The following is a letter-to-the-editor, submitted by Medie Parrott of Ukiah, a nurse practitioner, published here as opinion. The opinions expressed in this letter do not necessarily reflect the views of The Mendocino Voice. If you would like to submit a letter-to-the-editor feel free to write to info@mendovoice.com.
In general, no news is good news when it comes to public health, like the water from our taps that we don’t really think about much unless it tastes funny or stops running. As with a big ship or any other large system, there has been enough momentum built up that we have not yet felt the reverberations of the firing of the Mendocino County Public Health Director, Barbara Howe, two weeks ago, nor the subsequent resignation of the County Health Office, Dr. Gary Pace, in solidarity with her. There was no reason given for her termination, and no replacement director waiting in the wings to replace Barbara after this hasty and arbitrary decision was made. In fact, there is no one there at all. Other staff, who themselves are already taxed from their own burgeoning workload in a perpetually understaffed department, are expected to “fill in.” This decapitation is only the latest morale hit to staff who have not had a competent public health leader for over a decade before Barbara. And the manner in which she was terminated, giving her fifteen minutes to gather her belongings, was designed to stifle disagreement and suppress diversity of opinion among the ranks.
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