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ANTERIORMENTE: ¿La Oficina del Sheriff está en línea para recibir una subvención de seis cifras de una organización liderada por… el Sheriff?

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La Junta de Supervisores del Condado de Humboldt tuvo muchas preguntas esta mañana para el Sheriff William F. Honsal, pero finalmente, con un voto de 4-1, aprobaron la solicitud de su oficina para aceptar una subvención de $334,615 y crear dos nuevos puestos de trabajo como parte de una campaña regional en curso para combatir la trata de personas.

Como se señaló en una publicación de ayer, la subvención está siendo otorgada a nuestro justo condado por una organización sin fines de lucro llamada Northern California Coalition to Safeguard Communities (NCCSC), cuyo presidente no es otro que Honsal. (El 1 de agosto escribió una carta de felicitación a su propia oficina, informando que su solicitud de financiamiento había sido aprobada.)

La coalición (compuesta por los condados de Humboldt, Mendocino, Lake, Trinity y Siskiyou) recibe el 100 por ciento de su financiamiento de la Howard G. Buffet Foundation a través de otra organización sin fines de lucro, The Center to Combat Human Trafficking, que, a su vez, está financiada por el multimillonario inversor Warren Buffett (padre de Howard).

La subvención se colocó originalmente en la lista de consentimiento de la semana pasada, donde podría haber sido aprobada como parte de una lista de ítems sin una discusión o deliberación específica, pero la Supervisora del Cuarto Distrito, Natalie Arroyo, pidió que se retirara. Dado que Honsal no estaba disponible para comparecer en persona la semana pasada, la discusión tuvo lugar hoy.

En un informe informativo a la junta, Honsal ofreció contexto sobre los problemas de trata de personas en la región, explicando que los agricultores de marihuana del mercado negro a menudo transportan trabajadores migrantes en masa para trabajar en sus operaciones de cultivo. El drástico colapso en los precios de la marihuana ha hecho que la industria se parezca más a otras agriculturas en California, con cultivadores trayendo gente para cuidar sus jardines.

“Y muchas veces,” dijo Honsal, “estas son personas indocumentadas … gente de naciones extranjeras que está viniendo y trabajando en estas granjas.”

En otras palabras, están siendo traficados. 

“Creemos que son víctimas de crimen,” dijo Honsal.

La NCCSC se formó en 2022, y la coalición ha permitido a las agencias de aplicación de la ley participantes contratar técnicos de evidencia y civiles que puedan entrevistar a víctimas sospechosas de trata que puedan tener miedo de hablar con la policía. Este año, Honsal solicitó un oficial de información pública de tiempo completo y un coordinador de programa de tiempo completo para ayudar a la coalición.

La subvención también pagará por capacitación y equipo, una campaña de relaciones públicas sobre la trata de personas y software informático de la empresa israelí de tecnología forense móvil Cellebrite, cuya tecnología para desbloquear teléfonos ha atraído controversia por problemas de derechos humanos y privacidad.

Honsal dijo que su oficina ya utiliza el software de Cellebrite, al igual que otras agencias del condado y del estado. “Es una herramienta forense… ,” dijo. “Podemos confiscar teléfonos en el lugar que creemos que están asociados con actividades delictivas y luego traerlos de vuelta a nuestro departamento… y extraer el software de ellos.”

Pero aseguró a los supervisores que su oficina se asegura de no violar los derechos de la Cuarta Enmienda que los protege de registros y confiscaciones no razonables.

“We don’t act without a search warrant or consent or someone who’s on probation,” he said. 

“We can’t use the Cellebrite [software] we already have for this?” First District Supervisor Rex Bohn asked. 

Honsal explained that the newly requested software would allow his department to take this phone-cracking tech out into the field, potentially assisting investigations that stem from search warrants issued in other participating counties.

Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell asked what will happen once this grant runs out. Honsal said that the grantee has guaranteed five years of funding, with just two in the books. “So these positions are guaranteed for the next three years,” he said, adding that he hopes to show results that will convince the funders to pony up for two decades or more.

Arroyo voiced concern about adding temporary grant-funded positions to the county payroll during the current hiring freeze. “I would prefer to see those positions filled within the nonprofit structure,” she said.

Third District Supervisor Mike Wilson agreed, noting that while these positions may be grant-funded for the next three years, that won’t cover all the county’s costs. “[W]e do take on a retirement burden that’s ongoing,” along with contractual obligations for layoffs, he said.

Honsal said this type of arrangement is not uncommon and argued that since the program coordinator will be working in a law enforcement capacity, dealing with sensitive and confidential information, they must be employed by his office.

“There’s no other way that we’re going to do this, and there’s no other way that we can do this within our county with our current budget,” Honsal said.

Wilson had a lot of other concerns, including protecting immigrant victims of human trafficking from deportation and convincing other counties in our region to embrace the legal marketplace rather than continuing a prohibition model that jacks up black market profits. 

Honsal assured him that the coalition isn’t focused on illegal immigration, and he said the cultivators they go after aren’t interested in joining the legal marketplace.

“These people are straight criminals that are growing out there,” he said. “You ask anyone that’s in the business: It is more profitable to be illegal, okay? It is way more profitable to be illegal. And so people are choosing that path because they want profits, and they’ll take the risk.”

Wilson said that was his point, but he didn’t press the issue. 

Bohn kept his inquiry brief. He said this coalition serves as a tool to help protect Humboldt County’s legal market, so regarding this latest request, “Is it going to help?”

“Yes, it will,” Honsal replied.

“You got my answer,” Bohn said.

Arroyo explained that she would be voting “no” due to her procedural concerns about adding staff positions at this point in the budget cycle. The rest of the board voted in favor, thereby approving the item.

In an emailed response to questions from the Outpost, Honsal explained that the Howard G. Buffet Foundation is responsible for reviewing grant proposal applications and awarding funds, adding that all five participating counties in the coalition were polled to determine their needs.

The NCCSC’s board of directors — which is made up of the sheriffs from each participating county, with Humboldt County DA Stacey Eads nominated to join them — voted Honsal in as president, he said.

In 2021, the Center to Combat Human Trafficking donated a pickup truck to each of five Northern California counties “as part of a collective effort to combat human trafficking in the Northern California region,” as the staff report put it at the time.

We asked Honsal to respond to an anonymous tip we received alleging that he has been driving the truck donated to Humboldt — a Ford F250 4x4 crew cab valued at $51,454, plus around $20,000 in aftermarket upgrades — as his commuter vehicle.

“I currently drive the truck as my Sheriff Assigned Vehicle,” he replied. “The Truck is not my personal vehicle. I only use it for business associated with being Sheriff.  It has a radio, emergency lights, siren and specialized equipment. It replaced another Government vehicle I was driving.”

State claws back cannabis grant money

Coming back after a closed session hearing and a lunch break, Planning and Building Director John Ford gave the board some bad news: Thanks to a recent audit of the California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC), Humboldt County will have to return somewhere between $3 million and $5 million in grant money to the state.

Sounding deeply annoyed, Ford explained how we got here. Back in 2021, the state allocated $90 million to help cannabis farmers transition from provisional to annual licenses. Humboldt County’s portion, based on the number of license holders and equity applicants, was $18.6 million.

Ford’s department proposed using that money to address impacts related to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), specifically water and energy usage, in part by allocating $3.5 million to conduct watershed studies.

“This was discussed up front with the DCC, and the county was encouraged to proceed,” Ford said. “The grant agreement with the DCC was clear that this money would be allocated to both provisional license holders and annual license holders.”

However, a state audit of the DCC’s program found that the agency was allocating funds in a way that was inconsistent with the original purpose of the $90 million investment — namely, moving growers from provisional to annual status. During the state’s 20-month audit, Humboldt County was ordered to stop allocating money. 

A state auditor spent a week here in Humboldt’s Planning and Building Department, “going through every single grantee, through every permit,” Ford said. “A significant amount of county staff time was expended explaining the rationale for the way the county program was structured, and the county provided many examples of permit conditions that required water storage and required applicants to move away from generators.”

But Ford said the explanations seemed to fall on deaf ears, and as a result of the audit the DCC was required to change its agreement with the county to specify that money could only be granted to people with provisional licenses.

“The net result is that the county will not … be able to spend all the money that was allocated, because we do not have that many provisional license holders,” Ford said, later adding, “I know this is not great news, but it is what it is.”

The board members expressed disappointment.

“I think it’s really unfortunate that the DCC chose to do this,” Fifth District Supervisor Steve Madrone said. He noted that it’s always been his philosophy to reward the people who’ve succeeded in acquiring their annual licenses, but that now won’t be possible with these funds.

Arroyo and Wilson Madrone asked if there were other ways to spend the money, rather than returning it — perhaps by hiring consultants, creating guidance documents or allocating funds to the Sanctuary Forest.

Ford said there’s no such wiggle room in how to spend the money. He and his staff “thought we were being maybe a little bit creative, but really appropriate” in directing funds toward addressing cumulative environmental impacts, without strictly delineating between provisional and annual license holders.

“I want to be kind with my words, but trying to explain that to an auditor is impossible,” Ford lamented. The $3.5 million allocated for watershed studies was also deemed ineligible. 

The board asked about the potential for using the remaining funds to support storage and forbearance projects, which have been a focus of organizations such as Sanctuary Forest and the Salmonid Restoration Federation. But Ford again reiterated the constraints of the grant agreement.

Responding to suggestions from Madrone to advocate for the efficacy of supporting annual license holders, Ford said, “It’s been a painful amount of time that we’ve spent on this, supervisor. It really has.”

Odds and ends

• Bohn read a lengthy resolution recognizing the work of the Child Welfare Services Division of the Department of Health & Human Services. Bohn lauded them for operating 24/7 without fanfare, and for submitting timely court reports, among other work. The board and a number of public speakers also thanked CWS workers for their dedication. “We see you, we love you, and we thank you for all your hard work,” Madrone said.
• The board unanimously appointed Whitethorn resident Jeff Hildreth to the Shelter Cove Resort Improvement District.
• The board read retirement resolutions for both Mark Lamers, who spent 16 years with the Department of Health & Human Services, and Delia Garcia, for her “22 years of exemplary service to the county and the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office.”
• Also, the board honored the retirement of someone who never worked a day for county government: former Coast Central Credit Union President and CEO Jim Sessa. The organization’s CFO and incoming president, Fred Moore, offered a few words of commendation for Sessa’s legacy.