Some news days are slow…some are even S L O W E R. On the very surface, the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors conducted a short meeting, April 8.In the public interest, The Triplicate reports a dearth of any substantive Del Norte news. Still, one must see if a perhaps an uninterested public should know what’s going on in the community? Below is the anatomy of the 53 minute Tuesday last meeting.• 10:00am: Pledge of Allegiance, Moment of Silence, Roll Call attendance.#placement_573654_0_i{width:100%;max-width:550px;margin:0 auto;}var rnd = window.rnd || Math.floor(Math.random()*10e6);var pid573654 = window.pid573654 || rnd;var plc573654 = window.plc573654 || 0;var abkw = window.abkw || '';var absrc = 'https://ads.empowerlocal.co/adserve/;ID=181918;size=0x0;setID=573654;type=js;sw='+screen.width+';sh='+screen.height+';spr='+window.devicePixelRatio+';kw='+abkw+';pid='+pid573654+';place='+(plc573654++)+';rnd='+rnd+';click=CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER';var _absrc = absrc.split("type=js"); absrc = _absrc[0] + 'type=js;referrer=' + encodeURIComponent(document.location.href) + _absrc[1];document.write('');• 10:02am: No report out of Closed Session.• 10:03am Supervisors deliver summaries of each reports occurring from the previous week. Four of the supervisors responded: Valerie Starkey; Chris Howard; Darrin Short; and Dean Wilson. Chairman Joey Borges did not deliver a report on his activities for the previous week…and to date, from the time of taking his Oath, has never delivered a public report on his government activities at a Board meeting.• 10:25 am PUBLIC SPEAKER(S) Public Comments, one public speaker spoke against the Request for initiating a Request for Proposal seeking new 9-1-1 Emergency Ambulance Service currently being provided by Del Norte Ambulance and, in the speaker’s opinion, the lack of wisdom in taking this course of action• The inefficiency of spending $50,000 to temporarily fix a few non-county maintained roads. The speaker underscored the word temporary because the pothole repairs may only last one year and gas road tax is not fairly distributed. • No other public speakers addressed the Board. The lone speaker brought to the attention these valid points to Board members. Did anyone of five heed his opinion on these critical issues? Unlikely!• 10:31: Two Ceremonial items: Proclamation of National Public Health Week, April 7-13; Proclamation in Recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month for April. CONSENT AGENDA: 10:45am, The Board handled a total of of 18 items. 13 of those items appeared on CONSENT on a single vote on which the Board, by a 5-0 vote, approved the multiple items. There were two public comments at the dais; the first speaker requested more than three minutes to discuss and disclose details of several of the Consent items. The Board allows only three minutes total for the 13 Consent items.Eight items were requested from the Dept. of Health and Human Service. The public speaker also referenced many new hires who were coming aboard at higher step levels which the speaker felt was unfair and disrespectful to the current long-term employees. • Eight of those Consent items requested came from the County’s largest department, Dept. of Health and Human Services. The items all needed Board approval of those Consent items. Some involved funding. Some did not involve funds, needed approval by the Board• The speaker asked Chairman Borges to allow more time to explain and disclose the nature of these Consent Agenda items. Not successful! The Chairman did not recognize the speaker’s request. Unless individual members wish to learn details of these undisclosed CONSENT items, the information was not discussed, merely a single vote, rarely if ever opposed, voting 5-0 approval. The CONSENT items that were not discussed or shared with the public included • Item four, Approve and Adopt a Side Letter Agreement between Del Norte Count and the Sheriff Employees Association, • Items 5-7 involving the salary step increases, a amendment for the Mobile Crisis Unit, • Item Nine, Attached Agreement with the DNUSD for Foster Youth Education Services, • Item 10, DHHS Agreement with Cal Poly Humboldt for Social Work on one year Program, • Item 11, renewal MOU for cash assistance program (CAPI), requested by DHHS, and item 13, Chief Probation Officer submission of Public Safety Realignment plan .• The above items were not discussed with public• GENERAL GOVERNMENT: 10:50 am, review and approve Step 1 for the County Administrative Officer (Neal Lopez) for 25 years of continuous service for Del Norte, pursuant to the Appointed Department Head Resolution, requested by the Director of Health and Human ServiceThe public speaker shared his concern with supervisors that even though supervisors were aware of the Consent, the failure of supervisors to adequately share their knowledge, creating a censorship concern with the public. The speaker asked the Board for explanations as to why the item is on the Consent Agenda, the cost of the item, how many folks are impacted and the success (or failure) of the item. Union Representative Norma Williams addressed the Board echoing the previous speaker’s concern new employees were being hired at higher step which Williams felt acknowledged the lower wages being paid to all County employees. She underscored her claim the County is underpaying its rank and file employees. The Consent Agenda passed, again, on a unanimous 5-0 vote.• BUDGET TRANSFERS, 10:52am• LETTERS• ADJOURMENT, 10:53Length of meeting: 53 minutes.Indeed, it was a very S L O W day at the Board of Supervisors. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('ad-1515727'); });