In 2024 the Supervisors, lead by Fifth District Supervisor Ted Williams, insisted that Mendocino County had a multi-million dollar structural deficit. Williams went so far several times to say that Mendo was on the brink of bankruptcy.
Then, early this year when Acting Auditor Sara Pierce closed the books for the previous fiscal year (ending last June 30) Mendo suddenly declared that it had about $11 million in unspent carryover surplus funds (mainly derived from chronic staffing vacancies which were never explained).
On Tuesday, CEO Antle was back to frightening the children again with another “I am very concerned” introduction to the mid-year budget report, citing Trump, declining sales and cannabis taxes and pending salary increases putting the squeeze on County finances. She also implied that public safety, historically resistant to local budget cuts, might also be jeopardized.
Antle: “As we all know there has been a change in national leadership. My office is closely following potential cuts in federal programs. Counties play a major role in administering federal programs that support the most vulnerable populations in our community through social services and other programs. Indirect reductions could impact the Sheriff’s Office, fire and the District Attorney’s office. The Governor and the state legislators will need to determine how California will respond. The County of Mendocino receives approximately $55 million in federal funding across several departments. I start with this [bad news] as we continue to find this county in another year of fiscal uncertainly. In this [current CEO] report you will see and hear from the team that there is a significant reduction in state and county sales tax which immediately impact the Sheriff’s office, Juvenile Hall, the District Attorney and fire districts. Cannabis tax is down approximately $700,000. On a somewhat positive note, we are projecting to use only $4.2 million of $7 million in one time funds built into this budget for 24/25. I am very concerned about the impact as we roll into the third year of wage increases set to hit fiscal year 25/ 26. That impact is expected to be significant.”
None of the Supervisors responded to Antle’s warning. No budget action was discussed, proposed or suggested for future agendas. At Supervisor Williams prodding, they bickered a bit about whether the CEO should provide meaningful budget reports more than twice a year. But, as usual, in the end they decided not to require such unimportant (to them only, apparently) things, neither the meaningful reports — just the reports from whatever happens to be entered into the computer at the time of report generation — or even quarterly, much less monthly reports from the CEO who has never been required to provide current, meaningful budget reports, despite the fact that the departments do it on their own without reporting to the Board. As with the Cubbison matter, as Judge Moorman pointedly noted, the Board and the CEO prefer “willful ignorance.”
MENDOCINO COUNTY has quietly, one could say secretly since it’s not listed anywhere else in the County’s organization info, created a new financial department called “fiscal services” with a budget of almost $1 million a year. We have no idea what they do, who runs it, or how much it overlaps with the Auditor or Treasurer offices. There’s also a relatively new department called “payroll services” (at about $600k) which was created in the aftermath of the initial Cubbison-Kennedy debacle. How the payroll function went from an overworked one-person office in the Auditor’s office to an expanded, separate $600k department is a question only the CEO can ansswer. Both of these departments/budgets are distinct and different from the Treasurer-Tax Collector and Auditor-Controller budgets which are themselves still tracked separately, although they were consolidated as the Board directed in 2023. The Auditor-Controller Budget is listed at about $1.7 million, and the Treasurer-Tax Collector budget is listed as around $1.2 million. (The Executive Office budget is a separate $1.1 million.)
THAT’S AROUND $4.5 million a year for various financial services. Yet the Board still can’t get a monthly budget report, nor even a quarterly budget report. Last week they decided to let the CEO provide a budget report only twice a year, and that only with the data that happens to be in the MUNIS computer system at the time of the report, not the actual up-to-date departmental budget status. Last Tuesday, newly seated Supervisors Bernie Norvell and Madeline Cline signaled that they had no interest in current budget status either, saying that requiring the CEO to provide any more than two budget reports per year was just too much to ask the CEO for. CEO Darcie Antle emphasized that even twice a year could only be provided if it came with a caveat that it only would include whatever financial info happens to have found its way into the computer system at the time of the run, never mind if the departments are late in getting it entered. After some extremely undemanding discussion initiated but given up on by Supervisor Ted Williams, the Board agreed to revisit the budget report frequency later, maybe, “if there’s a problem.” Never mind that the whole point of monthly budget reporting is to avoid problems.
IN OTHER BUDGET NEWS, we see that the Sheriff’s office has a $2.2 million overtime budget which was running at about 55% spent as of end of December of 2024. Nobody expressed any interest in this high number even though the Sheriff’s office has staffed up lately and should be running less overtime.
IN HER SUPERVISOR’S REPORT last week, Supervisor Maureen Mulheren told her colleagues that the “Homeless Continuum of Care of which there are about 30 members, are currently seeking a consultant to help them update their strategic plan.” She asked the public or fellow board members for “suggestions for a consultant that could help the CofC have community meetings, work with the board, work with the service providers to come up with an updated strategic plan. I think that’s really important for our community.” Thirty members, and they can’t come up with their own homeless strategic plan (a plan they paid consultant Robert Marbut $60k for a few years ago, but have mostly ignored). The homeless strategic plan is nothing more than a minor update of previous “strategic plans” that emphasize that primary purpose of the “strategic plan” is to get as much money for themselves as possible.
SUPERVISOR TED WILLIAMS asked again about ways to determine if Mendo’s Mental Health Services are effective. Supervisor Mulheren responded that if Williams had attended any Behavioral Health Advisory Board meetings he would know all there is to know about Mental Health services. Williams disagreed saying that he wanted formal contract and performance reviews from the BHAB. This morphed into a discussion of the make-up of the BHAB which no one seems particularly sure of, nor of the process by which appointments are made. Apparently, Mulheren is a member of the BHAB, so she’s very defensive about questions or criticisms. Williams said, “I want someone on the BHAB who will ask what got done and how they rated. The public sees it as a blank check. There are no reports of what was accomplished. We allocate the money and we don’t hear how it went, we don’t see results.” Mulheren replied, “[Board Chair Jo] Bradley can answer those questions for you. We had a session on that. All the numbers were there. There’s an RFP process which is open and transparent. Specific questions should be asked of them. It’s a communications thing. It’s there.”
Supervisor Bernie Norvell asked, “How did Jo Bradley get the job?” Mulheren said she appointed her. “I was chair. I selected her,” the,n addressing Williams, “You could have said something when she was appointed.”
Williams insisted that his questions are never answered. “I have been stonewalled every which way,” said Williams. “I can’t get the information. It’s frustrating. Where’s the last performance review?”
After some predictably irrelevant blather about confidentiality of some mental health data, Ms. Bradley called in to say that she had been appointed by Williams himself. Williams replied that he had asked for performance info “quite a while ago but problems on board caused delays in trying to get answers.” Bradley seemed to be blaming Williams for not accepting answers that were either provided or offered. “Supervisor Williams does not return my calls,” insisted Bradley. “I was sworn in [as chair] yesterday. We are getting mixed messages.” Bradley insisted that Mental Health funds are State and Fed dollars, not coming out of “county coffers,” apparently meaning that there’s not much need to examine how effectively it’s spent. Bradley added, “We don’t know we’re spending the money until the patient leaves. The process is overwhelming. It takes a lot of learning. It’s hard to understand. We explained it at the last meeting. It makes your head spin. There is an overwhelming amount of info. We don’t make the rules.”
Farm Bureau Director and former Supervisor candidate Adam Gaska called in to say that he’s been trying to get appointed to the BHAB for months and has been denied for unclear reasons time and time again. He still doesn’t know what the appointment process is. “The Supervisors have been precluded from the nomination process,” said Gaska.
And that was how it was left.
AS WE HAVE NOTED BEFORE, the best performance indicator of mental health services is a version of a recidivism rate which would track the number of people who have been released from treatment and then returned and when. Obviously, most severely mental ill patients are not going to be “cured,” but the aim should be to reduce the amount and frequency of services they require. There also should be a way to track the mental health patients/criminals in jail which the Sheriff insists are released with plans and programs to help them stay out of jail. Nobody needs any names or individual information, just a summary of the nature of the “treatment” (e.g., drugs only?) and how long they were on their own before returning. We don’t expect anything like that to ever be asked in Mendocino County. Since the monitors consider the entire process to be “overwhelming” and not locally funded, we get what we get and that’s that and we just have to keep rubberstamping no-bid contracts to the Schraeders. All of this is only for the small subset of mental cases — the severely mentally ill — who are allowed into County covered treatment. The not quite severely but chronically mentally ill who are on the streets or in jail are not even under the purview of the BHAB or the mental health department, other than via the crisis van or crisis hot line. PS. Not one cent of the millions of Measure B dollars designated for mental health and substance abuse treatment has been spent on those services, services which the public was assured would be provided by the Measure when the public voted overwhelmingly for it.
Thanks for the update Mark ,as you well know, Mendocino County has always mirrored or in the past mirrored the federal governments magical mystery tour, budgeting process. I agree ,with the computing power that sits on everybody’s table or in their hand, a weekly budget a daily budget or even a monthly budget should be no problem ,unless you know the old G.I. GO. Days of old with multiple paper ledgers are going away and the new Blockchain electronic ledger leaves no room for error. I guess there’s good and bad in the advancement of technology.!
Welcome to the electronic Panopticon thank you.
Mulheren and Bradley need to get their stories straight. Who appointed her? Williams or Mulheren, while Williams sits there quietly. Advice for Jo Bradley, you’re seeing disfunction between Mulheren and Williams, get out! You will be used as a scapegoat. If your story is true, there sits Williams silent. Why is it so important that Mulheren takes credit for appointing you? If you are correct than Mo is lying! There are red flags all around you.
Williams and Mulheren, it is so obvious these two shouldn’t be dog catcher of this County let alone a Supervisor. We need to recall both of them, a blow up doll would be more effective in their seats. At least the doll can’t talk, that would be an improvement.
Overpaid mismanaged title hungry hypocrites. Couldn’t find their asses with both hands and a flashlight. Shame shame shame.
If they find their asses, thus occupying both hands, how do they manage the flashlight?