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Posts published by “Mark Scaramella”

Major Contributor

County Notes (May 5, 2022)

The Third Quarter (end of March) Budget report attached to this week’s Supervisors agenda finally contains one clear budget statement: “At third quarter, the Sheriff-Coroner’s Office anticipates being over budget by $1,418,762 primarily due to…

The Corruption Behind the Ortner Deposition

A few months before Ortner’s three year contract ended by simple non-renewal of their contract options in June of 2016, the County hired well-respected Mental Health Services consultant Lee Kemper to review the County’s privatization…

Pot Taxes Dropping Like a Stone(r)

Thanks to our colleagues at the Independent Coast Observer in Gualala, we were spared the annoying tedium of having to wade into Mendo’s “complicated” and stinky marijuana permit program discussion at last Tuesday's Supervisors meeting.…

County Notes: Shortchanging Local Ambulances

Last Wednesday at the Anderson Valley Community Services District budget committee, AV Fire Chief Andres Avila told the committee that the Valley’s volunteer ambulance service is operating on a very tight margin which barely covers…

County Notes: Supes To Re-Open Board Chambers But…

From the Attachment to Consent Calendar Item 3m which was approved without discussion or comment along with the rest of the consent calendar on Tuesday, April 5, 2022: “Clerk of the Board has established an…

Biloxi Days: The Day I Couldn’t Get Myself Fired

It was a routine day at the office in the early 70s at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. I had been transferred to the job of Organizational Maintenance Squadron Commander a few months…

$4.2 Million For Retroactive Dispatch On Consent?

The last item on Tuesday’s Supervisors meeting consent calendar is a retroactive, five year, $4.2 million renewal of Mendo’s emergency dispatch services contract with CalFire. REPEAT: That’s $4.2 million over five years on the consent…

The Great Redwood Trail: A Boondoggle By Their Own Numbers

According to the Oxford English Dictionary: “Boondoggle, n. work or activity that is wasteful or pointless but gives the appearance of having value,” and, “A public project of questionable merit that typically involves political patronage…

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