SUPERVISOR MULHEREN PROPOSES PAY RAISE FOR CEO ANTLE
(Item 4e, Supervisors Agenda, June 25, 2024)
“Discussion and Possible Action Including Approval of an Employment Agreement Between the County of Mendocino and Darcie Antle to Serve as Mendocino County’s Chief Executive Officer for the Term of March 12, 2024, through July 11, 2026, with Compensation for the Period Commencing March 12, 2024, through the First Full Pay Period Following Ms. Antle’s Performance Evaluation in June 2025, being Two Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars ($225,000) Per Year With a Total Annual Compensation of Three Hundred and Eighty-Two and Thousand Dollars ($382,000), Including Benefits; As Specified in the Employment Agreement, if Certain Conditions Are Met, Ms. Antle’s Compensation Commencing the First Full Pay Period Following the June 2025 Performance Evaluation through the End of the Agreement Shall Be Increased to Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000) Per Year With a Total Annual Compensation of Four Hundred and Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars ($425,000), Including Benefits
(Sponsor: Chair Mulheren)”
MENDO’S NEW PUBLIC DEFENDER
(Item 4f,
“Discussion and Possible Action Including Appointment of and Approval of Employment Agreement Between the County of Mendocino and Michael F. Hill to Serve as Mendocino County Public Defender in the Amount of Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($200,000) Per Year with a Total Annual Compensation of Three Hundred and Forty Thousand Dollars ($340,000 Includes Salary and Benefits), Commencing July 21, 2024 (Sponsor: Chair Mulheren)”
According to an attachment to Item 4f, the new Public Defender has set some high goals for himself in his new position:
“Goals for Mendocino Public Defender
Ensure high quality representation to our clients
Evaluate the office and institute policies and procedures to maximize efficiency.
Provide training opportunities to the attorneys so that they can improve their litigation skills and competency.
Regularly meet with attorneys and staff so that they can raise issues with me and develop solutions to problems that they have identified.
Work with other county agencies to implement policies and programs to deal with recidivism and mental health issues in the community.
Make myself available to employees of the Public Defenders Office so that they feel comfortable coming to me with issues that affect their ability to represent our clients.”
CHARLOTTE SCOTT, former Assistant County Counsel under Christian Curtis and current Acting County Counsel James Ross, to take over as County Counsel.
Item 4g: “Discussion and Possible Action Including Appointment of and Approval of Employment Agreement Between the County of Mendocino and Charlotte E. Scott to Serve as Mendocino County’s County Counsel Pursuant to Government Code 27641, for the Term of July 7, 2024, through July 6, 2028, in the Amount of Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($200,000) Per Year with a Total Annual Compensation of Three Hundred and Forty Thousand Dollars ($340,000, Includes Salary and Benefits) (Sponsor: Chair Mulheren)”
MENDO TALKS A BIG BALLGAME BUT…
Chris Skyhawk (Coast Chatline):
I wanted to Bring this to your attention since most of you are coastal, in my entire 30-plus years on the coast I’ve frequently heard the complaint that ‘the coast sends a lot of tax dollars to Ukiah that it Never sees in services.’ It was certainly a constant issue in my 2018 run for 5th District Supervisor.
Well, a recent article in the Anderson Valley Advertiser (aka -the AVA) points out that the county just handed over $3 million yo the city of Ukiah. As you likely know the AVA is entirely online now, you can subscribe for $25 (recommended), I won’t post the entire article here for obvious reasons, but in the hope that discussion (and please keep any comments over there) may have become a place for sane people I will post it over there. But here are a few highlights, starting with my online comment:
You’ve gotta wonder about 5th District Supe Williams standing down on this one; for years coastal people complain about how much money they generate for the county vs. how little returns, and everyone, Ted included, wrings their hands and now he stands down on THIS! Maybe there’s some hidden nuggets somewhere, but according to this report, Umnn, NOT !
From the article:
“What does the County get in return? 1. Nothing tangible. 2. Nobody knows. … Of all the parties directly involved, only Supervisor John Haschak seemed to even care enough to be skeptical. … No one from the general public commented on the proposed agreement crafted in the private meetings of Mulheren’s ad hoc committee. The only County staffer to comment was Probation Chief Izen Locatelli who, after pointing out that he and his fellow senior staffers had not been consulted on the idea, added that there was no plan and no financial analysis to accompany the proposal. Locatelli suggested the board at least give the idea more thought before voting on it.”
John Redding:
County hands $3 million over two Ukiah, Supe. Williams stands down
Two months ago or thereabouts Ted Williams spoke at a Rotary meeting in Preston Hall. This was the topic of discussion. Ted asked for our help in asking for the County to even out the funding discrepancies [among supervisorial districts]. It was simply a matter of showing up at BOS meetings to express their support for changes. I spoke to several people after the meeting who all said they were going to do just that. I told everyone to include me and I would drive over with them.
Nothing happened.
It is my experience here that people will talk about taking action but will meekly accept the status quo rather than make the effort to change things.
John Redding
Mendocino
Supervisor Williams:
John,
The county did not vote to gift $3M to the City of Ukiah. The county has approved a tax sharing agreement to serve as a foundation for future city annexation proposals. Addressing certain needs, such as affordable housing, is more practical where infrastructure already exists, which is typically in the cities. With annexation, cities will gain additional revenue but also take on additional responsibilities. This tax sharing agreement aims to create a balanced approach. In the long term, both the cities and the county stand to benefit.
Cheers,
Ted Williams
MARK SCARAMELLA REPLIES:
“The long term”? Please. More accurate: Never. There is zero evidence that this obvious tax giveaway to Ukiah will do the County any good. When the proposed agreement was first sprung on Williams he acknowledged th substantial loss of revenue for the County over “the long term,” aka the 5-15 year phased transfer of varioius taxes to the City of Ukiah. Williams noted that there was “no economic forecast” accompanying the proposal and that there was “not enough information” to vote on it, adding that “public safety” would have to be cut over time as County revenues declined. Williams wanted a “long-term plan,” before he would consider the tax sharing proposal and bemoaned that other County departments were not consulted during the deliberations of the Mulheren-Gjerde ad hoc secret meetings. Haschak noted, “The County will have to cut $3 million or the equivalent” while still providing the same services, adding, “I don’t see this as in the County’s interest overall. … There will be a loss of revenue,” which could not be estimated by the County’s Acting Auditor-Controller/Treasurer Tax Collector. Even Gjerde was skeptical of the deal for the County saying that “a portion” of the $3 million “could” be recouped. Haschak asked, “How can we go ahead without calculating the finances?” Williams replied, “There’s a chance that a flourishing [sic] city will flow back to the County,” before withdrawing his skepticism and voting for the tax giveaway. Now, here’s Williams mouthing vague Mulheren-style platitudes about “affordable housing” which might be somehow someday addressed even though there’s no prospect for that in the County’s future at all. Williams, who has never disputed the $3 million esimated loss — how could anyone? — now claims the County “stands to benefit,” without a shred of evidence or experience to back it up. The $3 million giveaway is the County’s own rough estimate of the loss of revenue. If, as is expected, the annexed areas include relatively large tax generators like Thurston Auto Plaza on the north end and the Airport Road big boxes on the south the estimated $3 million loss could easily be even larger because nobody knows what the impact of the agreement will be and nobody but Haschak even seems interested in knowing. The entire arrangement is pure pie in the sky and is devoid of benefits to the County, the real impact of which won’t be realized until all those flimflammed by Supervisor Mulheren’s blind optimism will be long gone.
COUNTY NOTES
by Mark Scaramella
Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting was even more dull and empty than average. The Board rubberstamped the usual executive salary increases without discussion (based on comparisons with overpaid neighboring counties, of course, not on performance or merit).
County Assessor-Clerk-Recorder Katrina Bartolomie told the Supervisors that her department was “working feverishly” to get as many parcels as possible assessed and on the tax rolls by June 30 so they can be handed over to Acting Auditor-Controller/Treasurer-Tax Collector Sara Pierce. Unfortunately again this month, the “discovery” process has disappointed, not producing anywhere near the hoped for new taxable property numbers, adding about a dozen minor buildings, mostly outbuildings plus one small house to the rolls at a total additional assessed value of about $290k, which translates to a whopping $870 a year in additional annual property tax to the County. (The “discovery” process itself costs a lot more than $870.)
Ms. Pierce told the Board that the County has lost about $22 million in tax defaulted properties that have gone uncollected for years and thus written off because of the delays in collecting overdue taxes. Only about $1.7 million in taxes, penalties and interest can be recouped through potential tax lien auction sales. Apparently, some of those tax delinquents have been showing up at the Tax Collector’s office recently to make payment arrangements now that they’ve actually received long-overdue delinquency notices. Unfortunately, there’s nobody left in the Tax Collector’s office who’s ever handled a tax lien sale so there’s a learning curve before that process can even begin. “We are looking for guidance,” said Ms. Pierce, “so we still have work to do before an actual auction.”
Ted, when we were both running in 2018, you ROUTINELY decried this sort of thing; you glammed voters with the Image of an energetic young man who was gonna get stuff done; you constantly decried county inefficiency and lack of transparency; all that was pretty much in your stump speech; now you sign away a cool $3 mill. With no financial analysis; but with some vague promises of , maybe someday, kinda , sorta; if you had any moral character you would be ashamed of the way you treat your constituents; but you don’t have that , and you know people aren’t REALLY paying that much attention; so you can shape shift into anything they want to see; they will carry on with their lives, and you will carry on with yours; you are so good at lying and shapeshifting its actually quite frightening; and a huge disservice to our County