October 23, 2019 — The Board of Supervisors approved three-year agreements with four more employee bargaining units at its last meeting, allowing a 3% cost of living adjustment and increased pay, bringing more county workers to within 90% of the market rate determined by a recent wage analysis.
The recipients are largely law enforcement, though the Mendocino County Management Association also benefits from yesterday’s action, which is expected to cost $5 million this year and $6 million for each of the next two years. The other three units are the probation employees, represented by Teamsters Local 856, the Mendocino County Law Enforcement Association, and the Deputy Sheriff’s Association.
The County Management Association’s memorandum of understanding includes a provision stating that its members will not engage in, authorize or sanction a strike, stoppage of work, or withdrawal of services during the term of the agreement. For its part, the county will not lock out employees during the term of the memorandum of understanding.
In another item, Aaron Hult, senior inspector with the Mendocino County Agriculture Department, told the board he saw no legal reason not to include cannabis in the 2019 crop report. In 1979, when ag commissioner Ted Eriksen included cannabis in the crop report, he received a formal reprimand from the State Senate and orders to remove the offending page from every copy of the document.
But on September 5, 2019, the governor approved SB 657, which added cannabis reporting the business and professions code. It states that county ag commissioners may report to the Secretary of Food and Agriculture on the condition, acreage, production and value of cannabis produced in that commissioner’s county under state and local licenses.