Board waives potential conflict for county law firm in Fall Creek water-right matter
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Summary
The Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors voted to waive a potential conflict so the county's contracted law firm can represent the city of Yreka in a possible real-property transaction involving the Fall Creek water right and delegated execution of the waiver to the county administrator.
The Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to waive a potential conflict so the county's outside law firm may represent the city of Yreka in a potential real-property transaction related to the Fall Creek water right.
County counsel Natalie Reed told the board the county is under contract with the law firm Somax, Simmons & Dunn for legal consulting on code enforcement and groundwater matters and that, '2out of an abundance of caution,'2 the firm sought a waiver for any potential perceived conflict when it proposed representing the city of Yreka. Reed said county staff had not identified an actual conflict.
The board moved to waive potential conflicts and delegated authority to the county administrator to execute the conflict-waiver document. A motion to approve was made and the board recorded unanimous affirmative votes from Supervisors Valenzuela, Helt, Harris, Cobson and Ocker.
The action allows the county's contracted firm to represent Yreka on the specified matter while preserving the county's option to raise future concerns if specific conflicts arise.
The board's vote was procedural and limited to the single transaction described by staff; no litigation or further county legal engagement was authorized in that motion beyond executing the waiver as presented.