Mendocino County CEO’s testimony challenged in Auditor case, raising cover-up allegations

Mendocino County CEO Darcie Antle’s sworn testimony during the Chamise Cubbison felony criminal case is being challenged, casting doubts on exactly when she and other top County officials learned of alleged wrongdoing involving the Auditor and the County’s former payroll manager.

In what Cubbison attorneys describe as a “stunning revelation” that suggests a cover-up, Antle, District Attorney David Eyster, and other top county leaders learned months earlier about disputed extra pay than was claimed in court testimony and public statements. The timing sharply conflicts with the County narrative in the failed felony prosecution of embattled County Auditor Cubbison.

The new disclosures were made in a sworn deposition by former CEO Carmel Angelo last week.

According to a transcript of her interview with lawyers, Angelo stated that Antle told her she learned about the disputed pay issue several months earlier than when the county’s current CEO testified under oath. Antle in court said it was Aug. 31, 2022, when she learned that Paula June Kennedy, responsible for preparing twice monthly payroll for 1,400 County employees, was paying herself extra using a miscellaneous County pay code. (Cubbison was sworn in as Auditor in July of 2022.)

However, Angelo said it was in April or May of 2022 when she learned from Antle about the unauthorized Kennedy pay, which totaled about $68,000 over three years during the Covid pandemic. According to the transcript, Angelo said the Antle statements were made during a private meeting between the two in Angelo’s former office while they were discussing transition-related issues.

“Darcie considered it, you know, a major problem. I don’t recall if she said they were going to the Sheriff or they were going to the District Attorney, but I know she was working with the County Counsel,” Angelo stated.

Angelo’s testimony directly contradicts the narrative laid out by Antle and DA Eyster since the politically laced criminal case began to publicly unfold in October 2023. Superior Court Judge Ann Moorman dismissed the case on Feb. 25 and castigated Antle and other county witnesses for their apparent “willful ignorance.”

Cubbison’s attorneys are now arguing that it was much more than that.

Antle appears to be “knee-deep in the coverup of an unlawful scheme to oust Ms. Cubbison from public office,” according to declarations filed Wednesday in Superior Court by the San Francisco law firm of Cannata, O’Toole & Olson, Cubbison’s civil attorneys.

Angelo’s deposition disclosures are at the center of a new push by Cubbison’s team of attorneys to win an estimated $250,000 in back pay and benefits since her suspension was lifted after 17 months in legal limbo.

Cubbison returned to work on Feb. 26, the day after Judge Moorman dismissed DA Eyster’s quest to criminally prosecute the embattled Auditor. The County Board of Supervisors met behind closed doors last Wednesday to discuss Cubbison’s pending civil lawsuit. If successful, it could expose County taxpayers to substantial damages for denial of due process for Cubbison. Supervisors took no action.

Judge Moorman, also presiding over the pending civil litigation, held a status hearing Friday on new court filings focused on Angelo’s deposition and related issues. The judge acknowledged, without public comment, that she had received and reviewed the latest filings and scheduled another status conference for 11 a.m. on April 4.

Angelo gave her deposition under oath remotely from San Diego, where she is now retired.

Angelo testified that in either April or May of 2022, Antle informed her during a private meeting in the CEO’s office that Sara Pierce, a deputy administrator, had “discovered” the unauthorized payments to Kennedy. After Cubbison was suspended, the County Board of Supervisors named Pierce acting Auditor, a position she held for 17 months.

Angelo recalled Antle telling her she was “investigating the matter with County Counsel and law enforcement at that time.” Angelo officially stepped down as CEO in March 2022 and worked with Antle during a transition. Angelo said Antle had not formally signed her new contract, but she was the interim CEO then.

Cubbison lawyers argue Antle’s account to Angelo differs sharply from what was “repeatedly claimed, in the investigation and under oath, which is that revelation of the Kennedy payments happened on Aug. 31, 2022, in response to a report by Ms. Cubbison about a potential claim against the County by Ms. Kennedy.”

They suggest Antle, if placed under oath again, might have to explain why “she and other County officials did not inform Ms. Cubbison, who was Ms. Kennedy’s supervisor, of this discovery in April/May 2022 or falsely claimed to ‘discover’ it on August 31, 2022.”

During this same period, DA Eyster had his investigators working on the Cubbison case. Eyster offered the embattled Auditor a misdemeanor charge if she voluntarily resigned, but Cubbison chose to fight. A year after the sheriff’s office completed its investigation, Eyster finally filed felony charges of misappropriation of public funds against her and Kennedy in October 2023.

Chris Andrian, the Santa Rosa lawyer who successfully defended Cubbison from criminal prosecution, said he is disturbed by the county’s resistance to bringing closure to the Cubbison case.

Andrian charged that Antle blatantly lied on the witness stand to cover up the fact that she, certain board members, and other County administrators were “hell-bent” on ousting Cubbison and attempting to take control of the County’s two key finance offices, which the Board of Supervisors had forced to merge.

DA Eyster acted beyond his official duties as the County’s chief law enforcement officer and supported the controversial consolidation. The District Attorney quarreled with Cubbison and other auditors over his office expenses for a decade. Finally, Eyster outlined and distributed a consolidation plan on Aug. 30, 2021, by private email to former Supervisor Glenn McGourty and Angelo while she was still CEO. Angelo, in turn, passed the email on to other top county officials.

“It’s wrong. All of it,” said Andrian.

Andrian said Antle should be ousted as CEO for her actions in the events that led to Cubbison’s charging and for her “evasive and questionable” testimony during the DA’s attempts to criminally prosecute the Auditor.

“Antle no longer represents the best interests of the board or the County,” said Andrian.

On Friday, Darcie Antle did not respond to a written request for comments about the contents of her predecessor’s deposition or the questions surrounding her sworn testimony during criminal proceedings.

San Francisco attorneys Morin Jacobs and Madeline Cline (no relation to the county supervisor of the same name) also did not respond to written requests for comment. Their firm, Liebert Cassidy Whitmore, has already billed the county $120,000 for defending county Supervisors, Antle, and other county officials in the civil litigation.

Jacobs, in a response filed Thursday with the Superior Court, argued that the board “immediately lifted” Cubbison’s suspension after the criminal case was dismissed. However, Jacobs said, “In no way, shape, or form, the BOS (Board of Supervisors) was acknowledging any wrongdoing. “

Jacobs called the new Cubbison’s filings “improper.” She contended they are “replete with mischaracterizations, omit key information, discuss witness testimony in a way that is one-sided and argumentative and are drafted in a way to negatively portray the County in the eyes of this court, clearly with the intent to prejudice and bias your honor against the County.”

Cubbison’s civil lawyers, in their briefs, argued that a close examination of available evidence shows “Ms. Antle, (Deputy CEO Sara) Pierce, County Counsel, and the District Attorney, among others, were in communication as early as April or May 2022 about the Kennedy payments.”

“They said nothing to Ms. Cubbison about it,” according to the document.

The lawyers noted that Cubbison was sworn in as head of the newly merged offices in July 2022.

“Ms. Antle then pretended to discover the Kennedy payments on August 21, 2022, and created the false narrative throughout the investigation that Ms. Cubbison was the one covering up.”

Andrian noted that during criminal proceedings, Antle and other county staff testified they didn’t know the “470” code, implying that Cubbison and Kennedy had secretly conspired to use an obscure method to cover miscellaneous expenses.

“In fact, all of them knew. As we learned from documents produced late in the preliminary, they received payroll reports every two weeks documenting the extra pay for Kennedy and her use of the 470-county code. There were no surprises,” said Andrian.

Andrian said depositions like Angelo’s underscore the possibility of a conspiracy among county leaders to target Cubbison and seize control of key county financial functions, especially with the discovery that DA Eyster in the background supported that effort.

Andrian suggested that Cubbison drew the County administration’s ire when she joined other senior county finance officers in publicly opposing the forced consolidation of two independent offices that historically have been overseen by independently elected officials. Former county Treasurer Shari Schapmire and other senior staff quit rather than engage in the consolidation.

“It was a power grab. What happened is wrong,” said Andrian.

The new disclosures expose festering behind-the-scenes tensions since the county lifted Cubbison’s suspension after Judge Moorman freed her and Kennedy from the criminal charges.

Cubbison appeared at last week’s board meeting and gave an update on the status of the Auditor’s Office. The Auditor promised cooperation and asked that she be allowed to freely consult with Pierce, the deputy CEO who oversaw the Auditor’s Office. She returned to the CEO’s office when Cubbison’s suspension was lifted. Board members and Antle did not publicly respond to Cubbison’s request.

However, Cubbison’s lawyers stated in the new filing that CEO Antle, at the end of Cubbison’s first whole week back on the job, informed the Auditor in writing that she was “not permitted to communicate directly with Ms. Pierce.”
Instead, Antle commanded Cubbison to “communicate department head to department head by preparing a list of questions/topics in order of priority and urgency and then give them time to gather information each week.”

Cubbison lawyers struck back.

“As an initial matter, this is irregular, improper, unprofessional, and indicative of Ms. Antle’s continuing animus toward Ms. Cubbison,” according to their new legal brief.

Attorneys argued that Supervisors’ refusal to restore Cubbison’s backpay also is a “slap in Ms. Cubbison’s face. Ms. Cubbison is entitled to her backpay and unpaid benefits to make her whole for the damage she has suffered.”

Therese Cannata, Cubbison’s civil lawyer, told Judge Moorman, “There is a litigation hold letter in place, but the history of this case merits something more specific and subject to the contempt powers of the court.”

Cannata suggested to Moorman that county attorneys seek to delay planned depositions of other potential witnesses besides Antle and Pierce.

“The recently discovered evidence will require the depositions of former County Counsel Christian Curtis and District Attorney David Eyster, among others,” according to her declaration.

Cannata told the judge that Cubbison “wants to get back to work and be done with this litigation.”

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