Lake County supervisors approve out-of-state travel for District 5 supervisor amid emergency concerns

The Lake County Board of Supervisors voted to allow District 5 Supervisor Jessica Paiske to attend the National Association of Counties Western Interstate Region conference in Maui County, Hawaii, in May 2026, despite public objections that county leaders delay travel while the county responds to a local emergency.

During public comment, Clear Lake resident Cassandra Hulbert said, "Lake County is in an active emergency response. Residents are displaced, 24 days living without safe water now," and asked the board to "defer or deny approving out of state travel to Maui at this time." Voter Rachel White said discretionary travel needs a "clear specific explanation of why this expense is necessary" and cited past votes and spending decisions she said undermine confidence in the request.

Supervisor Sabatier and other board members said they understood the public's frustration but defended participation in national conferences as a practical way to bring expertise back to Lake County. "There is no time to enjoy other than the networking and the learning sessions that you go to," Sabatier said in support of the travel. Chair responded that NACo chooses conference locations and that the per-supervisor cost for the Maui trip is similar to other conferences the board has funded.

Supervisor Jessica Paiske, whom the agenda identified as District 5 supervisor and the subject of the request, said she is attending because the disaster task force she serves on is sponsoring many of the sessions and because the task force is working on bipartisan FEMA reform. "We have a lot of money that comes into our county from FEMA," Paiske said, adding the work aims to help Lake County access and retain FEMA dollars after disasters.

Board members also noted budget context: one supervisor said travel was included in a previously approved budget and that some travel is covered by regional organizations such as the Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC), not drawn from an ad hoc general-fund transfer. Supervisor Owen urged constituents with road complaints to resubmit requests and offered follow-up, saying the travel approval would not affect road budgets.

A motion to approve the travel was made and seconded. The Chair called for the vote, members answered "aye," and the Chair concluded, "That motion carries." The meeting record does not show a roll-call tally in the transcript; the board announced the motion carried and no amendment or deferral was recorded.

Next steps were not specified in the transcript: the board approved the travel authorization; no further public schedule or follow-up report on outcomes from the conference was announced during the recorded segments.