I attempted to attend the recent Lakeport City Council workshop at City Hall to present a letter from the Lake County Association of Realtors, and encountered a situation which I find quite troubling.

I called the Lakeport City Hall on Thursday, May 17, to be sure there was going to be a workshop the following Tuesday as I had not seen any announcement or reminder in Lake County News or the Record-Bee. No one at City Hall could confirm the workshop. On Friday, I received a call from City Hall confirming that there would be a workshop on the following Tuesday, May 22, beginning at 6 p.m.

Considering that public hearings/workshops become crowded early, I arrived at City Hall at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday the 22nd. The doors were locked and there was no posting of the public workshop on either entrance to City Hall. I was puzzled, but came back to City Hall at 5:53 p.m. to again find the doors locked and no one waiting. At this point I figured that the workshop must have been canceled.

The next morning, Wednesday, May 23, I went to City Hall to drop off the letter I had planned to present at the workshop. I was told that there had been a workshop the evening before, and that no one from the public or the media had attended. I told the two people in the admin office that I had tried to attend; including the times I tried the doors and was told that they didn't open the doors until slightly after 6 p.m. on Tuesday evening. When I questioned that decision, I was told that the workshop was to begin at 6 p.m. and that's when they opened the doors.

Not drawing any conclusion, but by not posting a notice, or reminding the media of the workshop, it appears that the City Council almost guaranteed that no one would attend.

Thomas Pelandini

Lower Lake

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