In a sharp escalation of a running political battle between two elected Mendocino County officials, a felony criminal charge of misappropriation of public funds was filed Friday against County Auditor Chamise Cubbison by District Attorney David Eyster.
Eyster’s filing of criminal charges against Cubbison also names Paula June Kennedy, the county’s former payroll manager who the DA alleges was the recipient of $68,106 in allegedly unauthorized pay.
In a short two-page complaint the District Attorney offers the briefest of explanations behind his decision to charge Cubbison and Kennedy. Eyster contended that the two veteran county workers “knowingly, unlawfully, and serially” misappropriated public funds that were paid out to “defendant Kennedy” and were not authorized by law or by a majority of the sitting Board of Supervisors.
Cubbison’s attorney Chris Andrian of Santa Rosa immediately dismissed Eyster’s contentions against his client late Friday afternoon.
“I have reviewed all the evidence in this case, and I have found nothing to indicate Chamise engaged in any criminal conduct. Among other things there is no assertion by the prosecution Chamise received any personal benefit, or that any of the public funds found their way into her pockets,” said Andrian.
Andrian said on the contrary he believes that “When all the evidence is presented in open court, it will more than vindicate Chamise and will show that she is a loyal, dedicated, and competent public servant.”
Cubbison is believed to have relied on an agreement reached by retiring Auditor Lloyd Weer and her co-defendant, Ms. Kennedy, before she took over as head of the office for not contesting the payments to Kennedy.
Weer could not be reached Friday for comment on his role in a pay deal that led to a criminal complaint.
DA Eyster, his chief Assistant DA Dale Trigg, nor the office’s chief investigator Andrew Alvarado responded to a written request for elaboration on the misappropriation of public funds allegation. Eyster for months now has refused to answer local media inquiries about actions he takes, or the reasons why.
Kennedy, who is known as ‘PJ,’ lives near Elk on the Mendocino Coast. She too could not be reached for comment on the criminal accusation she now faces.
Kennedy was placed on administrative leave by Cubbison after the pay dispute unfolded, and she eventually was terminated a year later. Kennedy’s pay pact for extra work was originally reached with retiring Weer during the Covid pandemic.
Attorney Andrian said the facts will show that Kennedy performed the work she was paid for no matter the method.
“The county got the benefit, employees were paid, and more importantly, not one dime went into the pocket of Chamise. There is no criminal conduct on her part here,” said Andrian.
Andrian for now declined to weigh in on how an ongoing dispute between the DA and Auditor’s Office under Weer, one that escalated when the Board of Supervisors forced consolidation of the Auditor/Controller and Treasurer/Tax Collector offices, might factor in the DA’s action. Eyster backed the controversial consolidation and launched his criminal investigation after County Supervisors learned of the extra pay to Kennedy.
Cubbison supporters contend that the DA is waging a vendetta against her because she, and the Auditor before her, have questioned staff travel expenses and his use of asset forfeiture funds from drug-related cases.
Their dispute blew up publicly in September 2021 when retiring Auditor Weer recommended that the Board of Supervisors appoint Cubbison, his top assistant, to fill the 16 months left in his term.
Eyster, in an unprecedented move, appeared at a board meeting where Cubbison’s appointment was to be considered and voiced strident opposition.
The DA publicly argued Cubbison was not the “right person” to fill the Auditor’s position. At that meeting, he distributed two 14-page documents, mostly copies of internal emails that outlined technical aspects of expense reimbursements that Eyster claimed showed the Auditor was wrong and that he was right regarding spending practices.
Cubbison at that stormy session stood her ground, declaring that “the role in the auditor-controller’s office is not always popular.” She also said she would not “be intimidated” into authorizing what she felt were improper payments.
Three months later, with Eyster’s encouragement but over the opposition Cubbison and other experienced county officials, the Board of Supervisors voted in late December 2021 to consolidate the formerly independent elected offices of Auditor-Controller and Treasurer-Tax Collector, eliminating one elected county position. Cubbison subsequently ran for election and was elected to lead the combined offices.
Some board members, urged on by Eyster, favor creating a new County Department of Finance to oversee the functions of the combined county offices.
Since the board’s forced consolidation, the combined offices have struggled with staff shortages, an exodus of experienced employees, and new computer systems that have delayed accurate financial reporting and aggravated uncertainty about the county’s true finances.
Cubbison’s office is nearly caught up with two long overdue fiscal reports, but is still dealing with a state audit launched in early September because of Supervisors’ complaints they could not get updated financial reports.
The DA’s new criminal filing tops several months of chaos surrounding the combined offices, and the county’s financial status, and seems likely to add to the uncertainty about the County’s current financial state.
Cubbison and Kennedy are to be arraigned Tuesday in Mendocino County Superior Court on the felony charges Eyster filed against them.
Saves us all from a county recall petition and action to remove the incompetent and obstinate Ms. Cubbison. Thank you DA Eyster!
Do you even live in Mendocino County?
Eyster is the one who should be facing charges for his “cash only in a paper bag” buy a misdemeanor shakedowns.
Marmon
If we lose Chamise from this office, our County will be in serious financial reporting trouble. With the exodus of decades of knowledge that occured with the unplanned merging of these offices, losing her knowledge will be catastrophic.
Where are we going to get someone to replace her? She ran unopposed in the election, probably due to the “culture” that is our County. The current discussions about creating a Department of Finance, consolidating more power under the CEO’s office, has only helped to further erode the relationship of the Aud/Con/Treas/Tax office and the Board of Supervisors. There is no replacement for her!
The fact that the DA has waited all this time to file these charges seems like a fishing expedition. Why were these not filed BEFORE the election? Why wasn’t Weer held accountable? Why was she allowed to run for election with felony charges looming? Wasn’t the County doling out millions of dollars during Covid of “free” money to keep the County running?
This just might be the BOS trying to merge their way out of their consolidation mess. What better way to get Chamise out of office so they can create their Department of Finance?
“This just might be the BOS trying to merge their way out of their consolidation mess. What better way to get Chamise out of office so they can create their Department of Finance?”
It’s probably wise NOT to imagine an unlikely collusion between the BOS and DA on this. We already have the excitable imaginings of Marmon re this with others, highly critical of Ted, likely to follow suit.
It’s a very real possibility now (OTOH) that the FBI, and state AG, will open up an investigation of the local DA. Given the reported facts in this article, something seems seriously amiss here, such as for example no actual crime being committed by the two women.
We are circling the drain.
Maybe “DA Dave” should spend more time wrapping up his current corrupt cop cases, and less time going after a public servant who wronged him. It definitely shows where his priorities lay.
Combining these two offices were a horrible mistake in the first place.
This is simply a plan that has been place for month’s as a last resort. I will admit, I do not know if charges are valid. But a few month’s ago Bowtie Ted in ranting about not receiving reports made a comment about “someone could be stealing from the County and we would never know.” Out of the blue comment, in all discussions until that point it was about Ms. Cubbison’s ability to get budget reports to Supervisors. Bowtie even told AVA’s Mark Scarmella in an online comment, “that he would be on the wrong side of this.” Were Bowtie and Eyster discussing an investigation?
Let’s talk about what Mike just reported, This began with Lloyd Weer and Ms.Kennedy during Covid working out how to keep payroll being paid. Weer retired soon after and somewhere along the way Kennedy paid herself more money than she was entitled. Cubbison now in charge put Kennedy on Administrative Leave. Where did Ms. Cubbison benefit? Her attorney says no money went to Ms. Cubbison, this would be an ill advised statement if he thought there was a chance Eyster had bank statements. Is Eyster saying Cubbison looked the other way and allowed Kennedy to steal? This doesn’t pass the small test.
What does make sense, is Eyster charges Cubbison and tells her charges go away if she resigns.
This all could end up costing the County millions, knowing Ms. Cubbison’s attorney he has a very successful record of winning high profile cases against the County. And this won’t end with the dropping of charges.
Now we all wait on this thread for the self prescribed genius Bowtie Ted to enlighten us on “The Real Story”
This a political ploy working its way into our small community Eyster has colluded with some of the BOS to do this if this turns out to be what it appears then any BOS and Eyster should face immediate repercussions. I might do a foia request for any emails made between eyster and BOS just saying there is more to this then just the miss appropriation of funds. Maybe someone is correct that the DA’s office has been questioned about spending on official business and misuse. That seems like a more logical choice that Cubbison has questioned him and now this is a retaliatory. This reeks of being vindictive.
As this is a felony charge, they’ll have to do a pre-trial hearing to establish if there is evidence that could possibly lead to a conviction. It’ll be interesting to see if any exists or if this is just a political charge. If the latter, which so far it sounds like, we’ll need a new DA.