BY GARTH STAPLEY

CV Journalism Collaborative

Modesto Irrigation District Board Director Larry Byrd should be targeted by state ethics enforcers for his “egregious” vote to end an investigation into himself, Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil said in a formal complaint to the California Fair Political Practices Commission.

“It is my opinion that (Byrd’s vote) was a violation of the Political Reform Act regarding financial conflicts of interest of public elected officials,” the senator, who represents Stanislaus County, said in a Jan. 12 letter to MID General Manager Jimi Netniss about her “sworn complaint.”

Byrd on Dec. 16 voted against further investigation into his alleged misuse of MID water on land outside district boundaries at his almond orchard near La Grange. 

To avoid conflicts, elected officials typically recuse themselves from voting on issues affecting their income, that of close family members or political donors. And California law requires that they not participate in such votes, Alvarado-Gil noted in her letter.

Byrd did not return a call seeking comment.

Elected officials expected to avoid corruption

Ann Skeet, senior director of leadership ethics for the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, said Byrd’s vote was “fundamentally wrong.”

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“When someone is elected to public office, they’re entering into a contract with voters saying they’ll put voters’ interests ahead of any other,” Skeet told The Modesto Focus. “Someone who has a personal interest in a matter continuing to vote on it is putting their own interests ahead of the voters’.”

In a separate letter to Byrd also dated Jan. 12, the FPPC’s enforcement division chief, Kendall Bonebrake, lists the senator’s complaint and position that state law “requires disqualification (from voting), often meaning leaving the meeting, and disclosing the conflict.”

“Californians deserve transparency and accountability when it comes to the services they pay for, especially something as essential as water,” the senator told The Modesto Focus on Tuesday. “It is my responsibility to ensure that ratepayers are being protected, properly represented and have a clear understanding of how decisions are being made.”

The office of Alvarado-Gil, who is vice chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, further complained to the FPPC that a required state form listing Byrd’s financial interests “is not available (from MID) for review.”

Bonebrake invited Byrd to submit comments to an FPPC investigator, and said enforcers will let Byrd know within two weeks whether they will pursue an investigation, decline to investigate or refer the complaint to another authority.

Listed as a witness in the senator’s complaint is MID Board President Robert Frobose, who presided at the Dec. 16 meeting.

The investigation into Byrd’s water use, commissioned by MID, found that 96 acres of almond trees outside district boundaries could not thrive with water only produced by his wells from 2021 to 2024. Another water source would be needed, and those acres are next to a larger Byrd-owned orchard that is within district boundaries and did legally receive MID water.

Byrd previously blamed a political conspiracy against him, and at the Dec. 16 meeting, said the investigation was a “witch hunt” and “fake news” before joining Board Director Janice Keating in voting to end the probe.

Frobose and Director Chris Ott voted to keep the investigation going, and Director John Boer recused himself to avoid his own conflict of interest, saying a portion of his income was related to involved parties.

The investigation focused on Byrd’s so-called Rodoni property near La Grange, but did not look into what’s known as the smaller nearby Reardon parcel that Byrd and his partners also farm. Of that 72-acre orchard, 42 acres are within district boundaries while 30 are not.

Also, the investigation failed to gather water engineering plans that might have suggested how Byrd years ago intended to water trees on the larger Rodoni property, or specifically its 96 acres outside district boundaries.

Byrd is no stranger to state ethics enforcers

Byrd, a board director since 2011, has received FPPC input on previous votes.

In 2012, the agency cleared Byrd to vote on a union contract affecting his son, an MID employee, because the vote would not affect Byrd’s own income. His son earned $401,429 in salary and benefits as a line construction manager in 2024, according to Transparent California’s database.

In 2021, the FPPC said Byrd should not enter into a contract to receive water in MID’s groundwater replenishment program after voting on the program, to avoid a conflict arising from “prohibitory financial interest” in his business, AB La Grange.

Running against Alvarado-Gil this year is Alexandra Duarte, wife of former Congressman John Duarte, who has publicly criticized the investigation into Byrd’s water use.

Another elected office holder has publicly questioned the ethics of Byrd’s Dec. 16 vote. On his Facebook page, Modesto City Councilman Chris Ricci wrote on Dec. 22, “Larry Byrd voted against an investigation into himself by the MID board he is serving on. How isn’t that a conflict?”

— Garth Stapley is the accountability reporter for The Modesto Focus, a project of the nonprofit Central Valley Journalism Collaborative. Contact him at garth@cvlocaljournalism.org.