LUCERNE, Calif. — Concerns and many unanswered questions are arising over the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians’ plan to turn the historic Lucerne Hotel into a homeless housing facility with a multimillion dollar state grant that the tribe received after claiming the Lake County Office of Education is partnering with it on the project.

However, while the tribe’s plan names the Lake County Office of Education, or LCOE, is its “primary partner, ” the county superintendent of schools said LCOE isn’t in partnership with the tribe as stated in the grant application and that he knew nothing about the grant or the project until this reporter brought the matter to him.

“We are not going to be involved as a primary partner,” Lake County Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg told Lake County News.

At the same time, the state agency that gave the tribe the $5.2 million grant has brushed aside any concerns raised by that claim in the application and indicated it intends to go forward with awarding the money.

It’s part of a larger state effort to push money out into communities to try to address matters related to homelessness that has itself raised questions for its effectiveness, manner of oversight and expectations for due diligence.

Other key partners, agencies and officials named in Scotts Valley’s grant that were contacted by Lake County News have apparently been kept out of the loop, a critical concern as the tribe pushes to close escrow, possibly as early as month’s end.

Also not informed of the project is the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Northshore Fire Protection District and the Lucerne Elementary School District. The sheriff, fire chief and superintendent all confirmed to Lake County News that no one had reached out to them about the proposal.

Supervisor Bruno Sabatier got wind of the proposal at the start of September. However, Board Chair EJ Crandall, who lives in Lucerne, has not responded to Lake County News about whether Scotts Valley has spoken with him about the plan.

It’s a project that, if allowed to move forward, would directly conflict with planning for the Northshore community, running against the guidance of Lake County’s general plan, zoning ordinance and the shoreline communities plan.

However, Scotts Valley’s tribal administrator, Tom Jordan, is dismissing concerns raised about appropriate zoning and use of the building for what he intends as well as community concerns or lack of community input.

Community Development Director Mireya Turner told Lake County News that, by the time the grant was awarded, she’d had just one contact from Jordan about the hotel, which she said is not zoned for the use he intends.

Community seeks answers on proposal

The hastily created plan was submitted in June to the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, or BCSH, which announced the day before Thanksgiving that the Scotts Valley Pomo had been granted $5.2 million for the plan to turn the historic building into housing for homeless youth up to age 24, with priority given to tribal members.

Those youth won’t just come from Lake County, but also will be brought from Mendocino County, according to the grant language.

First selection priority will go to Scotts Valley’s homeless youth, which numbered seven, then all other homeless Native American youth in Lake and Mendocino counties, then all homeless youth regardless of socioeconomic status.

Jordan said the funds are to cover the purchase, estimated at $3.25 million in the grant documents, plus partial renovation totaling $1.39 million and the first year of operation — projected at approximately $525,813, of the Lucerne Hotel.

Not covered are costs for year 2, estimated at $553,188; year three, $703,839; and year four, $735,514.

The grant language itself says it will be housing for homeless youth and BCSH officials have called it a “shelter” for “homeless” youth in email correspondence to Lake County News, but Jordan disputes calling the project a “homeless shelter.”

He said the project which is funded for one year will be “a permanent residence for underserved, underprivileged disadvantaged youth between the ages of 16 thru 24. The McKinney-Vento Act will be used to qualify these youth. Scotts Valley intends to co-locate government and professional services to improve the opportunities for disadvantaged youth to be self-sustaining and self-reliant, so the space will also eventually include educational opportunities and professional offices. Scotts Valley understands that these purposes are consistent with the area and general plans for the Lucerne Castle property.”

How Scotts Valley understands the project to be consistent with area and general plans is unclear, considering the county planning director already has made him aware of significant issues with the proposed usage under current planning and zoning rules.

Other aspects of the plan that raise questions include whether Scott Valley has any experience in addressing homelessness with youth, much less on this scale.

Jordan said it’s meant to help address the more than 400 homeless youth in Lake County, but that number is more than 20 times the number of homeless youth recorded in the point in time count earlier this year. Jordan’s number is derived from a different definition used under the McKinney-Vento Act, which defines homeless children and youths as those who “lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.”

A review of the proposal raises questions about appropriate staffing levels to cover the project, and what kind of licensure would be required from state and local government.

At the request of Lake County News, the California Department of Social Services is reviewing the proposal to ascertain the necessary licensing, but as of Tuesday night the agency had not been able to give a final response.

Facilities on the scale of what Scotts Valley is proposing appear to more often be located in urban areas rather than rural ones like Lake County.

Scotts Valley’s was the largest grant given by the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, or BCSH, in that round of funding, twice the size of any other grant given to tribes for housing projects.

As of Tuesday night, BCSH said that the final award contract with Scotts Valley hadn't been signed but was expected to happen soon, and the agency dismissed concerns about the project in light of the revelations about LCOE not being a primary partner and did not intend to operate the facility.

The plan is being led by Jordan, who is not a tribal member, with his daughter, Sorhna Li Jordan, also not a tribal member, who is the tribe’s chief financial officer, also listed in the grant documents as being involved with oversight.

When approached for comment on the project by Lake County News, Sohrna Li Jordan said it wasn’t her project and she didn’t have information about it and would get back to this reporter, which she did not do.

Tom Jordan’s plan has mostly flown under the radar and has not included any input from community residents or leaders. In recent days, Lucerne Area Town Hall Chair Kurt McKelvey said Jordan has refused to respond to his request to speak about the project until Tuesday evening when he proposed talking to the town hall next month.

That’s all the more concerning since Jordan is rushing to close escrow. He said there is no definite time for closure of escrow, but separately Lake County News has received information that it could close on or around Dec. 22.

The agenda of the Lucerne Area Town Hall meeting, set for 6 p.m. Thursday, includes extensive discussion of Scotts Valley’s plans for the hotel.

Included in those discussions is a proposed resolution condemning the plan and asking the Board of Supervisors “to immediately put a stop to this project by denying necessary permits and informing Mr. Jordan that his plan is ludicrously inappropriate and flies in the face of longstanding county and town plans and economic goals.”

The resolution concludes, “Lucerne will not be a sacrifice zone.”

LATH’s meetings have been taking place at the Lucerne Hotel. However, when Andrew Beath, the man who bought the hotel from the county and is attempting to sell it to Scotts Valley, found out about the agenda, his caretaker Mary Jane Blackshear called and emailed McKelvey Tuesday afternoon to say Beath would not allow a meeting discussing those items to take place at the building, claiming LATH did not have all of the information.

“In the appropriate time Tom Jordan will address the community regarding the Scott’s [sic] Valley Band of Pomo Tribe possible purchase of the Lucerne Hotel Building, (The Lucerne Castle),” Blackshear wrote.

McKelvey said he intends to go forward with the meeting anyway.

Superintendent: Lake County Office of Education won’t run facility

Jordan and Ana Santana, head of the Lake County Office of Education’s Healthy Start Program, wrote the grant for the building after it came on the market in May.

“The grant was written as a coordinated effort between Lake County Office of Education staff and me. It was understood that LCOE would be the primary agency referring youth who qualified under the McKinney-Vento Act and would provide counseling assistance, as they do now for these youth,” Jordan said in an email.

The grant language is filled with inaccuracies and questionable assertions about the building and its historic use.

It misstates the number of local tribes — claiming six, not seven — and also claims that Scotts Valley is the only landless tribe, when the Koi Nation also is landless. A landless tribe is a tribe which does not have land in trust with the federal government, while Scotts Valley does own land, it is not in trust.

The documents also say that Marymount California University owned the building, which it did not. Rather, that college leased it from the county of Lake.

The biggest factual problem with the grant proposal is that it relied on the Lake County Office of Education as the “primary partner.”

However, LCOE knew nothing about the grant or the plan until contacted by Lake County News about it earlier this month, after the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency provided this publication with the details of the grant award. The initial public statement did not identify the hotel as the subject property.

Lake County Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg said the grant proposal did not go through LCOE’s process. Santana didn’t run it by the organization, and it bypassed the business office, the board and his own review, he said.

“This one snuck through,” Falkenberg said.

Based on an interview with Falkenberg last week, it appears that Santana committed the agency to the project, which she does not have the authority to do.

Last week Falkenberg met with Jordan and Santana. Falkenberg said there was an understanding between the tribe and Santana, presenting herself as representing LCOE, that as primary partner LCOE would be the operator of the homeless shelter.

“We are a school-based organization. We don’t know anything about running a shelter,” Falkenberg said.

Falkenberg said he and Board of Education Chair Mark Cooper discussed the matter and concluded that running such a facility is not within LCOE’s scope.

He said he told that to Jordan and Santana and later followed up to let them know, definitively, that LCOE would not be responsible for running the facility.

While Falkenberg said he is supportive of the concept and services for homeless youth, LCOE cannot continue as a primary partner and the effort should be led by a community based organization.

“We can’t be the operator,” Falkenberg said.

Falkenberg said that he believes everyone is in agreement that $5.2 million will not be enough to sustain operations on top of the needed renovations to the building.

He told Lake County News that the county’s former juvenile hall, which has already been retrofitted, operated as a shelter and is for sale, would be a far better site.

Falkenberg said he was trying to speak to state officials about the grant but as of Friday, he had not received a call back. This week he has been out of town due to a death in his family and so has not been available.

On Tuesday, BCSH offered a response that contradicts Falkenberg’s statements about the plan requiring LCOE to operate the facility.

The agency said it’s not accurate that it’s the intent of the grant that LCOE will run the shelter.

“We have spoken with LCOE Superintendent Faulkner [sic], who told us that the project is in alignment with SCOE’s [sic] mission and core values, that he and LCOE support the project, and that LCOE will be doing ‘everything that was said in the grant,’ including working with SVBPI to find an entity that can take a lead role on a center within the building,” the agency said through a spokesperson.

In his interview with Lake County News, Falkenberg did not communicate that LCOE would do “everything that was said in the grant” or that it would find an entity to take the lead on the project.

After the responses from BCSH, Lake County News spoke with Cooper Tuesday afternoon. He confirmed that Falkenberg also reported to him that it had been the intention of the project that LCOE run the shelter and that “it's not within the scope of our programs to be able to run programs like that.”

Cooper said Falkenberg recounted to him being sent around from one individual to another in BCSH in trying to clear up the matter. According to Cooper, Falkenberg relayed to the agency that LCOE would not run the shelter or be the project lead. The state, in turn, told him that it intended to award the funds anyway, without there being an identified entity to lead it.

The Lake County Board of Education meets Wednesday afternoon and the matter is not on its agenda. Falkenberg said he expected that board to bring the situation up “as a conversation” but not until its January meeting, but that will not take place in time to address the grant’s assertions about LCOE as primary partner before escrow is expected to close.

Even after the meeting with Falkenberg, Jordan said he intended to press forward with the plan, which does not have the support from LCOE that was a basis of the project and the grant application.

In an email response to questions about the project, Jordan wrote, “At the time in June when the opportunity arose to make Lucerne Castle a positive community investment, and the grant application written in a very short period of time, the preliminary investigation of renovation costs based on information supplied by Lake County and public records supported the amount requested in the grant. Subsequent discussions with general contractors indicate these costs could be higher. Scotts Valley has already discussed the potential for funding shortfalls with state staff and state consultants and are working to identify future grant opportunities to fund any outstanding renovation costs and operating costs. All discussions to date have been positive and encouraging, i.e., a grant application of this nature is likely to be approved. In addition, Scotts Valley has many unique funding opportunities available to it because of its status as a federally recognized Indian tribe.”

In addition to LCOE being listed as the primary partner, there were nearly 40 organizations and agencies listed as “secondary” partners for the grant.

They include, as listed in the application, five federally recognized tribes in Lake County (there actually are seven, Indian Child Welfare Act, California Tribal TANF, Lake County Tribal Health, Child Protective Services, Lake County Probation Department, Lake County Behavioral Health, Court Appointed Special Advocates, Redwood Community Services, SafeRx, Lake County Public Health, Lake County School Districts, Lake County Department of Social Services, Lake Family Resource Center, North Coast Opportunities, Redwood Empire Food Bank, Clearlake Gleaners, North Shore Business Association, North Shore Youth Club, Lucerne Senior Center, Catholic Charities, Career Point Lake, Lake County Transit, Mendocino College, Woodland College, Elijah House, Hope Rising, Red Cross, St. Vincent de Paul, Hospice Services of Lake County, Partnership Medi-Cal and Planned Parenthood.

Lake County News has been working its way through the list to contact all of these organizations. Of those reached so far, none knew anything about the grant and had not offered any written or verbal support for Scotts Valley’s plans for the Lucerne Hotel.

Planning concerns for the building and community

The grant narrative explains the project this way:

“The program is simple: house up to 60 homeless youth between the ages of 16 through 24 years of age, equally divided between boys and girls, some of whom will be married, and others married with 1 or 2 children. Males will be housed on one floor and females on another floor. Married couples with children will be provided two adjoining rooms to provide for a family sitting room/children’s play area and/or a second bedroom. In addition, 4 resident assistants to provide evening, night, and weekend supervision and 2 Case managers that develop individualized plans, provide supportive services vis-à-vis a coordinated services network, and monitor progress toward achieving each youth’s personalized goals will be assigned. All youth of school age will be expected to attend school, high school, or community college. Youth in the working age group able to obtain a work permit, will be expected to be employed. Culinary and maintenance staff are also included, and the youth are expected to assist in both areas, as they would in a family home setting.”

It continues, “The vision held by SVBPI and its primary partner, Lake County Office of Education, is “No youth shall experience homelessness.” Neither partner believes that this project will singularly achieve this vision. Yet both partners believe this project will fundamentally alter the homeless youth milieu that currently exists in Lake County and its sister county, Mendocino. Making a significant impact on this vision while achieving the optimum utilization of the property, housing 60 homeless youth, will not occur at once but will occur in annual phases. The first-year goal will be to house and support 30 homeless youth, thereby followed by 10 homeless youth increments for the successive 3 years.”

Turner said she was contacted once by Jordan some months before the grant’s approval.

“Tom asked me about the Lucerne Hotel, but it is not zoned for this. I told him that a rezone and general plan amendment would be required and it is not likely that the department would be able to support the project,” she said.

She said that there are no exemptions from zoning district development standards and uses in state law for such a project.

However, asked about those concerns, Jordan said the tribe itself is investigating whether a zoning change is required and that he didn’t read Turner’s initial guidance as “insurmountable.”

He also has dismissed out of hand the idea that there will be community backlash, and that instead the community will embrace and idea he so far hasn’t wanted to share publicly.

“Scotts Valley disagrees that there is likely to be backlash from the community for this project. We all know that youth in our community are suffering. Scotts Valley provides age-appropriate services and interventions to help youth build healthy habits, and to become self-sufficient members of the community. Lucerne Castle is an excellent place to provide residences for disadvantaged youth within a walkable community where they can access jobs, recreation, and social services. We will look for and entertain opportunities to present our vision of serving disadvantaged youth, in community forums,” Jordan wrote in a response to Lake County News.

Turner said last week that she recommended Jordan apply for a pre-application development meeting so he can get feedback from the reviewing agencies prior to submitting an application. She said he thought that was a good idea so she sent him the application.

As of Lake County News’ Tuesday night deadline, an application for that meeting had not been submitted.

Concerns about protecting a historical building and its community

Kelly Cox, Lake County’s retired administrative officer, said the county redevelopment agency purchased the historic building in 2010 to avoid plans exactly like what Scotts Valley has in store for the building.

The Lucerne Hotel is the heart of the town, which was built around the 94-year-old building. It’s the county’s last great resort from the era when Lake County was a top vacation spot for people from around the state and nation.

The county purchased it and began renovations in an effort to jumpstart the economy, an effort that worked.

It was used by Marymount California University as a four-year college — the first time Lake County had such an educational institution — for several years until the college abruptly left in 2017.

At that point, then-County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson began pushing the sale of the building without community input. It would soon become clear Huchingson wanted to use the building’s sale to bolster county reserves and support a multimillion dollar raise package that gave her among the largest benefits of any county employee.

The county opened a request for proposals process for the building in 2018. The Lucerne Area Revitalization Association, or LARA, an organization formed by the owners of Lake County News, submitted a proposal to lease the building and work collaboratively with the county to operate the building as it was intended, for educational purposes as a hospitality training campus operating a conference center, hotel and restaurant.

New Paradigm College, an aspirational permaculture school led by former county Supervisor Denise Rushing, was the only other proposal.

The county chose the New Paradigm College plan.

The county sold the building for $2.5 million to Andrew Beath of the Earthways Foundation, who purchased the building on behalf of New Paradigm College. But New Paradigm announced this past year that it was leaving the building and this spring Beath put the building on the market. In that time, LARA has continued to work on planning and grant writing to acquire the building.

Beath also appears not to have gotten a consistent answer from Scotts Valley about what it intends to use the building for, as he told Lake County News that he was told it will be used for “foster children.”

This isn’t the first time this year an attempt has been made to turn the Lucerne Hotel into a homeless shelter.

This spring, Adventist Health, in collaboration with the county of Lake, submitted a Homekey grant application seeking $15 million to turn the building into “Hope Castle,” a 70-bed homeless shelter.

The documents, obtained by Lake County News from the California Department of Housing and Community Development through a public records act request, included detailed plans for necessary renovations, the kind of due diligence that is missing from the Scotts Valley application.

Those estimates led them to request three times the amount sought, and received, by Scotts Valley.

The Board of Supervisors approved that grant application as part of its consent agenda in January.

Behavioral Health Services Director Todd Metcalf requested the approval, but at that point the documents made available to the board and the public did not include an actual project site or address.

The public records act request to the state, however, made clear that after the board gave approval, the Lucerne Hotel was added as the intended site.

Supervisor Bruno Sabatier confirmed to Lake County News that the Board of Supervisors knew nothing about that plan to turn the Lucerne Hotel into a homeless shelter.

On July 20, Lake County News emailed Metcalf to ask about Adventist’s plan, and to ask, “Are you aware of any such plan either involving those parties of anyone else? Are there any state grants that are being applied for, with or without the county's support, for use of that building?”

Metcalf responded the same day, “To my knowledge, the efforts made to secure funding for such an operation at the Lucerne Hotel fell through…”

The only letter of support in Scotts Valley’s grant packet was from Metcalf, on behalf of the Continuum of Care. That letter was dated June 29, a month before Lake County News’ email.

The letter reads:

“The Lake County Continuum of Care Committee (CoC) is pleased to provide its support to the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians’ (SVBPI) Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention Program (HHAP) application in partnership with the Lake County Office of Education.

“The goal of this application is to house and provide social services on a case management basis to 60 homeless youth.

“SVBPI is a participating member of the CoC, and, as with all its members, it is recognized that addressing the homeless youth population and its attendant needs requires a collaborative approach.”

Lake County News emailed Metcalf to ask if he didn’t remember that he had written that letter a month before or if he was being purposefully evasive.

Lake County News also asked Metcalf in that followup email how it was he had the authority to write that support letter on behalf of the Continuum of Care, considering that there was no discussion about offering a letter at the organization’s June meeting.

Santana, who was at that meeting, had asked if there was money to buy the building, but no action was taken to approve a letter, and that group must adhere to the Brown Act in its meeting procedures.

In his responses to Lake County News, Metcalf said, “The Board resolution and letter of support to which you are referring were not site-specific. The Lucerne Hotel is not mentioned in either document.”

Lake County News followed up in a Monday email to Metcalf, pointing out that the grant documents for those projects, which were in process or completed by the time the respective resolution and letters were written, were site specific.

In that followup email on Monday, Lake County News pressed Metcalf for an answer on how he had the authority to write the support letter for Scotts Valley’s grant on behalf of the Continuum of Care.

Metcalf did not respond.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.