Letter to the Editor: New GWD Board Members Being Hypocrites

By Lynette Mills | Published on 12.29.2008

What was it that the new members of the board of directors of the Goleta Water District ran their campaign on again? Oh, yes, I remember: public disclosure.

They were always accusing the board of hiding its agenda from the public and not giving them enough time to educate themselves about each and every issue at hand. Agendas weren’t posted soon enough nor were they complete, the district Web site was not kept updated and the board, in their opinions, didn’t follow proper procedure when it came to the public being involved and informed.

I’m writing this letter to let the public know what the first action of the new board was Dec. 16. Without any discussion with fellow board members, without proper notice in the agenda and without even the process of interviews and a proper selection procedure, with one blink of an eye, Bert Bertrando, Lauren Hanson and Bill Rosen threw out the district’s council, Chip Wulbrant, who has an amazing background in water law with years of experience, and voted in Fran Farina.

The only thing I know about Farina is that she has been a member of the public who has come to meetings and criticized the district many times, just like Bill, Bert and Lauren.

So, to say the very least, these new board members are hypocrites. I also would call them amazingly unprofessional. To take the words from Emma, a favorite movie of mine: “Badly done Bert, Lauren and Bill, very badly done.”

Lynette Mills
Goleta

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» SBReader on 12.30.08 @ 05:30 PM

Noozhawk needs to do a story here. How was it 3 Board Members and Ms. Farina knew what they were planning to do before the meeting, and no one else? Did Ms. Farina advise them on Brown Act compliance? Since when does a local public agency retain legal counsel without any open and public recruitment process? What do the individual Board Members really know about Ms. Farina’s legal experience and could they even answer the basic question, How long has she been a California attorney? Do the Board Members who voted for her really believe she is the most qualified attorney they could recruit for the position, or will they admit that her only qualification is she is their friend? Ask new Director Larry Mills what he was alowed to learn about Ms. Farina’s professional qualifications and background, before he was asked to vote on the matter. The absolutely blatant cronyism is unprecedented in Santa Barbra County politics. This is one of the more compelling local stories in recent memory. Get on it!

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» Rich Foster on 12.31.08 @ 01:50 PM

Many pweople have complained about the apparent conflict of interest posed bt Mr. Wulbrant’s representationof the council and his past clents such as Bishop Ranch and other developers.
How long before one of his former clients sue the water board by claiming that their decision was affected by Mr Wulbrandt privileged information obtained while representing them.
This could easily occurr with absolutely no wrong doing on Mr Wulbrandt’s part.
But the truth is, no one can serev two masters, and no matter what his experience Mr Wulbrandts client list tainted him ascouncil to the water district.
As to the claim of failure to post notice I would suggest a review of the Brown Act to see if there was a violation and see if the subject needs to be revisited.
Perhaps the process was flawed but the conclusions arrived at are extremely justified.

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» GoletazLydia on 12.31.08 @ 07:21 PM

Excooose me…Fran Farina is a very experienced attorney, particularly with regard to water law and public agencies…with the ability to recognize a conflict of interests when it’s smack in front of her, interestingly.

She has also served as a water district general manager.

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» Water Imbiber on 01.02.09 @ 12:11 PM

Chip Wullbrandt is a great guy. His family helped create the City of Carpinteria. Chip
also became controversial in his paid advice to water agencies and developers because some feared that public and private interests have become conflicted.

It should not shock Ms. Mills that a new Water District majority, elected by district
rate-payers to pursue new policies and create new standards, might want to create
a symbolic break with their predecessors by hiring a new, less controversial legal
counsel.

Fran Farina’s expertise in Water Law stems from her work on the Monterey
Peninsula, and is recognized throughout California for its rigor and excellence. She
has the professional capacity and temperment to make an excellent GWD counsel.
Let’s give her a chance.

Meanwhile, Mills is partly right - approve of his direction or not, Chip Wullbrandt has contributed a lot to the GWD’s recent performance, much of it quite good, and he deserves recognition for all his efforts for the Goleta Water District.

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