"The biggest challenge from public perpective is that this is important work but not sexy work."

 

(Photo: John Chiv)

I have been wanting to interview Humboldt County Auditor Mychal Evenson for a while. Due to our schedules, the interview kept getting postponed.

 Today, before leaving for a conference, Mychal was kind enough to meet me for coffee. I also decided to take the time out from my weekend.

I wanted to feature Mychal because just like Humboldt County County Clerk, Recorder and Registrar of Voters Juan Cervantes, he is part of Humboldt County leadership from a younger generation and just like Juan, I have received positive feedback from County and community members about their professionalism and kudos from people from a range of political views. 

The adage, no news is good news, certainly applies to the Humboldt County Auditor-Controller since Mychal has been in charge and that is a positive development.

Most local people who read and keep informed know that the external auditors 2024 report was better than previous years. 

"We are getting things caught up and improving more incrementally," said Mychal. 

"This is what I see myself doing for the rest of the career;  serving the people of Humboldt County."

Mychal grew up in Eureka and except for one year in Portland, home for Mychal has always been Humboldt County.

He has the financial skills, so why public service? "There are times I have been in private sector that I was put in a position where my personal ethics went against profit motive." Mychal said he was not going to name or call out any of his former employers. 

"Public service is ethics first. I protect 600 million dollars in taxpayer money. I am the last line of defense to make sure taxpayer money is used appropriately."

"The biggest challenge from public perpective is that this is important work but not sexy work."

While we have a secure office, people can come in the lobby. People don't have reason to come see the auditor controller, especially when we are doing our job well."

"I would have liked someone to run against me for democracy, but running unopposed is great."

This response was to my observation that Juan, Mychael, Fourth District Supervisor Natalie Arroyo and Treasurer Tax Collector Amy Christensen are all incumbents running unopposed. This was a similar response I got from Juan. It is refreshing to see elected officials believe in the democratic process and not be entitled about their position.

The Auditor Controller's Office "interacts with every County Department but spend more time with DHHS and HCSO because they are larger departments. We train every department on how things work."

"My role, which I jokingly call an elected bureaucrat is that leadership shields people from individual exposure. I have a phenomenal team. They are great."

Another similarity between Mychal and Juan is that Juan also praises his team. We need more bosses like Mychal and Juan. This is also the perfect opportunity to commend Open Door's Tony Starr and Kathleen Moxon for top down leadership which is reflected in their employees and customer service. 

**If you enjoyed this interview; support my work through ads, subscriptions, contributions. I would like to feature more positive coverage which is needed just as much as my watchdog and investigative journalism **