Budget hearings
Budget hearings to begin | SEIU remarks | Andrew Johnson
Deer’s ears
It’s the deer’s ears, isn’t it? Young male deer eating ornamental shrub.
Tuesday, May 31, 2022
NEWSBOY contents
Budget season
Transparency and process, award-winning weed
Gov’t Calendar
Presidential quote
County government
County to begin budget hearings
Mendocino County Board of Supervisors budget hearings happen the second week of June.
Budget Hearing 9 AM June 7
Budget Hearing 9 AM June 8
These meetings are held in-person and details on attending remotely will be known when the meeting agenda is posted.
There’s always a live YouTube broadcast if you are so inclined.
Supervisors’ job is approving a budget for the 2022-13 Fiscal Year that begins July 1.
You can read up here on past county budget documents and other reports.
The process outlined by the county claims that departments submit funding requests early in the process.
Complete language seen below:
July - December: The newly-adopted budget is monitored and quarterly reports are presented,to the Board of Supervisors.
February - March: A mid-year report is presented, parameters for the following year’s budget are established, budget workshops begin and budget instructions are distributed to departments.
April - May: Budget requests are submitted by departments, the Board of Supervisors conducts budget workshops, a 3rd quarter report is presented to the Board and recommendations for a proposed budget are prepared.
June: The County Executive Office presents a proposed budget for the Board of Supervisors to consider and the Board of Supervisors holds final public hearings and adopts the budget for the next fiscal year.—mendocinocounty.org
What they’re talking about
SEIU speaks up for transparency…
Citizens can thank Service Employees International Union for being one of only a few voices to speak up during budget talks.
Had the county accepted all department funding requests, in the context of what it presented to the public last month, it would be $6.3 million in the red.
“We are concerned the county is flying blind, trying to make consequential decisions with what might be inadequate or misleading information,” said Julie Beardsley, SEIU Chapter President.
If listening to county budget talks makes you feel like you are on the periphery of something more complicated than you are not alone.
Patrick Hickey also represents the union and he is an SEIU field representative.
“For the county administration and the board to be talking about cuts in county services at this time with the limited amount of information that has been provided makes absolutely no sense,” Hickey said.
Both Hickey and Beardsley proposed ways that the county could secure more revenue.
Hickey called for county staff to apply for state funding–and use it if they are successful.
“What we need is a balanced assessment of our position, not a cherry picked gloom and doom support,” Hickey said.
Beardsley was speaking remotely during the meeting.
Beardsley’s remarks were interrupted as she spoke about how the county could carry a lesser reserve of 10 percent compared to 25 percent.
Board chairman Ted Williams interrupted the SEIU 1021 Chapter President to say that the board could not hear her.
Was it a technical glitch or something else?
On Williams' request that she speak loudly, Beardsley went on to finish her remarks.
“SEIU’s position is to hire staff to collect the backlog of uncollected revenues,” Beardsley said.
As it relates to collecting revenue, Beardsley said that if there is a temporary shortfall the county can use its reserves and replenish that money with the recovered revenue.
First class weed in danger…
Imagine for a moment you are a player in the cannabis business and you persevered to bring award-winning cannabis to the legal market, only to find yourself struggling to secure county permits.
That troublesome storyline is what Mendocino Cannabis Alliance Director Michael Katz reminded supervisors of on the heels of the 2022 Emerald Cup Awards.
“And here are these successful businesses that are exactly the kind of businesses we want to succeed in this environment and they are being forced to leave by the policies that have been imposed by this board and the Cannabis Department,” Katz said.
This year’s awards ceremony for the Emerald Cup was May 14 in Hollywood at the Montalbán Theatre on Vine Street.
One of Katz’s points was that Mendocino County businesses did exceptionally well in the competition.
Katz called for the board to get involved, saying that supervisors must go beyond their daises to engage with cannabis stakeholders.
California’s Medicinal and Adult Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act passed in ‘17, and became effective the following year.
Gov’t Calendar!
Brooktrails
June 14 at 7 PM…..Board Meeting
Mendocino County
June 7 at 9AM…..BOS Budget Hearing
June 8 at 9 AM…..BOS Budget Hearing
Willits
June 8 at 6:30 PM…..Council Meeting
Measure B Oversight Committee
June 22 at 1 PM…..Oversight Committee
Willits Unified School District
June 15 at 5 PM…..Board Meeting
Little Lake Fire Department
June 14 at 5 PM…..Board Meeting
Local Area Formation Commission (LAFCo)
June 6 at 9 AM…..Commission Meeting
Mendocino County Council of Governments (MCOG)
June 6 at 1:30 PM…..Board Meeting
Presidential quote
17th US President Andrew Johnson
Thursday, April 15, 1865
Speech subsequent to Lincoln assassination
The duties of the office are mine; I will perform them—the consequences are with God. Gentlemen, I shall lean upon you; I feel I shall need your support. I am deeply impressed with the solemnity of the occasion and the responsibilities of the duties of the office I am assuming.
