Last week I wrote about how our elected representatives and their staff down in the county seat far too often flummox themselves and disrupt the orderliness of the governing process by creating problems seemingly out of thin air.
It’s a fact that most people are happy if elected officials and their support staff of bureaucrats practice the physicians’ oath of “Do no harm.”
It’s impossible not to recognize the seemingly institutional dysfunction in the governing process of this county. Too many elected officials and “public servants” who are classified as department heads, middle management, and “staff,” go out of their way to create problems when their main goal and purpose is to provide basic services to the public and solve problems when they arise.
I also recommended that the Board of Supervisors take action on a short list of unsolved problems that need to be resolved ASAP.
I identified three of the most pressing issues that should be top priorities for the Supes to resolve.
At the top of the list was:
Settle the civil litigation over the illegal removal of elected Treasurer-Tax Collector/Auditor- Controller Chemise Cubbison.
I then explained the legal and statutory reasons why the Cubbison case should be settled immediately.
The most important reason being the County doesn’t have legal leg to stand on.
The Supervisors, with the exception of John Haschak, allowed District Attorney David Eyster to turn the local governing process upside down over a petty bureaucratic dispute about his expenditure of public funds for annual DA staff and “guests” banquets at a local steakhouse and also some separate travel-related expenses. When the DA’s requests for reimbursement were rejected by Cubbison in her then-role as Acting Assistant County Auditor, the you-know-what hit the fan, and here we are several years later looking at another mess — potentially a very, very expensive mess — due solely to the Supervisors not doing their jobs.
Let’s take a quick look at the financial departments consolidation issue.
With the exception of John Haschak, the rest of the Board voted in December of 2021 to consolidate the formerly independent, elected offices of Treasurer-Tax Collector and Auditor-Controller into a single office, thus eliminating vital internal controls over finances. Without a doubt, the numero uno principle of fiscal matters, whether your books are kept in either the private or public sector, is you never, ever eliminate internal financial controls. The more eyes you have on the numbers, the better off you are.
At the time of this consolidation incident, I said the impetus for it was a 2021 trivial expense report squabble instigated by DA David Eyster over his office’s travel reimbursements being (correctly) rejected by then Acting Auditor-Controller Chemise Cubbison because he refused to follow county reimbursement guidelines. It should be noted that Eyster has tangled with other Auditors, namely Meredith Ford and Lloyd Weer, over his refusal to comply with established reimbursement policies and asset forfeiture claims. Note likewise that Eyster was a vociferous supporter of the financial consolidation plan, and also vehemently opposed the appointment of Cubbison to fill out the unfinished term of Weer’s office when he retired early.
Just because the DA, or the County Counsel’s Office, or an outside, high-priced, third party law firm (paid for with taxpayer money), is advising/demanding that the Supes cave-in and take action that clearly violates existing Government Code statutes, doesn’t mean you do what they want you to do.
As a supervisor, you are in charge of keeping the local ship of state on a steady, orderly and legal course.
When the Supervisors suspended Cubbison from her elected office a year ago last October, they clearly violated the law(s).
She was suspended without even a fleeting glance at due process or her substantive rights.
I pointed out that Government Code Section 1770, addresses at least one aspect of the Cubbison affair:
“Division 4. Public Officers And Employees [1000 - 3599]; (Division 4 enacted by Stats. 1943, Ch. 134. )l Gov. Code Section 1770. An office becomes vacant on the happening of any of the following events before the expiration of the term:
(h) His or her conviction of a felony or of any offense involving a violation of his or her official duties. An officer shall be deemed to have been convicted under this subdivision when trial court judgment is entered. For purposes of this subdivision, ‘trial court judgment’ means a judgment by the trial court either sentencing the officer or otherwise upholding and implementing the plea, verdict, or finding.”
Not a single one of those statutory requirements were ever met, yet the Supes blindly and blandly suspended Cubbison anyway.
The liability and damages clock has been ticking away since October of 2023. And taxpayers are on the hook for all of it.
Anyway, my long-time colleague and work friend, Mark Scaramella of the AVA, and I had an email exchange over the issue which I will share with you, with the exception of a couple speculative comments by us that are not germane to the discussion at hand.
Mark Scaramella Replies:
With all due respect to Mendocino County Observer Editor Jim Shields’ sound legal advice, which I agree with, the likelihood of any legal advice being heeded at this point, however valid, is zero. The board that “suspended” Ms. Cubbison obviously was never going to let any pesky legal advice get in the way of their “Get Cubbison” agenda which culminated successfully in October of 2023. That was a patently political effort to blame Cubbison for the board’s own failure to properly administer the County budget and had nothing to do with legal issues. Besides, trying to put all the toothpaste that has come out of this particular tube now is clearly impossible. We do have two new Supervisors taking their seats next month. One of them, Ms. Cline, told KZYZ during her campaign that she would not have suspended Cubbison without pay if she had been Supervisor at the time. (The implication was that she agreed with the suspension, but not with pay.) The other new Supervisor, Mr. Norvell, has been mute on the subject. Supervisor John Haschak, who was the lone vote against suspending Cubbison and who was the lone vote against consolidating the Auditor’s office with the Treasurer’s, theoretically could harbor misgivings about Cubbison’s abrupt 2023 suspension. But nothing in Haschak’s performance as a Supervisor indicates that he would take the initiative to undo any of the prior board’s decisions. We doubt that Supervisors Mulheren or Williams have had any misgivings about Cubbison’s suspension. So it would take an odd coalition of Cline, Norvell and Haschak to initiate any kind of retrospective review of the Cubbison suspension. Given the momentum the case now has, along with the inexperience of the newcomers and the passiveness of Haschak, we doubt that any reconsideration will occur. But who knows? A Supervisor could start by proposing that newly appointed County Counsel Charlotte Scott offer her opinion on the subject. But the odds of that happening or that Ms. Scott would take a position against what her predecessors have done also seem remote.
Hi Mark,
I agree with your observations and comments on my Cubbison piece.
For a number of reasons, I doubt whether any conciliatory proffer will prove successful, but I always try to solve problems anyway.
I’ve thought from the beginning that the criminal case will rise or fall on what little merits there are, and that Cubbison has little, if anything to be concerned about. Kennedy’s fate is another matter since it boils down to a game of evidentiary liar’s dice between her and Weer.
The civil case is where all the high-stakes action will be occurring. Once that proceeding gets underway, the DA is going to be spending a lot of time being deposed pre-trial, and then in cross-examination at trial. Cubbison’s attorney will have lots of fun with the DA. Among other things, I’m sure her attorney will introduce a video exhibit of the DA’s various appearances at public meetings, highlighting his bullying conduct and petty personal attacks on Cubbison. Just that exhibit alone should keep him under cross-examination for half a day.
This whole affair is just another “only in Mendocino County” type of happening.
Jim
Jim,
I understand. If the County had any brains, they'd settle this before it gets into the areas you mention. But since Cubbison and the county are in this deep now (and the County has never shown any brains on these kinds of cases) I'm afraid settlement is not very likely. And the case will drag out for years. The County may hope that Cubbison simply gives up or runs out of money to continue. But she’s consistently shown persistance and moxie so far.
Mark Scaramella
I have been giving my comments since the very beginning. I have also seen this newspaper be prejudiced against that poor woman that has had to fight in court with the Board of Supervisors in Ukiah. I think it’s disgusting what they have done and I think that each one of them should be ousted from Office completely and never be able to run again except like you said Mr haschak. I know that everyone I talk to cannot believe the Board of Supervisors has done this along with the DA’s office. I believe that it’s illegal and I think that there should be heads roll for it.
For the record, we have supported Ms. Cubbison from the beginning of this sorry affair.
If nothing else, this sorry affair will continue to produce column inches in the venerable AVA. Unfortunately, the ‘else’ will likely be another unnecessary drain on the county budget.
Brains appear to be in short supply at the upper levels of county government, except for the kind demonstrated by former CEO Angelo. Once again, it all invokes dreams of Grover Norquist’s bathtub.
But that remains only a dream.
Jim and Mark are both right.
I have wrote from the very beginning this was simply a plan to get rid of Cubbison. I may have created “The Get Cubbison Plan”
BOS tried their best to to humiliate Ms. Cubbison asking her questions that were clearly meant for D’Arcie Antle during BOS meetings.
When that didn’t work, they went back to DA Dave, who was in on the plan from beginning to oppose Cubbison from being named interim Auditor/Controller, to trump up some charges against her. When he offered Cubbison a plea, resign and no charges will be filed. I guess he must have been shocked when Cubbison refused his bullying tactic. Isn’t it ironic, DA Dave in all this mess is the one who committed Misappropriation of Public Funds with his Broiler Party/Training fiasco?
The civil case is moving forward, I have knowledge. Jim you ask will the BOS settle this case, that would entail admitting they were wrong.
Past experience says that’s not happening. You also have a public comment from Mo Mulheren, when asked about a possible Cubbison lawsuit her reply was “That’s why the County has insurance.”
Our only hope is Madeline Cline and Bernie Norvell convince Hashcak to vote with them to settle and put an end to this madness.
If the two new Supervisors can team up with Hashcak just to nullify Williams and Mulheren, that alone would move this County in the right direction.