Historical society sues Alpine County over museum access

The Alpine County Historical Society is suing Alpine County claiming that efforts to evict them from the museum are a breach of an agreement dating back to 1990.

The historical society has been given an Oct. 1 deadline to remove their artifacts from the museum and on June 7 filed a lawsuit in California Superior Court.

That was the day after the county opened the museum for the season after a three-week delay.

According to the lawsuit, the county and the historical society agreed in 1990 that the county museum complex would be operated jointly, with the buildings owned by Alpine County and the artifact collection owned by the society.

The complex at 135 School St. in Markleeville consists of the museum built by the historical society in 1972, the 1883 Webster School, the old log jail moved to the site in 1969, the old stamp mill moved to the site in 1988, a carriage shed building and a Basque bread oven.

Both sides agree that under the 1990 agreement, the county would staff the museum from Memorial Day through October and maintain the buildings.

“Under the agreement between the parties, there are two basic obligations, with some ancillary responsibilities,” County Administrative Officer Nichole Williamson said on Friday. “First, the county is to open and staff the museum. Second, the Historical Society is to display and maintain the artifacts. It is fairly simple agreement.”

In a Thursday social media post, Historical Society member Richard Dustman emphasized that the volunteers built the museum.

“The Society gave the buildings to the county so there would be no taxes to pay, and the county agreed to take care of the buildings and grounds and pay seasonal staff because they wanted a museum,” he said.

While the society and the county have been at odds for the last year, issues between the two date back to when the museum was closed during the coronavirus outbreak, according to the lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, the museum closed for the winter in 2019 and remained closed through the coronavirus outbreak.

The Historical Society asserts that in July 2021, the Board of Supervisors created new job descriptions for museum staff and appointed Library Director Rita Lovell to manage the museum without consulting with society members.

Over the past year, historical society members said that the county has failed to forward mail including checks and that the society’s computer files were copied into the county’s database and the password changed locking them out of the machine.

Williamson allegedly emailed the society in December 2023 “directing society members and representatives not enter the museum without specific authorization from the county, and stating her goal was to allow the society to have access to the museum on two fixed days per week, subject to her approval,” according to the lawsuit.

Williamson said the county has been trying to negotiate with the society, which has refused to consider any proposed solutions.

“We have continuously sought a mutually agreeable solution and have provided numerous proposals aimed at maintaining a collaborative relationship,” she said on Friday. “Unfortunately, these solutions were not even considered by the Historical Society, leading to a stalemate in our negotiations.”

According to court documents, Supervisor Charles Dobson presented two options to replace the 1990 agreement.

The society could either run the museum and hire its own employees or the county would operate it and take charge of the society’s artifacts.

The county and the society met on May 14 to try and work out their differences, but Williamson said that wasn’t productive.

“Subsequent to this meeting, the society indicated they were not prepared to fulfill its obligations under the contract to display its artifacts and chose to cover them with sheets so no visitors can view them, defeating the purpose of the contract,” Williamson said. “After countless attempts to reach an agreement and after the Historical Society sued Alpine County, we found ourselves with no alternative but to terminate the existing agreement.”

In his post, Dustman said the society doesn’t know precisely what the county’s concerns are.

“Accusations of harassment have been made by county staff against historical society directors – falsely, we believe,” he wrote. “We spent over a year of attempting to negotiate with the county, which went nowhere.”

Williamson said the county is still willing to negotiate the issue with the society.

“We recognize the importance of seeking a resolution and strongly encourage the Historical Society to rejoin us in negotiations,” she said. “Alpine County has operated with the utmost good faith in our efforts to resolve this matter outside of the courtroom.”

Richard’s spouse, former Alpine County District Attorney and author Karen Dustman said she was saddened the two sides couldn’t come to a consensus.

“A generation of Alpiners built this small, wonderful museum,” she said. “They physically built the building. They moved or restored treasures like the Stamp Mill, Basque Oven, and the Old School. They painstakingly collected artifacts — Walt Monroe paintings; Chalmers furniture; photos dating back to the County's very beginning. They put them all in one place, to be loved, and cherished and treasured for future generations. It is a tragedy to see it all going away.”