UKIAH, CA., 5/22/26 — The board of Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op spoke publicly for the first time this week, more than three weeks after most of the store’s staff walked off the job and the board fired Robert Drake, its new general manager.
In a written statement to the Mendocino Voice, the board said it shares “a deep and genuine commitment to our community” and pledged to “move this organization forward.” It said it could not comment further, citing California personnel law.
The store anchors downtown Ukiah at Gobbi and South State streets.. Its 6,371 member-owners run a cooperative grocery in a county that takes its food seriously. Local farmers, ranchers, and home cooks rely on the store, and many of them help stock its shelves. The co-op is a community institution.
Board secretary Christine Rodrigues sent the statement on behalf of the board of directors. It reads in full:
The members of this board share a deep and genuine commitment to our community and to preserving our cooperative grocery store as a vital part of it. We are here only because we believe in what this co-op represents: the importance of independent business, the value of local agriculture, and the power of a community choosing to invest in itself.
We know this has been a difficult period for our organization, our staff, and our community. Unfortunately, we are unable to comment further, as this remains a personnel matter governed by California law.
This board is united in its determination to move this organization forward and create something strong enough to serve this community for decades to come.
In cooperation,
The Board of Directors
Ukiah Natural Foods
In a separate note, Rodrigues said the board’s May meeting “was attended by 14 member-owners, and was productive and respectful.” She said the minutes will be public after the board approves them at its next regular meeting, on June 15.
Fourteen member-owners is about two-tenths of one percent of the co-op’s ownership.
The statement repeats the board’s values. It does not explain how Robert Drake, who is listed on a sex offender registry for a decades-old incident, was hired, what background check the board ran, or what the board has decided to do about replacing Drake or engaging staff since the walkout. It does not say whether a recording or transcript of the May meeting exists.
How we got here
- Lori Rosenberg managed the store for roughly four decades.
- After Rosenberg left, an interim general manager served for a period the board has not described.
- The board hired Robert Drake as general manager. The board has not made the date of his hire public.
- On April 27, more than half the co-op’s staff walked off the job.
- Days later, the board fired Drake.
- On May 8, The Mendocino Voice published its first report on the crisis.
- This week, the board issued its statement through Christine Rodrigues.
- On June 15, the board meets again. The May meeting minutes become public once the board approves them.