This comment is not about any one person or one situation — it’s about the condition of the public system itself and the experience shared by residents across Mendocino County.
We all understand that this county is enormous. It’s rural. It’s under-resourced. It’s challenging to manage. None of that is in dispute.
But the difficulty of governing a large rural county does not excuse the difficulty ordinary people face when they try to participate in it.
Residents who have been here 20, 30, even 40 years consistently raise valid concerns about safety, mapping, land use, hydrology, emergency access, and basic transparency — and those concerns go unanswered. Not because the issues lack merit, but because the structure is overwhelmed and the public process has drifted away from the people it is supposed to serve.
One example is meeting design.
Holding major public meetings at 9 A.M. on weekdays effectively excludes most working residents. In a county this large, it is not realistic to expect people to take time off work, travel long distances, and comment on decisions that affect their lives.
Even for those who can attend, we are handed what amounts to ‘paperwork participation’ — 1,500-page agenda packets with thousands of links and hundreds of pages of attachments that no reasonable resident can digest before the meeting.
That is not meaningful participation.
That is procedural compliance without public inclusion.
This county is simply too big and too complex for five people — supported by an overstretched staff — to manage without modernizing the way the public is involved. The current structure does not scale with our geography or the demands placed on local government.
And most importantly:
We need a public system that includes rather than excludes.
Not an authoritative structure that increasingly shuts out the very residents it is meant to serve — all while trying to keep up with unrealistic, blanket statewide policies that do not reflect the rural realities of Mendocino County.
The public process belongs to the public. That means meeting times people can attend, documents people can understand, communication people can rely on, and a system that welcomes participation instead of quietly moving forward without it.
We are not asking for special treatment.
We are asking for fair treatment, equal access, and a public process that matches the scale and reality of this county.
Mendocino deserves a system built for its people — and the people are standing up because they deserve to be included.
-Firefighters retired
-Farmers sold or aged out
-Longtime land stewards passed away
-Young families moved away
-Rural expertise faded under economic pressure
-People with deep understanding of the land left Mendocino
This comment is not about any one individual — it’s about the future of Mendocino County and the role the public must play in shaping it.
We all understand that Mendocino is enormous, rural, and uniquely challenging to manage. That’s not criticism — that’s reality.
But those realities make public participation even more important, not less.
The people who live here hold decades of experience, generational knowledge, and lived understanding of the land. That wisdom should be treated as an asset — not something that gets left outside the room.
And it’s important to note that we have lost a large portion of that generational knowledge in the past five years.
People who understood this land deeply — ranchers, farmers, volunteer firefighters, longtime stewards of rural property — have retired, moved away, or passed on. The county cannot afford to lose the remaining experience by shutting out the very people who carry it.
Mendocino needs its public to be heard.
This County cannot rely on systems designed for urban regions or assume that one-size-fits-all state policies will work here.
If Sacramento policies don’t fit rural realities, then we need stronger rural representation — not silence.
And if meeting times, communication methods, or public processes prevent rural residents from participating, then the system must evolve.
Public meetings at 9 A.M. on weekdays do not reflect the lives of working residents spread across 3,800 square miles.
Public engagement cannot be something people must sacrifice their livelihoods to achieve.
I’m not criticizing the Board; I’m urging us all to recognize the scale of what this County must manage — and the value of involving the people who know this land best.
My heart is here. It always will be.
And I speak today not to attack, but to help illuminate a better path forward — one where Mendocino’s future is shaped by partnership between leadership and the people who call this place home.
Mendocino deserves a system built around its people — rural people, working people, longtime residents — and the wisdom they carry.
Board of Supervisors (BOS) Meetings: September 13 to December 13, 2025
Based on official records from the Mendocino County Legistar calendar system, the following summarizes BOS meetings during the specified period. All regular meetings are typically scheduled for Tuesdays at 9:00 AM unless otherwise noted. Status is determined by availability of minutes, videos, or explicit cancellation notices.
Summary Statistics
Number of meetings held at 9:00 AM: 6 (all regular meetings, no cancellations among them).
Number of meetings canceled: 3 (none of these were at 9:00 AM; reasons not specified in sources, but cancellations are occasional for scheduling conflicts or lack of quorum).
Total meetings scheduled: 10 (7 held, 3 canceled).
Meetings contain 1000s of pages and 100s of links with numerous pages - Thank you for allowing me to participate - Kylle St.Pierre
This comment is not about any one person or one situation — it’s about the condition of the public system itself and the experience shared by residents across Mendocino County.
We all understand that this county is enormous. It’s rural. It’s under-resourced. It’s challenging to manage. None of that is in dispute.
But the difficulty of governing a large rural county does not excuse the difficulty ordinary people face when they try to participate in it.
Residents who have been here 20, 30, even 40 years consistently raise valid concerns about safety, mapping, land use, hydrology, emergency access, and basic transparency — and those concerns go unanswered. Not because the issues lack merit, but because the structure is overwhelmed and the public process has drifted away from the people it is supposed to serve.
One example is meeting design.
Holding major public meetings at 9 A.M. on weekdays effectively excludes most working residents. In a county this large, it is not realistic to expect people to take time off work, travel long distances, and comment on decisions that affect their lives.
Even for those who can attend, we are handed what amounts to ‘paperwork participation’ — 1,500-page agenda packets with thousands of links and hundreds of pages of attachments that no reasonable resident can digest before the meeting.
That is not meaningful participation.
That is procedural compliance without public inclusion.
This county is simply too big and too complex for five people — supported by an overstretched staff — to manage without modernizing the way the public is involved. The current structure does not scale with our geography or the demands placed on local government.
And most importantly:
We need a public system that includes rather than excludes.
Not an authoritative structure that increasingly shuts out the very residents it is meant to serve — all while trying to keep up with unrealistic, blanket statewide policies that do not reflect the rural realities of Mendocino County.
The public process belongs to the public. That means meeting times people can attend, documents people can understand, communication people can rely on, and a system that welcomes participation instead of quietly moving forward without it.
We are not asking for special treatment.
We are asking for fair treatment, equal access, and a public process that matches the scale and reality of this county.
Mendocino deserves a system built for its people — and the people are standing up because they deserve to be included.
-Firefighters retired
-Farmers sold or aged out
-Longtime land stewards passed away
-Young families moved away
-Rural expertise faded under economic pressure
-People with deep understanding of the land left Mendocino
This comment is not about any one individual — it’s about the future of Mendocino County and the role the public must play in shaping it.
We all understand that Mendocino is enormous, rural, and uniquely challenging to manage. That’s not criticism — that’s reality.
But those realities make public participation even more important, not less.
The people who live here hold decades of experience, generational knowledge, and lived understanding of the land. That wisdom should be treated as an asset — not something that gets left outside the room.
And it’s important to note that we have lost a large portion of that generational knowledge in the past five years.
People who understood this land deeply — ranchers, farmers, volunteer firefighters, longtime stewards of rural property — have retired, moved away, or passed on. The county cannot afford to lose the remaining experience by shutting out the very people who carry it.
Mendocino needs its public to be heard.
This County cannot rely on systems designed for urban regions or assume that one-size-fits-all state policies will work here.
If Sacramento policies don’t fit rural realities, then we need stronger rural representation — not silence.
And if meeting times, communication methods, or public processes prevent rural residents from participating, then the system must evolve.
Public meetings at 9 A.M. on weekdays do not reflect the lives of working residents spread across 3,800 square miles.
Public engagement cannot be something people must sacrifice their livelihoods to achieve.
I’m not criticizing the Board; I’m urging us all to recognize the scale of what this County must manage — and the value of involving the people who know this land best.
My heart is here. It always will be.
And I speak today not to attack, but to help illuminate a better path forward — one where Mendocino’s future is shaped by partnership between leadership and the people who call this place home.
Mendocino deserves a system built around its people — rural people, working people, longtime residents — and the wisdom they carry.
Board of Supervisors (BOS) Meetings: September 13 to December 13, 2025
Based on official records from the Mendocino County Legistar calendar system, the following summarizes BOS meetings during the specified period. All regular meetings are typically scheduled for Tuesdays at 9:00 AM unless otherwise noted. Status is determined by availability of minutes, videos, or explicit cancellation notices.
Summary Statistics
Number of meetings held at 9:00 AM: 6 (all regular meetings, no cancellations among them).
Number of meetings canceled: 3 (none of these were at 9:00 AM; reasons not specified in sources, but cancellations are occasional for scheduling conflicts or lack of quorum).
Total meetings scheduled: 10 (7 held, 3 canceled).
Meetings contain 1000s of pages and 100s of links with numerous pages - Thank you for allowing me to participate - Kylle St.Pierre