The following is a monthly letter written by Mendocino County’s 3rd District Supervisor John Haschak to constituents:
There is so much going on this summer such as Frontier Days, the Sherwood Valley Big Time, and Art Walks. Laytonville just celebrated the opening of a playground in Harwood Park. It was great to see people walking the closed-off streets of Willits for Hometown Celebration. There was a real sense of community, commerce, music and performances, informational booths, face painting, and good vibes in abundance. Much gratitude to those who made it all happen. In August, not to be missed fun will be had at the Blackberry Festival in Covelo.
The Board took steps to reduce the barriers in housing. Inclusionary housing (requiring a minimum of 25% low income housing in new housing developments) has stifled housing development in Mendocino County. If the County can align more with the State’s 10% requirement, developers might be able to create much needed housing stock.
The Board of Supervisors put $2 million dollars of the PG&E settlement funds into a carbon reduction fund. $500,000 has been spent on grant matches for electric vehicle charging stations and solar panels. I have been working with Supervisor Gjerde and Janelle Rau, Director of General Services, to come up with a plan to convert the County’s fleet of cars to electric vehicles and improve energy efficiency in County buildings. The plan will be presented to the Board on July 25. We are doing as much as possible with limited funds.
The Economic Development Standing Committee met for the first time. It is composed of Supervisor McGourty and myself. I will be the Chair. Our goal is to bring industry leaders, city representatives, Chambers of Commerce, housing advocates, environmental, educational and labor leaders together to explore opportunities and challenges to create a more vibrant, diversified economy in our County. We had a presentation on workforce trends in the County. It is clear that we have a need for better alignment of the current workforce with local job openings. We also need to attract and retain skilled talent and investments into Mendocino County.
Please stay fire safe as the dry, hot days of summer are here. My monthly table talk is on Thursday, July 13, at 10:00 at the Brickhouse Coffee in Willits. I am available at haschakj@mendocinocounty.org or 707-972-4214.
John
And, with the county workforce on the brink of a strike. Not one mention of the hard working people at the county. He talks about investments in talent, yet he and the supes offered a pay cut. It’s shows where we stand with him.
They voted themselves a raise yet they want to cut your pay! Everyone in Mendocino County is disgusted with our Board of Supervisors. They do nothing but waste funds and they don’t do them out to where they belong. I hope that all of these people can be voted out soon
The Union has failed much of their members just as much as the BOS has failed the employees. Many of the new employees decide not to join the union since it is another fee they don’t have to pay on their deductions from paychecks. The Union is mostly toothless and people can’t afford to go on strike here.
Isn’t it funny how they never want to talk about real issues. Like a potential strike. You have very fair concerns. Why would the BOS give themselves a raise, but ask you to take a pay cut. Want to take a run at that, John? So let’s go electric with County vehicles and charging stations, don’t see in your letter if your adding to the grid or building a new grid. You see by going electric you need the grid, which by the way runs on those nasty and terrible fossil fuels that Liberals hate.