Matthew Tennis remains in supervisor's vote 3-2 – Chico Enterprise-Record

OROVILLE The Butte County Supervisory Board voted 3-2 to keep Matthew Tennis on the Water Board after concerns arose about whether he was sharing private information in a public forum .

At the February 25 board meeting, supervisor Debra Lucero said that she had received the Chico Chamber of Commerce newsletter which mentioned that Tennis had spoken at an event community and had presented information regarding the Paradise-Chico Pipeline Intertie.

Lucero said she was concerned about the release of information to the public as well as the potential Tennis program to support the interaction.

Supervisor Tami Ritter agreed with Lucero and ultimately Butte County Administrator Shari McCracken intervened and agreed to put an item on Tuesday's meeting agenda for council admin discusses the potential removal of tennis from the water board.

One question that was questioned was whether tennis had violated the Brown Act, which supervisor Doug Teeter was mocking, while County Council Bruce Alpert said this was probably not the case. .

In December, Tennis, one of nine members of the Butte County Water Commission, joined what is called an ad hoc committee to deepen the interaction and share a recommendation with the board of directors. These committees meet as needed on a specific subject to give an overview to their overall commission in order to make a recommendation to the board.

Lucero said it was just one of the reasons she wanted to look into the incident. In addition, Lucero said that one of his first concerns was that the members of the pipeline committee did not act independently of their commission.

"The ad hoc committee has been formed to work together to produce a resolution for submission to the plenary," said Lucero. "Committees do not act independently of the commission and can only do what the commission asks it to do. Members of ad hoc committees do not act independently of the commission. "

Lucero was also concerned that draft documents such as the one Tennis allegedly shared with community members were not available to the public and could affect the integrity of the work done by the community by adding pressure outside.

The director of water resources conservation, Paul Gosselin, was the first to refer the matter to the board of directors. Gosselin said the draft document presented to the chamber was not visible to the public – however, the draft presented was also not the one that was ultimately submitted to the commission.

Gosselin added that he did not think there were specific orders for committee members to refrain from disclosing drafts to the public.

Teeter and supervisor Bill Connelly both pushed against the withdrawal on Tuesday, Connelly saying he thought the proposed withdrawal was an overshoot. Teeter finally signaled to reject the motion and was seconded by Connelly.

"A clear and open policy is what we have always strived for," said Connelly.

Supervisor and Chairman of the Board of Directors Steve Lambert opened the discussion to the public and several people spoke in favor of tennis.

Walt Stile said he thought removing Tennis from the board would throw a bad light on the board and create a deterrent for those who currently sit on commissions and committees as well as those who might be interested in doing so in the future.

Water commissioner Richard Harriman also spoke during public comments and said that although he thought Tennis's actions had blinded staff and the board, he didn’t There were no objections or specific rules in place to send it back properly and it was ultimately unfair to tennis.

This questioned the fact that the board of directors may eventually have to propose new standards for committee members in all directions in the future, a feeling that Lambert suggested to other board members.

Another problem was the bulletin itself from the chamber quoted by Lucero who said:

"… Butte County Water Commissioner Matthew Tennis presented the Butte County Water Board resolution supporting the study of a realignment of the pipeline to connect the irrigation district from Paradise to areas in and around the city of Chico. ”

Chico Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Katy Thoma said it was a mistake in the weekly headlines that did not mention that the resolution was a project .

The Butte County Supervisory Board generally meets every second and fourth Tuesday of the month. Meetings are held at 25 County Center Drive in Oroville and are open to the public.