District Attorney David Eyster is among the top county leaders to be deposed in Auditor Chamise Cubbison’s pending civil lawsuit against the Mendocino Board of Supervisors.
Cubbison’s team of attorneys said the depositions of Eyster, county CEO Darcie Antle, and former County Counsel Christian Curtis, among others, will be noticed soon. Also on the list are Deputy CEO Sarah Pierce, who functioned as county Auditor for the 17 months that Cubbison faced a felony criminal charge, Human Resource Director Cheri Johnson, and “potentially other county employees.”
“I expect these to be set in late April or early May,” said Therese Cannata, a noted San Francisco labor lawyer representing Cubbison in her civil case against the county.
Hopes of an early settlement were dashed in late March, based on a joint status report that Cannata and outside county attorney Morin Jacobs made to Superior Court Judge Ann Moorman this week.
“The parties met and conferred on March 20 and again on March 27 but were not able to reach resolution on any of the outstanding issues,” according to a joint filing signed by Jacob and Cannata.
Moorman on Friday agreed to the attorneys’ mutual request that she delay scheduling oral arguments on Cubbison’s formal bid for reinstatement and at least $250,000 in back pay and benefits until June 9. (Cubbison immediately returned to work after Moorman cleared her of any criminal wrongdoing.)
Attorneys Cannata and Jacob agreed the delay will allow their law firms to “continue to work to address any outstanding issues before oral arguments on the writ petition are scheduled.”
County Supervisors have huddled behind closed doors multiple times with attorneys of the law firm of Libert Cassidy Whitmore of San Francisco to discuss the pending litigation. Clearing criminal charges against Cubbison has increased her chances of winning substantial awards for damage to her professional and personal reputation and county supervisors’ denial of due process. For days after Eyster charged Cubbison with a felony, the board suspended her without pay or benefits on Oct. 17. Two weeks later, supervisors finally granted her a public hearing.
The litigation delays are costly for the county, which has already spent close to $200,000 on legal fees for civil and criminal cases, and Cubbison, who has racked up debts to defend herself of more than $200,000. In addition, Cubbison’s co-defendant, Paula June Kennedy, also freed of criminal charges by the court, was also provided a public defender at county expense because she could not afford private counsel.
The costs are significant compared to the $68,000 in extra pay that DA Eyster accused Kennedy and Cubbison of misappropriating over three years during the COVID pandemic. Eyster, who had battled with Cubbison over his office spending, accused the two veteran county employees of felony misappropriation of public funds. The controversial case never made it to trial.
Besides Eyster, Cubbison lawyers plan to depose CEO Antle about her knowledge of a years-long pay struggle Kennedy had been engaged in with county administrators and when she learned of the alleged illegal Kennedy payments.
Antle’s testimony during the Cubbison preliminary hearing is being questioned, considering a sworn deposition given in March by former county CEO Carmel Angelo.
In what Cubbison attorneys described as a “stunning revelation” that suggests a cover-up, Angelo said Antle, Eyster, and other top county administrators learned months earlier about the disputed extra pay than what was claimed in court testimony and public statements.
Angelo also linked the County Counsel, Christian Curtis, to the circle of officials aware of what led to a criminal case laced with backroom politics.
County Supervisors in 2021 sought a forced merger of the county’s two independent financial offices—Auditor/Controller and Treasurer/Tax Collector—in hopes of creating a new Department of Finance, eliminating two voter-elected department heads, and eventually aligning control over county finances more closely with the Board of Supervisors and the CEO.
Eyster, who had publicly condemned Cubbison and blocked her appointment in 2021 as interim Auditor until she was elected, became engaged behind the scenes with board members and, among others, Antle. On a private email account, Eyster wrote a three-page plan outlining the steps board members could take and sent it to former county Supervisor Glenn McGourty. Angelo, then still CEO, distributed it to other administrators.
After the revelations from the Angelo depositions, Cubbison’s attorneys accused Antle of being “knee-deep in the cover-up of an unlawful scheme to oust Ms. Cubbison from public office.”
Eyster on Friday continued his practice of not responding to requests for comments on his attempt to felony prosecute Cubbison, or his planned deposition.
Bring the Mountain of right down on those who would vilify the innocent for personal gain.
This site is a gem for retro lovers! Hypacal
None of the people mentioned will pay a dime. It falls on the taxpayers. Therefore no hurry to settle this mess. Just lawyer bills continuing to spiral.
With their complete loss of common sense and integrity, hopefully, their next job will be cleaning the Sonoma County streets, and we can cut our losses. Clearly, they are not representing the voters of Mendocino County nor should they be referred to as leaders. The descriptor, egocentric, does seem to fit their actions to date, and one thing for sure, they consider themselves invulnerable. Ann Moorman will cut to the chase.
No big secret the county is trying to liquidate and consolidate properties as much as possible. Most likely there’s going to be a lot of big payouts due. This may pave the way for other lawsuits that are pending against County HR and management to move forward in a positive way as well.
I hope Cubbison files another suit names the board of supervisors individually especially Ted Williams and Glenn Mcgourty, Antle, Johnson, detective Porter, Matt, Kendall and the sheriff’s department, Christian Curtis and county counsel, David Eyster, Mendocino County district attorney’s office amongst others. Go get em!
Most upper management staff at Mendocino County no joke are all about themselves. They’ve kiss asked and manipulated their way to the top. Once they get there they bully, deny, lie do anything they can to maintain power and control while the line staff and taxpayers are abused. They hire firms to tell them how to avoid litigation when they fire whistle blowers. It’s about time all of this stuff floats to the top of the tallow bucket. Long overdue. Hopefully McGuire is watching this as well as he prepares to come in for his audits. Integrity and culpability go hand in hand. Good luck Chemise. Hopefully they don’t drag it out too long. All of you at the top as far as Mendocino County government have some explaining to do shame on you all.
With their complete loss of common sense and integrity, hopefully, their next job will be cleaning the Sonoma County streets, and we can cut our losses. Clearly, they are not representing the voters of Mendocino County nor should they be referred to as leaders. The descriptor, egocentric, does seem to fit their actions to date, and one thing for sure, they consider themselves invulnerable. Ann Moorman will cut to the chase.
GIT! GIT! GIT! them “good ol’ boys & gals” Chammise!!!
The county employees and elected officials who are found guilty of these crimes need to be held accountable! Fired, then they should pay out of their pockets instead of the taxpayers having to pay for their crimes.
When Shyster lies on the stand (and we know he will) will he be charged with perjury?
Now, therein lies the real question.
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