District Attorney tells city of Oroville to correct Brown Act v...

Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey asked the city of Oroville to cure and correct a situation that a local woman reported as a Brown Act violation.

[THE Public]

Does the public know the city administration and the city clark are the same person and is being paid about $200,000 a year for both offices?? She gets paid twice.. Now did we vote on that?? Just Maybe the Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey should know that..

[We_thelittlepeop le]

Free rent? The use of a city car on weekends? What else have they approved behind closed doors? Can we expect to see the chief and Ramsey together on the weekends crusing the streets of Southside?

[ping]

Once again the Mercury Register responsible for assisting Weston and Noel on their tirade to smash anybody that they do not like. It was necessary to whatever it took to get a fire chief. Life and property were at risk. This is not about the brown act people. Now they are wasting the district attorneys time with this crap. Also, the article contradicts itself. RIP Micheal Jackson.

[LWright]

Red Tape is the refuge for people who have no rational argument.

[What]

Huh? I'm not sure I understand the article. The article said "Ramsey replied, "It doesn't matter whether it's a Brown Act violation or not..." If it doesn't matter, then why is it an issue? Why would he tell the City to correct it? Why is it in the news? Some citizens in Oroville have too much time on their hands....

[Hallelujah]

About frickin time that the City of Oroville got called on one of the underhanded stunts! Good job Patricia, way to persevere!

[Oroville City Taxpayer]

Another example of Patricia wasting more of the City Taxpayer dollars. She already cost $150,000 in needless legal expenses over useless claims she admitted to by agreement. Got a hunch she is not even a city resident.

[Anthony Dimarco]

The problem is the same old story.Ramsey , Moore the whole crowd are always behind closed doors with no accountability.Is this America ? Or is this Russia ? China ? Come on throw the bums out !

[another thought]

LWright wrote:

Red Tape is the refuge for people who have no rational argument.

Spoken by a true expert who has wrapped more red tape than you could find in an IRS office around the equestrian vs. bicyclist fight over trails.

[LWright]

another thought wrote:

<quoted text>
Spoken by a true expert who has wrapped more red tape than you could find in an IRS office around the equestrian vs. bicyclist fight over trails.

I'm afraid you have that backwards, but then you knew that already.

[What the heck]

I am pleased to see Mr. Ramsey has forced the Oroville City Council to come out from the closed sessions and take responsibility for their actions. The Fire Chief's contract is just the tip of the iceberg. The Fire Chief negoitated a contract. The Oroville City Council voted unanimously to approve the contract. What is the complaint? If they were opposed to the contract why would they vote to approve it? I suspect it was done so the regular bs games could continue. This is the type of eighth grade mentallity that has and continues to plague Oroville City goverment.

The Fire Chief is a well qualified Chief and deserves the common decency to be treated with respect and dignity. Unfortunately the new Fire Chief was greeted with distain and resentment for actions that were not his own. I question any person that would say they would not try to negoitate the best possible contract. Coming from out of the area it seems reasonable to allow a Department head the use of a vacant property. If it is that much of a concern then the value for the use of the property could be added to the Fire Cheif's benefit package, potentially making it a taxable benefit. The vehicle is another issue unto itself, the Fire Chief takes the vehicle once a week to the Sacramento area. No more then 65 miles each way for a total of 130 miles per week. The vehicle gets around 20 miles per gallon the net cost of the fuel is approximately $21.00 per week. Approximately 7 gallons per week for personal use. The tank on the vehicle is approximately a 20 gallon tank, which the Chief fills up once a month. The City is contributing a wopping eight gallons of gas a month to make a reasonable accomodation for a Department Head. Would it have been better if the Chief had uprooted his family which includes a high school senior for the sake of eight gallons of gas for nine months? I say not.

I think it is time the citizens of Oroville stop allowing the inmature actions of the current City Administration to stiffle the growth of our great city. Look closely at what is going on at City Hall. It is time for a change in leadership. Ms. Atteberry is a nice lady and seems to have a genuine concern for our city, unfortunately nice and concern does not always equal competent and capable.

[Larry]

"what the heck" - Um...... Chief? Nobody knows THAT much information about the new Chief besides the new Chief. The article isn't about you Chief, but you come on here and make it personal. The Oroville City Council has problems and they appear to be getting dealt with. Leave it alone. When you plead your case on topix, you're just selling yourself. My only question is: Were you in Sacramento when you wrote this, or in Oroville? Because if you're writing these rebuttals while at work, well, then the OFD needs a leader much more secure in themselves than you. Quite honestly, I've heard that you don't have the wits to change that catastrophe of a FD around.

[TFB]

It would be a much more interesting approach if the writer spilled the beans on WHO on the city council spilled the information from "closed session" to the lovely patricia noel (and I say that with the thickest distained tongue I can muster). All this from a woman that continues to waste public tax dollars to fuel her own pitiful personal vedetta against the government. What a disgrace to our community!

[yep]

It was a Brown act violation, period. What was approved isn't the issue. The issue is the public had a right know and comment. What's the problem with that? If people aren't concerned about behind closed doors decisions that should be public when they think the decision was a good one, then they have to accept responsibility for decisions that are made behind closed doors that they don't approve of. It's matter of transparency in local government.
The police chief didn't have anything to do with it, and whether the house and car was appropriate had nothing to do with it.
Patrica Noel also has nothing to do with it. She just blew the whistle on a decision that should have been made in an open meeting. She was right, whether your tongue is thick from disdain or something else.It's up to the people to protect a democracy, and openness in government decisions, access to information and the right to express an opinion about government decisions is part of that.
Quit making it complicated and political.

[yep]

I guess it was a fire chief they hired not a police chief. Sentence me to 40 lashes with an old city agenda that had a closed session.

[Hhmm]

Transperancy in local government? Here you go: Hatley didn't, and doesn't like the Fire Chief. He voted against the added considerations in the Chiefs contract. He got out-voted and is now whining like a baby that didn't get his way. He illegally tips off his pal Patricia about closed session contract negotiations. She files a complaint. The true problem is the Hatley/Noel Express. Illegally wreaking havoc in local government. As a previous author here wrote, Ramsey said it didn't matter if it was a violation or not. Interesting that even HE does care either way...

[yep]

Ramsey obviously did care or he wouldn't have order them to correct it by putting on agenda and holding a public meeting. He said it didn't matter exactly which parts of the Brown act were violated because a cure would correct it. If he thought it didn't matter he wouldn't have told the city to correct the action.
Hatley should vote however he wants to, rather than how he is told to vote. Maybe he voted know because he didn't think the decision should be made in closed session.
Everyone knew the city gave the chief a house and car. He even talked about it himself.
But you missed the point, and you are still missing the point. It was a Brown Act violation.

[Hhmm]

Congratulations yep on the worst argument of all time. IF Hatley didn't think the decision should be made in closed session, he shouldn't have voted at all. He's a big boy now, he should be able to make independent decisions. He could have easily abstained and brought the issue up in open session. Secondly, if "everyone knew the city gave the chief a house and car" as you say, then what is Ms. Noel complaining about again? If everyone knew about it, how is it a Brown Act violation?

If anyone's missing the point...it's you

[james from oroville]

who cares...stop worrying about stupid details that dont matter. who really cares. it does not affect me or you so who cares.

[OROVILLE KID]

THE Public wrote:

Does the public know the city administration and the city clark are the same person and is being paid about $200,000 a year for both offices?? She gets paid twice.. Now did we vote on that?? Just Maybe the Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey should know that..

I STILL THINK oROVILLE WOULD BE A BETTER PLACE, WITH JOBS AND BETTER STORES, AND RESOURSES, IF WE HAD PEOLPE IN OFFICE THAT CARED ABOUT THAT. IT APPEARS THAT THE PEOPLE IN OFFICE LOOKING OUT FOR THEM SELFS AND NOT THE FUTURE OF OROVILLE.