The following is a monthly letter written by Mendocino County’s 3rd District Supervisor John Haschak to constituents:
Hot weather and hot issues are here. The Office of Emergency Services has been dealing with the extreme heat and advising people on how to stay safe. Please take care of yourself and others who might be vulnerable to the heat. Check on your elderly and at-risk neighbors. Since not everyone has air conditioning, consider libraries and stores as places to get a break from the heat. Mendoready.org has additional preparedness tips. Watch Duty is an app that is very useful in tracking fires and emergencies in your area.
Brooktrails Special Assessment vote is ongoing. The public hearing will be on July 23 during the Board of Supervisors meeting. This assessment, if approved, will provide maintenance and fuel reduction for the Willits Creek and Firco roads as emergency access routes. This is a pilot program using assessments for a special benefit. Appreciation to the property owners along the emergency access routes, Sherwood Firewise Council, and the Brooktrails Board.
The State Controller’s office conducted an audit of the County’s fiscal operations. The three main findings were: 1. the Board (with me as the lone dissenting vote) consolidated the Auditor/Controller and Treasurer/Tax Collector positions without doing a risk assessment which resulted in loss of staffing and institutional knowledge 2. Payroll did not have sufficient checks and balances (the payroll has been taken into the Executive Office with checks and balances in place) and 3. 14 financial accounts were not in the software system (they are now). More work needs to be done on the fiscal department’s processes and procedures so that everything is consistent and transparent.
There has been controversy about the number of licenses allowable in the cannabis ordinance. To be clear, staff did not usurp Board power but rather read the exact language of the ordinance. It states that a person may obtain two cannabis cultivation business licenses on a parcel. This allows for up to 22,000 sq. ft. Previously, this allowed cultivation and a nursery. County Counsel says that the language allows for two different types of cultivation such as mixed light and outdoor. Only four people have applied in the last two months (while 135 have been denied or withdrawn in 2024 so far). Applying for a second license applies to non-resource land since these applications are under Phase 3 rules. This is all consistent with the CEQA review and the Mitigated Negative Declaration which considered parcels having up to 22,000 sq. ft of cultivation. Many feel that the intent of the ordinance was to limit cultivation to 10,000 sq. ft. Since there are two very different views on this issue, I will be bringing it as an agenda item for the Board to resolve.
There will be a Talk with the Supervisor Thursday, July 11 at 10:00 at Brickhouse Coffee in Willits. I am available by email haschakj@mendocinocounty.gov or phone 707-972-4214.
John
