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NoRTEC
F�ArNoRTEC �• Northern Rural Training & Employment Consortium
�'"M�NYco °� 525 Wall Street • Chico, CA 95928 • (530) 892-9600 • Fax: (530) 892-9609
Butte • Del Norte • Lassen • Modoc • Nevada • Piumas • Shasta • Sierra • Siskiyou • Tehama • Trinity
April 28, 2009
Members of the Butte County Board of Supervisors
Administration Center
25 County Center Drive, Suite 200
Oroville, CA 95965
Dear Members:
We are writing on behalf of the Governing Board and the Workforce Investment Board (WIB)of the Northern Rural
Training and Employment Consortium (NoRTEC). We are writing in response to your request to change our
standard quarterly meeting date of the fourth Thursday of the month, because it conflicts with other meetings the
Butte County Board of Supervisors are obligated to attend. Our WIB and Governing Boards met this past Thursday,
April 23,2009, and voted to keep the quarterly NoRTEC meeting date unchanged,on the fourth Thursday of the
month.
Our decision was not reached lightly or without due consideration. We,have been meeting quarterly on the fourth
Thursday of the month for over 20 years. A great deal of thought went into selecting a meeting date for NoRTEC
that would accommodate as many of our members as possible. Please see the attachment for a summary.
Probably the single most important consideration is the distances our members must travel. NoRTEC is an eleven
county consortium. Distances are challenging. The round trip for our Del Norte County members is nearly 600
miles. Those from Modoc County travel over 400 miles, and Siskiyou County members travel nearly 300 miles.
Members that live closer to our meeting sites also face lengthy travel times. Our Nevada County members face a
150 mile round trip from Nevada City,and Sierra County members living in Loyalton travel almost 300 miles. The
point is, for many of our members, attendance at our meetings involves an overnight stay, and/or early
morning/late night driving. The travel distances undoubtedly influenced the determination of a most suitable
,meeting date.
We meet four times a year. We are hoping you will find a way to compromise and allow one of your members to
attend at least some of our meetings.
In the meantime Butte County is well represented, with two private sector representatives, one education
representative, and three of our four labor representatives.You are also well served by your own independent
program,the Butte County Private Industry Council, which operates the Butte County One Stops in Oroville and
Chico.
Sincerely,
Wendy Reiss,Chair di Madden, Chair
NoRTEC Governing Board NoRTEC WIB
cc: NoRTEC WIB and Governing Board
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ATTACHMENT
Summary of Considerations for the NoRTEC Meeting Date
NoRTEC, since the late 1980s, meets quarterly, on the fourth Thursday of the month in January,
April,July, and October.Thursday was selected to accommodate the Boards of Supervisors,
small business persons and the members that had to drive over two hours to attend a meeting.
Supervisor meetings are regularly scheduled for Tuesdays, leaving Monday,Wednesday,
Thursday or Friday to select from. Because of travel distances, Mondays and Fridays were
eliminated. Small business was also opposed to being away from their businesses on Mondays
or Fridays. All in all this left Wednesday and Thursday. One consideration was that overage from
Supervisor's meetings spilled into Wednesdays.Another was that, due to the distances to be
traveled, Wednesday meetings would increase the necessity for Tuesday night travel. With due
consideration,Thursday was selected for the regularly scheduled NoRTEC meeting day.
The fourth week was selected to allow the quarterly reports to be presented in a timely manner.
They are due to the State by the 20th of January,April,July, and October. Meeting sooner than
the fourth Thursday following the end of a quarter would be too early to prepare the reports.
Meeting in the following month would delay the timeliness of reporting this information to the
WIB and Governing Board.