"A few days back, Paul McIntosh, the former chief administrative officer of Butte County, wrote a letter to the editor accusing this paper of misrepresenting the county's position in regard to the Mechoopda Indians.

This paper, reporting the county's lawsuit to block the Mechoopda's plan for a casino near the junction of Highways 149 and 99, had referred back to a 45-page letter from McIntosh to the Bureau of Indian Affairs dated Aug. 11, 2006, in which the county had claimed the Mechoopda had a "manufactured history."

In his letter last week, McIntosh claimed the county had never challenged the "legitimacy of the Mechoopda."

Well, yeah, it did. The final paragraph of McIntosh's letter read: "Furthermore, the County has raised substantial legal issues regarding the legal status of the Tribe ..."

Three days after the initial 2006 letter, McIntosh sent off a correction to the BIA saying that wasn't what he'd meant to say.

A few days after McIntosh's most recent letter arrived, the county's current CAO, Brian Haddix, County Counsel Bruce Alpert, and Board of Supervisors chairman Curt Josiassen of the 4th District — claiming to be unaware of McIntosh's letter — arrived at the E-R office on East Park Avenue to explain to the editorial board that wasn't what they'd meant to say either.

They pointed out their lawsuit didn't contest the Mechoopda legitimacy or sovereignty — good choices since those matters had already been resolved by a federal court."

Get the Story:
Editorial: History crucial to Mechoopda (The Chico Enterprise-Record 4/6)

Related Story:
Butte's only goal is to block casino (The Chico Enterprise-Record 4/6)