The following is a column submitted by Mendocino County 3rd District Supervisor John Haschak. The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the Mendocino Voice.
The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a balanced budget. The difficult part will be implementing the budget plans. The strategic hiring freeze will delay response times, limit services, and reduce outreach. Six million dollars of one-time-only money will be used for one-time-only projects such as microwave public safety radio communications and the last payment on the pension obligation bonds.
The federal budget bill passed. It will have serious implications for health care in our county. The analysis from the California State Association of Counties states that cuts to Medicaid (MediCal is California’s version of Medicaid) will affect the county’s overall budget, impact hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and federally qualified health centers while vulnerable populations will be most affected. Mendocino County has 47% of its residents on Medical, and these cuts will shift costs to our county and negatively affect health care providers.
I am working with staff to do a workshop on how healthcare providers see the future of healthcare in our county.
SNAP (aka CalFresh) cuts will shift a portion of SNAP benefit costs to states and counties. Half of California recipients are children. These cuts will put increased stress on already overwhelmed food banks. The cost shifts will be unfunded mandates for the state as well as our county. Our local farmers markets rely on the CalFresh matching funds programs.
There was a proposal in the U.S. Senate to sell off public lands. This proposal was stripped from the budget bill but will probably be brought back soon. In Mendocino County, Cow Mountain and Mendocino National Forest were part of this ill-conceived plan. These lands provide recreation, economic development and environmental benefits in our backyard.
When the board voted 4-1 (with me as the dissenting vote) to approve the Master Tax Sharing Agreement with the cities of Mendocino County, it was said at the time that it would be a big hit on the county’s budget. Since then, the City of Ukiah has been pursuing the annexation of large parts mostly north, south, and east of the city limits. The board again discussed the agreement and proposal on June 24, considering the pros and cons of this annexation. Mostly the pros are for the City of Ukiah, and the cons are for the county. The public was overwhelmingly against the proposal. The board was very skeptical of Ukiah’s plans. Two members of the Ukiah City Council said that they would go back and reconsider the proposal’s size and scope. They need to do that.
This month’s “Talk with Your Supervisor” will be on Tuesday, July 15 at 10 a.m. at Brickhouse Coffee in Willits. As always, you can email haschakj@mendocinocounty.gov or call 707-972-4214.
When our local hospitals close we can all blame our DA and sheriff who grandstanded for Trump for years and now should be made to hold the bag for the GOP destruction of American healthcare. Anyone who supports the administration now should be held accountable for all the bad things happening to our country. That accountability starts at the very top with our “public safety first” elected officials. If healthcare isn’t public safety I for one don’t know what is. Anyone want to ask Eyster and Kendall if they support our hospitals? If they say they do they’re liars. We have two years left at most before Adventist closes up and leaves the county.