The live auction will be held on Saturday, Oct. 1. Community members can sign up to bid from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., with the auction starting at 10 a.m. Board member Joyce Overton said the auction is expected to last all day.
The items can be previewed from noon to 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, at the Clearlake Youth Center, 14750 Golf Ave., next to Redbud Park.
Overton said the items to be auctioned include commercial kitchen equipment, household refrigerators and freezers; office equipment, including computers, chairs, desks, office supplies and a telephone system; and other household items such as bunk beds, living room furniture and monitor heaters.
The items up for auction come from the nonprofit's TLC House in Lower Lake, its New Beginnings program and the main office that was located behind Foods Etc. on Lakeshore Drive in Clearlake, Overton said.
Overton said the auction is the board's last step in shuttering the nonprofit, which closed its doors in February after the 10-member board of directors concluded that its financial challenges – from unpaid federal payroll tax to back rent and unpaid vendors – made it impossible to continue, as Lake County News has reported.
Shortly thereafter the agency's employees were put on furlough before being laid off, Overton said.
All of the proceeds from the Oct. 1 auction will go to the IRS, said Overton. “We don't have any choice.”
Earlier this year the agency board had estimated that it had about $100,000 in unpaid payroll taxes. Neither Overton nor Board President Tom Jordan in a recent interview could offer a more specific figure. But on Monday Overton pointed out that penalties and fines makes that number grow each day.
Overton said she's worked with the IRS to try to settle the nonprofit's taxes. She said they've answered every question and offered a lot of support and help, but there is only so much that can be done.
She said the IRS told the board that they did the right thing by closing the nonprofit's services immediately in February once board members found out the agency's dire financial picture.
The IRS is in the process of taking possession of a building on Palmer Avenue that the agency owned and which offered temporary shelter for the homeless, Overton said.
All of Lake County Community Action Agency's services have been handed off to other entities, according to both Jordan and Overton.
Overton said Hilltop Recovery opened a recovery house in Lucerne, North Coast Opportunities took over the action agency duties, Redwood Empire Food Bank is assisting with providing food – as is the county Social Services Department – and Catholic Charities is working to expand its already considerable offerings to help cover the additional food and housing needs.
Closing the programs “just about killed me,” said Overton. “I was very angry and mad, and I felt so bad for all of those people we displaced.”
Overton said that the board is getting close to finally disbanding, once the auction is completed.
“I have no idea what it will bring,” she said of the auction.
All sales at the Oct. 1 auction are final. Sales up to $1,000 will be cash only; checks only will be accepted if they have been preapproved at the preview on Sept. 30.
For more information about the live auction, contact Gary at 707-478-3968.
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