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BEAKING NEWS - Alpers casts his line for state Fish & Game director's chair |
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Friday, 28 March 2008 |
Eastern Sierra fish farmer may have backing of AB 7 champion, Senate Minority Whip Cogdill
By Andy Geisel
Mammoth Times Staff
The March 27 Collaborative Planning Team meeting, with its usual myriad of new and ongoing agenda items, was typical in most respects — except one: the almost "oh, by the way" revelation by the Department of Fish and Game's Brad Henderson that fish hatchery businessman Tim Alpers may have pulled application papers for the DFG's state-level Director position, currently being run on an interim basis.
Henderson said at the meeting that there was very little information available from DFG. In a phone interview with him on Thursday, the Mammoth Times confirmed that Alpers has indeed filed his application for the post.
While Alpers' resume does include county supervisor experience, he's not necessarily a Sacramento insider said he faces an upstream swim to get the job. That effort, however, could be made substantially easier with backing from state Senate Minority Whip, and former District 25 Assemblyman, Dave Cogdill (R-District 14), who reportedly first broached the idea with Alpers. In his final term as Assemblyman, Cogdill, along with considerable help from Alpers, spearheaded passage of AB 7, also known as the Inland Fisheries Restoration Act of 2005, which mandated dedication of up to 33.3 percent of the revenue from sport fishing license sales to the Hatcheries and Inland Fisheries Fund.
"Senator Cogdill approached me and asked if I'd be interested in taking a shot at it," Alpers said. "I contemplated it for a couple of weeks, and eventually came to the conclusion, 'If not me, who? If not now, when?'" Upon filing his papers, Alpers said he then interviewed with the appointment secretary and the evaluation team. "My application is being processed — it's in the vetting stage at this point — and other than that, I'm just waiting to hear back," Alpers said. He added there wasn't much more he could say without violating certain nondisclosure agreements requested by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. "It's a very closed process, but then it is a very important position," Alpers said.
The Mammoth Times is currently waiting for a comment from Senator Cogdill's office. Check back to this site for additional information as it becomes available. Please see the April 3 edition of Mammoth Times for more Collaborative Planning Team information as well.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 03 April 2008 )
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