By James Tressler The Times-Standard
March 12, 2003
EUREKA -- Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos and his assistant Tim Stoen may have to go it alone in their lawsuit against Pacific Lumber Co.
After listening to more than three hours of public debate, the Board of Supervisors Tuesday by a 4-1 vote rejected the district attorney's request to contract a San Francisco Bay area law firm to act as special counsel in the lawsuit.
The board's decision was made before a packed chamber divided between PL employees and contractors, who defended the timber company, and PL critics who are standing by the district attorney's lawsuit.
The district attorney sued the timber giant last month, alleging the company concealed key information during the 1999 Headwaters negotiations that allowed it to cut timber on steep slopes that otherwise would have been off limits. The district attorney alleges PL subsequently harvested more trees than it was allowed under the agreement. The lawsuit seeks tens of millions of dollars in damages.
On Tuesday, Gallegos was asking the board to give him the OK to hire Cotchett, Pitre, Simon and McCarthy, a Burlingame firm with extensive experience in corporate fraud litigation. Although the details of the proposal were still being finalized, the firm would have kept 14.5 percent of any recovered damages. The District Attorney's Office, as was proposed Tuesday, would have paid most of the legal expenses out of its own budget.
The board, in refusing to let him contract with the firm, cited California government code 25203, which gives the board by a two-thirds vote authority to employ or not to employ outside counsel in matters of litigation affecting the county.
The majority of the board members who voted against the proposal said they didn't feel comfortable committing county dollars to the lawsuit in a year when the county faces severe state budget cuts. Also, several board members said they weren't certain the district attorney had made a convincing case against PL -- and in fact, that they had serious questions about the validity of the lawsuit.
Prior to the meeting, the board received copies of a letter the California Department of Fish and Game sent Monday to Stoen. In the letter, department officials said they believe there are factual errors in the facts presented in the lawsuit.
Chairman Jimmy Smith voiced similar doubts. He said that by supporting the outside counsel, the board risked taking a position against state agencies like Fish and Game, which has stood firm behind PL's practices since the Headwaters deal.
"I'm not being critical of the district attorney," Smith said after the meeting. "He has a big job and he makes his decisions and we'll all live by that. But ... in a case of this magnitude, we all needed individually to do what research we could to find if it's a prudent decision. We represent all of the county. The risk is there and it could be substantial."
The controversial proposal put a heavy spotlight on two of the supervisors, Roger Rodoni and Bonnie Neely. Rodoni was asked by some to recuse himself from the vote due to a perceived conflict of interest because Rodoni rents land from the timber company. Rodoni, prior to the vote, displayed comments from the Fair Political Practices Commission, which Rodoni said had no problem with him voting on the matter.
Neely is the wife of former District Attorney Terry Farmer, who Gallegos upset in last year's election. After the board's vote, Neely said her decision was not personal, but made in the interest of the county, which faces a severe budget crisis over the next year. The Fish and Game letter also influenced Neely, who said the letter affirms that the state's regulatory agencies don't appear to support the lawsuit.
"What I'm seeing is that you're standing alone," Neely said, to Gallegos and Stoen.
Neely ended her argument against the proposal by urging the district attorney to get in line behind other departments if it wants any of the county's money to pay for the lawsuit.
"You have to compete along with them in terms of money being allocated," she said.
Third District Supervisor John Woolley cast the lone vote in support of the district attorney's proposal. Before the board's vote, Woolley put forth a motion to continue the discussion for two weeks, to allow the district attorney to bring forth a finalized proposal. Fifth District Supervisor Jill Geist supported that motion, but the rest of the board voted it down.
Woolley argued unsuccessfully that while he had some serious questions himself about the lawsuit, he said the board shouldn't reject the proposal outright until they'd seen the final version.
The board's rejection for special counsel won't stop Gallegos from pursuing his lawsuit using his own budget. Nevertheless, he and Stoen tried to convince the board Tuesday that they need outside counsel to handle some of the workload so that the lawsuit won't drain too much time and resources from other cases.
After the board's vote, Gallegos seemed disappointed but unfazed.
When asked what happens next, he said, "Time for lunch."
Earlier, Gallegos stood by his controversial lawsuit, arguing that the financial cost shouldn't outweigh his responsibility to pursue what he believes are serious charges against PL. Otherwise, companies like PL, backed by high-priced corporate lawyers, would seem to be given a double standard, Gallegos said.
"Do you make decisions to prosecute a wrong based on cost? No," he said. "What is the price of the integrity of our government system?"
PL officials said they were pleased with the board's decision, saying it reinforced other support that the company has received, including from the state Attorney General's Office.
"The facts are on our side," said Jim Branham, PL's director of government relations.
Branham added that the district attorney's failure to present a convincing case to the board Tuesday could prove a telling statement "on their ability to prosecute this case."
Even before the board convened Tuesday, the outside of the courthouse was jammed with log trucks and timber industry workers, who held what they called a "right-to-work" demonstration. Some even held up "Recall the D.A." signs.
"We have to stand up for our rights," said Tony Leonardo, owner of Leonardo Trucking, which contracts with PL. "Besides putting us out of work, this lawsuit is going to cost taxpayers a lot of money whether he wins or loses.
Petrolia resident Ellen Taylor said that while she sympathized with the timber workers, she still supports the lawsuit. Taylor owns a ranch which she maintains suffered from erosion as a result of PL's logging practices.
"These workers have suffered, but in reality they cut themselves out of a job," Taylor said. "The D.A. is just performing his responsibility. ... It's very brave of him to do this."
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To: farmfriend
BTTT!!!!!!
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To: farmfriend
��5{��������he post...The loggers put on a good show yesterday by turning out to support Jobs in job short Humboldt County. Did you notice that the assistant Da is Tim Stoen of Peoples Temple Koolaid days...Gallegos hired him two months ago from Mendocino County. Stoen ran as a R in the Ca assembly but lost to Rob Brown R whom I supported but he lost to Little Patty Berg the 'rat.
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To: farmfriend
Wow. Humboldt County just gets weirder and weirder. At least the Board of Supervisors had the sense to reject helping this idiot in his anti-business jihad.
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To: farmfriend
Petrolia resident Ellen Taylor said that while she sympathized with the timber workers, she still supports the lawsuit. Taylor owns a ranch which she maintains suffered from erosion as a result of PL's logging practices.
So, from the way this article was written, you'd reckon that Ms. Taylor is just your run-of-the-mill rural landower.
But you'd be wrong:
"Not only did these THPs threaten wildlife habitat, they threatened our property." said Ellen Taylor of Petrolia, a grandmother of 56, who was arrested, along with 20 other protesters, in August for blocking Pacific Lumber's logging in the proposed THPs. "You don't need a Ph.D. to see what happens when you log steep slopes: you get landslides. These landslides are why our river is so full of gravel and silt. The salmon can't spawn and the riverbanks are being undercut, which imperils our homes."
Typical media bias.
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To: tubebender
See what my brain did? I put the source as the Sacramento Bee when it was really the Times-Standard. I've hit abuse on my self. Hope the moderators can change it.
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To: B Knotts
You are absolutly right about Ellen Taylor and her Marxist traits.She never misses a chance to bash the timber industry. She has had a couple of run ins with the sheriff over pot growing in her area.
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To: tubebender
She has had a couple of run ins with the sheriff over pot growing in her area
Hers?
BTTT!
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To: hattend
She couldn't be connected to the "grow". I'll ask my son for more info if you are interested. Now the new DA said he will not prosecute 99 plants or less. That is a lot of pot .
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To: tubebender
Wow, 99 plants of the size I used to see when I lived in Shingletown, California (Shasta County) would be a nice yearly income for a family of four.
What a great DA! Maybe I need to move back and start a new "business".
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To: hattend
Wow, 99 plants of the size I used to see when I lived in Shingletown, California (Shasta County) would be a nice yearly income for a family of four.
Double that size for Humboldt County and trippple the potency.
A friend of mine from the 50s owned Uncle Grunts with his wife there in Shingletown.
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To: *Enviralists
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To: tubebender
Uncle Runt's?
Yeah, used to stop there every now and then when I flew hanggliders at Hat Creek Rim.
Ahhh, the memories! LOL...BTTT
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To: hattend
Uncle Runt's?
Uncle Runt's / Uncle Grunt's, it's all in how much beer you have consumed...LOL
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To: farmfriend; Jim Robinson
I've hit abuse on my self.
I know there's gotta be a joke in there somewhere.
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To: AAABEST
That was the second version of that sentence. The first one was even funnier. Looks like the moderators were able to change my error.
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