Lieutenant Andrew Porter testified Thursday in the preliminary hearing for Paula Kennedy, Mendocino County’s former payroll manager, and Chamise Cubbison, the former auditor-controller and treasurer-tax collector. Both are accused of criminal misappropriation of funds related to unauthorized overtime payments.
Porter recounted interviews he conducted with Kennedy in September 2022 as part of an investigation by the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office. The investigation focused on payments Kennedy allegedly made to herself between September 2019 and August 2022, using a 470 pay code designated for miscellaneous payments.
“She knew that she was exempt from overtime and that her compensatory time banks were full,” Porter testified, referring to a system allowing exempt employees to accrue time off in lieu of overtime pay.
Porter said Kennedy described her workload as “indentured servitude” and claimed Cubbison had authorized the use of the 470 pay code to increase her compensation. Porter also testified about a spreadsheet Kennedy kept to track the payments, which included notes such as “per Chamise and Lloyd” and “per Chamise/Lloyd.” These references, Porter explained, pointed to Cubbison and her former supervisor, Auditor-Controller Lloyd Weer.
“Miss Kennedy told me she was directed to keep the tracking spreadsheet by Miss Cubbison,” Porter said. He added that Kennedy recounted asking Cubbison “hundreds of times” to document or formally authorize the arrangement. “Now she’s denying that we had any of those conversations,” Kennedy allegedly told Porter.
According to court documents, Kennedy is accused of collecting $68,000 over three years using the 470 pay code. Cubbison is alleged to have approved the unauthorized payments in her supervisory capacity.
The preliminary hearing, held before Judge Ann Moorman in Department E, is scheduled to continue on Tuesday, January 28. At the conclusion of the hearing, Judge Moorman will rule on a motion to dismiss filed by the defense.
