Despite total revenue for Mendocino County having increased 44.8% since fiscal year 2019-2020, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors have suggested County employees pay more for their healthcare and retirement – an overall pay cut that will further harm the County’s ability to apply a tourniquet to its staffing crisis. As County workers continue to escalate towards what could be the largest strike Mendocino County has seen in recent history, County workers picketed Tuesday, July 11, outside the courthouse to save county services.  

“Make no mistake, we love the work that we do,” said SEIU 1021 Mendocino County Chapter President Julie Beardsley, a senior public health analyst for the county. “That is precisely why we’ve come together to picket: We need to come together to save the services that our County’s families, children, and elders depend on.”

Beardsley and SEIU 1021 Executive Board Member A’Kesh Eidi gave speeches refuting the County’s claims that there is not enough potential revenue to justify a wage increase that would help the County push back on its staffing crisis. Indeed, millions of dollars of revenue have gone un-collected.

Mendocino County has a county-wide vacancy rate of 29%. Among the critical staffing shortages jeopardizing the health, safety, and well-being of county residents, including the most vulnerable, are:

• A nearly 40% vacancy rate in Family & Children’s Services — putting at-risk kids in danger;
• A 44% vacancy rate in Department of Transportation road crews, meaning our roads don’t get paved or repaired in a timely manner; and
• A 70% vacancy rate for mental health clinicians.