MENDOCINO CO., 9/25/25 — The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday opposed a resolution expressing support of Proposition 50, a redistricting ballot measure being voted on by Californians in November.
Prop. 50 is a measure put on the ballot by Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democrats in the state Legislature in response to President Donald Trump’s support for redrawing congressional maps in Texas. The Texas redistricting was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott and redrew five congressional districts to favor Republicans.
Prop. 50, which will be voted on by Californians on Nov. 4, would redraw congressional districts in the state to offset the Republican-leaning gerrymandering led by Trump and the GOP in Texas.
At Tuesday’s meeting, there was a consensus among the Board of Supervisors, excluding Supervisor John Haschak who authored the resolution, that supporting Prop. 50 would be an inappropriate action for a local government agency focused on county issues and topics.
“I just don’t think that it’s in this board’s purview to get into the circus of what the Republicans and the Democrats are doing at the national level,” said vice chair Bernie Norvell. “Everybody gets a say in this, and it’s at the ballot box. I hope we don’t get too far into the weeds about debating whether Prop. 50 is a good thing or a bad thing.”
Sheriff Matt Kendall spoke during public comment about how it is not in the board’s best interest to delve into political divisiveness.
“This is coming forward because of problems we are seeing in Sacramento and D.C.,” Kendall said. “I don’t agree with this in the least and it removes local control. There are people on both sides of this, and it is not our issue in Mendocino County.”
Haschak, who still spoke of his support for Prop. 50 despite the other supervisors’ disagreement with the resolution, said at the end of the discussion that he believes it is a crucial time to stand against the actions of the federal government.
“I will not bring a motion, but I do think this is a critical issue and it is a critical time in our country. I just hope we are looking at the big picture,” Haschak said.
The next Board of Supervisors meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Oct. 7 in the board chambers at 501 Low Gap Road, Ukiah. Meetings can also be watched virtually via Zoom. More information, including agendas, is available at this website.
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I have to wonder how many of the board of supervisors and the people complaining about it as being wrong are Republicans and Trump supporters. I certainly do agree that gerrymandering is wrong no matter who does it but right now should the people of California understand why this is on the ballot and support it, the result will be balancing the results of red state gerrymandering at the urging of our current President rather than actually putting the Democrats ahead. If I am counting right that will be 12 and 12. The one difference in our great state is here the voters get the say on whether it happens as opposed to the legislatures in the states already passing additional gerrymandering.
How do we reopen our hospital if the Medicaid cuts closes it?
It is important to note the Prop 50 is a *temporary* measure, written as a response to election rigging and to stop the Trump power grab. Unlike Texas, California’s Prop 50 will be decided by the state’s voters, and would not be a permanent redistricting. I’m disappointed that our Supervisors (other than Haschak) and our current Sheriff are too near sighted to see the local impact of not supporting this important proposition.
I find it incredibly disheartening to read that the current supervisors, with the exception of John Haschak, feel compelled to publicly not support our California Governor, who is merely trying to help our state and our counties.
At a time when we need less divisiveness, our Governor decides to take on a national issue by manipulating our voting mechanism. The last time we voted our support, we delegated the responsibility to an impartial, fiduciary third-party. Why wouldn’t it be that way? In our state, it’s unethical to modify voter outcomes to achieve a particular goal. Texas laws are not the same as California’s. They are not locked into voter district changes at census time like California. The system we have in our state uses the census to offer population statistics and make sure boundaries make sense. It’s not perfect, but it’s what we have always relied on. Texas is different. That difference shouldn’t be our justification to downgrade ourselves and the integrity we’ve worked hard at. The end does not justify the means. We shouldn’t support our Governor fighting a national battle when his job is to manage the state. Newsom has aspirations for the white house. Is he truly looking out for the best interests of Californians? In this case, I’m not so sure.
We have not always relied on the current redistricting system and prior to the change put into place by California voters in 2008 we had some pretty ugly districts drawn up. And now we will have a voice in the temporary change to respond to the actions taken by the heavily gerrymandered Texas legislature. Passing Prop 50 will create a response to the corrupt power grab demanded by the president and will sunset after the 2030 Census, at the direction of you and me, the voters. Did you know Texas has 2 million more registered Democrats than Republicans? Look at the damage their gerrymandering has done to democracy there, where Republican control has run amuck.
This measure is an appropriate response to a guy who’d like to see California destroyed. Please vote yes on Prop 50 and remember the feckless local politicians who can’t seem to do much right for Mendocino when they ask for your vote again.
I’m sorry to learn that most of our elected officials in Mendocino County are not interested in our welfare, but I’ll remember.
If Trump gets more Republicans into elected offices, this county will be really hurting financial more than it is now. There are a lot of folks in this county who live paycheck to paycheck, food cost is out of sight, housing cost are high as is heating & cooling. People are not buying like in the past; this is evident by stores closing. The Board needs to think about the people they represent. Not standing up is a strong message!!!