Supervisor Novasel: Chaiman Veerkamp blatantly disregarded the action of the Board

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - On Friday, El Dorado County Supervisor Chair Brian Veerkamp broke board protocol by announcing he is invoking Emergency Powers to require El Dorado County to pay for sending Sheriff John D’Agostini to a political “conference” on October 29th which is being held by a select group of state senators in Red Bluff. This action by the Board of Supervisors Chair, who is leaving office at the end of this year,
comes after the Board voted against allowing Supervisor Veerkamp to send a County representative at their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday. A video of that action can be viewed by going to https://eldorado.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx and following the link to the October 20th meeting. The vote was brought to the Board by Supervisor Veerkamp and was in response to a letter sent to him by the group of state senators (attached to this story).

El Dorado County protocol (which is available in the BOS Governance Handbook - pages 9 -13), states that the Chair “recommends, with consent of the Board, supervisors to sit on committees and other organizations on which the Board desires representation”.

It is clear from action taken in the October 20th board meeting that the Board did not give Supervisor Veerkamp authorization to appoint a supervisor or anyone else to the “conference” in question. It is also clear that Supervisor Veerkamp’s claim, after losing the vote, is now using “emergency powers” (as referred to on page 13 of the Governance Handbook) is a gross over-reach of his powers as the chair and, in fact, is in direct violation of the vote taken on Tuesday. The Chair blatantly disregarded the action of the Board, which undermines the ability of the Board to take actions for the governance of the County.

I have served nearly six years with Supervisor Veerkamp and have always appreciated his rule of order and decorum. But I find Supervisor Veerkamp’s actions in this issue sadly misaligned with a political event that has questionable legal grounds for use of taxpayer funds. It is my sincere hope that
Supervisor Veerkamp will reconsider using County funds to send an elected official from our County to a politically motivated event. Even more disturbing, the Chair cannot change the will of the Board because he disagrees with their actions. In any case, it needs to be stated clearly and precisely that the Board of Supervisors voted against allowing Supervisor Veerkamp to send a representative to this event by voting ‘NO’.

His actions defy the meaning of a County “emergency” – attending a political conference is not an emergency for the Chair or anyone else in the County.