[env-trinity] FresnoBee.com News Blog Gov's pick for Delta panel resigns

[Byron Leydecker]

July 2, 2010


Gov's pick for Delta panel resigns

One of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's appointees
<http://gov.ca.gov/index.php?/press-release/14671/>  to the Delta
Stewardship Council resigned today in the face of opposition from some
environmental groups that said he had a conflict of interest.

Richard Roos-Collins, an attorney for the Natural <http://www.n-h-i.org/>
Heritage Institute, said "it has become clear that the political controversy
related to Senate confirmation of my appointment will affect the council's
capacity to timely implement the Delta Reform Act," according to his
resignation letter obtained by The Bee.

Read the letter here.
<http://www.scribd.com/doc/33839733/2010-07-02-DSC-Resignation-Roos-Collins>


The council was created by the Legislature last year to oversee the
environmentally troubled Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Roos-Collins was seen
as the governor's pick to satisfy environmentalists. But some groups
expressed concerns that he also served on the steering committee of the Bay
Delta Conservation Plan, a government-led effort that is considering a new
canal to move water around the delta southward to Valley farms and Southern
California cities.

The Delta council, by law, can incorporate the canal into its long-range
plans only if it meets environmental standards and is approved by the Bay
Delta Conservation Plan.

Sierra Club lobbyist Jim Metropulos told the Sacramento Bee earlier this
year that Roos-Collins was not suited to objectively review the Bay Delta
Conservation Plan. "He's not going to have an independent view," Metropulos
said.

Schwarzenegger's office had stood by Roos-Collins as recently as last week.
The governor's office did not immediately comment on the resignation.

Roos-Collins' resignation comes days after Schwarzenegger called for a delay
of an $11 billion water bond from November's ballot to 2012. The postponment
still requires Legislative approval. The resignation is potentially on olive
branch to Senate Democrats, who were expected to grill Roos-Collins at his
confirmation hearing. He was scheduled to appear at a recent hearing that
was canceled at the last minute.

Posted by EJ Schultz at 4:40 PM | Permalink
<http://fresnobeehive.com/news/2010/07/govs_pick_for_delta_panel_resi.html>
| Comments
<http://fresnobeehive.com/news/2010/07/govs_pick_for_delta_panel_resi.html#c
omments>  (0) | TrackBacks
<http://fresnobeehive.com/news/2010/07/govs_pick_for_delta_panel_resi.html#t
rackback>  (0) Reporter E.J. Schultz <mailto:eschultz at fresnobee.com>  covers
state government and politics. He can be reached at eschultz at fresnobee.com
or (916) 326-5541.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www2.dcn.org/pipermail/env-trinity/attachments/20100703/c26e0056/attachment.html>