MENDOCINO CO., 10/16/26 — Sara Pierce has run Mendocino County government as interim chief executive since July. On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors votes on whether to make the job hers for three years, at $275,000 a year, according to the meeting agenda.
Salary plus benefits would come to about $481,000 a year, the agenda said. The contract would run from Oct. 20, 2026, through Oct. 20, 2029, according to the agreement attached to the item.
Board chair Bernie Norvell and the Human Resources Department are listed as its sponsors. It needs a simple majority.
Pierce was the county’s assistant chief executive officer when the board named her interim chief on June 23, according to the board’s resolution. The vote was 4-1, with Supervisor Maureen Mulheren voting no, according to the county’s meeting record. The interim term began July 13. It was set to run six months, or until the board hired a permanent chief.
As interim chief, Pierce has been paid $202,716.80 a year, or $344,618 with benefits, according to the June 23 action. The new contract would raise her base pay by about $72,000, around 36%.
The board set the pay range for the permanent job on Sept. 1: $250,000 to $300,000 a year. At the top of that range, staff estimated salary and benefits at $510,000. That vote was 3-2, with Supervisors Ted Williams and John Haschak voting no, according to the county’s meeting record.
The $275,000 in Pierce’s contract lands in the middle of that range.
The county posted the job on May 22. The posting listed the closing date as “Continuous” and the salary as “DOE/DOQ,” depending on experience or qualifications.
The board met behind closed doors on the chief executive appointment on Oct. 7, according to that day’s agenda.
Before the October 2027 and October 2028 raises, the board must set written performance goals and review Pierce’s performance against them. If the board finds she met them or made satisfactory progress, she gets a cost-of-living raise of at least 2%. The board would review her every October.
Up to another 1% depends on revenue from certain county property, hotel room, franchise and sales taxes. If that revenue grows 3% to 4% in the first half of the fiscal year before a raise, compared with the same months a year earlier, she gets another 0.5%. If it grows 4% or more, she gets the full 1%. The raise tops out at 3%.
She would also get a $400 monthly car allowance, mileage for travel outside the county, and the benefits the county gives its other employees not represented by a union.
The job is at will. She has no right to due process before or after the county ends it, the agreement says.
Under the county code attached to the item, four of the five supervisors can remove the chief executive without notice. Otherwise, she is entitled to three months’ notice, or a simple majority can relieve her of her duties right away and put her on three months’ paid leave.
If the board and Pierce agree to part ways without cause, she would get three months’ base salary as severance, paid in a lump sum. Fired for cause, such as a felony conviction or misuse of public funds, she gets none.
The Board of Supervisors meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20, in the board chambers, Room 1070, 501 Low Gap Road, Ukiah. The meeting can also be joined on Zoom.