UKIAH, CA., 4/24/25 – Mendocino County is offering employees up to $25,000 to voluntarily resign in the wake of budget shortfalls, according to a memo sent to county staff Wednesday.
The memo comes after the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a voluntary separation incentive program, or VSIP, at its regular meeting Tuesday.
The decision comes as the county is trying to address a $2.6 million budget shortfall.
The county is offering qualified employees the chance to express interest in a voluntary resignation program, which will pay employees to quit. Incentive payouts range from $5,000 to $25,000 depending on length of service. Employees with 10 years or more under their belts could be eligible to receive up to $25,000 in cash.
An internal memo sent to Mendocino County employees about the VSIP on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
The county’s human resources department sent a memo to employees, asking those interested in the buyout program to submit a statement of interest by April 30.
Employees that are approved for the program will be given a resignation and release agreement to review by May 7, allowing them to sign or withdraw from the program. Employees that agree to resign will do so between July 10 and Sept. 13, according to the internal memo.
According to the county, the VSIP will allow the county “the opportunity to be better poised to strategically plan future resources, realize financial savings, and avoid involuntary staff reductions.”
In addition to the budget shortfall, the county has struggled over recent years to hire enough employees to fill critical positions in public health, transportation and health and human services.
According to Service Employees International Union 1021, the union that represents county employees, as of 2023 the county had a nearly 70% vacancy rate in mental health clinicians and a 44% vacancy rate in its Department of Transportation.
Maybe don’t build that big county courthouse
To be fair, that’s State money, not the County’s.
Maybe DA Eyster could turn over asset forfeiture money to the county instead of taking his cronies out to the Broiler.
Didn’t the supervisors just give themselves a raise? They said the county was in a good financial situation at that point
The county needs to understand with these actions they are undermining their reputation as a stable employer.
So, what we’re seeing here, is once again, the Supervisors have admitted their own ineptness, by admitting to a $2.6M budget shortfall. A budget that “they” approved. And now… they are asking the County Employees to take the hit for their (Supervisors) faults. (And did I just read that the Supervisors just recently voted a raise for themselves, stating the County was in ‘good financial condition’??) Hmmm… something reeks of extremely poor decision making on the part of the Supervisors.
So a trial by DA targeting a innocent employee was more important? And paying themselves more more money is more important than employees keeping their jobs? And county & city now annexation plans? How much went to firms doing surveys for a few luxury homes & new infrastructure?? And the entire time telling the public that the county was in good financial shape. Where is the accountability for this group? They all pointed fingers at Cubbison whom took on the failed combining of two departments and worked through Covid times. If government just financed basic human and utility needs & safety. Not how things look. But how they work. And not be so detached from reality. There would be no deficit.
DEI has forced the county to hire a bunch of unqualified Mexican workers.
Silly Dave.. Let’s be real here, the county has hired a bunch of unqualified AND CORRUPT “American” workers as well…
I think first order of business is to rescind that pay raise for county supervisors, and allow them first dibs on resigning.
Perfectly stated Warren! Do “they” really think, we the community AND their employee’s are so blind that “we” don’t know what’s really happening? This is so disturbing.
It’s ALL Clown World now, whether it’s the Trump “administration,” the Newsom “administration,” or Mendocino County “leadership.”
A very bad decision by the BOS. I would imagine the great majority of County employees would like to continue their employment with the County. The letter sent to County employees tells them that their employment is in danger and they can protect themselves by resigning and getting a few months of pay in a lump sum or not resign and hope they aren’t laid off. The absolute worst thing for morale of employees. Very disappointed this was a unanimous decision.
Peter Good… a very poor decision on the part of the County Administration, whether it be Supervisors or CAO…. that letter was an out and out Threat to the employs… resign now, or take your chances that you will be terminated. So poorly thought out. But, I’ve been there before, very similar circumstances… bad decisions by the leaders, employees take the punishment. (I retired in Oct. 2003, so it’s been awhile)
Sorry about my Typo…. that word should have been ’employees’ not employs… my bad.
I’d like to “volunteer” Darcie Antle for this program. While Ms. Cubbison is working FOUR different jobs (I think they’re Assessor/Recorder/Auditor/Controller, but I can never get them all at one sitting — imagine DOing all of them!), Ms. Antle has two deputy CEOs, and found time to approve Eyster’s latest nose-thumbing Broiler steakhouse dinner before Ms. Cubbison returned to her wrongly terminated position.
Also, recent depositions showed a “memory conflict,” with Ms. Antle having claimed she hadn’t heard about the payment issue with Ms. Kennedy (the origin of the false accusation), and her mentor and predecessor saying Antle had known and had discussed it with her in a private meeting months earlier. This point was critical to the false claims against Cubbison; since it had happened and was known before Cubbison took over, it clearly wasn’t her fault. And THAT was known because CUBBISON brought it out in the open!!
Hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, and now settlement costs have yet to be accrued.
Cubbison for CEO!! Go back to having two people for those four jobs. The BoS should open an inquiry into Eyster’s outrageous behavior, which smeared/injured everyone it touched.
The bos should negate their raise and possibly reduce their salary. Harder times are coming. The Civil suit by cubbison and the lawyer fees run up by eyster. Howard Egan.
The raise will increase the annual salary of supervisors from $95,302 to $110,715 over the next two years. With benefits, etc. the total is actually around $160,000/yr. and they pretty much work part time. Right after they approved their own raises, they took the ENTIRE MONTH OF AUGUST OFF….They don’t give a sh*t about the employees at ALL.
What do we expect. You have family annihilator Gonzalas and local racketeering extortionist Allman on the board (and now mayor). These people work for themselves, who needs DOGE when you have Mendocino county officials to break everything.