Money for Lobbyists and Lawyers or for Fixing County Roads?
Mendocino County Supervisors Debate $500K to Inland Water & Power Commission
Should Mendocino County spend $500,000 on legal and lobbying work tied to the decommissioning of the Potter Valley Project — or put that money toward repairing roads?
Supervisors wrestled with that question at Tuesday’s board meeting after CEO Darcie Antle asked them to approve the expenditure with few details about how the funds, requested by the Inland Water and Power Commission and the Eel River Project Authority, would be used.
Antle’s recommendation came on the heels of a budget report showing the county will begin fiscal year 2026–27 with a deficit of at least $4.5 million.
“I would just like to know what the IWPC and ERPA want to do with that money before signing off on it,” Supervisor John Haschak said. “I hadn’t heard about this before.”
Supervisor Ted Williams said constituents have been urging the county to prioritize road repairs. He described the proposed allocation to the joint powers authority formed to manage Eel River water diversions after the Potter Valley Project’s decommissioning as unexpected.
“We don’t even know what it’s for at this point,” Williams said. He proposed reducing the allocation to $50,000 and directing the remaining $450,000 to roads.
Supervisor Mo Mulheren countered that the expense should not come as a surprise.
“If you look at any ERPA or IWPC meeting, you can see that legal expenses and future planning costs are mounting,” she said. “If the County of Mendocino wants to continue participating in those conversations, it needs to set money aside.”
In her report to the board on a recent Inland Water & Power Commission meeting, Supervisor Madeline Cline included a slide titled “Potential Prioritization for Future Work,” that mentioned funding lawyers and lobbying.
Haschak noted that the county is current on its $84,000 in dues to the commission, whose members include the City of Ukiah, the Mendocino County Russian River Flood Control and Water Conservation Improvement District, the Potter Valley Irrigation District and the Redwood Valley County Water District.
Despite the limited information about how the $500,000 would be spent, the board voted unanimously to approve the allocation. Supervisors also approved an additional $2.5 million for “risk,” $360,000 for Little River Airport, $300,000 for capital improvements, $250,000 for the Low Gap Landfill project and $100,000 for architectural design work on a new courthouse.