POPULARITY
21 episodes with Gjerde
16 episodes with Gjerde
4 episodes with Gjerde
42 episodes with Gjerde
30 episodes with Gjerde
3 episodes with Gjerde
2 episodes with Gjerde
5 episodes with Gjerde
4 episodes with Gjerde
"Stand by for Titanfall!" Med disse herlige ordene kaster vi oss som inn i et dypdykk om Titanfall 2 fra 2016. Før Respawn Entertain ble kjent for Apex Legends og Star Wars Jedi var Titanfall-spillene deres store merkevare. Med en lansering i uka mellom Battlefield 1 og Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare ble Titanfall 2 aldri en stor suksess, men i dette tilbakeblikket mener vi det er på høy tid at spillet får den heder og ære det fortjener. Gjester: Jon Vegard Jansen og Sigrun E. Gjerde.
Woke har blitt et av vår tids mest omdiskuterte fenomener. Det snakkes om i mediene, i kommentarfeltene, i klasserommene og rundt middagsbordet. Men hva er egentlig woke?Dette har statsviter og sosiolog Lars Erik Løvaas Gjerde fra Krokstadelva skrevet debattbok om, som gis ut i disse dager. Dette blir hans forfatterdebut, og det må naturligvis markeres med lanseringsarrangement i hjemkommunen! På arrangementet vil samfunnsdebattant Herman Ekle Lund lede en samtale med Løvaas Gjerde om boka. Forfatteren vil også lese utdrag fra teksten. Det blir rom for spørsmål fra publikum til slutt.Scenen i 1. etasje, Drammensbiblioteket, fra kl 19:00. Gratis inngang! Bøker selges og signeres av forfatteren etter arrangementet.Foto: Edvard Thorup
Vi har Anikken Gjerde Alnæs på besök i podden, kanske blir hon årets vinnare av Vasaloppet, det tror Kay i alla fall, Mats håller inte med men gör en superbra intervju som ger oss nya självklarheter inför vår strävan att vinna vår battle på Vasan. Smala skidor är podden för dig som är intresserad av längdskidåkning. I jakten på att utveckla sig som långloppsåkare nördar Mats och Kay ned sig i allt som rör sporten. Gilla eller bli fan av podden här https://www.friareliv.se/smalaskidor
If you have a dog with fear, anxiety, or aggression issues, you've likely wondered—or, more likely, worried—whether your own personality traits are to blame for their unwanted behaviors.Understandably so. For years, dog owners have been fed messages like, “it's all how you raise them” and “there are no bad dogs, only bad owners.” Even experienced dog behavior professionals, who fully acknowledge the huge influence of biology and individual traits on dog behavior outcomes, are quick to affirm that stressy, anxious owners are far more likely to have anxious dogs.Listen to Co-Hosts Sarah Fraser and Brian Burton (both are Co-Founders of INSTINCT with a Master's in Animal Behavior) discuss this topic, including how the existing research and their experience with thousands of dogs and owners have shaped their thoughts and approach on whether anxious owners cause anxious dogs. Episode References:Ask, H., Eilertsen, E. M., Gjerde, L. C., Hannigan, L. J., Gustavson, K., Havdahl, A., … & Ystrom, E. (2021). Intergenerational transmission of parental neuroticism to emotional problems in 8‐year‐old children: Genetic and environmental influences. JCPP advances, 1(4), e12054.Clarke, T., & Loftus, E. (2023). Owner psychological characteristics predict dog behavioral traits. University of Edinburgh, Preprint, not yet published, https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2657563/v1Dodman NH, Brown DC, Serpell JA (2018) Associations between owner personality and psychological status and the prevalence of canine behavior problems. PLoS ONE 13(2): e0192846. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0192846 Finn, C., Mitte, K., & Neyer, F. J. (2013). The Relationship–specific Interpretation Bias Mediates the Link between Neuroticism and Satisfaction in Couples. European Journal of Personality, 27(2), 200-212. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.1862Gobbo E, Zupan M. Dogs' Sociability, Owners' Neuroticism and Attachment Style to Pets as Predictors of Dog Aggression. Animals. 2020; 10(2):315. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10020315Huber A, Barber ALA, Faragó T, Müller CA, Huber L. Investigating emotional contagion in dogs (Canis familiaris) to emotional sounds of humans and conspecifics. Anim Cogn. 2017 Jul;20(4):703-715. doi: 10.1007/s10071-017-1092-8. Epub 2017 Apr 21. PMID: 28432495; PMCID: PMC5486498.Kang W, Establishing the associations between the Big Five personality traits and self-reported number of close friends: A cross-sectional and longitudinal study. Acta Psychologica, Volume 239, 2023, 104010, ISSN 0001-6918, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2023.104010.Kis A, Turcsán B, Miklósi Á, Gácsi M. The effect of the owner's personality on the behaviour of owner-dog dyads. Interaction Studies: Social Behaviour and Communication in Biological and Artificial Systems. 2012;13(3):373-385. doi:10.1075/is.13.3.03kisMcNulty JK. Neuroticism and interpersonal negativity: the independent contributions of perceptions and behaviors. Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2008 Nov;34(11):1439-50. doi: 10.1177/0146167208322558. Epub 2008 Aug 13. PMID: 18703488.Podberscek, A.L. and Serpell, J.A. (1997), Aggressive behaviour in English cocker spaniels and the personality of their owners. Veterinary Record, 141: 73-76. https://doi-org.proxy.wexler.hunter.cuny.edu/10.1136/vr.141.3.73Wright, Amanda & Jackson, Joshua. (2022). Is parent personality associated with adolescent outcomes for their child? A response surface analysis approach. 10.31234/osf.io/ahmzwINSTINCT Resources:Youtube Version of the Episode (video): https://youtu.be/KrlyTh7Z8o0
Gudstjeneste 16.02.24
Gudstjeneste 9. februar 2025
Prosjektleder av Bokslukerprisen, Christian Goveia Jacobsen, intervjuer vinneren, Hanne Gjerde.
Gudstjeneste 24.11.20.24
I episode # 187 av Treningskompasset - Terrengsykkelpodden tar vi en prat med langløperen Anikken Gjerde Alnæs som i juni var utsatt for en alvorlig ulykke mens hun gikk på rulleski. Hun har også signert for et nytt team; Team Engcon. Og hun ser frem til å kunne konkurrere igjen til vinteren. Hvordan har det gått med treningen? Hvordan ligger hun an i forhold til sesongen som kommer? Alt dette får du svar på om du lytter til ukens episode. Vi ønsker våre lytter en god lytteropplevelse. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Er Braid et mesterverk, eller er det unødvendig komplisert puslespill skapt av en pretensiøs spillmaker? De lærde strides, men Cross Over Gamings retrospillere har tatt utfordringen på strak arm og spilt gjennom ett av spillene som ble opphavet til det vi i dag kaller indie-spill. Ingar har invitert gjestene Sigrun E. Gjerde og Jon Vegard Jansen for å løse Braid-mysteriet.
Gudstjeneste 6. oktober 2024
Gudstjeneste 18. august 2024
Dette er Businesstalk hvor jeg, Henriette Einevoll Husby, snakker business med Christina Moe Gjerde, som er VP av Norden Benelux og UK i Voi Technology. Voi har vokst i en enorm fart de siste 5 årene, og er blitt en så kaldt unicorn med markeder i 100 byer, 16 land og med 1.100 ansatte. Før dette hadde Christina ansvaret for sparkeseykkel- og scooter-selskapets norske virksomhet, der Voi som eneste aktør i bransjen sikret seg offentlige tillatelser til å operere i alle de største norske byene. Før hun startet i Voi i 2019, var hun konsulent i henholdsvis EY og AVO Consulting. Gjerde har en master fra Norges Handelshøyskole og UC Berkeley.Christina er E24 ledertalent 2023, hun er the northern europe boss, hun bor i Stockholm, hun brenner for å bare satse og gønne på. Hun vil bli CEO. Vi møttes på SHE Innovates, og jeg syntes bare hun var RÅ. I denne episoden snakker vi om Christinas reise karrieremessig, hvordan hun tenker og hva som skal til for å stige i gradene.Episoden har 2 sponsorer:Tripletex - Prøv gratis herAJ Produkter - shop herFollow my journey as a podcast host here @businesshenriette
Gudstjeneste 26.05.24
MØRKEBLÅTT BLOD fikk besøk av tidligere stortalent, KBK-supporter, "kameraten til Marius "Mario" Olsen, og tvers gjennom godkar; Simen Sundet. Vi snakket, i tillegg til KBK såklart, om alt fra hvorfor han tror tilstrømningen av supportere i alderen 18-28 uteblir, hvor imponert han er av kompisen sin inntreden i forsvarsrekka, og det blir tid til litt chant-quiz der Simen virkelig får kjørt seg
MØRKEBLÅTT BLOD fikk besøk av Max (Uflax) Williamsen bare en uke etter den fæle korsbåndskaden i cupkampen mot Træff. Guttene snakket ganske mye om hvordan man som ung spiller må forholde seg til alt av fysio/lege, treg rehabilitering, osv, og hvilke metoder han selve brukte for å møte en sånn utfordring mentalt. Det blir bare mer og mer tydelig at vi har med en skikkelig "soldat" av en midtstopper å gjøre, og vi forsøkte å "melke" han for erfaringer og perspektiv som vi utenfor har null mulighet til å kunne vite. Det ble en løs og ledig episode til tross for et alvorlig tema. MØRKEBLÅTT BLOD er en podkast om Kristiansund Ballklubb, Uglan og fotball med Kjartan Hendseth og Bjørnar Gjerde. Live onsdag fra klokken 20:30. Følg med på fotball, KBK, still spørsmål og bli med i Mørkeblått Blods gruppe på KSU 24/7s Facebookside.
MØRKEBLÅTT BLOD: Kjartan og Bjørnar tar et kjapt tilbakeblikk på KFUM, men ser mest frem til bortekampen mot mordo..molde. Vi går gjennom 1. runde i cupen, og det blir gjennomgang av Fantasy-runden, og en liten "treat" av en fremføring. MØRKEBLÅTT BLOD er en podkast om Kristiansund Ballklubb, Uglan og fotball med Kjartan Hendseth og Bjørnar Gjerde. Live onsdag fra klokken 20:30. Følg med på fotball, KBK, still spørsmål og bli med i Mørkeblått Blods gruppe på KSU 24/7s Facebookside.
Gudstjeneste 07.04.24 - Relasjon til søsken - Menighet
MØRKEBLÅTT BLOD: Vi fikk besøk av redaksjonens programleder-trainee Oskar Siira Sivertsen, og han leverte varene, både selv, men også i form av mannen med drømmedebuten Namsos(Bangsund)s neste store sønn Ruben Alte! Vi snakker om den relativt lange veien til eliteseriespill, debut kronet med scoring på Åråsen. Vi blir også bedre kjent med den særs hyggelige, og talentfulle lysluggen, fra den spede begynnelse i Bangsund, og barneårene i Gullvikmoen, til sesongene i Ranheim som gjorde fotballnorge oppmerksom på den talentfulle lysluggen. Vi får høre hvorfor en overgang kollapset, og hvorfor han har kommet så godt i gang i Kristiansund-trøya. Oskar er åpen om sitt forbedringspotensiale i Eliteserien Fantasy, og Kjartan får gode skussmål for sine "trønderrock-tolkninger" MØRKEBLÅTT BLOD er en podkast om Kristiansund Ballklubb, Uglan og fotball med Kjartan Hendseth og Bjørnar Gjerde. Live onsdag fra klokken 20:30. Følg med på fotball, KBK, still spørsmål og bli med i Mørkeblått Blods gruppe på KSU 24/7s Facebookside.
This podcast is a commentary and does not contain any copyrighted material of the reference source. We strongly recommend accessing/buying the reference source at the same time. ■Reference Source https://www.ted.com/talks/kristina_gjerde_making_law_on_the_high_seas ■Post on this topic (You can get FREE learning materials!) https://englist.me/222-academic-words-reference-from-kristina-gjerde-making-law-on-the-high-seas-ted-talk/ ■Youtube Video https://youtu.be/zs3Q02yrF38 (All Words) https://youtu.be/hvP029eQ8Cw (Advanced Words) https://youtu.be/yscL6F1U58Q (Quick Look) ■Top Page for Further Materials https://englist.me/ ■SNS (Please follow!)
My guest Tobias joins me to discuss photographing Atlantic Puffins and other seabirds, including more habitat in an image, and his approach to sharing on social media.
June 7, 2023--Host Dan Gjerde speaks with Mary Anne Petrillo, Executive Director of West Business Development Center, about jobs in the economy within Mendocino County.
May 3, 2023-- Host Dan Gjerde speaks with former county supervisor, Kendall Smith, to provide some historical context to the position
April 5, 2023--Host Dan Gjerde speaks with 1st District Supervisor Glenn McGourty.
After two decades of trying, the United Nations has finalized a treaty to protect the high seas – that part of the ocean which covers nearly half the earth's surface and falls outside of the jurisdiction of individual nations. There beneath the lens of blue water is an ecosystem with more species than exist on land. There are seamounts in the Pacific covered in golden corals that are the oldest living animals on the planet, having existed since the time of the pyramids. There is an underwater fertile crescent off South America where the interplay of plants, fish, and predators create a world unto its own. There are Yosemites and Everests beneath the surface of the ocean that we are only just learning about. And all of this is endangered by pollution, overfishing, and even deepsea mining. We'll talk about what it means to protect the high seas and the impact the treaty will have on California's coastal waters and ocean life. Guests: Kristina Gjerde, lawyer and Senior High Seas Advisor, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s Global Marine and Polar Programme. Gjerde is also an adjunct professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey Douglas McCauley, associate professor, Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, UC Santa Barbara. McCauley also heads the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory at the University of California Santa Barbara Christopher Chin, executive director, Center for Oceanic Awareness Research and Education based in the Bay Area
March 1, 2023--Host Dan Gjerde speaks with Jean Mann, board member for the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. He also features an audio tour he recorded with Executive Director Molly Barker and Garden Manager Jamie Jensen.
February 8, 2023--Host Karen Ottobini speaks with 4th District Supervisor Dan Gjerde, to talk about his "long-range" perspective on the county.
During a presentation on the county's fiscal year-end close, the Board of Supervisors learned that there may be a $2.2 million carry-forward from last year. Treasurer Tax Collector Auditor Controller Chamisse Cubbison qualified the number by saying that up to half of it may already be committed. Supervisor Ted Williams tried to get some specifics. “What is the exact amount of the carry-forward?” he asked. “That's kind of got a big asterisk next to it,” Cubbison told him. “I'm looking at roughly about $2.2 million, but there are encumbrances, which mean there are prior-period obligations, that we are still going to be paying for in this year.” She added that, “I can't give you any confidence that the Board has not already committed a million of that to something.” Known funding needs come out to a little over $6.6 million, though $1.6 million of that is questionable. Shortfalls in the cannabis department and the costs of winter storm damage are still unknown. Last year's health plan deficit stands at $3.6 million, and the growing shortfall for the jail expansion is over $1.4 million. FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is expected to reimburse the county for the $1.6 million it spent on the now-concluded Project RoomKey, a program to provide temporary housing for homeless people who were especially vulnerable to covid. County staff reported that other counties have learned they will not be reimbursed for their Project RoomKey expenses, but so far, Mendocino County has not been told to stop waiting on the FEMA check. The Board agreed to send letters to higher-level representatives and state organizations about the importance of receiving the money. Supervisors previewed this year's budget struggle as they shared strong and sometimes differing opinions on parks, the employee healthcare plan, and the county's growing share in the construction of the new jail building. Supervisor Dan Gjerde, who announced at last week's meeting that he will not seek a fourth term, expressed frustration over the county paying more than what he views as its fair share of the health plan. Last year, the county switched over from the self-funded model to an insurance pool, but the deficit from months of not paying into the previous plan, followed by high claims during covid, remains. “I know we're not supposed to discuss much about what happens during closed session,” Gjerde began. “However, I think it's fair to say, there was almost no discussion by the Executive Office staff about the fiscal impacts of twice asking this Board to approve, which we did, at their request, six-month extensions where the employees would not pay 25% of the cost of the healthcare plan. Twice we were asked to do it, twice we approved it, and it had a direct fiscal impact on our budget.” Employees currently pay 16% of their healthcare costs. Premiums are not due to go up until the next round of negotiations, in June. The current contracts, with a 2% COLA, were finally hammered out at the end of last year. Supervisor Maureen Mulheren said she had her reasons for declining to insist that employees pay the full 25% of the healthcare premium. “I am not going to say that the Executive Office did not fully inform us about the costs or about the impacts,' she declared. “I am a grown person, and understood the way that I was voting, and that I didn't want to put that additional impact on our employees during an inflation, during a summer where we had gas prices well over five dollars. So I just want to be very clear that I was informed about the costs.” But Gjerde insisted that this was not the only instance where staff had let the board down. “My other example is the jail project,” he said. “Each time the costs of this project have gone up, the presentation to the Board has always been, here is the new incremental extra cost. It's just another blank. It's just another blank. And it's only been in the last six months, mostly because some of us on the Board have been articulating this, that, wait a second. Take a step back. Look at the big picture here. This is a State program to realign State prisoners into county jails. And I'm glad that we're finally getting our act together and preparing a timeline and a budget, showing the cost increase and how much of this is attributed to State inaction versus county inaction — it looks like the vast majority of it is on the State side — but I feel like county staff, who are responsible for projects like this, that balloon out of control, need to step it up, and not just throw this onto the Board's lap and say, just come up with another blank millions of dollars out of the General Fund. We do not have those millions of dollars.” Mulheren and Gjerde disagreed again, after Gjerde restated his position that the county should figure out how to unburden itself of the expense of maintaining a half-dozen neighborhood parks. Mulheren said the large inland parks are much more than that. “Mill Creek Park and Low Gap Park and the Russian River access are economic opportunities for inland Mendocino County,” she stated. “You are very fortunate to live on the coast and have beautiful recreational opportunities that our inland folks don't have.” But Gjerde insisted that, “We should have leadership in inland Mendocino County stepping up and developing their own Funding stream to develop and cultivate and perhaps expand these inland neighborhood parks. But they should not be looking to the General Fund of the County of Mendocino to maintain parks that it cannot afford to maintain.” Mulheren reminded the board that she is on a committee that is working out the details of how much the parks actually cost, what their value is, and if the City of Ukiah is willing to take over some of the inland parks. The full board will discuss the committee's findings next month.
February 1, 2023--Host Dan Gjerde speaks with Peter McNamee about his extensive pubic service as well has his work with the Grassroots Institute.
January 4, 2023--Hosted Dan Gjerde, 4th District County Supervisor, talks about opportunities to serve in local government with former 2nd District Supervisor Richard Shoemaker.
December 7, 2022--How are County services funded? Mendocino CEO Darcie Antle joins Supervisor Gjerde to provide the big picture. Darcie and Dan also outline several budget challenges and opportunities facing Mendocino County over the next few years.
November 14, 2022, Sarah Reith — A discussion about establishing regulations for tiny homes on wheels led to a call for more regulations, more freedom, and more flexibility in housing at last week's Board of Supervisors meeting. After the Board updated the building code, as it's required to do every three years, supervisors turned their attention to recommendations for moveable tiny homes, which would be licensed and registered with the DMV but also required to meet the standards of stick-built homes, including sanitation hookups and water supply, fire agency requirements, and building permits. Lindsay Wood, the “tiny home lady,” made her case, saying that tiny homes are catching on all over the state as a solution to several persistent economic woes. She told the Board she had had her own tiny home built in Ukiah, and that she is working on developing a company to build more in the area. “The Ukiah High School is actively building two tiny homes,” through a Career Technical Education program, she said. “We have a lot of opportunities to train our youth and also house more people, offering workforce housing, agriculture housing, and so much more, so that people like myself, who grew up here since 1980, can actually afford to live here.” Supervisor Glenn McGourty asked Planning and Building Director Julia Krog about the current state of tiny home regulations in the county. She told him it is permissible to build a tiny home that is not on wheels, “as long as you meet building code standards.” “So this is just a portable version of a tiny home,” he surmised. “That's correct,” she replied. “Right now you are only able to use things like recreational vehicles that are built on a chassis for movement for temporary uses.” But a recommendation that tiny homes be situated on a concrete or asphalt pad drew criticism from Supervisor Dan Gjerde as well as environmental consultants who spoke about the need for a grading ordinance. Gjerde, who has long been an advocate for additional dwelling units and affordable housing policies, asked that the regulations not establish permanent concrete foundations as the default standard. And he expressed some skepticism about the whole idea. “We don't really want to see a bunch of asphalt or concrete placed where it's not needed,” he said. “And you know, these tiny homes may be here today, gone tomorrow. Who's to say how long they'll stay on a piece of property. It could be something of a fad.” He went further, explaining that he was concerned about the possibility of tiny homes affecting the character of the neighborhood, particularly if there was not a more conventional house on the property as a primary residence. “If in 2022, or 2023, we suddenly say, well, you know, for decades you've needed to build a stick-built house on a foundation, but beginning now, a neighboring vacant property could have nothing on it more than a tiny home, especially when you're talking smaller parcels in more suburban conditions, I think it really could be out of character with the rest of the neighborhood,” he said. Supervisor Ted Williams leaped in with a defense of personal liberties and the environment. “I'm weighing consistency, what people expect in a neighborhood, with government intruding on an individual's right to live in a small house,” he argued. “And imagine a neighborhood where all parcels on all sides are developed with 2500 square foot houses. And somebody decides they want to live in a 300 square foot house. Maybe that's all they can afford. Maybe that's all the resources they want to use. I don't know if it's government's job to say no, you have to build a large house. What's wrong with somebody choosing to live in a very minimalist, I mean if we all did that, we would have less of a climate impact.” Gjerde worried that residents of tiny homes would spend most of their time outdoors, possibly making noise that would disturb the neighbors. McGourty took the opportunity to point out the lack of a noise ordinance. “Noise is noise,” he pointed out. “And I have neighbors who live two miles from me, but their big diesel pump is right next door to me. I think that we should have standards for noise in Mendocino County that don't exceed 55 decibels at the property line, which is kind of standard in a lot of communities, and that would address the issue in the end.” Two environmental consultants who had hoped to speak about a presentation on riparian and wetlands protections added their concerns about creating a policy that they thought could lead to unregulated grading. That item was rescheduled, but Estelle Clifton and Heather Morrison warned of possible environmental damage if tiny homes are allowed under a ministerial permit, an “over the counter” authorization that's granted to projects that meet local zoning requirements. Clifton introduced herself as a biological consultant and registered professional forester who has worked in the county for 20 years. “When the county as the lead agency grants permission to bulldoze habitats,” she said, “as the lead agency, the county is responsible for that action. And in other counties, where they ministerially grant such allowances, they do have a checklist that guarantees certain protections are adhered to. For it to be a ministerial process, there has to be real evidence that there really is an exemption from environmental damage.” Krog said some applicants would need a grading permit, but there's not currently a grading ordinance. “They would have to go through the standard grading permit with our office, if they trigger a grading permit,” she said. “It really depends on the amount of cubic yards that they're moving. And in order to trigger a grading permit with our office, it's a pretty substantial amount of cubic yards that you do need to move.” She added that before her tenure, the county “did work on a grading permit at one time. I understand that that got shelved at a certain point, and there are several boxes that relate to it, but I don't believe it's ever come back.” Ultimately, Krog expects the tiny home ordinance by itself will be minimal. It's the deferred discussion about environmental protections that could change the housing landscape. “If you treat these like we do all other structures, it really is the status quo,” she said. “Creating regulations related to stream and wetland and riparian corridors would really change the way that development occurs within this county.”
The Mendocino Council of Governments is run by private enterprise. It was originally created to respond to regional transportation needs, later it took on state mandated housing allocations and now is adding planning for regional climate change impacts. Mendocino is one of three California counties that hires a private firm to manage its state transportation funds according to Supervisor Dan Gjerde. Gjerde and the MCOG Executive Director Nephele Barrett answer questions about the purpose, processes, and efficacy of MCOG.
November 9, 2022 — The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors attempted Tuesday to close in on who and what is responsible for the multi-million shortfall in the health plan, which has caused as-yet unknown damage to the county's fiscal health. The county has set aside $4.6 million from the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA funds, to patch the hole in the health plan deficit, which accumulated over two and half years but didn't come to light until April of this year. In addition to the $4 million projected deficit, this week's CEO report stated that there was an incurred but not reported loss of $2.6 million in Fiscal Year 20/21. CEO Darcie Antle reported previously that in fiscal year 16/17, then-Auditor Controller Lloyd Weer said the State Controller recommended spending down an overly robust reserve in the health plan. The county and its employees responded with a health holiday, which means neither party made health insurance payments for three months out of the year for fiscal years 17/18 and 18/19. Supervisor Dan Gjerde identified a key flaw in that approach at Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting. “It was represented to the Board by the elected auditor, Lloyd Weer, that the State of California was telling him that the reserves were too large,” he recalled. “And that they needed to be drawn down. At the time, their proposal was to only extend the holiday to the employees. Well, the county, the plan sponsor, is paying 75% of the plan. So the Board said, well, we'll have the holiday, but both parties benefit equally. When employees have a pay holiday, so will the county. What the managers should have said was well, we weren't proposing that. We'll need to scale that back to maybe one month, because both parties are having a holiday. They never said that. They just went ahead and implemented a three-month pay holiday for both the employees and the employers and they did not speak up, as they should have, and said, well the math doesn't work with that.” Deputy CEO Cherie Johnson told the Board that Weer was the only one who knew exactly what the communication from the state had been. “I have not ever seen any documentations from the State, stating that the health plan reserves or savings needed to be drawn down,” she told the Board. “That was information that I had received from the auditor's office. We did talk with our broker. He had never seen that either, and he said other counties had not received that information.” Now, in the wake of the pandemic, the deficit is one of many heavy blows to the local economy. Cannabis taxes are lagging in a lackluster market, and the county has yet to see millions in disaster reimbursements from FEMA. County workers, feeling the pinch of inflation and frustrated by the lack of a cost of living adjustment, or COLA, packed the chambers to overflowing during public comment, with social workers citing staggering caseloads and union leadership warning of an impending worker exodus. SEIU 1021, the county's largest union, is asking for a 2% COLA, but county negotiators won't budge. Antle reported that the county is offering each employee a one-time payment of $3,000 from the ARPA fund, but is asking for a year-long pause in the COLA until last year's fiscal books are closed. In early October, the county switched over from its self-funded health plan to a fully funded plan called PRISM health, an insurance pool for counties and other public entities that allowed employees to stay with their current healthcare providers. Health plan premium increases have been frozen until fiscal year 23/24. But even with a new health plan, supervisors wanted to talk about how the old plan's deficit spiraled out of control. Gjerde said the Board got bad information about the health holiday. “At no time was the Board advised that it would result in depleting all of the reserves and actually creating a deficit,” he emphasized. “That's been new information since we've had a changeover in auditor and new people managing the healthcare fund and new eyes on the healthcare fund. I believe there should have been better advice given to the Board.” County Counsel Christian Curtis conceded that the Board had gotten bad information. “In some cases, the information that was put into the sheets as to what balances you were drawing out, and what one-time funds you were using, may have been incorrectly entered into the spreadsheets before they went to the Board, and that you may have had that erroneous information in front of you at the time that those decisions were made,” he said. When Supervisor Glenn McGourty asked him who would have entered the information, Curtis replied that the CEO may “be able to speak to that a little bit better. My understanding is they were generated by the auditor's office.” Supervisor John Haschak pointed out that more than one party was supposed to be keeping track of the health plan. “We've been paying an actuarial to manage the health plan,” he said. “And we have the auditor looking at the health plan, and we have the Executive Office looking at the health plan too, right? So how do we figure out where this deficit happened, and how do we get to the bottom of it to see, why wasn't the Board informed about it, and how this all happened?” Curtis said there is more material to review, but that with key personnel now retired, he expects the information “may be imperfect.” Still, he said the information, while not highlighted, had been available. “If I can be a little blunt,” he warned. “The deficit itself is reflected in the budget documents. I think this may have just been something that was buried; that while the Board may have had the information, it may not have been particularly called out, or addressed very explicitly.” Supervisor Ted Williams wondered if the Board could expect more revelations along the lines of the health plan deficit. “Do we think there is any other data entry that may have provided inaccurate reporting?” he asked. Curtis demurred, saying, “I can't speak to that at this time.” Williams pressed him: “Can you and the CEO assure us that that's not the case? Can we trust the data that we have received?” “We can't make such assurance,” Curtis told him. “No.” The Board agreed to ask Weer to provide an explanation, in writing if he prefers.
October 5, 2022--Host Dan Gjerde speaks with Conrad Kramer, Executive Director, and Nicolet Houtz, Director of Stewardship, of the Mendocino Land Trust.
September 7, 2022- Dan Gjerde, 4th District County Supervisor, speaks with Congressman Jared Huffman about a range of topics from legislation passed by Congress, recent Supreme Court rulings, and his thoughts on the Eel River water diversion. After, we learn about the Slack Tide Cafe and how it's connected to the Noyo Center for Marine Science.
Download our FREE Guide on “How To Add $100M+ To Your Managed Assets This Year” from https://financialadvisorsworkshop.com/ Doug Gjerde (https://www.heritagefinancialllc.com/) is the Managing Partner and Wealth Advisor at Heritage Financial Partners and his specialty is helping guide families on their journey to work toward becoming financially confident retirees. He focuses on retirement planning, particularly lowering taxes in retirement. Lowering taxes may extend your retirement savings and provide you with extra money in retirement by avoiding invisible pitfalls. He joins us to talk about how he achieved his dream of rising in the financial advising industry without going through the big firms, and finding success in retirement planning, and providing excellent and efficient service with the right management systems in place. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doug-gjerde-9929378/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeritageFinPart Website: https://www.heritagefinancialllc.com/ To see short videos of all our best Financial Advisor Business Growth tips from each episode follow us on: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/FinancialAdvisorsWorkshop TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@faworkshop YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFRh9BxjF0cT7PdkEhsg6lw Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FinancialAdvisorsWorkshop Twitter: https://twitter.com/FAsWorkshop iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/financial-advisors-workshop-with-brian-kasal/id1614768408 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4OB78889GRx2FHjvWtsyeE Website: https://www.financialadvisorsworkshop.com/ Interested in working at FourStar: https://fourstarwealth.com/Advisors DISCLAIMER: This content is provided by FourStar Wealth Advisors for the general public and general information purposes only. This content is not considered to be an offer to buy or sell any securities or investments. Investing involves the risk of loss and an investor should be prepared to bear potential losses. Investment should only be made after thorough review with your investment advisor considering all factors including personal goals, needs and risk tolerance. FourStar is an SEC registered investment advisor that maintains a principal business in the state of Illinois. The firm may only transact business in states in which it has filed or qualifies for a corresponding exemption from such requirements. For information about FourStar's registration status and business operations please consult the firm's form ADV disclosure documents, the most recent versions of which are available on the SEC investment advisory public disclosure website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov
A common challenge facing all advisors when it comes to balance is how do you continue to grow the business and scale like you would like without over-working yourself? Doug Gjerde, MBA®, CFP®, CEPA, joins the show today to talk to us today about how to overcome that hurdle while still maintaining balance. Join us today to learn about these things: His definition of balance and how it's changed over the years. (3:56) The biggest challenges he faces when it comes to balance. (6:45) The strategies he uses for employee retention. (10:17) What areas are other advisors struggling with balance and where are they struggling with scaling their business? (12:57) What advice would he give other advisors to improve balance. (19:48) RESOURCES Learn more: https://www.heritagefinancialllc.com/team-members/doug-gjerde-2/ Email: travis@travisparry.com Get Travis' newest book!
August 8, 2022 — The Board of Supervisors agreed in a narrow vote last week to approve the idea of a water agency. During budgeting in June, the board agreed to allocate $250,000 from the PG&E settlement to form the agency. And, to comply with a new law, SB 552, which requires drought planning, the board agreed unanimously to formalize the drought task force into a standing committee, consisting of Supervisors Glenn McGourty and John Haschak. At the moment, the Department of Transportation is in charge of water issues, but McGourty told the board that he thinks the county should create a water resources team consisting of the drought committee and county staff collaborating with experts at the U.C. Davis Cooperative Extension. Some of them, including McGourty himself, have already done water studies in Mendocino County. In 2012, McGourty led a study on ag water use in the Navarro River watershed. CEO Darcie Antle offered a quick calculation of how much she thinks it will cost to hire a consultant for a quarter million dollars. “If you are going to be payin ga consultant $200 an hour for roughly a thousand hours, our staff would be required to attend the meetings as well to stay current,” she said. “I believe that happened last year, where I had Sara Pierce on most of the meetings, and also Judy Morris or Steve Dunnicliff, as well as Brent, who helped coordinate all the calls with CalOES. So for every consultant hour you're probably looking at two or three hours of staff time…if we're going to do the grant writing, and I don't believe we want to pay a consultant that amount of money to help write our grants. We have another contract out for grant writing. Typically, for every grant, it's costing us anywhere from six to ten thousand dollars per grant, so it's going to add up quickly. I would estimate roughly, with the staffing level that we're out, we would be doubling the amount.” Haschak favored another proposal, by Department of Transportation Director Howard Dashiell, to use internal staff. “I just don't think that we need this consultant, who's going to be working 58% of the time at $200 an hour to do these things,” he said. “I think that we can do it internally. The long term is, we need to put it out there to get a person who can learn the ropes and learn the business and provide that over a long term. Because this is a one-shot deal, and we don't even need it.” But McGourty argued that the subject matter is too complex not to bring in experts who are already connected at the state level and are alert to funding opportunities for local projects. “Mr. Chairman, I'm wondering if you could pull up the MCWA implementation plan and go to page 14,” he remarked. “There is a task list that has been identified, based on stakeholder comments. I think this might be helpful to Supervisor Haschak, about the complexity of what he's expecting to sort of spontaneously happen.” Supervisor Dan Gjerde reminded the board of his position on the use of public money for water districts. “I'm not convinced of this allocation at this time,” he said. “Supervisor McGourty, I heard you say that very little has been done since the water agency was disbanded. I actually think that's not accurate. It may accurately describe some of the inaction of some of the water districts in our county. I don't think it accurately describes some of the action of many of our water districts in this county, during the time that the county water agency was going. And I think the unevenness of leadership by the water districts throughout the county, some failing to do their job, looking for a handout but not willing to charge their customers enough to help themselves, other water districts in the county asking their ratepayers to pay what I would say are the state rates for water so they would have the resources to solve their problems and aggressively seek state grants. You know, there's a disparity of leadership between the different water districts in this county, and I don't want to reward the lack of leadership by some of the water districts with county funds.” Devon Boer, the Executive Director of the Mendocino County Farm Bureau, invited Gjerde to a meeting to discuss the complexities. “We do have some of our residents who live outside of an actual organized district,” she pointed out. “And some of the unknowns that have been discussed, such as the water hauling extraction ordinance, which is going to the Planning Commission. We've got the Governor's Executive ORder N722, which is being punted over to Environmental Health…those are the questions I've been receiving from individuals with wells outside of districts, who are now looking at various county departments that might be providing them with various directions, lack of oversight, and perhaps not having qualifications for looking at hydrogeology…that's been the downturn of our county, is we don't have any sort of specific level of expertise. We've got different staff in different departments that get punted…it makes it complicated for the applicant, whoever they may be, to get through the process…you know, I'm not going to get into a dispute with Supervisor Gjerde. I think that what I'm going to do is work with our local water districts, and invite him to come over to a meeting.” The board voted 3-2, with Gjerde and Haschak dissenting, to approve the concept of working with the UC Cooperative Extension using up to $250,000, to create a water agency, contingent on a list of projects that will appear before the full board before moving forward. The list will have to be countywide, and any consultant who is hired will have to include objectives, milestones, outcomes, and staff time. The drought standing committee is scheduled to meet next Monday at 9:00 am. The meeting is currently listed as the Public Health, Safety, and Resource Committee.
August 11, 2022 — The Fort Bragg City Council had second thoughts this week about its own plans for a sales tax that would have been used to fund workforce housing. The proposal for a ⅜ cent sales tax would have been a general tax, needing only a simple majority to pass and going into the city's general fund. An oversight committee was going to make sure the estimated $650,000 to $800,000 a year was used for the stated purpose, but that's not guaranteed with general taxes, as former interim city manager David Spaur, who now works as a consultant for the city, explained. “Having the funds go into the general fund, and then earmarking or designating them towards your specific purpose, allows you to build that account for your specific purpose, but in the event of an emergency, if the Council needed the funds for police, or for fire, or for flood or famine, those funds would be available to you,” he said. “But the oversight committee would want you to possibly replace those funds and backfill them at a later date, or find alternative sources of revenue to replace those funds.” Council member Tess Albin Smith asked Spaur what the city could do with less than a million dollars a year. She said $800,000 “does not seem like enough to do anything with workforce housing. So I'm wondering, are we just going to save it up until we get enough? What would we do with $800,000? What's the plan?” Spaur replied that the money “will allow you to leverage your housing community development funds for $800,000 into $1.6 million. So with a 50% match, you can double it. You can accrue those funds over several years. You can use those funds to purchase property, or a down payment on property, and then use grant funds and others to close on that property. So it's a good start. It's a good bite at the apple. Obviously, you're going to need a couple bites at the apple. You've got a housing crisis going on, and you need to find revenue sources specifically for workforce housing, for the workers, and have that housing be deed-restricted. You also need the funds. So creating some source that helps the city apply for other grants and leverage the funds is needed, whether it be this source or another source.” There will be two taxes on the county ballot in November. During public comment, Supervisor Dan Gjerde told the council that he's worried that a third ballot measure asking for a tax would doom all three. Fractions of two already-existing taxes are sunsetting: Measure B, a special tax to fund mental healthcare facilities; and Measure A, for the libraries. Library supporters got enough signatures to put a quarter cent proposal, Measure O, on November's ballot. The Board of Supervisors is also asking voters to approve Measure P, another quarter cent sales tax for fighting fire and fire prevention. Gjerde was key in getting the Board of Supervisors to drop its original idea to include funding water projects, in part by arguing that the Board does not have the political credibility of a citizens group. “I think this is a great, worthy proposal that you have,” he said. “My concern is the timing….One thing you should know is, in the last couple of years, California courts have ruled that if the voters collect signatures and put a tax on the ballot for a specific purpose, it only takes a 50% (plus one majority) to pass. So the library folks have figured that out, and that's part of the reason why they went directly to the voters. First of all, they gathered support by getting people to sign up to put it on the ballot. Secondly, they know it only takes 50% (plus one majority to pass) and they can guarantee how the money is being spent. So with this proposal, if there was a sales tax, if the voters here in Fort Bragg, if we were to collect signatures and put it on the ballot, it could potentially be ready for the next election. At the latest, that would be March of 2024, the presidential primary…I actually think there's an advantage, when you have fewer things on the ballot. I think people are better able to understand the proposal itself. And I think they are therefore more likely to vote yes. I think if they don't know enough about a proposal, they're more likely to vote no. Anyway, again, I'm just concerned that if there are three taxes on this election, they're more likely to all go down in defeat.” Mayor Bernie Norvell cited the lack of trust in government at the county as he agreed with most of his colleagues that now is the wrong time to ask voters to pay more taxes. “I'm going to fall in line here,” he said. “I think the timing is just not right for a general tax. I don't think there's trust in government right now. If you have followed the county, they got a lot of heat. I don't think there's trust with the county right now. I do think they'll get their library tax. I hope they get their fire tax. I think we're in a better position than the county with government trust, and I would hate to see this project get a stain on it by not getting the necessary votes, and I just don't think it will. With looming recession, inflation, I don't think it's a great time right now to be taxing people. Again, if you go back and watch some of the county meetings, that was a lot of the discussion, is why now, why more taxes. If we do shoot this down tonight, it may send a message of goodwill, that we understand the economy, and what people are struggling with…I'm just not going to support this. I'm going to recommend no action on this item. But Mr. Spaur, you did everything we asked you to do…I think a year and a half or even two years ago, when we started this, and even at the budget meeting, I think we were right then. I just think so much has changed since then. I just don't want this to reflect on you at all. Because this was our idea, and I think you did an amazing job putting the report together.”
August 3, 2022--Host Dan Gjerde speaks with Donne Brownsey, Chair of the California Coastal Commission.
Join Danni Washington as she dives deep into discussion with Kristina Gjerde. Kristina is a High Seas Policy Advisor for the International Union for Conservation of Nature Global Marine and Polar Program. She is also an adjunct professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, California, where she teaches an intensive course on international marine law. Kristina and Danni have a wide ranging discussion on topics from Kristina's beginnings at the Woods Hole Reef, establishing marine protected areas, her co-founding of the Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative and the High Seas Alliance, and navigating international law to protect high seas biodiversity. Enjoy this packed conversation with one of the world's fiercest ocean conservationists. Thanks for listening! Be sure to subscribe, comment, and review! -- Audio Production: Vagabond Podcast Productions Production Assistant: Carrie Wentzel
July 15, 2022 — The Board of Supervisors took up fire and water this week, with discussions about funding water projects, a water extraction ordinance, and a ballot initiative for a quarter-cent sales tax for fire departments. The original tax proposal included money for county water projects, but the Board abandoned that portion of the plan after Supervisor Dan Gjerde launched a campaign against it, arguing that it was an attempt by inland water interests to win a subsidy for agricultural water. Gjerde and Supervisor Maureen Mulheren formed an ad hoc committee to research other avenues to fund county water projects. They turned in separate memos that arrived at different conclusions. The Board has already allocated $250,000 from the PG&E settlement fund for a water agency, though there's been no decision yet on how to spend it, or what the agency would look like. Gjerde told the rest of the Board he had identified more money from the PG&E fund that could be used for water projects. He included an email from Deputy CEO Sara Pierce explaining that she had erroneously stated that $960,000 was available from the fund for grant matching. In fact, the remaining PG&E funds come out to a little over $1.2 million. Gjerde also expressed optimism that the state, with its $100 billion surplus, will come through with water funding. In her memo, Mulheren wrote that last year, the Department of Water Resources only funded a small portion of the county's water needs. Many state-funded projects, she noted, require a county match. She doesn't think the county has the money to leverage grants, and provided a partial list of budgetary deficits, writing, “we are upside down in our health plan, have received only ¼ of the projected cannabis taxes and have an obligation to create a new wing of our county jail, all in excess of $10 million above our abilities.” Mulheren serves on multiple bodies that deal with water policy in the Russian River watershed. When Supervisor Ted Williams tapped her and Supervisor Glenn McGourty to serve on a drought ad hoc committee, Gjerde complained, saying, “It's curious that we would choose to have an ad hoc where both supervisors are in one of the three, so to speak, watersheds, and one of the two is not facing short-term drought issues. And I can't help but wonder if it's because I've been outspoken about the fact that some of the Russian River water districts are undercharging for their water, but they're still looking to the county for assistance, and I'm wondering if that's the motive for keeping either Supervisor Haschak or myself off the drought ad hoc.” Mulheren shot back, saying, “Supervisor Gjerde, your assumptions about my interests in water are incorrect. I am deeply interested in making our community have sustainable resources. If it's going to make you drop the subject, I will yield the seat. Happily. Because the assumptions and the allegations that you are putting out in public are very upsetting to me…I would like to remove myself from the drought ad hoc.” McGourty objected, saying that neither he nor Mulheren would show favoritism to their watershed. “I think my actions last year proved pretty well that your district benefited handsomely from the efforts of the ad hoc,” he noted. “When you look at where the water went that was hauled, it turns out that two-thirds of the water was delivered into the fourth district, and one third went into the fifth.” Supervisor John Haschak agreed that more than one watershed should be represented on a body working on how to approach the drought, and Mulheren insisted on yielding her seat. The committee is now back to its original membership of Haschak and McGourty. Under a new Senate Bill, 552, which was signed into law last year, local governments will be required to have a standing drought task force, with demonstrable plans to address water shortages. Haschak introduced another ordinance that he believes will help the county comply with SB 552, to regulate the sale of water from private wells. A group of volunteers from around the county worked with the drought ad hoc to draft the proposed ordinance, drawing heavily on laws already in place in other areas, including the coastal zone. Sherrie Ebyam, of Willits, summarized some key points of the proposal, which hinges on the county hiring a hydrologist to make sure that production wells don't draw down neighboring wells or the surrounding aquifer more than 10%; and to keep track of data submitted by applicants and gathered from meters. “This ordinance proposes regulating water extraction from groundwater wells from which the water is being sold and from which the water is being transported and used off the property,” she declared. “I'd like to make it clear that this ordinance is for extracting water in order to sell it, and not for general commercial purposes…its intent is to make sure use of our groundwater is sustainable, and to have mechanisms in place to adjust that use, should it become unsustainable. The implementation of this ordinance will tell us when groundwater is being overtaxed, and mechanisms will be in place to ratchet the use back to sustainable levels. The ordinance lays out a plan to respond to adverse effects that may affect the source well, a neighboring well, and ultimately affect the aquifer itself. Much of what this ordinance calls for, in terms of required groundwater well information, has been the law in the City of Mendocino since 1990. We also borrowed language and methodology from the Mendocino County Coastal Groundwater Development guidelines.” The Board voted 4-1, with Williams dissenting on budgetary grounds, to pass the ordinance along to the Planning Commission for further development.
July 14, 2022 — The Board of Supervisors' chambers filled to overflowing at Tuesday's meeting, with county union workers demanding better pay and an end to staffing shortages as inflation climbs. Regional union reps weighed in, too, saying they were dismayed at the county's offer of a 0% cost of living allowance. Workers had filed out, chanting, “we'll be back,” by the time supervisors decided to have a study session on what it would take to craft a living wage ordinance. The first speaker of the day was Vince Hawkins, a health inspector who spoke about how many of his colleagues have been lured elsewhere by better pay. Purple-clad workers rose silently from seats marked “Unavailable” and raised their signs as he spoke. “On any given day, I could be the only health inspector to respond to complaints or inspections for food facilities or recreational water facilities or well and small water systems, body art facilities, things like that,” he said; when “those three empty seats should be filled with my co-workers to go out and do the job with me. It's no fun having to go out and do it by yourself.” Speakers were mostly from the social work and public health sectors, like Heidi Corrado, the county's public health emergency preparedness coordinator. “One way that many counties and municipalities have been showing appreciation for their employees is through the American Rescue Plan Act,” she noted. “In fact, this was one of the listed purposes of ARPA. Now, Mendocino County has received ARPA funds, but so far, the administration has said nothing and made no proposals, while staff watch other public employees in neighboring counties be acknowledged for their service…these employees come to work even when they themselves were evacuated and living in a shelter; worked at home when they were sick with covid; went to work knowing that they could be called out to respond to a home where everyone in that house was sick. It's true that you cannot buy that kind of work ethic. It's true. You cannot buy that kind of loyalty. But it should be rewarded.” The room erupted in a solid fifteen seconds of cheers and applause when she finished her remarks. The county is negotiating with employee units again today. Asked if county workers are moving towards a strike, SEIU Local 1021 Field Representative Patrick Hickey said in a text that “if the County doesn't move, we'll be discussing all of our options at our next General Membership meetings on Wednesday, July 20.” Later in the morning, Supervisor Ted Williams sought support from the board for a living wage ordinance to help low wage workers earn sufficient pay. “You know, frankly, I just feel embarrassed,” he said as he introduced the item. “It makes me feel like we're the Wal-Mart of employers.” Supervisor Dan Gjerde said the county pays 70 cents in benefits for every dollar in wages for most of its employees, which means that the county pays $34 an hour for a worker earning $20 an hour. “Some of the better private-sector employers are paying about 30 cents in benefits for every dollar in salary, so that turns into $26 at $20 an hour pay,” he said; “so it's much easier for those contractors (that are hired by the county), to bring their employees in at $20 an hour starting pay than it is for the county.” Supervisor John Haschak pointed out the irony of asking county staff in departments that typically represent the county in negotiations with employees, to also work on a living wage ordinance. “In this time of real budget crisis and very difficult times even providing anyone with a COLA when the cost of living is going up at 7 or 8%, then I don't want to see staff time diverted from trying to figure out that problem at this point,” he said. Martin Bennett, a professor emeritus at Santa Rosa Junior College, co-founder of North Bay Jobs with Justice, and a staff member of a North Bay union, called in to say that Sonoma county and three of its cities have adopted living wage ordinances. “Living wage ordinances have proven to be good public policy,” he declared, saying that UC Berkeley Labor Center and others have proven that they reduce turnover and absenteeism, and increase retention and the quality of services. “Living wage ordinances also ensure that taxpayers do not subsidize employers that pay less than a livable wage, forcing workers to access public programs,” such as MediCare and food stamps. He offered his help and that of staff at the Labor Council, to provide information about their experience crafting the living wage ordinance in Sonoma County, as well as contact information for advocates and staff all over the state, in other counties that have enacted living wage laws. Gjerde asked about what he called the roll-up effect, when low-wage workers get a raise and their managers demand the same percentage raise to maintain the gap between them, which he worries could result in a torrent of increased pay for employees at the management level. But Bennett said that was unlikely to be a problem. “There are many fiscal impact studies of living wage laws,” he said, including one by the University of Massachusetts of the living wage law in Sonoma County. “The bottom line is this,” he said. “There is a so-called ripple effect when you raise wages at the bottom. But it's limited.” The Board voted to direct Williams to work on the ordinance with outside help and minimal staff time, limited to things like providing documents but no lengthy analysis; and for him to return to the full board at an unspecified time with an informational workshop.
June 22, 2022 — The Board of Supervisors took a drastic change of course on a proposed water and fire tax at a meeting that erupted once in the morning and then dragged on until after 6:30 pm. The proposal at the beginning of the day was for a three-eighths of a cent sales tax, with 40% going to fund water resiliency projects and 60% going to fund fire services. The tax was projected to generate $7 million a year. Supervisor Maureen Mulheren met with the fire districts board and further honed the fire portion, so that 40% of the projected $4.2 million a year for fire services would be distributed equally among the districts. The remainder would be allocated among them using a formula modeled after the state's distribution of funds generated by Prop 172. Her formula for allocating the water portion of the tax is now moot, since supervisors discarded the plan to include water projects. Supervisor Dan Gjerde vigorously opposed the water tax, calling it “‘ridiculous and offensive.” During the discussion to approve the county budget, which appeared on the consent calendar, he objected to how the Inland Water and Power Commission was using the money it receives from the county. The county is one of five dues-paying public entities that are members of the Commission, which exists in part to protect the Potter Valley diversion. Gjerde spoke about the records from the Commission meetings, which reflected polling and research expenses, “testing public support for a parcel tax to finance what Inland Water's minutes, throughout 2021 and 2022 have repeatedly called the PVP, or Potter Valley Project ballot measure,” he reported. He added that the cost of polling services to a firm called Godbe Research was estimated at between $28,000-$31,000, depending on how long the survey took. A scope of work describing a two-phased approach lays out the cost of feasibility studies, strategy, and education and outreach by two additional political strategy firms associated with the Godbe Research Team, TBWBH and NBS. The total costs for Phase I were estimated at $76,450, with a Phase II fee of $45,000, plus three informational mailings priced at $43,491, and optional digital services at $10,000. “So my question is, what is the total amount that Inland Water has paid, or will pay?” to the three firms, Gjerde asked. “These are our tax dollars, so we deserve to know.” County Counsel Christian Curtis said he always advises caution when it comes to political activity on the part of publicly funded bodies. “There is a prohibition, not just on county funds, but on any public funds, for any sort of campaign purposes,” he said. “I don't know that that prohibits any sort of polling, where what you are essentially doing is research to determine in advance whether or not the public entity should even invest the resources to go ahead and prepare an ordinance and submit it to the voters. This is an area I generally advise caution…there is an exception to the rule regarding campaign activity that allows a public agency to put out purely informational items that do not advocate for or against on a matter that may be submitted to the voters.” Supervisor Glenn McGourty said legal fees make up the bulk of the Commission's expenses. “If you look at what IWPC is spending their money on, it's mostly legal assistance from Scott Schapiro, who is our legal counsel, trying to negotiate the purchase of the Potter Valley Project from PG&E,” he said. Gjerde insisted that the Potter Valley Irrigation District and the Russian River Flood Control and Water Conservation Improvement District, which are also members of the Commission, have a valuable commodity for sale. “Those two entities by themselves could produce well over a million dollars a year,” he said. “Problem solved. A million dollars a year. Just those two boards. Take action. Nobody's stopping them. But instead, nope. They want to ask everybody in Mendocino County to bail them out, because they don't want their own customers to pay the going rate.” McGourty said a regional entity of Russian River water users is beginning to coalesce around some fundamental principles. “Primarily, the use of the money is to negotiate the water right transfer from PG&E to the community of the Upper Russian River watershed between Potter Valley to Healdsburg,” he said. “That's really what this is about. Eventually, the agriculture people will pay a reasonable amount of money for water. It won't be cheap, as you imply now, but it's going to take some time to get that together…it costs to be there. It costs like a million dollars to participate in the discussions, in legal fees. And it's extremely important.” Paul Moreno, a spokesman for PG&E, wrote in an email on Tuesday afternoon that “PG&E is not in negotiations about water rights associated with (the) Potter Valley Project and has not been approached about any such negotiations.” The Ukiah Daily Journal and the Mendocino County Observer have come out against the tax, but fire chiefs called in from around the county to express their approval. Angela DeWitt, the Battalion Chief for the Anderson Valley Fire District, said her district is 356 square miles, “larger counting the response area.” With equipment maintenance and turnouts for firefighters, plus working with the county's Prescribed Burn Association, she said her district would be grateful for any additional funds. But other advocates worried that the three-eighths of a cent would be a detriment to another proposed tax. Michelle Bisson Savoy, President of the Ukiah Friends of the Library, asked the board to reduce its proposal to a quarter cent. A citizens' committee has gathered over 4,200 signatures for a library tax initiative that would extend the one-eighth sales tax from Measure A, and add another one-eighth of a cent. Measure A, which passed with 75% of the vote in 2011, is set to expire in 2027, but the new proposal would make it and the additional one-eighth a permanent tax. Earlier this month, the Friends sent a letter to the Board of Supervisors, asking them not to compete with the library initiative by crowding the November ballot with taxes. But it was Gjerde's willingness to campaign against the Board's proposal, and the lingering question about whether the Commission's research expenses constituted political activity or not, that appeared key to the board's decision to discard the water portion of the proposal. Supervisors asked county counsel to come back with an ordinance proposing a quarter cent sales tax for fire services only, using Mulheren's allocation formula for 90% of the funds among the fire districts The remaining 10% would be used for fire prevention projects. It would be a general tax with an advisory measure, which would not be legally binding, and would only require a simple majority to pass. The tax would expire after ten years. Mulheren and Gjerde agreed to work together to identify money in the general fund that could be used for water projects.
June 7, 2022 — In the first round of budget hearings on Tuesday morning, the Board of Supervisors agreed to use $250,000 from the PG&E settlement money for a water agency, though the structure and duties of the agency have yet to be defined. And the board asked staff to revise plans for enhanced code enforcement, even as code enforcement manager John Birx reported that in the last year, his staff has more than doubled the number of cases closed, with compliance. The board set aside $500,000 last year for enhanced code enforcement, but that money has not been used yet. And there is more money to combat illegal weed. Sheriff Matt Kendall has $600,000 from the state for overtime and per diem costs for large-scale busts. He said he's expecting a busy summer, and he's willing to share those funds with code enforcement. But the county is facing a number of shortfalls, with over a million dollars a month in healthcare claims. Cannabis taxes are down by about five million dollars and FEMA has not yet committed to about $8 million of expenses the county fiscal team hoped would be eligible for federal assistance. But county worker Jenna Bunker cried foul over a hefty wage increase for half a dozen management positions, even as other workers have been offered a zero percent wage increase. “I think if you can afford to raise pay for these positions, anywhere from eight to fourteen percent, you can afford to give the rest of us a reasonable cost of living adjustment increase,” she declared. And concerns about overwhelming the healthcare system are back. Public Health Officer Dr. Andy Coren provided a quick covid update, saying that case rates are up 500% and hospitalizations have increased by 300%. “We know that these are underestimates now because of the use of over-the-counter home tests that are not reported,” he stated, adding that there are currently three outbreaks, which has placed the county in the CDC's highest transmission risk level. Many other counties are experiencing the same wave, with Alameda County re-instituting its universal indoor mask mandate. “So I and others in our public health team are watching this very carefully,” Coren said. “As much as we do not like this, we must consider mandating universal indoor masks for our county to preserve hospital care.” One of the items on Wednesday' agenda was a proposal to put a water and fire tax on the November ballot. Early projections are that the tax would generate $7 million a year. But the Citizens' Committee for the Library Initiative, which has been gathering signatures for a quarter-cent tax to fund the libraries, has come out against it, calling it a competing tax. And Supervisor Dan Gjerde sent a five-point memo to his colleagues, arguing against it. Supervisor John Haschak agreed in a brief interview that it's the wrong moment for the tax, though, as a member of the drought task force, he does support funding a water agency. Gjerde said he had already found a way to free up $250,000-$300,000. “We have an ordinance, that this board can amend, that says the county will provide a fifty cent match for every dollar collected by the Business Improvement District, the tourism commission of the county,” he said. “At this point, I no longer support that match to apply to the business improvement fees collected within the cities. If we were to amend the ordinance to make that match for revenues collected by lodging operators in the unincorporated part of the county, we would free up over $300,000 of the county general fund. And since they've told us that their plan is to increase the advertising budget by 92% this year, this is the perfect year to not provide that city match. They would still have an increase in their marketing budget, just not a 92% increase. Meanwhile, we could spend that $300,000 on other essential county services.” But ideas about a county-wide water agency have not been quite as refined. Gjerde suggested a committee approach, with members from around the county allocating funds to various communities for their specific needs. Supervisor Glenn McGrouty suggested re-hiring Josh Metz, whom he said had been crucial in bringing water money into the county. He also thought someone at the UC Davis extension office might be a good fit to head up an agency. Supervisor Ted Williams characterized the situation. “I think we have a water crisis,” he acknowledged. “I mean, we have a climate change crisis, we have a staffing shortage crisis, a living wage crisis, housing crisis. This county is all about crisis. So if it were just one or two, I would be all over supporting this. My worry is, we go down this path of spending $350,000, and we've created some bureaucracy that doesn't generate a drop of water. And I wonder if it would be more effective for the water districts to work with outside consultants…because if you put us in the middle of that, the accounting and the office space and the staffing, everything that goes into public employment, I don't see a lot of water coming out of it.” At the moment, the water agency is lodged in the county Department of Transportation, along with $190,000, which Director Howard Dashiell said is enough to cover the bare minimum. CEO Darcie Antle said the money the county received last year from the State Department of Water Resources is only for hauling water to residents. But there is close to a million dollars elsewhere. “The only other money there is, if you want to use it, it's a one-time fund, PG&E $960k set-aside for local match for water type grants,” she said. “So you would be depleting your set-aside for future grants, under water, if you were to use those funds.” McGourty and Haschak agreed to come back to the board with a plan by September, when another round of state water grants is expected to become available.
May 19, 2022 — The Board of Supervisors considered proposing a sales tax to fund firefighting efforts and water projects this week. The Board cannot impose a tax, but it can draft an ordinance and put it before the voters on a ballot. In this case, the tax initiative would appear on the November ballot, which could also feature a quarter-cent tax initiative to fund the libraries. Measure B, the tax to fund mental healthcare facilities, is due to decrease from a half cent to an eighth of a cent this year. The Supervisors hope to make up the difference with the new tax, which Interim CEO Darcie Antle calculated would bring in about $7 million a year. “The Measure B tax that currently comes in on an average has been around $9 million a year,” she said. “If you start with the $9 million, the three-eighths is $7 million.” Supervisor Dan Gjerde told his colleagues he is not the voter who needs to be persuaded, but he's also not convinced the Board can sell it to a two-thirds majority of the electorate. “The voters are not going to rubber-stamp a tax that this Board of Supervisors puts on the ballot,” he cautioned. “I think we should approach this with some humility.” He reminded the Board of the referendum effort to collect signatures demanding that a new cannabis ordinance, Chapter 22.18, be rescinded. “It was likely to succeed at overturning that ordinance,” he recalled. The demand to rescind never made it to the ballot. Instead, the Supervisors, who had voted 4-1 with Supervisor John Haschak dissenting to pass the new ordinance, agreed to rescind it without a campaign fight. “I don't think we have the credibility to go to the voters and say, of all the ways that you can spend your tax dollars, this is the way,” Gjerde continued. He said he thinks there are good arguments to be made for funding water and fire services, but that he believes successful tax initiatives come from the electorate, like the volunteer library supporters, who are busy gathering signatures at all the usual venues. “I think they're the ones who are showing the way to do it,” he opined. “It's not by rounding up three or five votes on the Board of Supervisors, because that is a path to nowhere.” Ron Edwards, a cannabis advocate who keeps a close eye on the Board, suggested an argument. “Is this enough money?” he asked. “It seems like the need might be much greater…if you guys could dig into it deeply to find out exactly what the need would be, I think that would be a better sell for the public.” Supervisor Glenn McGourty thought the tax could have a lasting impact, just as the future of one legacy project is at its most uncertain. “What we're really going to need is to have the ability to study and be at the table, particularly with the Potter Valley Project,” he said. “What I'm hoping that we do is chart a path forward for the next hundred years. Because we've been living on about a hundred years of legacy decision-making in Mendocino County on water. And our time has literally run out. For instance, we've had all this wonderful free abandoned water from the Potter Valley Project, which has helped us fill Lake Mendocino and provided very inexpensive water for water users from here clear down to Marin.” One voter was in full support of the proposal. John Reardon, who sits on the boards of the Russian River Flood Control and Water Conservation Improvement District, as well as the Inland Mendocino County Water and Power Commission, told the board he supports using some of the tax revenue to sustain water supply reliability. “Inland Water and Power is in the middle of a battle to try and secure water through the Potter Valley Project,” he noted. Emily Tecchio spoke in support of the proposal, on behalf of the Mendocino County Fire Safe Council. “Something we have noted, as an organization, is that water for fire suppression is a huge need, and something that is pretty difficult to fund through other various mechanisms,” she told the Board. “So we hope that is considered as well.” Volunteer firefighters were on hand to make a case for their allocation, if the voters approve the tax. Dave Latoof is Chief of the Mendocino Volunteer Fire Department and current president of the Mendocino County Fire Chiefs' Association. “They know I'm here,” he announced. He expects that most of the voters in his fire district, which straddles the Fourth and Fifth supervisorial districts on the coast, would support a tax that helps fund firefighters. “Please consider a generous amount to fire services,” he urged the Board. “Fire is very popular right now in this county. I think you can ride on that popularity, along with the water…you can't fight fire without water, but all the water in the world won't do any good without firefighters.” Gjerde cautioned that there are voters who will oppose the initiative, saying, “I probably have voted against a few taxes, but probably pretty rarely…when it takes a two-thirds, the person who votes no has twice the voting power as the person who votes yes.” The Board agreed that Supervisor Ted Williams will work with staff to flesh out the particulars of allocating the tax to fire, while McGourty will take on the details about water. An initial draft of the item will return to the full board on June 8th.
May 5, 2022 — During a third-quarter budget workshop this week, the Board of Supervisors hashed out where to make cuts in a county budget with significant projected shortfalls and very little information about the cannabis department. While county staff estimates that $6.8 million in cannabis tax revenue has been uncollected, the cannabis department was one of three that has not yet turned in its projections. Another installment of cannabis taxes is due at the end of May. The combined health plan deficit for this year and last year is $6.2 million. The Executive Office presented an operational budget that would have been balanced if not for that deficit, and asked supervisors to decide where to make adjustments. Interim CEO Darcie Antle summarized the basic cuts she was seeking. “We're looking for $3.3 million,” she said. “And if you close the museum, that reduces it, and then if you don't fund the parks at $1.6 (million), that would reduce the $3.3 (million) even further. So at that point, you're down to needing an additional $2 million, and so then we sort through these other items as you would like.” The museum, which costs over half a million dollars a year to run and brings in $20,000, appears to have been spared. Even if it were closed, preserving artifacts and maintaining the building would continue to incur costs. Supervisor Dan Gjerde offered some suggestions for adding more money to the museum's coffers, like tapping those who have donated artifacts for monetary donations, or offering the option of contributing to an endowment. He noted that he found it “a bit radical” to cut the museum, but that, “I think we do need to have, as a full Board, a better understanding of what the long-term strategy is for the museum.” Supervisors also considered cutting parks, which would entail laying off staff. Supervisor Maureen Mulheren laid out the quandary regarding the parks, saying, “It's my understanding, from having served on the ad hoc and then bringing that item back twice to this Board, that there were no parks that we wanted to close. So if we don't find a way to fund them, they have to be closed. We can't have it both ways.” General Services Agency Director Janelle Rau said her department is asking for $4.8 million for parks over the next three years, based on a needs assessment of the parks and what it would take to restore them to a safe condition. She said the county's more than sixty parks have been fiscally neglected since the 1980's. Bower Park in Gualala is currently closed due to a number of hazard trees. Supervisors discussed other funding mechanisms, like special districts and assessing which parks could bring in revenue by offering concessions. But parks are unlikely to generate revenue for the county. Half a dozen departments are projected to come in more than $100,000 over their net county cost assignments, with the sheriff in the lead at $1.4 million. Antle told the board that the county reserve, which includes designated funds, comes out to $20 million. She added that an ideal reserve would be three months' worth of county expenditures, which would be $48 million. The one-time American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA funds, are likely to be used for a variety of purposes, from parks to funding the sheriff's hiring bonuses and backfilling the District Attorney's budget. Deputy CEO Sarah Pierce told the board about plans for the $16.8 million award, which was intended to alleviate the long-term impacts of the pandemic for hard-hit communities. The county has already obligated $4.8 million, leaving about $12 million. “Of that $12 million, ten can be used on county core services, and then the remaining can be used on staffing to pre-covid levels, and parks is an eligible expense,” she said. Mulheren asked her colleagues if they would consider setting aside some of the ARPA money for grants to community organizations, and Gjerde said he would only support that if it were divided among the five supervisorial districts. Supervisor John Haschak suggested using some for community health workers, but the board did not give direction on either suggestion. Antle told Haschak that the only other possible source of revenue is the cannabis tax, some of which is not yet due. “At this point, we have met with all the departments, per your request on the 19th,” she said. “And the departments that I mentioned, which is a couple of handfuls, were able to come back with some money. At this time, there are no areas that we are aware of that could be reduced. The only other is if the cannabis revenue does come in,” by May 31st. Supervisor Ted Williams summarized his view of a few budget scenarios, saying that, after cutting $1.5 million from parks, the county would need to cut $2 million from its budget if it does use ARPA funds, and $7 million if it does not. And he said it's time to stop relying on cannabis tax. “This strikes me as a structural deficit,” he said. “I don't see this as a one-time. We were living on cannabis revenue, average about $5 million a year. That game is over. Cannabis is now in the legal market, where the price will just be set by marginal revenue intersecting with marginal cost, in a county ordinance that only allows 10,000 square feet, figure 28 grams per square foot, at declining market price. That revenue is not coming back. And so the past couple of years we've lived on revenue that we should have treated as one-time, but instead it's been used to augment the county for staffing. This coming year we don't have that revenue. We're probably not going to have it again.”
April 6, 2022 — As the county faces the possibility of a multi-million dollar shortfall, the Board of Supervisors gave the go-ahead to the assessor's office to devise a program to assess taxes — but not penalties, on unpermitted structures that are not currently on the tax rolls. The Board also approved a program to grant hiring bonuses up to $20,000 for the sheriff's department. Supervisors agreed to amend the local tobacco retail ordinance to expand the prohibition on flavored tobacco products to include menthol cigarettes. And residents on three miles each of Spy Rock and Bell Springs Road can expect chip seal over the next five years, rather than dust-off. Supervisor Ted Williams, who sponsored the item about updating the tax rolls, invited Redhawk Pallesen to share his research into properties that have been assessed far below value and which he believes are shortchanging the county's coffers. Pallesen said he had used publicly available data to calculate that approximately 3,000 homes in the county are unpermitted. “Using current tax rates, this means that there's about fifteen million dollars annually in lost revenue for the county,” he reported. Palleson said the census, which requires a physical address, only counted two of the approximately thirty homes on his road. He then expanded the search to about a mile and a half of his property, which he reported resulted in 47 unpermitted residences, 39 of which included unpermitted cannabis operations. He did not include other improvements that would have enhanced the assessed value of the property. Assessor/clerk/recorder Katrina Bartolomie told the board that her office does not share its findings with Planning and Building, and that adding structures to the tax rolls would not trigger code enforcement action due to a lack of permits. She also stated that her office would only use a satellite system if it was impossible to gain information about the property any other way. Ron Edwards was skeptical. “I really need to call foul on this one,” he said, pointing out the lack of any attachments to the presentation that would have provided some detail in writing to the public. “This really should be an education program,” he went on, adding that many people don't realize that their ability to finance their property is dependent on the structures being legal. “You know, you are opening this up, with the cannabis program, to see what the unintended consequences are when you go down this road. And it's just going to be horrendous.” The board agreed to ask Bartolomie and the Executive Office to come up with a plan to assess the properties and collect taxes on them, but, as Bartolomie noted, “We can't move forward on this at all until we have staffing.” Bartolomie has had one applicant for the position of assessor's aide, and is trying to bring up her clerical staff, as well. The sheriff's office is also attempting to solve its staffing shortage. Pending a formal meet and confer with the county's labor negotiator, the board agreed to allow Sheriff Matt Kendall to offer a $7,000 signing bonus to recruits who paid their own way through the police academy, and a $20,000 bonus to full-fledged law enforcement professionals coming into the department from another agency. Kendall told the board that he recently lost a deputy who left the department for higher pay elsewhere. He told Supervisor Dan Gjerde that an initial meeting with law enforcement groups indicated that the view of his proposal was favorable. “If we approve this, is this going to create morale problems?” Gjerde asked, wondering if long-time deputies would resent newcomers for getting a bonus while they get nothing extra. Kendall told him that his undersheriff had met with the Deputy Sheriffs Association and the Law Enforcement Managers Association and was told that “they were not upset about it, because it would help them get their days off.” If the proposal meets the approval of the labor negotiator, Kendall will try to attract more deputies and report back to the board in a year. Sheriff's deputies will be authorized to enforce the amended tobacco retail ordinance, which is cracking down on flavored tobacco, including menthol cigarettes. The tobacco prevention program of Public Health is also working with the cities to ban flavored cigarettes, citing studies that prove flavors increase addiction among young people. Supervisor Maureen Mulheren supported the amendment, but said she thought it didn't go quite far enough to solve the problem. “We are not focusing enough on the reasons why people choose to smoke in the first place,” she said, raising the issue of people using substances to alleviate depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems. She also pointed out that it's possible to order tobacco products online, and that neighboring counties do not ban menthol. “WIthout a united front, people can simply go to another location to purchase products,” she said. But, in views of an anticipated federal ban on menthol, she concluded, “Hopefully that will help solve some of the problem of crossing jurisdictional lines.” Williams supported the amendment, too, though he said he shared some of Mulheren's concerns and hoped she would help clarify how to report outcomes. “You look at countries that have decriminalized drugs and you see a drop in drug use,” he mused, acknowledging that, “The difference is street drugs aren't backed by advertising and marketing firms that you see in corporate tobacco. So it's not completely apples to apples. But I would like to track to see what positive effect do we see from this change. Where is it falling short, and what are the logical next steps, based on those findings?”
March 2, 2022 — With local mask mandates set to expire by March fifteenth, the Board of Supervisors is preparing to hear an agenda item about opening meetings to the public. And the board took the first step in diversifying its retirement investments, by agreeing to work up a resolution to start investing some of the county's five million dollar pension fund with Public Agency Retirement Services, a multiple employer trust that supervisors believe will give them more flexibility than the funds that are in the Mendocino County Employees Retirement Association, or MCERA, which includes retired employees of the court and cemetery districts as well as the county. The board also voted to increase County Counsel Christian Curtis' compensation and benefits by an estimated 32%, to $327,000 per year and promote him from interim to serving County Counsel. He has been in the interim role since Katharine Elliott's departure in 2019. A newly created grant-writing division will likely play a large part in a program to secure funding to build housing in communities that want it, especially workforce housing. Supervisors agreed with Planning and Building staff, who asserted that, even more than general plan amendments, the county needs to build out infrastructure for multiple users, especially for water and sewer, if it hopes to accommodate growing housing needs. The Board voted to adopt a resolution recommending social distancing for public meetings, which means zoom, but only after agreeing to revisit the matter with a presentation by public health officer Dr. Andy Coren at a meeting in two weeks. Supervisor John Haschak broached the issue, saying, “It's time to open the chambers.” The item will be on the agenda on March 15. Supervisors Dan Gjerde and John Haschak agreed to serve on an ad hoc committee to work on the details of the investment with PARS, or Public Agency Retirement Services. Gjerde believes that the new service will give the county more control and more benefits from its pension fund than it now enjoys with MCERA, which includes other organizations.
© 2020-2025 Ivy Podcast Discovery LLC
