Controversy brewing as City and County reps on Tahoe Conservancy Board resign

Friday's board meeting of the California Tahoe Conservancy (CTC) was delayed almost two hours due to ice on the road near near Zephyr Cove, causing it to close, and those weren't the only icy conditions on the South Shore that day.

The other ice could be felt during the meeting as conflict of interest, ethics, integrity, suspicious actions and lack of transparency were the theme of the day.

All three items on the agenda Friday were placed there amid a stressed relationship between the City of South Lake Tahoe, El Dorado County and Patrick Wright, the Executive Director of the CTC.

Board Conflicts of Interest

For the 32 years of the Conservancy's existence, one South Lake Tahoe City Council member and one El Dorado County Supervisor have sat on the board. Now, their participation is being called into question by Wright and the California Attorney General's Office.

Before Friday the City's representative was Councilmember Tom Davis, and the County's representative was Area 5 Supervisor Sue Novasel.

During the September meeting of the CTC board a matter came up that Novasel felt she should recuse herself from because it involved a vote on Proposition 1 funds being awarded to El Dorado County.

"The Attorney General's office did an analysis of the situation and kept it close to vest due to sensitivity," Wright told South Tahoe Now. "We informed Tom and Sue they concluded there was an incompatibility issue that needs to be resolved."

"I was very disappointed when I received a call from the Assistant Attorney General asking that I resign (from the CTC Board)," said Novasel. "She (Marian Moe) told me that the best thing for me to do was to resign quietly before the next CTC meeting." The AG's office and Wright both say they never said this.

"For all of these years its been incredibly important to have elected officials on this board," said Board Chair Larry Sevison, from Placer County. He said that when the conservancy was created in 1985 that they never saw any conflict of interest issues arising.

"I did this under duress," Novasel said of her resigning from the CTC Board. "This board is extremely important." She said the threat of losing her County Supervisor job pushed her to suggesting the County appoint Frantz.

Tom Davis announced to the Board that he would be resigning as soon as this agenda item was over. Novasel was in the audience, the County having appointed Senior Deputy County Counsel Paula Frantz during their January 10 meeting.

Frantz is a temporary appointment pending the issue going to the Legislature for clarification on having elected officials on the CTC board.

Marian Moe, the assistant Attorney General at Friday's meeting has challenged the eligibility of the City and County representatives, saying the two positions are incompatible and that voting on the CTC board would cause the members to vacate their first elected position.

Moe's presentation came after Wright said the meeting was an opportunity "to learn what our roles and responsibilities are."

The California Legislature has the power to decide if incompatible offices can serve on conservancies, and determine if important to have them participate, or not important.

"It is a tremendous benefit to have elected officials on the conservancy board," aid Todd Ferrara of the Natural Resources Agency. "Local knowledge and input that they provide is valuable."

Ferrara said he will seek legislative guidance on the matter as he'd like to see this matter resolved quickly.

In the meantime, Frantz will serve on the board for El Dorado County, and the City of South Lake Tahoe will vote on Davis' replacement on Tuesday. He suggested former Mayor Hal Cole be appointed.

"I am very suspicious on the timing of this," said Davis. "We've had an excellent working relationship until now."

"This is big and the public should know," added Davis.

Davis, SLT Mayor Austin Sass and City Manager Nancy Kerry all suggested Wright's actions in putting the agenda items together should be questioned.

"In serving the public there is trust and transparency," said Sass. "Why is this (incompatibility) coming up now? What was the motivation?"

Frantz and El Dorado County have reached out to Senator Ted Gaines to fix the situation on the CTC board and clarify who can sit on the board.

Partnership with the City of South Lake Tahoe

A presentation of the 30+ year relationship between the City and the Conservancy was presented, highlighting the $50 million in grants to the City that have created Lakeview Commons, Explore Tahoe, sensitive stream zone projects, the Linear park Bike Trail, removal of blight and water quality projects.

Penny Stewart of the CTC showed photos of the projects, and how they have benefited the community. "Its not about us and them, its about what is best for the community, the 'we'."

Board members were under the impression that the City wanted to severe ties with the Conservancy after they weren't awarded $4 million in Proposition funds to fix the stormwater problems near the Knight's Inn.

"Where is this coming from?" said Kerry. "Why are you being told that we don't want to work with you?"

Kerry said they are not going to sue over the CTC Board's decision, nor had they discussed it, something board members were told. It was also reasoning behind asking Davis to resign so there'd be no conflict of interest in a lawsuit.

"I don't understand why the City wants to sever ties," said John Hooper, a member of the CTC Board. He said he was told that the City wanted to "file for divorce," something both Kerry and Sass said was false.

"We are very confused at the City about our not wanting to work with the CTC," said Sass. "This is absolutely false, there is no truth to this. We value our relationship and have never given direction to not work with the CTC."

"If we have to break all contractual arrangements with city we need to figure out what the implications would be," Wright told South Tahoe Now. "We still have to follow up with out requirements with City and there are complicated easements that would be very difficult to unwind."

With an agenda item concerning the working relationship between the City of South Lake Tahoe and the Conservancy, the City wasn't informed or invited to participate, something both Kerry and Sass questioned.

"We are handicapped because of the lawsuit threat," said Sevison.

"There is no lawsuit," reiterated Sass.

The lawsuit discussion came about the City's being denied at Knight's Inn. The City isn't suing and wonders why people at CTC are being told this. Kerry said they were told by Wright during the process of applying for the $4 million grant to move forward and start working on it, giving the City the impression they've be awarded it. She also said he asked them at the last minute to change some items on the grant, so they worked nonstop overnight to change them. In the end, the grant wasn't awarded because of these changes according to Kerry and the project never went before the board.

"There has been a lot of effort on Patrick's side to defend his not recommending out project," said Kerry.

During the last CTC Board meeting, Kerry and Sass told the whole story of the Knight's Inn project. Both of their comments were eliminated from the minutes due to a glitch in the system they were told. At Friday's meeting they asked to make sure their comments were put into the minutes.

The CTC did award the City $200,000 in Proposition 1 funds to prepare environmental documents on the Knight's Inn project, something Kerry said they wouldn't accept. "Why take taxpayer money on a project that isn't going to happen?" She said board members looked at that confirmation the City didn't want to work with the CTC.

"We were shocked to see this on the agenda," said Kerry. "This is a trust issue with the executive director. We want everything from that office in writing from now on."

Wright told his board that he was encouraged by what he heard from the City Friday.

"The City is right to believe I told them the Knight's Inn project was going forward," said Wright. "It didn't match in the grand process that it was the same project."

Kerry said it didn't match because he told them to change it and she has the emails to back her up.

"We want to do whatever we can to mend this painful experience that has been mushroomed," said Sevison.

"Thank you Mayor and City Manager for coming here," said Hooper, the Board's vice-chair.

The Greenway Project

The City, Lake Tahoe Community College and CTC are partnering on a greenway project to connect the Bijou neighborhood with the Sierra Tract neighborhood with a bikeway that will take users through the college and over Trout Creek. This project involves a land swap and financial investment with all three parties.

A $1.9 million grant deadline is looming, and the three need to get all hammered out by March to not be in jeopardy of losing the federal grant to build the bike trail.

Wright told South Tahoe Now they were getting mixed messages from the City after the denial of the Knight's Inn grant. The City has never said they don't want to be involved, they just want to make sure funding is there for the future needs of the project.

"This is a great way to show all you can work together," said bike advocate Pete Fink, sentiments echoes by Bonnie Turnbull, former SLT Recreation Commissioner and new LTUSD trustee.

All three entities appear to want to get together and work out details on who will pay for future maintenance of the bikeway.