Humboldt County and BOS have ignored Harland Law Firm's Allison Jackson to their detriment in the past; based on this letter, let's see what transparency is provided and if other local media have the guts to do investigative journalism and get answers to the public

 

I check the Board of Supervisors Agenda every week. I saw an item #3 under closed session and checked the attachment. This item involves Humboldt Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell.

Harland Law Firm hand delivered this letter on October 2, 2025 to Elishia Hayes, Humboldt County Administrative Officer;  Scott A. Miles - Interim Humboldt County Counsel and Zachary O'Hanen, Humboldt County Director of Human Resources.

Long before I did this blog and years before Harland Law Firm was one of my advertisers, I was active in the political and business community. I paid attention to issues I now investigate as media. The exemplary work Harland Law Firm has done for taxpayers of this County in the clients they chose to represent does not get enough attention. Humboldt County has ignored Harland Law Firm, specifically Ms. Allison Jackson, to their detriment in the past. 

I doubt Ms. Jackson or anyone from the County will comment on ongoing litigation. I did send an initial email this weekend to Ms. Jackson, the County and Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell.

I do not have time to link examples of my coverage of the County vs Ms. Jackson and Harland and my ongoing County coverage. For years, I covered the cost to taxpayers of lawsuits the County could have avoided and the cost of retaining outside counsel. This involves more than Harland Law Firm.

Just google Magney in the search box on my blog as one example. News I broke before any local media touched it and before it made national news.

I have added a second letter sent from Harland Law Firm to Liebert Cassidy Whitmore,the outside law firm hired by the County. 

I am highlighting this excerpt from the second letter.

"What is proposed is the scheduling of a public hearing without first affording Supervisor Bushnell the level of due process required by the State and Federal Constitutions, and based upon a decision influenced by County Counsel who cannot be both the advocate for the County and an impartial decision maker involving a subject matter for which his official duties, by definition, embroiled him in the events underlying the quasi-judicial decision County Counsel participated in as a decision maker.

 That Supervisor Bushnell has been denied the right to information required for the full preparation for the cross-examination of witnesses and presentation of evidence and arguments in rebuttal to these witnesses is an unacceptable denial of the constitutionally required due process. Failure to address these problems, as set forth above in my letter, will likely result in addressing them in Superior Court. It may be prudent for all involved to have a redo of the three-person panel referring the matter out and reviewing the entire complaint. It may also be prudent to fix the formal policies and procedures to avoid this problem in the future. And, since failure to address this problem results in potential litigation, it also seems prudent to bring the matter in closed session before the entire Board."

At 5:30 p.m. today, I received a response from Humboldt County Public Information Specialist Cati Gallardo.

"Hi John,

Thanks so much for checking in with us.

Regarding this subject, the county has followed the processes as outlined in the Code of Conduct adopted by the Board of Supervisors. Given this is a legal matter, and in order to respect the integrity of that process, the county will not discuss this topic further with the press at this time.

Liebert Cassidy Whitmore is representing the county in this matter, as noted in the agenda item’s attachment labeled “2025-10-20 Letter to LCW.”

Please feel free to reach out to me directly if you have additional questions or if you wish to place a CPRA request."

I responded, Thanks Cati. I will add your response to my post. I maybe submitting a CPRA in the future."

On Monday 10/27/25, I sent the following CPRA request to the County. "I am requesting a copy of the formal complaint filed against Humboldt County Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell.

There were letters posted on the Oct 26, 2026 agenda. Any other letters regarding Supervisor Bushnell from July 2025 to Oct 27, 2025 sent by the County, any Board of Supervisor, I am also requesting and any letter sent in that period by Liebert Cassidy Whitmore to Harland Law Firm's Ms. Allison Jackson."

I cced Ms. Jackson on that request.

10/27/25: Supervisor Bushnell did call me this morning. Both she and I have been busy all day and were only briefly able to talk. Tomorrow, this item the BOS meeting. The item was continued to Thursday for a special session. I did speak briefly with Supervisor Bushnell again on 10/30/25. I am waiting for the County's response to my PRA.