NEWSBOY goes to County
Strategic plan, cannabis crop value + MORE
Sunny days
Tuesday, February 1, 2022
NEWSBOY evening edition--
NEWSBOY contents
County strategic plan
Cannabis: gross value and crop yield
Timber activity report
Government calendar
Hello reader. This is the second edition to be published this week. NEWSBOY went outside the 95490 to listen in on a couple segments of the county supervisors meeting.
It is a follow up to two items we touched on previously. It was only natural to listen in today for an idea of what is happening with the new strategic plan and the stand-alone cannabis crop report. Enjoy.
County Supervisors discussed Tuesday a new strategic plan. In the works for about one year, a draft of the full plan is online.
Looking at the draft, there will be attention paid to the organization itself.
“Define clear roles, responsibilities, and processes for government leadership
Make determinations about key roles for county governance, including the CEO/CAO and County elected officials.
Create operating agreements for how the Supervisors will work with one another and with the CAO/CEO, County elected officials, and Department Heads.
In collaboration, Supervisors, Department Heads, CAO/CEO, and other elected County leaders create a Code of Conduct that defines acceptable behavior and sets expectations for accountability.
Create groupings of departments with similar functions and assign Supervisors as liaisons with the Department Heads from those groups to conduct regular meetings that promote healthy communication and greater cooperation across departments.
Identify an organizational leader to work closely with Department Heads and CEO/CAO Office to guide the implementation of the strategic plan by establishing responsibilities, priorities, and annual budgets.”
Now an update from the civilized battlefield of strategic planning:
Mendocino County is working on a plan to guide management of the county for a period of five years, once the plan gets approved.
The plan is called a strategic plan and it has identified four areas that county leadership can focus towards.
An effective county government organization
A safe and healing community
A thriving economy
A prepared and resilient county
Work on the plan began last Jan., Supervisor John Haschak said.
Strategic planning and writing a strategic plan is for certain a bureaucratic process like many processes undertaken by the government.
Chairman Ted Williams said he was worried about costs and making more promises than the county can keep.
Anne Molgaard is program director for the strategic plan process.
“I think it is one foot in front of the other and saying it is going to work or not work today is giving up before you even try,” Molgaard said. “I am surprised anyone would even say that.
Moving forward:
Names will be added and the strategic plan’s list will be shortened, Molgaard said.
Interim CEO Darcie Antle said a funding source should be included.
The process of writing a strategic plan for Mendocino County continues, the public can continue to comment, too.
“We are still receiving comments and we are still taking them,” said Molgaard, “keep them coming in.”
Additionally:
Williams had some criticism for the plan's vocabulary, with words like “collaborate” and “encourage” being used in the plan.
“To me those are abstract words, we are not looking for abstraction, we are looking for strategy,” said Williams.
The plan though, is not all about general fund spending, for example. Part of the idea would be to start going after other sources of money.
For instance, Molgaard mentioned being told that there is upwards of $10 million that the county could harness for housing issues.
“We are trying not to do the same-old same-old,” said Molgaard. “So we do not want some underachieving department head to come up and say ‘we are not going to do this’.”
CEO Carmel Angelo will retire next month after 14 years with Mendocino County, 12 of which she has served as head of the county’s organization.
Angelo said implementing the plan could be a challenge for already busy department heads.
“Quite honestly,” Angelo said, “the suggestions that have been brought forward by Mr. Hochman–I did not agree with.”
Resources:
Cannabis crop data!
Mendocino County released data on the gross value and crop yields of county weed farms.
The big number is $131.4 million which is the “gross production” that the report placed on the county’s legal cannabis crop.
Capital, labor, profits, fees, taxes and overhead expenses are not reflected in that number, the report stated.
Flower, trim and smalls. How good is your cannabis vocabulary?
Mendocino County’s traditional crop report on previous season’s performance typically comes around harvest time.
It was late this year, but these are unusual times.
Crop reports from the county Ag department examine the gross value of crops and do not consider net returns to producers.
“This report reflects the total gross value of agricultural commodities produced in the county and not the net returns for producers,” the report stated.
Timber was valued at: $93.9 million
Wine grapes were valued at: $82.2 million
AMERICA runs on wood, a timber activity report:
Local forest lands yielded more than 114 million board-feet in 2020 (2020 Crop Report). This is a synopsis of harvest documents submitted to CalFire. Dec. to present.
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