AGENDA HIGHLIGHTS for Tuesday, September 24, 2024
MORE MONEY FOR THE SCHRADER SERVICES COMPLEX:
Item 4c on next Tuesday’s agenda:
“Discussion and Possible Action Including Approval of Agreements with 1. Anchor Health Management, Inc. [Schraeders] Medication Support Services in the Amount of $1,884,358; 2. Mendocino Coast Hospitality Center [former Schraeder subcontractor] in the Amount of $484,000; 3. Mendocino County Youth Project in the Amount of $566,882; 4. Redwood Community Services [Schraeder] in the Amount of $9,678,321; and 5. Tapestry Family Services [former Schraeder subcontractor] in the Amount of $5,270,136 to Provide Specialty Mental Health Services to Eligible Medi-Cal Beneficiaries of Mendocino County for a Total Combined Amount of $17,883,697, Effective October 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025
(Sponsor: Behavioral Health and Recovery Services)”
The agenda item includes five separate contracts for the above named companies.
SUPERVISOR MCGOURTY PROPOSES A NOISE ORDINANCE
From McGourty’s presentation to be discussed at next Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting::
“Typical Ordinance Guidelines; Quiet hours 10:00 pm to 7:00 am; Maximum noise levels are set based on zoning (commercial, industrial, residential as examples); Noise from any device (TV, radio, live music) or machinery must be below 50 dB at property line in residential areas; No devices or sound sources over 85 dB making continuous sound within 2500 feet of another residence (generators, pumps or other machinery); No loud animal sounds (barking dogs, roosters, etc.) in residential areas; Exemptions and addresses prior uses.”
(The presentation does not itemize the “exemptions.” Hmmm. We wonder what those exemptions could be? Oh, we don’t know… Maybe something near and dear to McGourty’s constituency… The loudest possible all-night, overnight noise Anderson Valley has ever suffered from… WIND FANS!)
CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION LIMITS?
Supervisor John Haschak proposes that the County set up an ad hoc committee to explore the possibility of “an Ordinance Limiting Campaign Contributions to County Elected Campaigns to $1,000 from an Individual and $2,000 from a Committee, as Well as Overall Spending Limits per Campaign Cycle.”
“CIVILITY.” The first paragraph of CEO Darcy Antle’s, as usual info-free, September “CEO Report” says:
“CEO Antle and Human Resources have been actively focusing on promoting civility in the workplace. Civility is a cornerstone of a positive work environment, where mutual respect, constructive communication, and effective conflict resolution are prioritized. These values are critical for fostering collaboration, reducing stress, and enhancing job satisfaction across all departments.”
The rest of Ms. Antle’s civility item has the usual bureaucratic barrage referring to workshops, training, policies, guidelines, “open dialogue,” “lead by example,” and “counseling services.”
The fact that the CEO thinks it’s necessary to even bring up “civility,” is a sign of the low morale in most county offices. Management turnover, comparatively low pay, crazy office rearrangements, line staff turnover, high workloads, stupidly imposed hiring freezes, inexperienced new hires, poor personnel policies (as documented by the Grand Jury) and other manifestations of management neglect create unnecessary tension and griping that cannot be papered over with lame calls for “civility.”
BACK IN THE EARLY 2000s, PAUL ANDERSON was on the Ukiah City Council when he announced he was moving to Vermont, abruptly giving up his County Employee’s Union job and his seat on the Ukiah City Council. (He instead got himself hired as “assistant Point Arena City Manager by former Ukiah Councilman/Supervisor Richard Shoemaker who had got himself hired as Point Arena city manager in the usual cozy lib-lab Mendo shuffle.) At his last Ukiah City Council meeting, Anderson called fellow City Councilman Mark Ashiku “a prick” after Ashiku made some snide remarks about his fellow councilpersons. At the time, the Ukiah Daily Journal kept its readers in suspense for the full length of an entire feature story about the meeting before it finally ended the suspense and reported Anderson’s “uncivil” accusation. But at least the Journal told its readers what Anderson had said. The next day the ever-vigilant Santa Rosa Press Democrat, in a story by their then-long-time Ukiah reporter Mike Geniella, couldn’t bring themselves to report what Anderson actually said, instead reporting, “Andersen let loose from the council dais with a comment that stunned onlookers. Staring at Ashiku, Andersen then called him a name using a slang reference to the male anatomy.” We’re pretty sure the censorship of the word “prick” had little to do with Geniella and was the product of the fake prudery at the PD’s Santa Rosa editorial bunker.
ANDERSON VALLEY has had its share of municipal barbs over the years (sadly missing from most local meetings lately). In the late 1990s former CSD Board member (and retired bank officer) Lynn Roman called then-CSD board member Emil Rossi “an asshole” during a heated discussion about ending the District’s recently passed Benefit Assessment after anti-assessment Rossi had amusingly told the mostly pro-Benefit Assessment audience that the way for the public to participate at a public meeting was to “shut up and listen.” Ms. Roman who was sitting in the row in front of me immediately realized she’d made a faux pas and turned around to me and yelled, “Don’t write that! Say I said ‘Lily-livered wuss’!” I, of course, reported both. It was a public meeting. Everyone seems to have survived that and other bits of “incivility” that inevitably come up now and then in local board meetings. Who cares? Get over it. Move on. Former CSD Board member Sophie Otis (a retired police department psychologist) once proposed some silly “be nice” civility rules for CSD meetings after hearing some jibes among a few of the crusty members of the board, the fire department and the tiny audience. Ms. Otis’s rules were quickly converted to low-grade humor via a fundraising scheme at all subsequent meetings as participants continued to insult each other to varying degrees. Each perceived insult required the alleged perp to make a $1 donation to a piggy bank as a “fine.” Yours truly was, of course, a major donor. As was then-Chief Colin Wilson. Both of us pre-paid $10 each to cover the next few meetings worth of insults. Most of my “fines” arose out of my laughter at things that others present didn’t think were funny. Describing ordinary insults in public meetings as “incivility” is a form of petty censorship that should be avoided. “Uncivil” should be reserved for real rudeness, boorishness, shouting and the like, not ordinary criticisms or insults or disagreements.
SUPES MEETING HIGHLIGHTS
The Supervisors voted unanimously to direct staff to draft a noise ordinance for the County on Tuesday. The Farm Bureau rep said that whatever they come up with, the ordinance must exempt agriculture (i.e., wind fans). Loud parties were cited as the main target of the proposed ordinance. Civil citations were proposed as the enforcement mechanism. Sheriff Kendall noted that at present disturbing the peace violations require not only that the noise be willful and with malicious intent, but that the complaining party must sign the complaint and show up in court to press charges.
The Supervisors voted unanimously to assign Supervisors Haschak and McGourty to a new ad hoc committee to prepare a campaign contributions limit ordinance for the County. Haschak said that such an ordinance would have separate (lower) limits for individuals and organizations. Supervisor Ted Williams said he didn’t want to limit campaign spending, just campaign contributions. Supervisor McGourty said he was worried that such an ordinance might inhibit candidates from running against incumbents.
County Assessor-Clerk-Record-Voter Registrar Katrina Bartolomie told the Board that her staff has found $5 million worth of new assessments since the hiring of three new appraiser technicians last year. Most of the newly “discovered” structures were low-value outbuildings, but two of them were single family units. $5 million in new assessed value may sound like a lot, until you calculate that the County’s annual revenue from those additional assessments is 30% of 1% of $5,000,000, or about $15,000 per year. The three new appraiser technicians including the county’s nice benefit package cost over $300k per year.
Around noon the board went into an obvious abuse of closed session entitled “performance evaluation” for CEO Darcy Antle. After almost three hours of secret evaluations Board Chair Maureen Mulheren peeked out briefly to announce that they had taken “no reportable action,” which said a lot more than its literal, legal meaning.
In other County news, Sheriff Kendall says he’s waiting for one of the larger counties like LA or Orange County to appeal the Ninth Circuit Court’s banning of mugshot posting because they have the kinds of deep pockets that could cover what would likely be high legal costs.
CHARLOTTE BEAUMONT:
Tuesday at the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors meeting they voted to take action against Geiger’s Market owners Michael Braught and Michael Maciel, Hopland location, for failing to respond to the calls and notices regarding their defaulting on their Covid loan from the County in the amount of $180,000 that they received in 2021. Before closing the Laytonville location. The loan was a no interest loan that is secured, and attached to their property tax.
ADAM GASKA (statement to the Board of Supervisors, Tuesday, September 24, 2024)
Good morning board, County staff. Adam Gaska, lifelong Redwood Valley resident. I am here this morning representing Mendo Matters. We are requesting that this board agendize, discuss and vote to publicly support Proposition 36 at its earliest opportunity.
10 years ago, Proposition 47 was passed with the intention to address prison overcrowding, adopt alternative sentencing methods, and reduce nonviolent offense incarcerations. While it has achieved some of those goals, it has inadvertently virtually decriminalized petty theft crimes and drug offenses. This has led to an increase in property theft and open drug misuse. Vagrancy has reached such levels locally that many of us can no longer stand by quietly and continue to allow it to plague our once beautiful community.
Proposition 36 would give law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges the ability to increase penalties for hard drug offenses while still having the option to offer treatment as an alternative by enacting a new class of crime called "treatment-mandated felonies." After Proposition 47 was passed, theft under $950 was classified as a misdemeanor regardless of the number of offenses. Proposition 36 would allow prosecutors to pursue felonies for repeat offenders.
While the passage of Proposition 36 won’t magically make the blight disappear or immediately make our communities safer, it is a much needed change in policy that will empower law enforcement and the criminal justice system to help move us in that direction. Creating a public nuisance through theft or endangering public health through drug misuse should be considered criminal. We are fed up with the grime that has plagued many areas of our community and continues to spread. Help enable local law enforcement by giving them tools they need to keep our neighborhoods safe. There are many programs available to those willing to get treatment. We must be more aggressive by insisting that those programs be utilized by those that suffer from addiction or suffer the consequences of incarceration. Allowing our fellow citizens to wallow in despair while in the throes of addiction, living on the street in squalor until they die of an overdose is inhumane. The passage of prop 36 will give us a larger stick to make the carrot of treatment that much more attractive.
Please add your voice to those that have already stood in support of prop 36 and vote in favor of protecting our community.
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