The Tuolumne County Economic Development Authority Governing Board will meet behind closed doors at 5 p.m. Tuesday to conduct a performance evaluation of Larry Cope, the agency’s executive director.
This comes as the TCEDA board works to repair its public image after the Tuolumne County Civil Grand Jury reported in June that it had allowed Cope to sign his own expense reports and claim work time while spending a month in England last year, among other findings related to the agency’s management, transparency and accountability.
“It’s an employee issue that will be discussed in closed session,” said County Supervisor John Gray, chairman of the TCEDA board. “That’s pretty much all I can comment on.”
The meeting will be held at the county Board of Supervisors chambers on the fourth floor of the County Administration Center, at 2 S. Green St. in Sonora.
State law allows governing bodies to discuss certain matters in private, such as those pertaining to personnel, litigation, and property or labor negotiations.
Deputy County Counsel Carlyn Drivdahl, the primary legal adviser to the TCEDA, said the board will take public comment prior to going into closed session as required by the Brown Act, the California law that guarantees public access to meetings of local governing bodies.
The Brown Act also requires any action or votes taken by the board during a closed meeting to be reported publicly, either orally or in writing, after the fact.
Cope’s base salary is one of the highest of any executive in county government at $163,625 a year, about $3,000 more per year than what Assistant County Administrator Tracie Riggs is due to receive when she replaces Craig Pedro as county administrator on Jan. 1.
In addition to the evaluation, the board is also scheduled to privately discuss developments in a pending lawsuit against the TCEDA and Cope that was filed in June by Sonora resident Ken Perkins.
Perkins is seeking the names of businesses assisted by the agency since it was created in 2008, as well as information to support a report Cope gave in November that stated the TCEDA was involved with nearly $400 million in potential future investment projects.
The TCEDA released heavily redacted documents Friday afternoon that it said were those that Perkins was initially denied under a provision of the Public Records Act meant to protect the proprietary information of private companies.
All of the documents blacked out the names of specific projects and businesses that TCEDA was working with or had already been completed.
According to the documents, the TCEDA has been involved with at least $179 million in completed projects that have created more than 1,500 jobs since the agency’s creation.
About $81 million of the investments came from two projects, one for $36 million in the health care industry and the other for $48.5 million in the tourism industry.
Perkins has said he’s been offered a settlement from Best, Best and Krieger, the law firm hired by the county to assist with the litigation, but he intended to take the case to court unless the TCEDA reveals the names of the already completed projects that its taking credit for assisting.
A hearing for the lawsuit is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Nov. 16 in Tuolumne County Superior Court.
The TCEDA was formed through a joint-powers agreement between the county and City Of Sonora. About 77 percent of the agency’s $460,000 annual budget is covered by the county, while the city’s share is 23 percent.
At recent meetings, some members of the public have urged the Sonora City Council to consider leaving the TCEDA over the recent controversies.
City Attorney Douglas White reported to the council on Monday that the contract requires 180 days notice prior to the next fiscal year before exiting the agreement, which would give the city until Dec. 31 to make a decision.
Both the city and county have approved responses to the grand jury’s report expressing intentions to ask the TCEDA board to use money in the agency’s budget for hiring independent firms to conduct both management and financial audits.
August 23, 2018
The Union Democrat
By Alex MacLean
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