Honest and accurate reporting by the Mendocino Beacon

By Zoe Yudice, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., @MendocinoBeacon on Twitter

As election time is nearing, the Charter Project of Mendocino has encountered some opposition to the charter initiative, particularly from The Employers Council of Mendocino County, which has raised concerns about costs and the potential outcomes of the charter form of local government.

In February, the Charter Project gained enough signatures to place Measure W on the June ballots, which asks voters: shall a charter commission be elected to propose a Mendocino County Charter?

From the start, the Charter Project have been centering their campaign on what can be written into the charter including stopping ‘illegal foreclosures,’ strengthening of local environmental ordinances and, one of their main focuses, creating a county bank.

This has led to a lot of discussion about the feasibility and costs of these issues. It has even prompted the Board of Supervisors to approve an informal cost analysis of the impact of a charter county initiative.

“We had to change our messaging a little bit because we realized that we weren’t in a position to campaign for any of these issues,” explained Doug McKenty, member of the Charter Project of Mendocino County, “We don’t have a business plan, and we don’t have a feasibility study. We can’t campaign on that, and it is premature anyway because we don’t even know who the charter commissioners will be.”

Measure W is not about what is going into the charter, but about giving the charter commission the opportunity to write a charter, at which point commissioners will be looking at what the people want to see included and the cost and feasibility of these issues, explained McKenty.

“We should just be talking about the process of the charter and the pros and cons of home rule and that is it because that is all that Measure W is about. All the rest of the conversation is hypothetical,” said Doug.

With the passage of Measure W, Mendocino County would go from a general law county to a charter county, which would allow Mendocino County to write and adopt its own charter under the California Constitution, defining the power and functions of elected officials, as well as the organization and procedure of local government.

Once the charter is approved by the voters and ratified by the Secretary of State then whatever is in the charter becomes equivalent to state law, as long as it doesn’t conflict with California law. This differs from a general-law county which is considered a sub-division of the state – and any amendments to the charter will have to be approved by the voters.

“We can break away from the one-size-fits-all format and we can write something that works for our community. It is more specific for the needs of the community here instead of using a blue print that the state gives you, which is the general law county, and because Mendocino County will be legally its own individual we can make more of our own choices that will stand up in court or other negotiations with the state or with corporations because corporations are also charters,” said McKenty.

If Measure W passes, the charter commission will then begin the task of writing the charter, and once drafted it will be brought before the voters for approval.

“This is about giving us a chance. It is not the final word. You will get a chance to vote later, and that will be the real debate. Right now there is nothing to be afraid of because there is nothing there. It is just an empty box,” said McKenty.

Another issue raised by The Employers Council of Mendocino Council is the cost of associated with forming and managing a charter commission.

According to McKenty and Wyner, all research and time spent on drafting a charter will be conducted by the charter commission hopefully with some help from county counsel.

“The concerns about expense are really off the mark in the sense that expenses aren’t necessarily there. All the commissioners are volunteers, they already have the rooms for us to meet and they already have the county counsel, who is being paid anyway,” said Keith Wyner, member of the Charter Project.

Once the commission has drafted the charter, the commission also plans to avoid the $100,000 that could incur from holding a special election for voter approval by aiming to get the charter on the ballot during a normal election.

“We want to protect the county. We don’t want to have extra expenses for the county,” said Wyner.

Mendocino Beacon article about Measure W

Fiscal Impact of Measure W from the County CEO

 The first thing to understand about this fiscal analysis is that it is written by someone who has a lot to lose.  Those whose job descriptions could be rewritten by a charter, like CEO and BoS, aren't going to risk having that power taken from them.

The bulk of the low-ball estimate of costs to the county for Measure W is in the estimated of hours for services of the County Counsel at $246/hr. and county administrative staff at $333/hr.  Both County Counsel and county administrative staff get paid the same monthly salary no matter what they do.  They are our public servants.  How much does Democracy cost?

It also makes assumptions about how many voters will want copies of the entire charter once, in the future, it will be ready for the ballot. 

 The medium estimate includes a small travel stipend to the Charter Commissioners, hiring expensive outside consultants and 10X more of the County Counsel's time at $246/hr. all at the discretion of the Board of Supervisors.

The highball estimate is just in the case the county has to step in and micro-manage the charter drafting process.  One wonders what would authorize that sort of intervention?  The Board of Supervisors can legally submit their own competing charter. 

It also assumes it will be in a Special Election, which alone costs $100,000-$150,000.  Although GC § 23710 says it has to be a Special Election, GC § 23712 says it can be either a General or a Special Election. 

Additionally, it adds in the cost of a minimum of 25 community meeting at $100/each; that would be lovely.  And another 50% more of County Counsel's time. And some very generous benefits for the Charter Commissioners including up to $500 in incidental expenses per meeting, $thousands for space rental, and per diem meals for Commissioners.  No wonder its so high! 

LTE by Mary Zellachild in the Willits News

Opinion: For charter county

For a charter county

To the editor,

Many people ask proponents of Measure W what’s the purpose of a charter and why we want Mendocino to become a charter county. Those are fair questions.

The dictionary defines a charter as a document granting certain specified rights, powers, privileges, or functions from the sovereign power of a state to an individual, corporation, city, or other unit of local organization.

Looking back through history, one of the most famous charters was the Magna Carta, which established for the first time that the king, as well as everybody else, was subject to the law. That particular charter in 1215 was a compact to settle grievances between the English barons and King John. Although most of the text was rewritten within 10 years, the principle that the ruling power can’t ignore the raised voice of the people has remained.

So what meaning does that piece of history have for us today as we come up to the June election? For me, it’s a good example of the way things change over time, and the necessity for finding new solutions as new situations arise. What doesn’t change is that it’s always up to the People to claim and reclaim their right to have a say in the way they are governed.

It’s important to note that voting for Measure W does not create a charter. It’s just a statement that we would like Mendocino to become California’s 15th charter county. On the same ballot we can vote for the 15 people who will become charter commissioners and write a draft charter which will be voted on by the citizens of Mendocino County in a future election.

After being elected, the charter commissioners will gather input from people all over the county as to what they would like to have included in the charter. Legally, a charter can include all provisions not in conflict with the State’s Constitution. And once the charter is passed, these provisions have the same force and effect of legislative enactments.

Voting Yes on Measure W is a recognition that Mendocino is a unique county with its own specific needs that aren’t necessarily being served as a one-size-fits-all general law county. Voting yes will help open the door to participatory democracy.

Mary Zellachild

Willits

LTE in Willits News, May 13, 2016

Interview with candidates Keith Wyner & Doug McKenty

Skip Taube with Naturally Mendocino interviews 2 charter commission candidates on Mendocino TV on April 16.