefitting personally.

1.6.09 City Council Agenda lists the first reference to the closed door item "2009/0106.17 Employment Status-Public Works Director" and Hale appears to have been put on either suspension or paid administrative leave at that point.

1.20.09 a memo of allegations re. Hale was given to the mayor, Julie Woodall, and the city council by an anoymous whistleblower

1.20.09 & 1.29.09 two special meetings were held with the city council and the city auditors regarding conducting a "special audit for the purpose of investigating certain findings from the annual audit." For whatever reason, the council did not approve the special audit. The minutes of those meetings were interesting as there was obviously a lot of animosity going on between some of the council and city manager Flemming regarding complaints into misconduct and her alleged failure to put a stop to it. Note that the council member giving Flemming the most heat has been in the city for a whole lot longer, including previous stints as council member and also failed to do anything about the problem. *You can see our 4.7.09 posting for further discussion of these two meetings.

1.25.09 our Community Events page was updated to include the information re. the fight and the employment status agenda item.

2.24.09 city attorney David Martinek requested an investigation into the allegations, presumably at the direction of the council. Floyd Stokes of Stokes & Associates was hired to look into the issues and then report back.

3.24.09 the investigation report was submitted by Stokes after an investigation that included interviews with more than 40 witnesses.

4.7.09 closed door session was held with the council, city attorney Martinek, city manager Flemming and a number of unknown men in suits. The agenda listed it as "2009/0407.01 To consider the appointment, employment, evaluation of performance, discipline, of a public employee (Government Code Section 54957)." No action was reported afterwards.

5.26.09 The first of our public record requests was submitted where we clearly asked for any investigation report or summary into any city department or employee as well reports or memos related to the disappearance or disposal of public works equipment. The request and the follow-up request were rejected outright by Martinek who alleged personnel privacy rights.

City Council Agendas continue to list closed door items regarding both the employment status of Hale and the "performance evaluation" of then city manager Nancy Flemming for months. There was never any reported action taken regarding either items.

7.7.09 Nancy Flemming resigns as city manager during a closed door session just before the council meeting but no action was reported such as accepting her resignation.

11.23.09 a settlement agreement was reached between Flemming and the city which paid her salary and generous benefits through Oct. 2nd, 2009 along with a silence clause. Why would there be any settlement or severance agreement when Flemming allegedly "voluntarily resigned?"

At some point near the end of 2009, the Hale employment item simply dropped off the closed door agenda list and Randy Jensen was officially put in as the acting public works director.

The city then spent approx. $100,000 replacing "missing" public works equipment and tools along with instituting a system of checking-out equipment to provide some level of accounting. The investigation report also outlines tens of thousands of dollars in missing equipment, property, staff time, etc. At the same time as all of this has been going on the citizens of Rio Dell have had multiple rate increases in water and sewer with more increases expected very soon. How can the city ask for more money from the residents when it can't address all of the fraud and misappropriation that has gone on so far and any steps that might have been taken to make sure it doesn't happen again? The city is about to ask (again) for the residents to take on a multi-million dollar bond to pay for street improvement but won't say how it will be different from projects in the recent past with missing funds, special favors for select cronies and city assets just dissapearing. The citizens of Rio Dell need to decide if they care or if they just want to continue with the status quo.

9.25.12 There has been a lot of activity going on since my last update with the most significant being the receipt of the long sought investigation report regarding former public works director Jim Hale. We initially requested this report on May 26, 2009; then city attorney David Martinek refused to provide the report that is clearly a public document. A follow-up request was also rejected despite the clear precedent and California code cited. We did not have the time to pursue the matter further at that point. The public record request was reinstituted on 3.19.11 and we have diligently pursued it ever since. The city has done everything possible to prevent the release of this report and after reading it I can see why. Names of witnesses and other parties that were not the subject of investigation were redacted by the city but the remaining content is remarkable. Years worth of missing funds, missing equipment, public employees being used as personal assistants for select cronies, and more are summarized. The problems with Hale and his 14+ years with the city are only the tip of the iceburg and clearly indicative of the larger corruption in city hall. Despite having names blacked out, the report lays out special favors being traded around with the knowledge of others who are just as guilty in their failure to act. We had heard stories of some of this ever since moving to Rio Dell in late 2003; there is no way that others who had lived in this town for decades weren't aware of what was going on under their noses. Three unpaid for building permits that were never submitted to the county assessor? The city building inspector is just as guilty as Hale in this as he couldn't have gotten away with these activities without willing assistance. Sidewalks built for individuals with city funds, why? Everyone in Rio Dell pays a variety of city taxes but only a select few get 'special treatment.' How long will the citizens of Rio Dell allow this to continue by their silence?

We only hope that citizens will pay attention. This is your city and your tax dollars! "Evil prevails when good men fail to act" Edmund Burke 1729-1797. When you read the report, please ask yourself why nothing was done about any of it. Hale resigned from the city as well as former city manager Nancy Flemming (with a good settlement) and the problems were swept under the carpet. "Felony-level offense embezzlement of property" was ignored as well as all of the other substantiated allegations, why? That is a question that only the city council can answer and we hope that the residents of Rio Dell care enough to ask the question and demand a response.

Steve & Sharon

p.s. Rio Dell has put the failed street paving bond measure back on the November ballot. As you are considering the issue, ask yourself what has changed in the city since Hale's tenure that would prevent the same kind of misconduct from continuing. That is an issue that the city must confront publicly if it hopes to be trusted with yet more public tax money.

5.27.12 We hope everyone is enjoying their Memorial Day weekend and remembering our troops who continue to be in harms way.

There is a special meeting called for Tuesday the 29th including a closed door consultation with legal counsel regarding our suit to force the release of public records. The closed door session begins at 6:00pm and the open public session will start at some undetermined time after that. The last update we have is from the council meeting of 5.1.12 when the counsel said they were going to notify "involved parties" of their intention to finally release the public records. This is done so that the involved parties can file some type of objection to block the release as far as we can tell. There would have to be some compelling reason why the privacy concern of the party overrides the public right to know which has to rise to a very high level but we shall see what happens. We will keep you posted as information becomes publicly available. Stay tuned!

Don't forget to vote on June 5th! The election is not expected to have a very big turn-out which means that a small number of voters will be deciding the issues for those that can't bother with their most basic civic duty. The bond measure for Rio Dell requires a super majority of the votes to approve so this could wind up being a very low number if the turn-out is bad. The measure would impose additional taxes on property owners in Rio Dell to pay for street paving "city wide." This is the dilema of Rio Dell, normally we would be all for better streets but after seeing the city in action with numerous other public works projects we have no confidence the money would be used as intended. The city would have to take some drastic steps to get rid of the cronies that have been bleeding the community dry for so long before we could even think about supporting a major project such as this. Otherwise it is just the same players that have used the city as their own personal playground for so long. The city has given no reason to think things would be any different with this project as they were with any of the others. I wrote about some of the other projects we have seen the city work on just since moving here in 2003 in my posting of 12.31.11 during the Rio Dell Plaza debate. Despite the numerous serious problems with past projects we have not seen any form of accountability or consequences when the public trust has been violated. This brings us right back to the public records request we have been fighting for...

5.6.12 It has been a while since my last update to this page but we have been busy with a lot of stuff. Most importantly of course is the Wolff v. City of Rio Dell (CV120162) suit to force public disclosure of the investigative report into public works and whatever else it entails. We have alreay managed to secure the release of the settlement agreement with Nancy Flemming which is interesting since the city felt the need to pay out a whole lot of money months after she "quit." Once an employee quits, literally walks out of a meeting never to come back, why in the world would you give them a large cash settlement? Maybe the investigative report will help shed some light on that as well as a few other questions. In any case, at the recent council meeting they announced that they will notify the involved parties of their intention to release the report so that they can try to fight the release if they choose. If nothing happens on that front then they will allegedly release a redacted version of the report, finally. They are entitled to redact very very limited information such as some names from the report but that is it. The city has now paid three seperate attorneys heaven only knows how much to try and prevent the release of public information; that makes us very curious as to what is in the report they are afraid of releasing. The council voted 4-0 for the release with Bud Leonard recusing himself from the vote which I found very interesting. Why would he need to recuse himself? We can only speculate but it is interesting considering his strategic role in the city backroom dealings and his close relationship with many of the cronies. We will post the report as soon as we actually receive it.

Last night there was a strange incident near our home that involved an officer shooting a dog that was run over by a young woman from what we could gather. Late last night (approx. 11:30pm) we heard a strange noise outside and went to find out what that was when we found a very distraught woman and a couple of other folks looking at something at the side of the road in front of our neighbors home along with Rio Dell police officer Kevin Harralson. The sound we heard was the officer shooting the dog; after which we heard the woman say "he is still alive" three seperate times. The officer spoke to us and let us know that the sound we heard was his "dispatching" the dog. I have no idea what dog was involved or the details of the accident but the shooting was very concerning. Any time an officer feels the need to discharge a firearm in a families front yard in the middle of the night with upset citizens right there, there should be oversight. If you know who the dog belonged to or any of the details then please email us. As always, we greatly appreciate information provided to us.

-Sharon

3.17.12 The city has continued to refuse the public record requests for the investigative report(s) into public works which are clearly provided for in California law. As a result, we have had to file a lawsuit Wolff v. City of Rio Dell (CV120162) in the public interest and right to know. See the post below regarding the settlement agreement with Nancy Flemming that we finally received after almost a year and numerous denials of its very existence. I have to wonder why the city paid Flemming so much money long after she supposedly quit. We hope the city will stop wasting taxpayer money on fighting against public disclosure as it has done for so long now; it is an act in futility.

2.22.12 After a year of fighting for public disclosure, we finally received one part of the larger records request that had been denied by the former city attorney David Martinek. The settlement agreement with former city manager Nancy Flemming has finally been released as required by state law. We appreciate the new city attorney, Russell Gans, following the public record laws that apply and we look forward to receiving the rest of our requested records; particularly the settlement agreement with former public works director Jim Hale and the investigative report into the department. The whole records request saga can be viewed here. Settlement agreements are public records because they involve public funds (once the settlement becomes final). Note that the agreement says Flemming voluntarily resigned as of July 7, 2009 but the agreement was signed at the end of the year. Why enter into a settlement agreement at all with someone who is said to have simply quit of her own accord? Flemming received her salary for another approx. 3 months in addition to a car allowance of $400 and an insurance reimbursement of $645 each month for three months after quiting (benefit time was paid out as well).

Last night, the city council held a study session regarding proposed changes to the animal control ordinance (included in the council packet). Increases to fees and licensing will be coming up very soon as part of the updates. The meeting was dominated by council member Jack Thompson and his ideas for changes to the ordinance targeting dogs and dog owners. On multiple occasions it was noted that Thompson is having a neighbor fight at his home with what sounds like a barking nuisance dog; this conflict appears to be guiding his ideas for changes. The meeting video will be coming shortly so you can review it for yourself. Thompson proposed requiring dogs that bark at people walking by their property to be muzzled all the time in their own yards! Dogs are territorial and naturally protect their home, muzzling them everytime they are outside is cruel and potentially dangerous to the dog who can't open their mouths to pant, etc. The ordinance had recommended that a dog barking for 30 minutes or more could be called in to the police as a nuisance; Thompson requested that changed to 15 minutes and the other council members agreed. When the council began discussing licensing for multiple dogs, Thompson stated his belief that low income people often neglect their animals and let them run wild. He proposed requiring people to bring their financial information to the police department to apply for dog licenses and they would determine if they were financially "worthy" of having dogs. You will have to review the video to get the full effect of the offensive proposal. I would like to note that the most neglectful and abusive animal owners I have ever known of had money; they were simply cruel heartless awful human beings and money had nothing to do with it. It should also be noted that Thompson often likes to rail against 'big government' and the U.N. conspiracy to take over the world (Agenda 21) one smart meter at a time and espouse the bumper sticker "don't tread on me" attitude. That stands in stark contrast to his government regulation/big brother approach that would require disclosure of financial data to the police just for the right to own a dog. The animal control ordinance will be coming before the council in a regular meeting along with fee and licensing increases. It is inappropriate to try and use a position on the council for personal advantage in this neighbor fight and change city wide ordinances as a result.

FYI-The city council voted to increase the water deposit for new utility customers to $100 last night. The sewer deposit will be increased to $200 in an upcoming meeting.

-Sharon

2.11.12 Welcome to the new year! The most significant update from last year is that the Rio Dell Plaza proposal is dead in the water. The property owner and the city couldn't agree on terms so the project is off the table at this time. The city is focused now on a proposal to take out a $2.8 million bond for "city wide" street paving which will have to go before the voters in the June election. The council has approved the proposal and they will be working on the details to get that on to the ballot. The average property owner in Rio Dell will be looking at an anticipated increase in their annual property taxes between $122 - $215 for the bond measure. This is just for paving, there will not be any repairs or upgrades included. Keep a close eye on this one as it develops since it will affect the pocketbook of everyone, owners and renters alike. We will continue to post all of the available information that we can. Rio Dell has some of the worst streets in the county but we have serious concerns about the city's ability to competently complete any project without major problems based on years of past experience.

We recently received a letter from the new city attorney Russell Gans regarding our year long quest for public records which said they would finally release former city manager Nancy Flemming's settlement agreement with the city. We have asked repeatedly for both Flemming and former Public Works Director Jim Hale's settlement agreements with the corresponding vote by each council member along with "any and all documents/information-from 2003 to the present-pertaining to any investigation involving public works, including but not limited to any investigative reports." The initial response from Gans said they agreed with us that the settlement document was a public record subject to release (we already knew that) and that he would release it by Feb. 10th but made no mention of the settlement agreement with Hale. The letter went on to say they weren't going to release the investigative report requested because it was allegedly written by former city attorney David Martinek and was therefore protected as a work product and attorney/client privilege.

Yesterday we received a letter saying that the release would be delayed due to the "party affected" (Flemming I presume) claiming privacy protection and threatening to sue the city "for injunctive relief to prevent disclosure." The letter went on to cite a recent appeals court case, Marken v. Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (Jan. 24, 2012) as part of the rationale. The letter said there would be a copy of the case enclosed for our review, which there wasn't, but it is readily available online (the linked copy includes some of my own highlights for emphasis). I sure hope Flemming or her attorney reads this case because it absolutely supports 100% our request for the records, especially the investigative report! The plaintiff, Marken, sued to prevent the release of an investigation and letter of reprimand he received while working for a school district and he cited the same privacy right that Flemming is allegedly asserting. Marken lost the case and the records were released (with redaction of names other than his own); the court stated "the public's interest in discloure of this information--the public's right to know--outweighs Marken's privacy interest in sheilding the information from disclosure." The involved case included an investigative report done by an attorney for the school district into the allegations (exactly as Martinek claims the requested report was done) yet the court found it subject to disclosure. Take a look at some of the highlighted areas such as pages 24-26 in the linked document and you will see that there is no doubt the investigative report is subject to disclosure. It has already been established that the city can't be sued for releasing documents subject to disclosure so that is a non-issue. There will be a response letter written that we will link for further discussion of the issue. We are not going to give up the quest for these public documents but the city is trying everything possible to block the release; why? Stay tuned...

 

 

 
 Community Events
Court 
Rio Dell Volunteer Fire Department Scotia Annexation Vote Watch Home