One of the agenda items on this Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting is sustained finding of violation of the Board of Supervisors Code of Conduct against Fifth District Supervisor Steve Madrone.
The investigation into alleged misconduct was initiated after a letter from the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria Tribal Council in December 2022 about Supervisor Madrone's conduct at a March 2022 meeting.
The staff report states "the leadership from the Trinidad Rancheria have communicated a desire to have Supervisor Madrone make a formal apology in an open meeting. Again, county personnel cannot compel such an action; however, in the interest of transparency between the County of Humboldt and the Trinidad Rancheria, this information is being provided to Supervisor Madrone and the Board for discussion."
Under alternatives to staff recommendations the staff report states, "Per the Board of Supervisors Code of Conduct, the action before your board is the only action that can be taken when there is a sustained finding. It would not be inappropriate for the Director of Human Resources, County Administrative Officer and County Counsel to recommend, either for or against, public censure of Supervisor Madrone, as this authority resides with the Board of Supervisors."
There are attachments online on this item you can read for yourself.
It will be interesting to see how other local media hailed now by both the so called conservatives and "right" in this County as well as the regular, dwindling groupies on the "left" cover this agenda item. Pay attention to other local media coverage who get the advertising dollars from Cher-Ae heights. The leadership from the Trinidad Rancheria employs and has connections to the Ryan Sundberg who lost his seat to Supervisor Madrone.The same "media" outlets also get County advertising dollars.
Certain local media who were pro Madrone in the past are now more like County apologists. Let's see if how the same local media covers this item compared to how they covered the Alan Bongio remark about tribes. The County has not disclosed who this "third party investigator" is in their attempt for "transparency."
A letter from June 7, 2022 about Supervisor Madrone was sent by Garth Sundberg.
In another letter dated December 13, 2022, Garth Sundberg writes, "Supervisor Madrone asserted that our Tribe has no ancestral territory because Rancherias do not have the same rights as “real tribes” and that Rancherias were established for landless homeless Indians who did not have rights to ancestral territory. He said, “just ask the Yurok Tribe”. Supervisor Madrone’s theory that the Tribe is not a “real tribe” and does not have any ancestral territory is without any basis in historical fact and has been expressly rejected by Congress and the courts. The Tribe submitted a letter to the Board of Supervisors dated, June 7, 2022 that outlined Supervisor Madrone’s inappropriate comments and discrimination towards Trinidad Rancheria (attached). In that letter, the Tribe requested that the Board of Supervisors take immediate and affirmative action to recognize and affirm the equal rights and status of all federally recognized Indian tribes. The Tribe is concerned that the Board of Supervisors has not responded to our letter or addressed this issue at a Board level. We feel that the Rancheria, Chairman, Vice-Chairman, and Staff as well as the entire Tribal Council are owed a formal apology regarding this matter and that formal steps must be taken to remedy this situation.
I was the first to report on the "Oriental" remark by Madrone in 2021. Other local media followed up.
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2021/05/hey-madrone-oriental-came-out-of-your.html?m=1
I cover equally. I have called out Rex Bohn, Ryan Dundberg, Natalie Arroyo, Virginia Bass, Michelle Bushnell and Steve Madrone when and while they have power. And I have and continue to pay the price for actual, independent journalism. Other local media covers when it is convenient and risk free. With Madrone not running for re-election, let's see how the other local media covers Madrone now now versus they did coverage on Madrone in the past when Ryan Sundberg was running.
Staff Report:
On December 13, 2022, the County Administrative Officer received a letter from the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria Tribal Council alleging misconduct by Fifth District Supervisor, Steve Madrone at a March 29, 2022 Project Development Team meeting.
The Committee convened quickly and determined that a formal investigation into whether violations of the Board of Supervisors Code of Conduct occurred was appropriate. The Director of Human Resources subsequently initiated an investigation with a neutral third-party investigator. The investigator completed the investigation and determined that the allegations were “unfounded in part, not sustained in part, and sustained in part.” The findings are summarized in the attached investigation summary.
Per the third-party investigator, a “Sustained” finding indicates that the investigation established that there was sufficient evidence to establish that the act occurred.
You can read all the attachments in the online.
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