"If you are not going to terminate him, leave him until next Friday when the 1.3 million check comes in"

The most exciting part of today's Board of Supervisor's meeting was public comment before the Board adjourned for closed session.

Public meeting enthusiast Kent Sawatsky spoke on all three items being discussed in close session.

The first item is considering appointment for the position of County Counsel. Mr. Sawatsky mentioned that the only person qualified in that office was Maggie Fleming "but she is going to be our DA." He also brought up that at a crucial meeting County Counsel was not present and if it had not been for a planning commission appointee by Supervisor Virginia Bass present at that meeting, the County could be facing litigation. He urged the County to hire someone who is not a "litigation magnet."

Regarding the performance evaluation of CAO Phillip Smith-Hanes, he said "If you are not going to terminate him, leave him until next Friday when I get confirmation of the 1.3 million check." This reference is to the post I did about the Oversight Board, Mark Lovelace.

About the County litigation against Robert McKee, Mr. Sawatsky said it should not have happened. " There are other people being affected."

He made a comment about"agendas" and the battle for control in Humboldt County politics. He used commercial marijuana growing as an example.

He called the people growing in the hills, the Hatfield's and the people growing in the lowlands, the McCoys. He clarified this later outside the chambers. Marijuana should be grown on agricultural land, not timber land "where fish, tree and nature need water."

No media was present to cover the meeting.