DA: Mendocino County Auditor Suspended Without Pay & Criminally Charged Along with Former Payroll Manager for Misappropriated Funds
AENN
New California State Mendocino County representatives served “Declarations of Truth” on 5 County Supervisors for “Failure to Supervise” in April 2023.
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
October 17, 2023, 6:10PM
Mendocino County’s auditor-controller was suspended without pay Tuesday after she and a former payroll manager made their first court appearances on allegations they misappropriated $68,106 in public funds beginning in 2019.
Chamise Cameron Cubbison and Paula June Kennedy appeared Tuesday afternoon in Mendocino County Superior Court in Ukiah before Judge Victoria Shanahan.
About 90 minutes later, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors, in a unanimous 5-0 vote, suspended Cubbison without pay and named an acting auditor, pending the outcome of her felony case.
“And this could go on for months?” Supervisor John Haschak asked county staff before being told yes.
Kennedy, who is known as ‘PJ,’ lives near Elk on the Mendocino Coast. She too could not be reached for comment on the criminal accusation she now faces.
Kennedy was placed on administrative leave by Cubbison after the pay dispute unfolded, and she eventually was terminated a year later. Kennedy’s pay pact for extra work was originally reached with retiring Weer during the Covid pandemic.
Attorney Andrian said the facts will show that Kennedy performed the work she was paid for no matter the method.
“The county got the benefit, employees were paid, and more importantly, not one dime went into the pocket of Chamise. There is no criminal conduct on her part here,” said Andrian.
Andrian for now declined to weigh in on how an ongoing dispute between the DA and Auditor’s Office under Weer, one that escalated when the Board of Supervisors forced consolidation of the Auditor/Controller and Treasurer/Tax Collector offices, might factor in the DA’s action. Eyster backed the controversial consolidation and launched his criminal investigation after County Supervisors learned of the extra pay to Kennedy.
Cubbison supporters contend that the DA is waging a vendetta against her because she, and the Auditor before her, have questioned staff travel expenses and his use of asset forfeiture funds from drug-related cases.
Their dispute blew up publicly in September 2021 when retiring Auditor Weer recommended that the Board of Supervisors appoint Cubbison, his top assistant, to fill the 16 months left in his term.
Eyster, in an unprecedented move, appeared at a board meeting where Cubbison’s appointment was to be considered and voiced strident opposition.
The DA publicly argued Cubbison was not the “right person” to fill the Auditor’s position. At that meeting, he distributed two 14-page documents, mostly copies of internal emails that outlined technical aspects of expense reimbursements that Eyster claimed showed the Auditor was wrong and that he was right regarding spending practices.
Cubbison at that stormy session stood her ground, declaring that “the role in the auditor-controller’s office is not always popular.” She also said she would not “be intimidated” into authorizing what she felt were improper payments.
Three months later, with Eyster’s encouragement but over the opposition Cubbison and other experienced county officials, the Board of Supervisors voted in late December 2021 to consolidate the formerly independent elected offices of Auditor-Controller and Treasurer-Tax Collector, eliminating one elected county position. Cubbison subsequently ran for election and was elected to lead the combined offices.
Some board members, urged on by Eyster, favor creating a new County Department of Finance to oversee the functions of the combined county offices.
Since the board’s forced consolidation, the combined offices have struggled with staff shortages, an exodus of experienced employees, and new computer systems that have delayed accurate financial reporting and aggravated uncertainty about the county’s true finances.
Chamise Cameron Cubbison was suspended from her position about 90 minutes after her first court appearance. She is to return to court Oct. 31.| 7
Cubbison and Kennedy have each been charged with one count of felony misappropriation of public funds. If convicted as charged, they could be sentenced to as much as four years in prison.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Mendocino County Superior Court, money was taken between Oct. 1, 2019 and Aug. 31, 2022. It stated that Cubbison, an elected official, was Kennedy’s supervisor.
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MENDOCINO COUNTY’S AUDITOR-CONTROLLER SUSPENDED WITHOUT PAY DUE TO CRIMINAL CHARGES
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Both defendants were released on their own recognizance following Tuesday’s brief hearing. They’re scheduled to return to court Oct. 31 when they will enter pleas of guilty or not guilty.
