Criminal and financial problems abound in Lake County supervisor race

The Lake County race for ?4th District supervisor includes a colorful cast of characters with criminal records and financial woes.

One owes the county almost $56,000, one has served time in prison and another recently was charged with marijuana distribution. Only two of the five candidates vying for the seat ­­- currently held by Tony Farrington - appear to be free of criminal or financial issues. Farrington is not running in the June 7 primary election.

Martin Scheel, 46, a Lakeport city councilman, owes the county $55,906 for removing his 20-ton crane from Clear Lake, where it sank in November 2010 while being used for a dock reconstruction project, according to county officials. He also is beset with federal and state tax liens and has a misdemeanor criminal record, according to public records and a background report provided to The Press Democrat by Farrington.

Farrington said the background check was launched by area residents concerned by what they’d heard about Scheel’s criminal and financial history. They wanted it made public so voters could be educated about their choices but they did not want their names made public, he said.

Scheel has confirmed information contained in the reports.

“I’ve never tried to hide anything,” he said.

Scheel said the county paid to pull his crane from the water because his former business - Konocti Marine Construction - had inadequate insurance and he lacked the money to do it himself.

Scheel acknowledges that he owes the county money and has yet to repay any of the costs, apparently because the county never followed through by sending an official bill.

“Officially, I don’t owe it yet,” Scheel said this week.

County staff apparently dropped the ball, said Lake County Supervisor Rob Brown, who is supporting Scheel in his bid for supervisor. Scheel also has been endorsed by Supervisor Jim Comstock, the Lake County Deputy Sheriff’s Association and U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson.

Farrington said it’s disingenuous for Scheel to blame the county for his failure to repay a debt of which he’s fully aware.

“To blame the county is absurd,” he said. Farrington said he will ensure the county follows through and pursues the money owed before he leaves office.

Scheel said he plans to start repaying his county debt once he receives an official bill or notification.

Scheel also owes money on multi-year federal tax liens of $8,774 and a $2,823 state tax lien, according to public records. This week, he said he paid a ?$148 county tax lien, of which he’d just become aware. He said he’s been working on making payments on the state and federal liens.

Scheel said he owed state and federal taxes and fines because he miscalculated his quarterly tax payments when he prepared his own taxes.

“I got myself in trouble,” he said.

Scheel also has a criminal record. It includes three misdemeanor convictions: driving under the influence of alcohol in 2009; reckless driving - running through a stop sign - in 1997; and grand theft in 1990, Scheel said.

The theft charge was for an incident that occurred when he was a 21-year-old engineering student working as an intern for the state. It was during one of the state budget showdowns that resulted in IOUs being issued instead of paychecks, he said. The records are no longer available, but Scheel said some coworkers figured out how to code their time cards so that they received checks rather than IOUs.

He said he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count and was given community service and three years of probation.

Two other candidates for the 4th District supervisor seat, which pays $63,720 annually, also have had brushes with the law.

Phil Murphy, 57, a farmer whose crops include walnuts and marijuana, was arrested in November on suspicion of felony charges of marijuana cultivation and the possession of marijuana for sale. He said he also was charged with possession of a firearm while committing a felony during the incident.

Murphy said he grew the pot in compliance with the county ordinance, which allows cooperatives to grow up to 48 plants. He said he was growing just ?26 plants for seven patients.

No plants were growing when deputies showed up at his Finley home, but they did find 32 pounds of pot, some of it packaged in individual bags.

Murphy said he’s been offered a plea deal but plans to go to trial because he was following the law and is innocent of the charges.

He said the case against him is largely political. Murphy noted he’s been publicly critical of county officials for years, most recently for their handling of the Valley fire.

A third candidate for the 4th District seat, Ron Rose, 81, is a retired engineering contractor who said he served nine months in prison in the 1980s for possession of stolen property. He said he purchased a dump truck from a man going through a divorce, not knowing the man did not have the authority to sell.

Rose said he was running for supervisor at that time and he believes the tough sentence was connected with politics.

Rose said he also has county liens filed against him. He said the county wants him to pay to demolish a house that wasn’t his. The house was foreclosed on by the bank and drug dealers moved into the vacant property before it was torn down by the county, he said.

The county contends he owes it about $15,000, Rose said. He finds it strange that the county is pursuing him while Scheel hasn’t been required to pay anything after more than five years.

“How is it that the system that ruthlessly goes after everybody’s assets somehow doesn’t go after Marty?” Rose asked.

The two candidates without apparent legal or financial woes are Ted Mandrones, 71, a former Marine, former Lakeport mayor and retired business manager, and Tina Scott, 42, a school board member who has raised 10 children - seven of them adopted - and who has taken in some 60 foster children over the years.

Scott said she’s been surprised by the endorsements that Scheel has received, given the amount of money he owes. She said none of the endorsers contacted her.

“Sometimes it is who you know, not what you are,” Scott said.

You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter ?@MendoReporter