by James DeHaven - CalaverasEnterprise.com -
June’s civil grand jury report ignited scorn this week from veteran Calaveras County Supervisor Tom Tryon, catching fire to smoldering resentment over what the seven-term board member read as a personal attack.
Board release of a long-awaited grand jury response provided the spark Tuesday as Tryon offered a heated, point-by-point appraisal of jury findings he said were “targeted at Tom Tryon.”
The official board response takes a somewhat lighter tone. Board members disagreed outright with four of six juror findings, referring to one as “not warranted,” but still found room to address criticism of supervisors’ ethics and broader Brown Act training.
The longtime District 1 supervisor took considerable umbrage at findings suggesting longstanding board appointments and committee assignments had resulted in “stagnation, cronyism and the appearance of corruption.”
“We don’t put people, or we shouldn’t put people on these committees in the interest of fair and even distribution,” Tryon said. “We put people on these committees where they can have the most benefit. … If the grand jury wants fairness, why don’t we just (appoint) on some random lottery basis? That would be absurd.”
Tryon reserved further contempt for what he saw as political undertones in the June report.
He said questions posed by the grand jury regarding board stagnation and potential conflicts-of-interest relied only on “delusional attacks” directed at him by one-time board candidate, and outspoken Tryon critic, Joe Kelly.
“I’m assuming (jurors) are operating on complaints Joe Kelly filed with the Fair Political Practices Commission,” Tryon said. “These complaints are why Joe Kelly was a candidate for supervisor. Joe Kelly could have just as easily been in the runoff. Joe Kelly is actively supporting candidates in Board of Supervisors races. And yet the grand jury comes out with a report like this, which is almost an ad-hominem attack on myself during a campaign?”
“My response would be that the grand jury needs some ethics training,” he concluded.
Tryon, who earlier referred to Assessor Leslie Davis as “totally uncooperative,” also took on jury accusations surrounding board members’ work conduct and behavior during board meetings.
“I find this equally offensive,” he said, making reference to the tenor of board meetings. “What they’re basically saying here is they want some control on political speech, that we should have political speech codes.”
Stunned by allegations regarding workplace bullying, Tryon gave an unpolished take on jurors’ fifth finding. “There’s not one example (of hostile work conditions); it’s just a bunch of accusations,” he said. “Frankly, I don’t think it’s really warranted. Board members can create a hostile environment, but I can tell you, we’ve worked in some pretty hostile environments created by department heads, and you can’t get away from them.”
Tryon was joined on some of those points by Supervisors Gary Tofanelli and Steve Wilensky, who called out jurors’ inclusion of “vague” claims about the benefits of term limits.
“The idea of term limits being the effective basis of government has been completely disproven by the state Legislature,” Wilensky said. “What we have is a lobbying class that becomes the organizational memory, maybe appoints a staff that goes from office to office over time … but one that has taken decisions, and legislation, right out of the hands of voters. It’s been an unmitigated disaster in the state of California.”
Board Chairman Tofanelli was also aghast at jurors urging term-limits.
A former grand jury foreman himself, Tofanelli explained that he didn’t see term limits as within jurors purview and suggested jurors “did not do due diligence” on parts of the report.
Supervisor Darren Spellman weighed-in with some measured counterpoints, offering that board member committee assignments might benefit from more frequent rotation.
“I think they did a good job of making the point that some of the (appointment process) needs to be changed a little bit,” Spellman said. “I want to say, publicly, that there is one instance that has to be changed, and that is the (Calaveras Council of Governments).”
“The COG calls for two supervisors, two city members and three public members,” he continued. “Since I’ve been watching it, you have two city members and a supervisor, Tom Tryon, from (Angels Camp) and usually one of the at-large members are from Angels. … Four of the seven live in and have their interests in Angels. Whoever is supervisor of Angels Camp should never be allowed on COG. And that has nothing to do with Tom Tryon.”
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