Supes Tell Cubbison She’s On Her Own. (But she can submit written questions with copies to CEO Antle.)
(The following is a draft letter from the Board of Supervisors to Auditor-Controller/Treasurer-Tax Collector Chamise Cubbison on next Tuesday’s Board agenda, presumably written by CEO Darcie Antle for Board signature.)
“Dear Ms. Cubbison:
As Chair of the Board of the Board of Supervisors, I am writing on behalf of the Board in response to your report to the Board on Tuesday, May 6, 2025.
You informed the Board that you will not be able to close the year-end books with year-end balance entries completed for the County’s outside audit firm, Clifton Larson Allen, to begin their outside audit in September, unless the Board of Supervisors directs Sara Pierce to work directly for you and with your staff beginning July 15, 2025, through the issuance of the 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR).
You have also stated that you would like the Board to require Ms. Pierce, who is an Executive Office employee, to sign the ACFR and the Management Representation Letter, both of which are your responsibility pursuant to California Government Code section 53891(a), as the officer in charge of the financial records of the County.
For several reasons, the Board does not believe these are reasonable requests.
Ms. Pierce resumed her position with the Executive Office on February 26, 2025, and took on the duties of Purchasing Agent and Acting Assistant CEO. Since that date and your return to the office, Ms. Pierce has consistently provided regular assistance to your department.
When Ms. Pierce accepted the assignment of Acting Auditor-Controller/Treasurer-Tax Collector, she worked directly with your management team, including Assistant Auditor-Controller, Megan Hunter, Assistant Treasurer-Tax Collector Cheyenne Gordon and A-C and T-TC staff. She utilized the same staff and resources that were and are now available to you and your department, including, for example, the consultant contracts with Regional Government Services Authority (RGS) and Clifton Larson Allen (CLA). That institutional knowledge still exists with your current team and can be supplemented by the same consultant contracts which are still current and available to you.
Additionally, as an elected Department Head you can seek any contracts you need without delay up to $25,000, and, as you know, any Board level contract can be agendized for any regular meeting.
Ms. Pierce also remains available to answer questions you may have related to her work as the Acting Auditor-Controller/ Treasurer-Tax Collector. We ask only that you put questions in writing so that Ms. Pierce can effectively respond and balance her assistance to your office with her regular assignments in the Executive Office. Since Ms. Pierce works for the CEO please copy the CEO on your written requests as we believe this honors the organizational structure of the County.
Ms. Pierce is an employee of the Executive Office and wishes to remain an employee of the Executive Office. The Board and CEO cannot legally compel a County employee to accept a position within a different department. Additionally, although Ms. Pierce is available to answer questions you may have related to her work as the Acting Auditor-Controller/ Treasurer-Tax Collector, her current role as the Purchasing Agent and Assistant CEO carries a significant workload. It is not feasible for her to be assigned to your office for the rest of the year. Requiring Ms. Pierce to work for your office would leave her position vacant.
If you have a need for an additional position or positions in your office, the Board asks that you work with Human Resources pursuant to County policy #38, which requires you to determine what additional staffing would allow your office to fulfill its obligations. If you wish to discuss position allocation or adding positions within your department, please contact Human Resources.
The Board remains committed to assisting you in achieving your statutory mandates but is unable to compel an employee to work for you. With this understanding, please let the Board know as soon as possible if you are unable or unwilling to fulfill the duties and statutory requirements of your position. Thank you.
Sincerely,
John Haschak, Chair
Mendocino County Board of Supervisors”
First, narrowly speaking: Ms. Cubbison did not say that she would be unable to “close the books” without help from Pierce. Nor did Cubbison ask that Sara Pierce “accept a position in a different department.” Nor did Cubbison ask that Pierce “be assigned to [her] office for the rest of the year.” This is a deliberate misstatement of what Cubbison asked for. It is part of the Board’s and the CEO’s ongoing petty post-exoneration Cubbison revenge/blame strategy to punish Cubbison for staunchly defending herself against the bogus criminal charges and suspension without pay and disagreeing with the Board’s consolidation of the Treasurer and Auditor offices.
We went back to the video of the May 6 meeting. The specific request made by Cubbison after explaining the outside auditor deadlines was:
“The only way for me to meet the dates the outside auditor has set is for Sara Pierce to be made available to me directly when I need her to provide information, not through anyone else, from now until July 15. She will then need to be assigned to work directly with me and my staff through the issuance of the ACFR [Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, in early September]. … In addition, Sara Pierce will need to be authorized to sign the management representation letter and the ACFR with me.”
Cubbison asked that Pierce be “assigned to work with me,” not that she be assigned to the Auditor’s office. Cubbison also did not ask that Pierce be available “for the rest of the year,” nor that Pierce work for [Cubbison’s] office.”
If the Board and the CEO were serious about meeting the outside audit report deadlines while not transferring Ms. Pierce to Cubbison’s office, the Board could have suggested limiting the number of hours Pierce would be available, making it clear that she would not be “assigned” to Cubbison’s office. But they couldn’t even do that. Cubbison’s request that Pierce co-sign the management representation letter seems completely reasonable since Pierce was Acting Auditor-Controller-Treasurer-Tax Collector during the period in question.
Second, more broadly speaking, to top it off, the Board had no hesitation “assigning” Sara Pierce to the Auditor’s office and leaving her position in the CEO’s office vacant for 17 months (!) while Cubbison was wrongly suspended without pay. But now that Cubbison requests some help to meet audit report deadlines, Pierce can’t be spared because it would leave her position vacant.
Oh please. Ridiculously hypocritical, but typical. These are the people running Mendocino County.
Haschak’s/the CEO’s draft response to Cubbison ends with this nasty little masterpiece of passive-aggressiveness: “With this understanding, please let the Board know as soon as possible if you are unable or unwilling to fulfill the duties and statutory requirements of your position.”
Note to Board members: Please let the public know that you refuse to fulfill the duties of your positions as Supervisors by petulantly obstructing the elected Auditor-Controller/Treasurer Tax Collector at every turn.
As in DC, the infighting and intramural squabbling gets in the way of the business that needs to be done.
At least they’re not claiming to be protecting democracy yet. America is a mess.
“With this understanding, please let the Board know as soon as possible if you are unable or unwilling to fulfill the duties and statutory requirements of your position.”
That caught my eye as well. That type of written language has been used a lot on me here.
RE: Note to Board members: Please let the public know that you refuse to fulfill the duties of your positions as Supervisors by petulantly obstructing the elected Auditor-Controller/Treasurer Tax Collector at every turn.
—>. Next thing you know, Sara Pierce and CEO Antle, may take the 5th, along with Board Members, and refuse to answer any questions on what they did during Cubbison absence, that would facilitate accounting clarity for state legislative funded state laudit.
Short of that elephant in the room, expect further distraction and stalling action, which may be resolved by bringing in the state Attorney General office. State trumps County unless it’s a Charter County, one might surmise, so political heads could literally roll.
Eyster = Trump
The Board of Supervisors = Congress/the Cabinet, and Haschak = Mike Johnson
Cubbison = All the bullied government employees
Who pays? In both cases, we do and we will.
Why can’t the supervisors APOLOGIZE to Cubbison, settle up with her, tell Pierce to help Cubbison and yes, sign alongside her on the management representation letter, AND MOVE ON. This is the clearest case of a hostile work environment I’ve ever witnessed. Cubbison’s lawyer will be addding all this to her lawsuit.
What a sad bunch we have running the country. They have jeopardized taxpayers money and disrupted county businesses. Come on folks make a clean break from your errors and get on with the people’s business.
Haschak demonstrates an obnoxious lack of self awareness here. To give Ted some credit, at least he has learned to shut up and slump down low in his chair.
What a bunch of creeps.
where oh where are the adults?
As goes Mendocino County, so goes the world. This is hilarious, jaw-droppingly bad, and completely insane!
Thanks Mark, I always enjoy your reports, though lord knows it makes me despair for the human race. Well, not for the entire human race, but certainly for all the bureaucrats…
It seems like Hashack’s mind is fading. Please get a mental status check it is concerning.
The government you get is the government you deserve. Thomas Jefferson
Cut the Bull Shit!!! Cubberson was exonerated!!!