Tierra Bonita threatens to sue the county

July 17, 2009

Bill Brown, the president of Tierra Bonita’s board of directors, issued a threat to Valencia County this week, suggesting the county broke an agreement it had with the group when commissioners cut the clean-up program’s funding.

“The board of directors for Tierra Bonita has directed me to aggressively pursue the funding and, if it is not forthcoming, to take whatever action is required,” Brown told the county. “In my mind, that is to sue the county.”

He told County Manager Eric Zamora and the commissioners that he and his board believe the county violated their contractual agreement because the county gave Tierra Bonita less than the 30 days notice required for nonrenewal of the agreement. The group was provided a formal letter from the county about the nonrenewal on June 18 and the county ended the agreement on July 1.

“I suggest that you are in violation of your own agreement and we did not receive 30 days notice,” Brown said. “Ergo, the way I see it, we still have a contract.”

If nonrenewal notice isn’t provided, the agreement automatically renews each year for up to four consecutive years, he said.

Commissioner Chairman Pedro Rael said the county “may have a legal problem” because officials might not have given sufficient notice to the group. The county’s attorneys are researching the issue.

Last month county officials said they cut all $15,000 of Tierra Bonita’s funding because of a tight county budget.

“Without operating funds, Tierra Bonita can really not exist or operate,” Brown said.

At a previous meeting, commissioners instructed their staff to see if any funding could be found for the program. County Manager Eric Zamora said he and staff have assessed the budget.

“Right now the numbers don’t look good,” he said.

Next week the commission will consider restoring the funding for the 20-year-old program, while also providing a legal assessment of the agreement.

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