Former Mendocino County Supervisor Glenn McGourty denies having seen a confidential memo to him from District Attorney David Eyster that is the focus of pending civil and criminal litigation surrounding suspended county Auditor Chamise Cubbison.
Glenn McGourty (Contributed)A copy of the memo, sent from a private Eyster email account, is on file with Mendocino County Superior Court. It is addressed to McGourty and was written by the DA on Aug. 30, 2021.
McGourty over the weekend insisted he never saw the memo. Court documents show former county CEO Carmel Angelo distributed it to senior staff. They also show that supporting information Eyster attached to the memo was formally included in the packet distributed to the board members for review. The private cover letter to McGourty was not, however.
“Maybe it went to spam,” suggested McGourty about an email he insisted he never saw.
In a follow-up Monday to further questions, McGourty said, “I don’t recall seeing it.”
McGourty also denied that he ever had any discussion with Eyster or Angelo prior to the board’s vote Aug. 31, 2021, to block Cubbison’s appointment as interim auditor.
“I had no discussion with him or Carmel,” said McGourty.
Mendocino County District Attorney David Eyster (Contributed)Before the 2021 vote, DA Eyster took the extraordinary step of appearing before county supervisors and publicly denouncing Cubbison, citing his office’s past run-ins with her over expenses.
Eyster on the top of the memo copied to Angelo told her it was “confidential.”
“I am hoping this becomes public but I only saw it going to GM (Glenn McGourty),” noted Eyster.
Angelo in turn distributed the memo to her top assistant, Darcie Antle (now CEO) and Janelle Rau, then the county’s General Services Director.
In his three-page memo addressed to McGourty, Eyster directly asked him to vote no on a recommendation to the board that Cubbison be appointed as interim auditor. Retiring Auditor Lloyd Weer had recommended the appointment to the board.
After seeking McGourty’s no vote, Eyster then outlined a three-step plan to force the merger of the county’s two key finance offices and eventually eliminate the positions of elected officials who led them. Eyster said a newly created county Department of Finance director could then be put under board control. Voter approval of such a position would be needed but the merger could be ordered by a vote of county supervisors, who later did so.
A San Francisco law firm representing Cubbison has cited the Eyster memo as evidence she was denied due process after county supervisors quickly suspended her without pay and benefits following the DA charging her with a felony in October 2023.
Attorney Therese Cannata contends the memo shows Eyster and board members colluded as far back as two years earlier to oust Cubbison because of her questioning of the DA’s spending, and her criticism of a board push behind the scenes to consolidate the county’s two top finance offices.
“Unbeknownst to Ms. Cubbison or the general public at that time, Eyster had sent a cover email from his private email account to a board member enclosing the packet (of his office complaints) that became part of the meeting agenda,” stated attorney Cannata in a Jan. 10 court filing.
Last week the disputed memo surfaced as a line of questioning in ongoing criminal proceedings against Cubbison and former Payroll Manager Paula June Kennedy, who are accused by Eyster of felony misappropriation of county funds. Cubbison is alleged to have knowingly allowed Kennedy to collect about $68,000 in extra pay during the Covid pandemic.
Cubbison contends the extra pay deal was struck between Kennedy and former Auditor Weer when he was still in charge of the office. Kennedy contends that both Weer and Cubbison were aware of her use of an obscure pay code to collect the extra pay. Kennedy at the time was a salaried employee entitled only to compensatory time off, which she had exhausted.
County supervisors suggested the CEO’s Office uncovered the payments but in fact it was Cubbison who triggered a law enforcement investigation in August 2022. Cubbison then “duly reported” to the County Counsel’s Office that Kennedy intended to quit and sue the county because she had racked up 390 hours of uncompensated time while singlehandedly putting out a twice-monthly county payroll for 1,200 employees.
Civil attorney Cannata declared that “the District Attorney seized the moment as the personal step in his personal vendetta against Ms. Cubbison by making sure that the investigation pointed” to the elected auditor.
The preliminary hearing in the criminal case resumes Tuesday morning before Judge Ann Moorman in Superior Court.
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