February 27, 2024

TO: Honorable Board of Supervisors, County of Mendocino
FROM: Don Shanley, Philo, CA 95466

RE: File# 24-0298, Item 4c, Opposition of Relocation VSO from Observatory to Dora location and request that VSO location be returned to Observatory location

My name is Don Shanley and I am a 50+ year resident of Mendocino County and combat wounded infantry Marine Veteran of the Vietnam War. Thank you for the opportunity to once again address your unfortunate decision to move the VSO to Dora St. from the Observatory Ave. location of the past 15+ years.

When I first addressed this Board on January 30, 2024, 49 days have passed and after numerous requests to staff and members of this Board I have received no cost analysis data presented to both the CEO and the BOS prior to the relocation decision. In fact, I was informed there never had been a cost analysis.

Now here we are today after being told by Chair Mo that further discussion could not be on the February 27th Agenda as she needed more time to assemble information. She told me in a meeting February 7th she would get the relocation Agenda Item on the March 26th BOS meeting but then changed that to maybe it will have to wait until sometime in April.

Burying this Agenda Item, 4c, deep in layers of language and attachments (“Budget Deficit Turnaround”), Real Estate Consolidation, “a possible saving of $100k”, better access & “employee safety” (Oh pleeze!) Burying this Agenda Item with no timely dissemination to the Veteran community or County constituency was an AMBUSH! An ambush to add further injury to the Veterans January eviction. An ambush disguised as a unilateral executive decision hoping no one would notice until after the dozing- off Board voted to “approve” this sneaky, deceitful “Deficit Plan” in total. The casualties are our Veterans seeking care and benefits.

I simply don’t understand why the CEO and this Board are so STUCK. They all admit they made a mistake but now want to stand on the decision with flimsy non sequiturs, still with no understanding or empathy for the Veterans. Zero understanding that the Observatory office-home is the critical tool for the success of Veteran Services. No amount of square footage, wall posters, hanging plants, mu tea & macramé are going to transform the spiritless dead zone of the halls of Behavioral Health.

The Veterans of Mendocino County have paid their dues. They should not suffer the consequences of County fiscal malfeasance. Move the VSO back to Observatory and AQ to Dora St. End this senseless war on Veterans. Act like caring adults not children caught with their hands in the cookie jar. As my night patrol point man Corporal Howling Longcrane would whisper, “I smell something funny Lieutenant, something’s not right, & it smells…”

February 27, 2024

Mendocino County Board of Supervisors
501 Low Gap Road, Room 1070
Ukiah, CA 95482

County’s Budget Deficit Turnaround Plan and Misguided Relocation of the Veterans Service Office (VSO) in Ukiah

Dear Members of the Board:

Since January 9th, the BOS has been unable to provide a cost analysis for the abrupt relocation of the VSO from Observatory to S. Dora. At the February 6th Board meeting, Mo Mulheren promised that the Board would finally bring forward an agenda item on the relocation issue but said that the February 27th Board meeting was too soon.

On February 7th, Mo agreed to place the VSO relocation on the March 26th agenda because she needed more time to gather information and provide the public and her colleagues on the Board with an accurate history and options to move forward. On February 15th she wrote that “she was still working on gathering information and that date (March 26th) may be moved to April as there are other agenda items that need to be prioritized.”

Without notice from Mo or another Supervisor, the REGULAR CALENDAR for today’s agenda includes 4c) Recommended Action to: Approve presentation of the Budget Deficit Plan that includes on page 3: Expense Management, Real Estate/Consolidations, Item 5. Move Veterans Services from Observatory Ave Office to Public Health on South Dora for improved access and employee safety. This is a false justification lacking any credibility! The Executive Office also claims, “Potential savings of over $100K per year in realignment and/or general fund.” Also listed, Item 9. “Relocate Air Quality Management District to building on Observatory thereby reducing county facility footprint and earn rental income.”

The Board has failed to explain and submit a cost analysis and much less justify the VSO abrupt relocation from Observatory to S. Dora and Air Quality to Observatory. We ask the Board to rescind Items 5 and 9 from Real Estate/Consolidations as stated above.

Our veterans have given enough! Don’t punish them for the County’s chronic mismanagement of revenue and expenses as identified by the County’s outside auditor. Present a responsible budget plan to return the VSO to their home on Observatory and relocate Air Quality to another County facility next month.

Thank you.

Laura Quatrochi
Philo, CA 95466

Dear Mendocino County Board of Supervisors,
I am writing to express my opposition to the “Budget Deficit Turnaround Plan” as it blurs the lines between reality and fiction. The fiction I am speaking of is Item #5 & #9 of the Plan under “Real Estate/Consolidations” in which the “proposed” relocation of Veterans Services from their “current” location on Observatory Avenue to the Public/Behavioral Health Building on Dora Street, and the move of AQM into that Observatory Building, as is outlined in the Budget Deficit Turnaround Plan.
In case you do not remember, let me remind each of you of this Board’s, (and ultimately your individual), Failure to “maintain a responsive and responsible government that enhances the quality of life of the people of Mendocino County” as you allowed the Veteran’s Service Office to be traumatically evicted from its almost 15+ Year location, on Observatory Avenue to the Mendocino County Public Health building on or about 17 January 2024. All to “potentially” save approximately $100,000.00 per year in realignment and/or general funds.

The written recommendation of this plan is to “Approve the presented strategies” as they “reflect approximately $10M in savings and increased revenue”.
First: Do you mean to tell the Veterans, who make up more than 5% of Mendocino County’s population, that you evicted their Veteran Service Office on Observatory for less than 1% of this Budget Deficit Plan?
Second: How can this Board legally and ethically implement this Budget Deficit Turnaround Plan when it has proposed strategies already implemented over a month ago without Public Consent and Knowledge?
I tried to keep my feelings out of this, but it feels more like the executive office is trying to clean up last month’s mess. Let me be clear, Veterans did not “give up” the VSO on Observatory. Your cowardice administration took it, and you each failed to have the personal courage to execute “the powers of the office honestly and constructively, communicating and promoting the needs of the community to the County and the needs of the County to the community.”
To say that Veterans “are not happing with giving up the house,” as Dr. Jenine Miller, the Behavioral/Public Health Director, stated on January 9th, 2024, is an insult to Veterans, and it only goes to show how disconnected this Board and the County’s Administration from its Veteran Population. It does not matter which branch of service a Veteran served in; they each have a creed that emphasizes the commitment to perseverance, mutual support, and unwavering dedication that are central to military service.
This moral guide is so firmly engrained that they will never accept defeat. They will never quit. They will never leave a fallen comrade. This is why Veterans will continue attending these Board meetings until the Board and the County Administration return the VSO space that isn’t in the integrated Public & Behavioral Health Building.
Yes I said INTEGRATED, #4 of the Real Estate/Consolidation is “Combine Public Health and Behavioral Health departments.” The Public Health and Behavioral Health departments are slated for integration, undoubtedly leading to a blurring of lines between the two. As Dr. Jenine Miller, the Behavioral/Public Health Director, stated on January 9th, 2024, “I want to make it clear that that is the Public Health Side of the Building.” When referencing the side of the Dora Street building, the VSO was ultimately moved into.
I am here to say that it was a bold-faced lie. I have sat and watched as the “clients” from the “Behavioral Health” side traverse the “Veterans Only” hall at the VSO’s new location. I have watched people come in for testing with Public Health, unaware that this is supposed to be the Veteran’s Service Office. I have watched lost Veterans end up on the other side of the building simply because there is no discernable exterior sign or banner indicating this is where the VSO entrance is. This raises questions about how the county plans to distinguish between public health and behavioral health within the same building.
What is more, the question of how the County expects to give Veterans Privacy. I ask this because the statement made by Dr. Jenine Miller on January 9th, 2024 that the VSO area is private is another lie. I know this because I had the privilege of staying past 4:30 in the afternoon one day, and guess what I realized. Every employee with an office with windows that are part of the “Beautiful Courtyard”, which is supposed to be “only for Veterans”, can see into the hall and reception area that houses the VSO.
We, as Veterans, deserve a dedicated space where we can access services without the potential confusion or stigma that might arise from being housed within a behavioral health facility, let alone any other non-VA service. We have served our country and deserve to be treated with the utmost respect and consideration. There is no excuse for the VSO and Veterans to be neglected in such a manner. Return our space and give us the second VSR that has been in the budget for years, but this Administration keeps failing to hire!
I urge you to reconsider this aspect of the Budget Deficit Turnaround Plan and explore other avenues for cost savings that do not involve displacing our veterans.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,

Kennedy A. Cooper
SGT, USA
Retired