Chamise Cubbison had been charged with misappropriation of public funds involving money paid to a former payroll manager. A judge dismissed the case Tuesday.
Mendocino County Auditor Chamise Cubbison returned to work Wednesday, one day after a judge dismissed felony charges against her and a former subordinate accused of misusing $68,000 in public funds, her attorney said.
The ruling followed a preliminary hearing that shed light on the case’s key figure: overworked and underpaid payroll manager Paula Kennedy, who had used an obscure pay code to collect compensation.
On Tuesday, Mendocino County Judge Ann Moorman determined Kennedy had received permission from county officials to use the code and she had properly documented the payments. Cubbison, meanwhile, was unaware of the arrangement and acted appropriately by flagging concerns when she discovered discrepancies.
Cubbison’s attorney, Chris Andrian, of Santa Rosa-based Andrian & Gallenson, said a critical breakthrough came last week when investigators recovered long-lost emails and records from a collapsed county email archival system.
“There was total transparency,” Andrian said Thursday.
Mendocino County CEO Darcie Antle and special counsel Traci Carrillo, who prosecuted the case, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Carrillo reportedly said she respected Moorman’s ruling, emphasizing the importance of preliminary hearings in assessing cases and evidence.
Despite being cleared of wrongdoing, Cubbison is still battling to secure backpay after being suspended in October 2023, following the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office’s decision to file charges. Andrian said she is owed about $247,900 but returned to work to fulfill her duties as an elected official.
“That was her job. She fought for it. She got elected,” Andrian said.
Mendocino County’s official website on Thursday did not show Cubbison on duty; it still listed Sara Pierce as the acting auditor-controller and treasurer-tax collector.
Beyond the legal case, the matter exposed a long-standing rift between Cubbison and Mendocino County District Attorney David Eyster, whose opposition to her appointment as auditor dates back to 2021.
Eyster had argued she was unqualified for the role after former Auditor-Controller Lloyd Weer retired. Their tensions reportedly escalated after Cubbison, then assistant auditor-controller, refused to use public asset forfeiture funds — which come from assets such as cash, vehicles or property seized by law enforcement, typically in connection with criminal activity — to reimburse the DA’s Office for office holiday parties at Redwood Valley’s Broiler Steak House in 2018 and 2019.
Testimony revealed that Eyster later proposed restructuring the county’s financial leadership, consolidating the Auditor-Controller and Treasurer-Tax Collector positions under a single Department of Finance overseen by county supervisors. Despite this, Cubbison ran unopposed in June 2022 and was elected to the newly merged role.
Given their contentious history, Cubbison sought to have Eyster removed from the case, arguing he was biased against her. However, in a Dec. 12 opinion, the California Attorney General’s Office found insufficient evidence of a conflict. A Mendocino County judge also denied a defense motion for Eyster’s recusal.
Nonetheless, Eyster later appointed Carrillo to handle the case, which ended in dismissal this week.
You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at [email protected]. On Twitter @colin_atagi
