ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – The Delta Conservation District will pursue state intervention in a situation involving the District’s CEO.
On Wednesday afternoon, The board approved a motion to seek legal services from the Attorney General.
According to board member Joe Kaplan, CEO Rory Mattson “coordinated a deal” regarding an easement in the Cornell Forest. The deal limited the public’s access to a trail on a part of the land that Mattson later purchased.
Kaplan said due to Mattson’s position with the District, his involvement was a “conflict of interest.”
“You have the ability to leave your 40 acres, go back into the county forest into a food plot that you’re the only one that has access to,” Kaplan said. “That’s using your private property—your public position—to benefit you in personal gain.”
“The county’s deal was totally done before I bought it,” Mattson said.
“You have put this public body at extreme risk of liability,” Kaplan told him. “I won’t stand for it.”
The motion to request an Attorney General investigation into the issue passed unanimously.
