Pam Marino here, reflecting on the thousands of hours of public meetings I’ve watched and reported on over the span of my career. Many can be perfunctory, drab affairs. Every once in a while a meeting will stand out, and the Local Agency Formation Commission of Monterey County meeting yesterday, Monday, Aug. 24, was one of them.
Last Thursday I previewed the meeting in this space, explaining how it was the second attempt at appointing a public representative to the board, after the first attempt ended in a stalemate. The main sticking point being that two LAFCO commissioners—Monterey County supervisors Wendy Root Askew and Kate Daniels—will not support incumbent Matt Gourley, based on his vote against a step in a public buyout of California American Water as approved by voters in 2018.
Expanded outreach by LAFCO staff resulted in 13 candidates to choose from this time. A couple of candidates did not show up, which left 11 people to make their pitch to commissioners in person or on Zoom.
After their statements, Chair Mary Ann Leffel asked for a motion to approve a candidate. In an attempt to head off the inevitable, Root Askew turned to look directly at Leffel and asked for consensus.
“Are there any folks on this list that would be palatable that we could find middle ground on?” she asked.
Leffel replied she wasn’t sure how they would discuss it in an open meeting. She again asked for a motion. Salinas Mayor Dennis Donohue nominated Gourley, arguing that a South County representative was needed for upcoming decisions important to the region.
That comment did not sit well with Daniels, who was sitting next to Soledad Mayor Anna Velazquez, a non-voting alternate on LAFCO, who was passed over in her bid to become a voting member. Velazquez added that her city hasn’t had a voting member on the LAFCO commission in 20 years.
The vote on Gourley failed yet again, on the same 3-3 divide as in April.
Leffel seemed to think they’d arrived at an impasse and proposed appointing an ad hoc committee to talk it through. Searching for a resolution, Daniels broke in.
“I think we could take a stab at a vote. I move we appoint Raymon Cancino,” Daniels said, referring to the CEO of nonprofit Community Bridges.
The vote failed, on the same 3-3 line. So it went for four more names, Daniels moving to approve a candidate and each vote failing 3-3.
Leffel again insisted on an ad hoc committee, but Root Askew opposed that plan. “An ad hoc meeting would not be in the public eye,” she said. Root Askew tried again asking for consensus on an appointee.
“The person who is most qualified is Mr. Gourley so he will continue to receive my vote,” Leffel said. She thanked all the applicants, adding, “You’re caught up in some things that are deeper, way deeper, than your applications.”
The irony, Root Askew said, was that LAFCO, an agency tasked with overseeing good governance, had more than 10 qualified candidates and couldn’t come to an agreement.
“It’s the antithesis of effective good governance,” she said.
The stalemate persists for now. Gourley will again remain the appointee for now with no consensus to replace him. And the deeper divide—largely about that vote on a takeover of Cal Am—remains a gulf.