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PREVIOUSLY

• Bohn Says Misconduct Complaint Against Him Was Filed by Fellow Supervisor Steve Madrone; Bohn is Not Participating in the Investigation

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A third-party investigation into alleged misconduct by Humboldt County First District Supervisor Rex Bohn has sustained the accusations, and the full board is scheduled to discuss the matter on Tuesday.

An executive summary of the investigation says all interviewed witnesses agree that Bohn “acted in a disrespectful and aggressive manner toward County employees, which included the use of profanity” during a virtual ad hoc committee meeting last June.

As previously reported, the June 24 ad hoc committee meeting was called to discuss the county’s Tobacco Retail Licensing (TRL) Ordinance, and the complaint — which Bohn says was submitted by his fellow supervisor, Steve Madrone — says, “this meeting was initiated by Supervisor Bohn to lobby for an acquaintance of his.”

This particular acquaintance was in the process of selling 30 or more Chevron gas stations in Northern California and was convinced that the new ordinance would “cost him to lose his tobacco sale license for 3 stations in Humboldt County,” the complaint says.

All of the county employees who participated in the meeting felt that Bohn had scheduled it in hopes of pressuring them into quickly creating a waiver or amendment allowing his friend to transfer all of his tobacco retail licenses upon sale of the stations, the report summary says. (This topic came up again at last Tuesday’s board meeting.)

The investigation, which was performed by Kramer Workplace Investigations, sustains the allegation that Bohn “used an intense tone, an elevated voice, and exhibited body language that indicated he was frustrated, angry, and/or irritated with County employees for failing to take action regarding a waiver or amendment to the Tobacco Retail License” during that meeting.

Bohn himself refused to take part in the investigation because he considered the allegations baseless and reasoned that staying out of it would save the county money. A staff report says the investigation has cost $15,991 to date, with the money coming out of the county’s liability fund.

“It is expected that there will be additional invoices related to this matter; however, they have not yet been received by the county,” the staff report says. “This investigation will also cause the Liability charges for the Board of Supervisors budget to increase, by how much is unknown at this time.”

A voicemail left for Bohn this afternoon was not immediately returned, nor was a text message to Madrone.

On Tuesday, the board will consider whether or not to publicly censure Bohn for violating the board’s own Code of Conduct, which has been the subject of much debate in recent months. Second District Supervisor Michell Bushnell has pushed for changes to the complaints procedure after disagreeing with the results of an investigation into her own alleged misconduct last year.

That investigation sustained allegations that she mistreated two county employees, but Bushnell disputed the conclusion and hired a private attorney to represent her. The board has since asked the Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury to weigh in on the Code of Conduct complaints procedure.