The Unaccounted Use of Nevada County Staff Time for Measure V

On May 18, 2023 I met with Elena Gagnie, CPA, in the Auditor-Controller’s Office and inquired as to the total costs of putting Measure V on the ballot. She said the Auditor-Controller’s office was unaware of any expenditures having to do with the Measure V Sales Tax Initiative. Subsequently, Gina Wills, our new Auditor-Controller, said she would look into it.

Beginning in late August of 2022, Measure V program manager and assistant CEO, Caleb Dardick, and Board of Supervisors Administrative Analyst, Carissa Binkley, trained and scheduled County staff to give ‘educational’ presentations on Measure V. 

County staff, designated as the ‘Measure V Team,’ should have accounted for their hours on this special project. The total hours in staff time for project Measure V is unknown since the CEO’s office did not think it was necessary to track costs.

Furthermore, Dardick, Binkley, and Craig Griesbach (OES Director) knowingly coordinated some of the Measure V Team ‘educational’ presentations with the Yes on V Committee, further proving that the County was actively advocating a yes vote on Measure V instead of being impartial.

Of additional interest is the August 27, 2022 email from Alison Lehman to Supervisor Ed Scofield.

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Alison Lehman wrote:

“Hi Ed;

I see Terry (Terry McAteer, chair of the Yes on V Committee) is using your work email for Measure V. Can you please send him your personal email for campaign work?”

Thanks, Alison  

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This directive by CEO Lehman reflects a deliberate attempt to conceal public business from the public by using personal emails and phones. It is only one example of the way Measure V was orchestrated by the CEO’s office. Lehman and Dardick wanted to conceal the fact they helped set up and were working closely with the Yes on V Committee with the intent to secure a yes vote.

CEO Lehman and Dardick, in tandem with OES Director Craig Griesbach, spent unbudgeted General Funds on Measure V related expenses and staff time. They then concealed expenses and staff time in OES ‘Supplies and Services’ and ’Salaries & Benefits’ budget line items so they would not be caught by the Auditor-Controller’s Office. 

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The Board of Supervisors were also aware of the use of General Funds for the tax measure. General Funds were not ‘publicly allocated’ for the sales tax initiative in the Adopted Budgets 2021-22 & 2022-23. Education was the rationale used for dedicating OES staff to ‘educate’ on Measure V, but there was nothing in the OES Budget that referred to education on a sales tax measure.

This is what the OES Budget does say. “Expand the reach of our Nevada County community education campaign by continuing targeted and collaborative countywide outreach around all hazards readiness.”

As evidenced in the following emails, there were agreements by Dardick, Griesbach, and Tillotsen to forgo logging in staff hours for their training time, educational presentations, and other Measure V related tasks. All this was known by County Counsel, Kit Elliot, and Chief Financial Officer, Martin Polt.

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From: Trisha Tillotson (Community Development Agency Director)
Sent: Tuesday, October 11, 2022 
To: Alicia Chaturvedula, Caleb Dardick 
Subject: Measure V PCN

Hello Alicia and Caleb,

Is there an established PCN for Measure V work? We have some staff spending quite a bit of time on the measure.

Thanks, Trisha

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From: Caleb Dardick 
Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2022 
To: Trisha Tillotson <Trisha. Tillotson, Alicia Chaturvedula
Subject: RE: Measure V PCN

Trish,

I don't believe anyone is billing to this project. I prepared a Measure V budget at Alison’s request that was approved by the budget subcommittee and billed to OES’ Ready Nevada Co budget. This has been for external expenses such as consultants and direct mail. Please let me know more about how this is impacting CDA beyond your time which I appreciate has been sizable over the past two years.

Thanks, Caleb

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From: Trisha Tillotson
Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2022 
To: Alicia Chaturvedula 
Cc: Caleb Dardick, Kit Elliott, (County Counsel)

Subject: FW: Measure V PCN

Hi Alicia,

Are you aware of any budget issues with staff who have been participating in Measure V activities? Primarily, Alex working with Erica (in OES) has spent significant time on the measure. FYI- some staff have been asked from the public if the county is tracking staff time on the measure.

Thanks,

Trisha 

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From: Marcia Salter 
Sent: Monday, October 17, 2022 
To: Caleb Dardick 
Subject: Tracking Direct Time and Expenses on Measure V Info

Hi Caleb

Was a PCN (s) established for tracking all costs related to the Measure V? I am hoping so, but wanted to confirm.

Thank you

Marcia L. Salter, Auditor-Controller

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From: Martin Polt
To: Elise Strickler
Cc: Caleb Dardick
Subject: PCN for Measure V

Date: Monday, October 17, 2022 

Good morning Elise,

I don’t see that IGS/OES is using PCN to track Measure V costs (neither direct expenses like Godbe, etc…, nor staffing/timesheet coding)

If you can, confirm that you are not using PC to track time or other expenses? Or if you are, what PCs are you using?- Martin

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From: Martin Polt
To: Caleb Dardick
Subject: RE: Tracking Direct Time and Expenses on Measure V Info
Date: Monday, October 17, 2022

As far as I know, from my brief review, there are no Measure V PCs being used. There’s a Prepare for the Future PC in OES, but I don’t see any others that are easily identifiable, OES could be more definitive. - Martin Polt

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From: Caleb Dardick
To: Tricia Tillotson
Cc: Kit Elliott; Alicia Chaturvedula; Martin Polt; Elise Strickler; Steve Monaghan; Craig Griesbach

RE: Measure V PCN

Date: Thursday, October 20, 2022 

Trish,

To my knowledge, there was no plan to bill staff time to the pre-and post-placement work around Measure V. No one in the CEO’s office is tracking time to it, for example. All of the expenses for public education have been paid through OES.

Thanks Caleb

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The totaled invoices, by the Auditor-Controller, for direct expenses are $242,906.61. Project manager Dardick’s base salary is $175,000 per year. Unaccounted time for 16 staff working on Measure V related tasks can only be estimated. A conservative estimate for the cost of putting Measure V on the ballot might be between $400,000-$500,000, all from the General Fund and not in the Adopted Budget so the public would be aware.

How are our elected Supervisors going to see that these funds are returned to the public/General Fund, or are we just to assume its money lost and we will just have to forget about it? It seems there needs to be some accountability for misusing General Funds.

I will leave it up to the reader to draw their own conclusions and vote accordingly.