Hi I’m Mo Mulheren, the Second District Supervisor. Each week I issue a written report about some of the projects I’m working on and the meetings I attend. This is not a comprehensive list of my activities but meant to give you some ideas about topics that I am working on that might be of interest to you.
I went to the B2 Stakeholders meeting via Zoom. There weren’t many agencies present but Sage let me discuss the trash program. For those of you that haven’t read the other updates we have begun a homeless trash program where we are able to hav folks bag the trash from their campsite and leave it at selected locations so we can pick it up and take it to the transfer station. Also B2 is Building Bridges, they have been hosting these meetings since they opened the emergency winter shelter. I try to attend if I don’t have conflicting meetings.
I had my Mendocino County Water Agency Interview with GEI the consultants that were hired to work out a plan for the water agency. I think collaboration and being able to leverage the State and County dollars should be a focus. We need to look at consolidation, water storage and efficient uses of our water rights. There will be more about this so please make sure you follow my Facebook page for updates.
I attended the virtual County of Mendocino Cannabis Program Update. I heard many times how it was the best meeting we’ve had yet. Kristen our Cannabis Program Director was able to address some of the frequently asked questions that have come up. I highly recommend you use Canna Notes on the Mendocino County webpage to sign up as well to learn more about what is coming up next. Here is the link to sign up.
Every Thursday morning I start my day with Coffee and Conversation. Although I was on the road so I was in a Target parking lot. We had a good conversation about County Boards and Commissions, Cannabis and communication. You are always welcome to join me on Zoom. Thursday mornings at 7:15a to 7:45am Meeting ID 7079548230 Password LOCAL707
We had what will be our last Monthly Parks Ad Hoc Committee Meeting. The presentation will come to the Board sometime in March. Spoiler alert we don’t have enough money. So the Board will have to talk about prioritization and how important our parks are to our community. I’ll post more info about the agenda item when it gets closer.
I visited the Willits Rotary virtual lunch meeting to talk about the Homeless trash pick up program and if they might be interested getting something similar started in Willits.
I am the alternate on the Ukiah Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency. This week I didn’t have any conflicting meetings so I went to listen in. They chose West Yost to do the Administrative Services. I work with them on the Russian River Watershed Association I think they will do a good job for the agency. Larry Walker and Associates received feedback from the Board on the First Annual Report Implementation of the Groundwater Sustainability Plan. I’ll share more information as reports become available. These are good first steps in gathering data on water availability.
On Friday morning I attended the Leadership Mendocino meeting. I graduated last year and really love this program. It’s always interesting to talk about this job a year in to it. I certainly see things differently from the inside now that I’m a Supe. Increased transparency and collaboration remain top goals. The Board is trying to do new things and I love any opportunity to talk to people about getting out of our comfort zones. Their debate topic for their meeting was the Great Redwood Trail. That’s one project that before I was on the City Council I didn’t really understand the need or how it would work in Ukiah. Now that it is a piece of a much bigger picture its a great opportunity to create something that’s going to work for our unique community.
I had lunch with Senator McGuire. We talked about his new role in the Senate, how my first year was going and of course the importance of collaboration with the State and Counties. No one understands this more than McGuire. He’s really worked his way up through the ranks. The North Coast is lucky to have him.
On Saturday morning I was able to clean up with Noble Wadelich our Ukiah Chief of Police and Joe Dishman. We tackled a large mound of trash on Brush Street. It was a combination of trash from homeless folks and people dumping off trash. I have a photo on my Facebook but it turned out to be 2,880 lbs of trash. I was so grateful that Chief Wadelich brought his personal pick up and dump trailer to help haul it off. I am going by on a more regular basis to make sure that it stays free of trash.
This year I chose to attend the NACO Conference Virtually.
Here is the link to the NACO News website so you can read all of the articles about the conference but here are some of the sessions that I attended. https://www.naco.org/news
The focus of the Sunday morning Rural Action Caucus Meeting- operating and maintenance costs of electric vehicles is lower but the cost to buy one is more expensive and there are concerns about the ability to provide the infrastructure needed to support the movement towards electric vehicles. Lots of discussion about how Federal funding to build out infrastructure is going to be critical to Electric Vehicle priorities.
While I was listening to a conversation on the Opioid epidemic one speaker was discussing our lack of discussion about Addiction sets our communities up for failure and there is currently studies of a test that will let you know if you are at high risk for addiction so you can consider that before taking pain killers. I wonder if that will help people make more informed medical decisions.
I also attended the webinars; The Power of the Arts: Arts as an Economic Driver, General Session - US House of Reps Nancy Pelosi ,
Implementing Local Infrastructure Investments, General Session - President Biden
As always this is not a complete list of the work I’ve done this week or the meetings I’ve attended. This is just a conversation starter. If you want to know more please reach out via email MulherenM@MendocinoCounty.Org or text me at 707-391-3664.
Have an amazing day!
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