MID board member’s outburst implicates ex-Turlock mayor in investigation
Gary Soiseth has not been Turlock mayor for two months, but he continues making news headlines.
It’s now clear that the one-term mayor was the target last fall of separate investigations, one at City Hall and the other by his former employer, the Modesto Irrigation District.
And now he’s mulling legal action against MID after a board member this week publicly blurted the utility’s reasons for investigating Soiseth before he resigned in early September: perhaps he didn’t have enough time to lead a city, hold down another full-time government job and grow almonds in two counties.
The board’s Larry Byrd on Tuesday said the board could not have been more clear with August direction to staff that “there would be no ties with Gary because of the confusion that was going on with Turlock, and the press and with us.”
At the time, Soiseth was working as MID’s regulatory administrator, and also was running for re-election in Turlock. He lost in November to longtime Councilwoman Amy Bublak.
‘Gary simply wasn’t showing up to work’
“It put us in a bind because Gary simply wasn’t showing up to work,” Byrd continued. “All we wanted was a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay.”
Contacted after Tuesday’s meeting, Soiseth, who also farms almonds in Stanislaus and Merced counties, told The Bee that Byrd’s words were “false, and I am glad he does not speak for the majority of the board. I’m currently weighing my legal options.”
State regulations generally prohibit officials from talking publicly about such personnel matters.
Fireworks at MID board meetings the past four months seem to stem from the Soiseth situation, with board members arguing about investigations and the apparently related dismissal of former general counsel Ronda Lucas. A power struggle eventually shifted control from Byrd and Nick Blom in favor of a new board majority of Paul Campbell, John Mensinger and Stu Gilman.
Last month, some people in the audience at a board meeting questioned whether the new board majority wants to sell water elsewhere, a hot-button topic in years past.
In October, Blom and Byrd — serving at the time as board chairman and vice chairman — announced yet another investigation aimed at others on the board and General Manager Scott Furgerson. Mensinger called the move “outrageous” and “a declaration of war,” and by November, the investigation had been called off.
The subject of the short-lived probe was kept mostly under wraps, although signs indicated it also involved Soiseth. Things became more clear Tuesday, when MID board members were asked to affirm payments to The Gualco Group, a Sacramento consulting firm lobbying for MID at the state Capitol.
After leaving MID Sept. 7, Soiseth formed a small government consulting business and started doing work for Gualco, which sent him to Washington, D.C., from Sept. 30 through Oct. 3 on behalf of MID. He lobbied for a new hydropower license at the Don Pedro and La Grange reservoirs, a multiyear effort that started in 2010 and is ongoing.
Gualco sent MID a $13,904 bill for Soiseth’s trip (including $876 for three nights at a hotel), plus another bill for $3,675 covering work Soiseth did on other MID matters in December.
‘Misuse of public funds’ probed
On Tuesday, Blom said the October investigation, before it was aborted, was meant to explore “misuse of public funds” associated with Soiseth’s trip. Gualco had lobbied for MID in state matters, not federal, Blom explained.
When Byrd said Soiseth “wasn’t showing up to work,” Board Chairman Paul Campbell tried to quiet Byrd, who objected to being interrupted. Waving pages of paper above his head, Byrd said, “It’s in the public; it’s all over Facebook; it’s out there. I’m not saying anything that I didn’t read about last night. I’m not letting the cat out of the bag. Apparently, somebody else did.”
After Soiseth’s trip to Washington, D.C., MID asked Gualco not to use Soiseth anymore in MID matters, Furgerson said Tuesday. Any conflict went away when Soiseth lost the November election, he said.
Blom and Byrd cast “no” votes against paying the Gualco bills, and were outvoted by Campbell, Mensinger and Stu Gilman.
The same 3-2 split repeated Tuesday when the board voted to seek a law firm to handle MID’s legal affairs, instead of hiring an in-house attorney to replace Lucas. Outside representation should save money, the board majority said.
Byrd was upset about that, too, because assistant general managers were not interviewed for a report laying out the board’s options.
“They might not have answered (anyway),” Byrd said. “They’re watching what’s going on (at the board level). They’re probably in fear. ... They can feel what’s going on here and it’s not healthy for the organization.”
This story was originally published February 14, 2019 at 3:59 PM.
