Excitement and hope filled the Plumas County Courthouse early Jan. 6 as the public gathered in the marble foyer to witness the official swearing-in ceremony for three newly-elected county supervisors.
Dwight Ceresola, representing the 1st district of Portola and eastern Plumas County, was reelected in 2024 to serve a second term. Kevin Goss is starting his fourth term representing the 2nd district, which includes Greenville, Indian Valley and the Feather River Canyon. For Mimi Hall, the brief courthouse ceremony launched her first term as a county supervisor, representing downtown Quincy and Meadow Valley, the county’s 4th district.
Plumas County Clerk and Elections Official Marcy DeMartile administered the oaths of office to applause from the crowd of around 75 onlookers.
Less than an hour later, however, the Plumas County Board of Supervisors’ inaugural meeting of 2025 devolved into dissension. The selection of a board chair and vice chair, normally a routine process, was fraught with contention.
Immediately after acting Board Chair Dwight Ceresola opened the discussion for action, Supervisor Jeff Engel nominated Goss as chair and Hall as vice chair. Supervisor Tom McGowan, who represents the Chester/Lake Almanor area, was swift to react.
“I have the most recent experience on this board,” he said. McGowan was elected in 2022 and is starting his third year as a Plumas County supervisor. He was previously elected as a Glenn County supervisor, where he served a year as vice chair and twice as chair of the board.
This is “a blatant and obvious attempt to silence the district that I represent.”
Tom McGowan, Plumas County supervisor
In most counties, the chairmanship is rotated amongst the districts so that there is fair and equitable disbursement of leadership, McGowan said. He called Engel’s motion “a blatant and obvious attempt to silence the district that I represent. And I take offense to that, quite frankly,” McGowan said,
Engel said he nominated Hall as vice chair for her ability to get along with elected officials and department heads in this county. That provoked an exchange of words.
McGowan: “Are you saying I don’t?”
Engel: “I know you don’t.”
McGowan: “Bring them on! I’ll talk to anybody. My entire goal is to do what’s best for all of the county, every single voter, every single resident.”
Engel: “Speaking and doing are two different things.”
Brown Act violations?
McGowan also said Engel’s nomination of Goss “seems like a violation of the Brown Act,” California’s open meeting legislation. McGowan implied that if three or more members of the board were involved, such a “pre-discussion” could constitute a Brown Act violation.
The concern relates to a conversation McGowan had with Goss some time ago. Goss told him that Engel had approached him about being board chair. Goss replied to Engel that he had no interest in the chairman position, and he told McGowan that, according to McGowan’s comments during the Jan. 6 board meeting.
Several weeks after that conversation, Goss said he had another conversation with Engel. Goss had been promoting legislation to relieve Dixie Fire victims from paying federal taxes. When the legislation passed in early December, Goss said he found himself with time on his hands. When Engel asked again if he would be willing to be board chair, Goss said he told him he would.
Neither conversation involved a third person, Goss said.
“There was no Brown Act violation on my part,” Goss said. “So to accuse anybody or me of any kind of a Brown Act violation, I take offense to that.”
Hall weighed in as the potential third party to McGowan’s allegation of a Brown Act violation. “I haven’t even had a phone call or a text or anything with Jeff since I’ve been elected,” she said.
She seconded Engel’s dual motion to elect Goss as chair and herself as vice chair.
Conflict of interest?
Ceresola then raised a conflict-of-interest question. He suggested Goss and Hall should, as the nominees, recuse themselves from voting. “That way, there’s going to be no questions asked,” Ceresola said.
Engel said, “I’ve been here for three terms and I never heard of that.”
Hall noted that if board members voting for themselves were a conflict, “then all the previous votes for chair and vice chair in the many years of our county government and every other county would have to be voided…. We could be in perpetual stalemate.”
Interim County Counsel Josh Brechtel, who initially offered to research the issue, then said it is common procedure for a board member to vote for themselves in terms of the nomination for the chair. “So that shouldn’t be a problem,” said Brechtel.
Engels’ dual motion to elect Goss chair of the board and Hall as vice chair passed unanimously. Despite his objections to the nomination of Hall as vice chair, McGowan said he voted yes “only because I believe in a unanimous vote.”
“I am saddened, appalled and concerned about the dissension that you’ve shown.”
Rick Foster, Quincy citizen
The entire election process, which took less than 10 minutes, was held before a stunned standing-room only crowd, many of whom had attended the swearing-in ceremony. Rick Foster, who has been regularly attending board meetings for three years, spoke after the vote.
“I am saddened, appalled and concerned about the dissension that you’ve shown,” he said. Foster suggested counseling over the next year to avoid the hostilities, which have been evident for at least the last 18 months.
“I don’t have an answer,” said Foster. “I only have a suggestion.”
