Welcoming John Blacklock to our editorial board

It was two months ago when Enterprise-Record editor Mike Wolcott wrote the following in his Sunday “Editor’s Notes” column:

”For the first time, the Enterprise-Record will select a member of the community to serve on our editorial board. This is not a writing position; what we’re looking for is a fair-minded person, someone able to see all sides of an issue and help provide feedback as we discuss possible editorial topics in a weekly meeting.” Mission accomplished. Today, we can announce the name of the person who will join us in helping decide the official position of the newspaper on a myriad of topics in the coming months — and, it’s a name that should be familiar to most of our readers.

That person is John Blacklock, who has a long and distinguished career in Butte County and surrounding areas serving the public in a variety of roles.

“We would have been hardpressed to find another person with such a solid reputation for fairness, or knowledge of the local issues on so many fronts,” Wolcott said. “I was overwhelmed by the number of people who reached out about this opportunity and there were many who fit the qualifications to a tee. John, though, is the perfect fit.”

He will join longtime Paradise Post editor and Enterprise-Record reporter Rick Silva, E-R reporter Sharon Martin and Wolcott on the editorial board, which meets once a week to discuss local issues.

Blacklock, whose background runs the gamut from Butte County’s Chief Administrative Officer to a member of the Silver Dollar Fair board of directors, is looking forward to the role.

“I applaud the E-R for including a community member into their editorial board discussions, and I look forward to voicing thoughtful ideas and perspectives on the issues,” he said.

“Providing perspectives on the issues” should be old hat for Blacklock, who’s seen more than his share.

Born and raised in Solano County on a fourth-0generation family farm, Blacklock attended UC Santa Barbara, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Geology and later received an M.B.A. from San Jose State University after serving two years in the US Army.

John and his wife Kathleen first came to Butte County in 1983 while he working as District Chief of Staff for Senator Jim Nielsen.

Blacklock retired from his position of Chief Administrative Officer for Butte County in September 2001 after having served in that position for just over nine years. He reported to the Board of Supervisors and was responsible for the administration of all offices, departments, and agencies under the jurisdiction of the board.

Retirement, of course, didn’t slow him down. He established a private consulting business which included contracts with the Chico Chamber of Commerce to provide government relations services and working with Chico State in developing and serving as faculty on the Northern California Local Government Leadership Institute.

He has served as interim city manager in the cities of Anderson and Red Bluff and as interim county administrative officer in Tehama, Lassen and Calaveras Counties. He has conducted organizational development and team-building programs for various local government agencies and has been a guest lecturer at Chico State in public administration in both undergraduate and graduate level courses.

And, yes, there’s more. Blacklock was appointed by Governor Pete Wilson to the Board of Directors of the Silver Dollar Fair in 1994 and was subsequently appointed by Governors Schwarzenegger and Brown. He is a member of the Butte County Farm Bureau, International City/ County Managers Association, and American Legion. He also serves as an elected member of the Butte-Glenn Community College Board of Trustees and as a Board member of the Butte Ag Foundation.

Blacklock and his wife have three children, Patrick, Brigit and Sam.

“That all adds up to a lot of real-world experience in a lot of arenas,” Wolcott said. “And best of all, any time we mentioned his name, the response was ‘You couldn’t find a more fair-minded person.’ “

The “new” editorial board will meet for the first time this week, and welcomes suggestions for topics at mwolcott@ chicoer.com.