The following is a column submitted by Mendocino County 3rd District Supervisor John Haschak. The opinions expressed in this column are not those expressed by The Mendocino Voice.
I announced that I am not running for re-election in 2026 at the last Board of Supervisors meeting in December. I want to thank you all for the many supportive, appreciative comments and best wishes. There are still twelve months left in this term so there’s a lot of work to do.
With the recent heavy rains, there have been downed trees on power lines, dangerous road conditions, power outages, flooding, closed highways and multiple landslides. Please be careful and report potential hazards to PG&E, CalTrans, Mendocino County Dept. of Transportation or Office of Emergency Services. If you have any questions, please contact me.
The State Auditor issued its report with findings and recommendations. There are issues to clean up. One was the consolidation of the Auditor/Controller and Treasurer/Tax Collector positions. We have already repealed that flawed plan. The audit noted issues with contracting procedures, overdue tax lien sales, asset forfeiture monies, and cleaning up voter rolls to list some of the findings and recommendations. The board agreed with these recommendations. Some are policies and procedures that the board must address and others are under the purview of other elected officials. One way or another, the findings must be resolved. There will be a discussion about the audit at the board workshop on Jan. 13-14.
The second in a series of workshops pertaining to the effects of HR 1 and elimination of tax credits for the Affordable Care Act will be held on Jan. 14 in the afternoon. Health care, social services, and public health experts will talk about the impacts of pending federal cuts to safety net programs and the loss of affordable health insurance.
There will be a Talk with the Supervisor on Thursday, Jan. 15, from 10-11 a.m. at Brickhouse Coffee, 3 S. Main St., Willits. You can always contact me at haschakj@mendocinocounty.gov or call 707-972-4214.