THE LONG-AWAITED STUDY of a possible Psychiatric Health Facility (PHF) at the site of the crumbling, long abandoned former Nursing Home on Whitmore Lane south of Ukiah that CEO Angelo bought for a few covid lockdowns is on next Tuesday’s Supervisors agenda. The same very expensive Sacramento architect who got the County to spend $5 million for a conventional four-bedroom $1 million house (Crisis Residential Treatment) building — Nacht & Lewis — says that, with contingencies and cost escalators out to 2024, a new PHF at that location will cost almost $20 million for a 16-bed facility, including $3.6 million in “soft costs” such as design, permits, admin, inspections, utility hookups, and “design/construction support fees.”
(Aside: And if you wonder why it takes so much time and costs so much money to get a permit through Mendocino County you need only to look at those enormous “soft costs” that in this case are estimated to be about half of the estimated basic construction outlay.)
NORMALLY, one could expect a Supervisor to ask about the cost of comparable facilities elsewhere in NorCal before accepting a huge expenditure like this one. Back in 2018 highly respected consultant Lee Kemper warned:
“Construction Cost Estimates for Psychiatric Health Facility — Kemper Consulting Group has been able to verify that the cost estimate of $5 million to $6 million for construction of a Psychiatric Health Facility (PHF), not including land [same as at Whitmore Lane which the County already owns], was not based on a prevailing wage requirement. It was based on construction costs for a private business. Based upon our subsequent research, we project the impact of a prevailing wage requirement on PHF construction costs would be an increase of 30%* above the top range of $6 million. This would increase the estimated cost to $7.8 million (not including land). Our original top-end estimate was $7.5 million. …”
So, assuming that inflation, you’d still never get near $20 million.
However, Nacht & Lewis says: “The option to remodel the existing facility results in a less efficient and functional layout than new construction. … New construction is more cost-effective. The stakeholders [sic — unidentified/suspicious] found that a new building will provide the optimal layout for safety and security, cost-effective operations, and long-term value from a maintainability and sustainability perspective. In addition, cost estimates indicate that the cost to rehabilitate and remodel the facility will be substantial, at $19.1 million, compared to $19.5 million to demolish the existing building and construct a new facility.”
However, Nacht & Lewis adds, “This estimate does not include demolition of the building located at Whitmore. The site is currently undetermined.” (Huh?)
Call us cynical, but since there’s probably around $20 million left in the Measure B construction fund, we find it highly suspicious that the cost estimate, including that $20 mil number — not including the “undetermined” demolition cost seems adjusted to spend exactly that amount.
Untangling The CEO Mess
The only thing interesting in next Tuesday’s CEO/CAO agenda item to “discuss” the pros and cons of a Chief Executive Officer vs. A Chief Administrative Officer is this nearly unintelligible accompanying organization chart. The chart describes the confused and seemingly random conglomeration of offices CEO Carmel Angelo amassed since being appointed CEO.
CEO Angelo has a “Deputy CEO-IS/Special Assignments” (now filled by Steve Dunicliff, the only person of the male persuasion on the CEO's executive staff. The Information Services position had been filled by Janelle Rau who recently got a huge raise in anticipation of the consolidation of County General Computer systems with the Sheriff’s computer system. That consolidation stalled when Sheriff Kendall asked the Court to require the County to hire his own attorney to point out to the Board that such a consolidation is illegal because CEO Angelo’s County Counsel was either ordered not to or was unable to read that particular law and advise the CEO or the Supervisors accordingly. Ms. Rau has since been transferred back to General Services, but with a much higher salary upon return based on her brief Information Services tenure.
Then there’s a “Deputy CEO” in charge of “Legislation,” a completely unnecessary make-work position created for no other reason than to bring in Ms. Angelo’s friend and former Trinity County Supervisor Judy Morris.
Then we see that there’s an unnamed “Deputy CEO” in charge of some office and administrative functions along with a box entitled “Health Benefits” which should be in Human Resources.
There’s another vacant “Deputy CEO” with no function at all attached to Assistant CEO Darcie Antle’s box. We’re not surprised to see the bloated “CEO Fiscal” unit also under Ms. Antle. But, all these people and they still can’t produce an ordinary monthly budget vs. actual report for the Supervisors?
“Risk Management” used to be in the County Counsel’s office but is under the CEO. This is the office which is supposed to be helping to handle sensitive matters to prevent them from erupting into costly lawsuits. From what we know way over here in Boonville, the risk management office is not reducing much risk, probably because they have no control over their boss who seems to be quite effective at increasing the risk of lawsuits without any help from her “Risk Management” office. PS, We have no idea who the supposed “safety officers” are under risk management.
Disaster Recovery would be under Emergency Services in a normal County operation, but CEO Angelo is quick to appoint herself Supreme Disaster Commander whenever a disaster hits Mendo, many of which are not the CEO’s doing.
And last but definitely NOT LEAST is the Clerk of the Board, listed on the chart as “BOS/COB Operations” — a function which should never have been ceded to the CEO who uses it to advance her own agenda and manipulate the Board of Supervisors to her advantage.
Therefore, this org chart will probably complicate the likely abstract head-of-a-pin discussion about which department heads should report to the CEO vs. the CAO on Tuesday because it will be further muddled by questions of what to do with all of CEO Angelo’s new and newly absorbed Executive Office positions.
We haven’t even mentioned the side-questions about General Services, Contracting, the County’s fleet and facilities offices, as well as several other functions that were brought under the “Executive Office” as CEO Angelo capriciously hired, re-assigned and fired people over her ten year tenure.
All of these costly new positions were created or promoted without any board discussion so the Supervisors don’t have much understanding of what they really do, why they exist, how much they’re paid, or whether they’re necessary.
Combine this general lack of knowledge about what they’re own staff does and how they’re organized with Board’s hands-off/Zoom situation created by covid on top of very little managerial experience on the Board and you have a perfect formula to drive Tuesday’s the discussion of the CEO-CAO question to the point of gridlock.
In fact, they might be able to save a lot of time and trouble by simply handing three darts to each supervisor and have them throw them at the CEO’s org chart and then retain only the boxes with two or more darts at the end.
In all likelihood however, the CEO/CAO question will be turned over to another Board ad-hoc committee which will meet in private and shuffle the boxes around and over and under. Where she stops nobody knows!
Meanwhile, an Interim CEO will assume CEO Angelo’s existing mess and the well-known Mendo Muddle will muddle on, aimlessly stumbling over emergencies and surprise funding shortfalls as they go.
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PS. When the Ukiah Daily Journal’s Justine Frederiksen wrote about CEO Angelo’s upcoming departure she quoted the CEO who attempted to clarify the CEO-CAO question: “The County CEO is someone who works for the Board of Supervisors,” said CEO Angelo. “And there has been a lot of misinformation out in the public, and some of the misinformation was that with a Chief Administrative Officer, that person reports to the Board of Supervisors, but with the Chief Executive Officer, the Board of Supervisors reports to the CEO. That is absolutely incorrect. Whether you have a CAO or a CEO, that person works for the Board of Supervisors.”
There you go! Perfectly clear. Over to you, Supervisors!
Something Very Fishy Is Going On At Lake Mendocino
According to State Water Board release data the release from Lake Mendocino has ramped up dramatically over the last few days, from Monday, January 10 at 35 cubic feet per second to a whopping 125 feet per second on Thursday, January 20.
Residents in the area of the Coyote Dam reported Thursday that they can hear the water gushing out into the Russian River below the Coyote Dam, these huge releases occurring when the Lake is still very low and nowhere near having recovered its average level. It was listed as being at only 2/3 of its target supply curve as of January 18. And this as the Northcoast’s worrisome dry pattern has returned with no rain in the forecast.
IS THIS SUDDEN outflow for the benefit of downstream grape growers whose ponds emptied out in 2021 and are probably worried about having enough frost protection water for their grapes during bud break in early spring? We’ve never been able to tell for sure who’s in charge of determining the releases from Lake Mendocino. We thought it was the Army Corps of Engineers, but there are lots of other players, the most significant of which is the Sonoma County Water Agency, which profits mightily off the Mendo water they own 80% of by selling it to Sonoma County water districts and to Marin County.
THERE'S ALSO PG&E, the Russian River Flood Control District, Department of Fish & Wildlife, the City of Ukiah, and lesser players in the loop too.
A FEW WEEKS ago the State Water Board removed diversion restrictions imposed on Russian River riparian pumpers during the 2021 drought. So somebody seems to have decided to take full advantage of what little water flowed into the Lake in December.
Update: Further investigation of the dramatic high-volume Coyote Valley water release increase over the last few days shows that the outflow was up again the next day, listed as 130 cfs (cubic feet per second).
Downstream, after another large boost from Ukiah’s wastewater treatment plant the flow rate goes up over 250 cfs, then after passing through a bunch of vineyards along the Russian River, the flow drops down to about 140cfs at Healdsburg. After wending its way through even denser vineyard after vineyard after vineyard south of Healdsburg, by the time it reaches Santa Rosa the Russian River flow is down to less than 20cfs.
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A COAST PERSON tells the AVA that John Redding, the outspoken member of the Coast Hospital District board, has taken out papers to run against Ted Williams in the June 2022 Fifth District Supervisorial primary election. We like his occasionally truculence, but Redding's many detractors find him less amusing. Given his politics and his provocative statements over the last few months as a member of the Hospital District Board we doubt he has much of a chance to unseat Williams, who has been a disappointment to the few people who pay attention to the Supervisors for his auto-Yes votes on whatever CEO Angelo puts in front of him. Williams also talks and writes more and more like R2D2, with cryptic, unilluminating Facebook posts on this and that. But Williams his own auto-support from lockstep Coastlib, as does his “liberal” colleague, Silent Dan Gjerde, the Fort Bragg sphinx. We can't recall Redding ever weighing in on County matters, but given the ever larger number of cyber-venues in fragged Mendoland his opinion may have eluded our vigilance.
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(Below is the first and most important item in CEO Carmel Angelo’s Report to the Supervisors for Tuesday, January 25 Board meeting.)
“Health and Human Services Review and Board of Supervisors Decisions. There have been multiple questions regarding the fate of Health and Human Services. The decisions by the Board thus far are: 1. Social Services is a stand alone department. 2. Dr. Jenine Miller is leading the Behavioral Health Department including SUDT [Substance Abuse etc.]. The Board of Supervisors did not determine if Behavioral Health or Public Health would be combined or stand alone departments. When the Strategic Plan comes forward to the Board of Supervisors, they will decide how to move forward with Behavioral Health and Public Health. While the appearance may be that all decisions have been made, that is not correct. The Board of Supervisors will make all decisions in the near future.”
The phrasing of this presumably important CEO Report note is perplexing.
First the CEO says “Social Services is a stand alone department.” Then she says “the appearance” that decisions have been made “is not correct.” Who gave that appearance? Where did it come from? Why not say, “The Board has not yet decided if Social Services will be a stand alone department”?
Then she says that the question of combining Behavioral (nee Mental) Health with Public Health will be part of the Strategic Plan process.
So why isn’t Social Services part of that process as well?
We also wonder why the CEO chose to frame this item as “the fate of Health and Human Services.” It’s probably not a good idea to use a phrase that is usually applied to more momentous matters like “the fate of the world hangs in the balance.”
Two (or three, or four — whatever) departments diverged in a wood, and Mendo—
Mendo took the one less traveled,
The one we had to hack through the bush with a dull machete. And that has made all of them worse.
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IN COUNTY AG NEWS from the CEO Report (which of course is read and followed closely by the local wine industry):
“The county AG office will be available for testing vineyard thermometers in February.”
Readers wondering why this item is 1) an item the County is concerned about to the point of providing it as a service to vineyard owners, or 2) why it might be important, may want to note that Mendo is always available to help the wine mob, even for such seemingly minor things as vineyard thermometer testing.
If the vineyard thermometers are wrong or malfunctioning, the wine mob might turn on their frost protection water or their giant loud wind fans too late in the day and a few precious grapes might die on the vine. It’s unlikely that they’re concerned about thermometer malfunctions in the other direction which might result in the frost protection water or loud wind fans being turned on too early thereby wasting precious water or keeping everyone up at night.
But either way, we’re surprised to see an item like this buried in the CEO report and not in a press release to or from the wine industry.
Measure B
Mobile Crisis Response - Our second Mental Health Rehabilitation Specialist for Mobile Crisis has completed training and will be adjusting his schedule by the end of January so Mobile Crisis will be operational in the inland region seven days a week 8 am to 6 pm. Recruitment continues to fill the vacancy on the coast.”
”Crisis Residential Treatment -The ribbon-cutting ceremony was a huge success. Attendees had glowing praise for the look of the facility. Progress continues toward licensing.”
Mendo has had years of time and an expensive consultant to produce the $5 million house (Crisis Residential Treatment) that could have been purchased for $1 million and they are are still “continuing toward licensing”? Pretty common timing, actually.
PS. Do you know why the county is trying to fill the third crisis van staffer position (aka “Mental Health Rehabilitation Specialist”) for the Coast? Because it’s budgeted? No. Because it was funded two years ago and is still vacant? No. Because people in crisis on the Coast really need it? No. None of those reasons.
The CEO’s “justification of filled positions” chart reports that this position should be filled because: “Risk of not meeting State and Federal mandates, risk of overtime and/or assigning duties elsewhere, working someone out of class.”
If those “state and federal mandates” are going unmet, nobody seems concerned because they’ve been going unmet for decades now. And if anyone is providing crisis van services on the Coast via overtime it’s the Sheriff’s deputies on overtime and we all know how concerned the CEO is about Sheriff’s department overtime.
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