Mendocino County Grand Jury

09/27/2019

07/15/2019

Mendocino County, where I live, is a case study for waste, fraud, and corruption. The Board of Supervisors has surrendered all authority to a County CEO who runs Mendocino County like a Mafia boss. Any county employee who challenges the boss is "disappeared" -- their reputation ruined, their career ended. Money disappears. Millions have disappeared in the privatization of county services to friends of the boss, for example, all mental health services. There is little financial reporting by department. There are no performance reviews by department. There are no best business practices. Audits are weak. Meanwhile, Mendocino County will be in a deficit mode in 2021. County rank and file workers are underpaid, overworked, burned out, and long overdue pay raises. And the county's retirement system is underfunded by hundreds of millions of dollars.

Back in 2007, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors made a decision. They passed an ordinance creating a new Chief Executive Officer position in the county . That ordinance abolished the former…