Search for Mendocino County CEO continues

MENDOCINO CO., 6/26/26 — The Mendocino Board of Supervisors are reaching month five of its search for a new Mendocino County chief executive officer. The recruitment process began soon after the current CEO, Darcie Antle, announced her intention to retire in July. She has been CEO of Mendocino County since 2022.

Antle’s main responsibility is to oversee the county’s budget in an effort to fulfill policy and funding decisions made by the Board of Supervisors. In her January retirement announcement, she listed her accomplishments in this role, including securing funding for the behavioral health wing at the Mendocino County Jail, developing a grants division, and updating the county’s financial system.

Her term was also marked with management challenges, such as navigating the county through COVID and undergoing several financial audits. The audits found that Mendocino County had persistent budget deficits and insufficient spending oversight.

Antle acknowledged these audits in her speech, noting that they “helped identify areas of improvement.”

She also pointed out that financial transparency is an area of improvement for the county, saying “we got a long way to go on that.”

These financial challenges will be inherited by her replacement.

In February, shortly after Antle announced her decision to retire on January 14, the board posted job listings across multiple online job boards, along with a recruitment brochure. Some of the qualities the brochure calls for in a candidate include experience in public management, exceptional communication skills, and a “sense of humor.” The board also hired an executive recruiter to aid with the search.

So far, they have been unable to find a right fit. After reviewing the top 45 applicants, and interviewing five, the board decided to seek a new round of candidates.

Finding a qualified person who is looking to work for a smaller, more rural county, has proved challenging.

“It’s often a position that people are either stepping down from a busier county or agency, or they’re looking to grow and get experience, so it’s just, in general, I think, a unique position to find,” said District 2 Supervisor Maureen Mulheren.

Mulheren also mentioned that pay has limited the candidate pool.

A Mendocino County CEO stands to make less money than those in similar positions in other California counties. In 2025, Darce Antle’s salary was listed at $266,134. This is less than the neighboring county of Humboldt, whose county administrative officer made $281,759 in 2024. A more dramatic difference can be seen if Mendocino is compared to Alameda County, whose county administrator made $693,433 in 2025.

In May, the second call for CEO commenced, with applications closing June 30.

Supervisor Mulheren ranked transparency and communication skills as top of her list of important characteristics for a candidate. Her emphasis on transparency echoes the issues pointed out by Antle.

“I am interested in making sure that we find somebody that wants to lead the county forward and is a good communicator, transparent, I think that’s really important. And I want to continue looking until we find that person,” Mulheren said.

On Tuesday, the board of supervisors voted for Sara Pierce to serve as interim CEO while its search extends. Pierce had previously served as acting Auditor–Controller/Treasurer–Tax Collector during Chamise Cubbison’s 17-month absence, from October 2023 to February 2025.

Pierce might hold the position for up to six months, as it is not unusual for the executive hiring process to stretch on for a large chunk of the year. According to Korn Ferry, a major California consulting firm, the search for a CEO at a private corporation commonly takes four to six months. On top of this, the government tends to be slower to hire than the private sector, meaning Mendocino County might not get a new CEO until the end of 2026.