Commission to investigate ethics

The wrangling over a plan to pipe the Black Butte and Association irrigation canals in McKenzie Canyon has flared up into an official ethics investigation of two of the proponents of the project.

Canyon residents Tisha Mann and Jan Daggett filed a complaint last fall with the state Government Standards and Practices Commission alleging that Three Sisters Irrigation Manager Marc Thalacker and Board Vice President Glenn Cooper failed to disclose a conflict of interest in their conduct of the project.

The commission decided on January 6 that there is sufficient information to warrant an investigation to determine whether ethical rules for public officials were violated.

No such determination has yet been made.

Investigator Don Crabtree told The Nugget that the commission has 120 days from January 6 to act on the matter.

The complaint argues that Thalacker and Cooper, who both have farms served by the canals, stand to gain substantial financial benefit from the project and have not disclosed their financial interest.

The complaint asks that they be compelled to disclose their financial interest and refrain from further participation in the project.

Irrigation district legal counsel David E. Filippi argued at the time the complaint was filed that Cooper has no conflict of interest. He notes that to be qualified as a director, Cooper must be part of the district and, being part of the district, he isn’t being treated any differently than any other member.

Thalacker noted that, as manager, he does not vote, serves at the pleasure of the board and has advocated as strongly for other piping projects as he has for the one that will affect him as a farmer.

The project has drawn opposition from canyon residents who fear loss of wildlife habitat when the irrigation ditches are enclosed.