Eighty percent of the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors (clockwise from top left): Natalie Arroyo, Mike Wilson, Rex Bohn and Michelle Bushnell. | Screenshots from Tuesday’s meeting.

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PREVIOUSY

The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors today adopted a revised “Code of Conduct, Ethics and Rules,” and it did so unanimously — sort of.

Fifth District Supervisor Steve Madrone was out sick today and thus could not cast a vote, but his support was more or less implied given his role in crafting the new policy. He and Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell developed the revised rules themselves as the ad hoc committee assigned to the task in March.

However, as County Administrative Officer Elishia Hayes was introducing the item for board deliberation, she made a surprise announcement.

“Supervisor Madrone is sick today, but he did share with me yesterday that, upon further consideration, he is withdrawing his support for the policy in the current form,” she said. “But he did still feel it was appropriate for the item to move forward and for your board to provide feedback on the content as it’s presented today.”

Bushnell was thrown for a loop. Last time she’d discussed the matter with Madrone, a week ago, he’d been “very satisfied” with the finished product, “so this statement that he has made today [via Hayes] is a bit of a shock to me,” Bushnell said.

The impetus to revise the code of conduct came from Bushnell herself. In November 2025, following a sustained allegation that she’d mistreated two county employees, she was unanimously censured by her board colleagues and removed from her position as chair.

Bushnell disagreed with the findings of an internal investigation of the incident and argued that her due process rights had been infringed upon. She suggested asking the Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury to weigh in (a request that was submitted but has not been granted), and she hired a private attorney who challenged the county’s process for handling complaints about supervisors.

Bushnell later said that she would never vote to censure a fellow member of the board, and she argued that complaints about supervisor conduct should be handled by an outside mediator rather than a committee comprising county staff (namely, the county administrative officer, human resources director and county counsel).

Ultimately, she and Madrone were appointed to review the board’s Code of Conduct, Ethics and Rules and return with their recommended revisions. Those recommendations, presented today, included:

  • Moving the complaint review process away from county staff and assigning it instead to outside legal counsel, which will decide whether allegations warrant investigation, oversee any investigative process and recommend informal resolution when appropriate, all while preserving confidentiality.
  • Clarifying the recusal policy such that any supervisor who’s the subject of a misconduct allegation will make their own decision about whether to recuse themselves from participating in any related board action.
  • Revising the procedures that follow sustained findings so that, rather than automatically bringing investigative findings before the board for public discussion, initial Board action would be limited to receiving and filing an executive summary on the consent calendar. Any consideration of censure or other board action would occur later, through a separately agendized item.
  • Adding a provision that authorizes the county to offer mediation when both the complainant and the involved supervisor agree.

Bushnell said she wasn’t sure how best to proceed given Madrone’s unexplained disavowal of the proposed revisions. First District Supervisor Rex Bohn said he was likewise hesitant to move forward. He said he sometimes feels that the complaint and investigation process can be used “as a weapon rather than a learning tool,” and he lamented not knowing why Madrone “decided to jump off the horse in the middle of the stream.”

Forging ahead, Third District Supervisor and Board Chair Mike Wilson said he thinks the suggested revisions are improvements over the old policy, though he has some concerns about the new policy’s procedure for resolving tie votes. 

Fourth District Supervisor Natalie Arroyo likewise expressed support for the revisions, though she voiced worry about the expense of hiring outside attorneys to resolve complaints even in cases where the allegations might be frivolous or outlandish, “like if someone is like, ‘I was, you know, abducted in a UFO by Supervisor Wilson.’” 

Bushnell sought to allay their concerns. She pointed to a provision for resolving two-two ties and said an outside attorney could be given guidance about dismissing absurd complaints without charging “a ton of money.”

Bohn, who was the subject of a confirmed allegation of misconduct earlier this year (following a complaint filed by Madrone), reiterated his argument that the process is sometimes weaponized for political purposes. He then embarked on a bit of unprompted self-reflection:

“Do I say inappropriate things? Hell yes. Do I say things you shouldn’t be saying? But I’ve been saying them for 65 years, since I was seven years old, so I apologize for that. I didn’t change who I was. Am I offensive? Am I vile towards people? I don’t believe so. And I think that that’s been proven over and over and again.”

Bohn suggested finding a good code of conduct policy from some other county or agency and just copying it, but he added that he was willing to vote for what was before them today.

Following public comment, which was minimal, Bushnell made a motion to adopt the revised policy. Arroyo seconded the motion. Before the vote, Wilson chimed in with a bit of advice, saying, “The best way for us to limit our exposure to these expenses is to try and conduct ourselves in a way that is in accordance with the code of conduct.”

“I’ll try my best,” Bohn remarked before voting “yes.” The other three supervisors in attendance also voted in favor, so the motion passed 4-0.

Odds and ends

  • Earlier in the meeting, Bushnell offered a progress report for another ad hoc committee she’s serving on (this one with Arroyo): the one drafting recommendations concerning the proposed citizen oversight of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office. The committee is “making headway,” having consulted with the Eureka Police Department, Sheriff William Honsal and others, but they need a bit more time, Bushnell said. Originally tasked with bringing something to the board by September, the committee is now aiming for October “to have a really good product to bring forward,” Arroyo said.
  • In closed session, the board was scheduled to give county negotiators the authority to consummate the $5.75 million purchase of the old Kmart property on Broadway in Eureka. Regular public speaker Kent Sawatzky suggested that the property will wind up being “a money pit” given the alleged fact that A.I. will soon take over many jobs and there will be “no need for physical spaces.”
  • The public comment of the day may have come from Thomas Mulder, Bushnell’s former appointee to the Humboldt County Planning Commission and a perpetually aggrieved cannabis farmer. Criticizing the board for over-regulating, he said, “I feel like in Humboldt County, eventually, if you need to fart or think you’re going to need to fart, you might got to get a permit first.”