‘We are all targets.’ What happens to children whose parents are detained by ICE in Fresno County?
Around last November’s election, Nora Zaragoza-Yáñez and her husband worried about what would happen if they were detained by immigration enforcement officers and no one could care for their 6-year-old son.
Zaragoza-Yáñez said their concern stems from intensified racial profiling from immigration enforcement across the U.S. and from their own frontline work in immigration advocacy.
They began having conversations about a family preparedness plan, a set of actions and documents to ensure a family’s safety and well-being during an emergency, such as deportations.
“The current political climate has shown that people are being racially profiled and are up for grabs,” Zaragoza-Yáñez said. “It’s a scary thought where you’re racially profiled, taken abruptly, and violently by masked thugs.”
They specifically have a Caregiver’s Authorization Affidavit in place, a California legal form that allows a person, who is not the parent or legal guardian, to make temporary decisions for a minor child in their care.
A recent California law, called the Family Preparedness Act of 2025 (AB 495) makes it easier for families, particularly those with a risk of separation due to immigration enforcement, to have a Caregiver Authorization Affidavit to create a plan for child care.
Under their plan, Zaragoza-Yáñez’s parents would take in their son first. If they ever became unable to care for him, her siblings would step in and alternate responsibility.
“I highly encourage everyone to prepare for things that are in your control,” Zaragoza-Yáñez said. “It’s important for immigration advocates or attorneys or forward-facing people who offer these services to have one, we are all targets.”
What are the different options available for family preparedness plans?
As a program manager with Faith in the Valley’s Valley Watch Network, Zaragoza-Yáñez conducts English and Spanish presentations on family preparedness planning, helping parents think ahead about who will care for their children if they are detained or deported.
She advises parents to keep emergency contacts updated at their children’s schools and to ensure those contacts are people they trust so children don’t end up “in limbo.”
She explained that a family preparedness plan can take several forms, including a verbal agreement with a potential caregiver, a caregiver’s affidavit, or establishing legal guardianship.
Families are encouraged to formally designate a caregiver by completing a caregiver’s affidavit, as it gives that person legal authority to make certain medical and school-related decisions.
She noted that California’s recent law expands who can serve as an authorized caregiver to include trusted neighbors or friends, which benefits families without relatives nearby.
The law also increases privacy safeguards in schools and childcare settings by limiting the collection or sharing of immigration-related information and requiring updated state guidance on handling immigration enforcement.
Zaragoza-Yáñez said the affidavit helps preserve parental rights and offers options if a parent is deported—whether they want their children reunited with them abroad or to remain in the U.S. under a permanent arrangement. In those situations, Faith in the Valley connects families with family law attorneys who can help establish guardianship or other legal protections.
For families seeking guidance, Zaragoza-Yáñez recommends the Immigrant Legal Resource Center’s planning guide, which outlines childcare options, important documents to gather, emergency contact information, and checklists to organize medical, educational, and identification records. She also urges parents to keep their children’s school records updated with their chosen caregiver and preparedness plans.
Pricilla Ramos, project manager for advocacy and community organizing at the Education and Leadership Foundation, said concerns about enforcement have long been present in Fresno and surface frequently in conversations with schools and district leaders.
She said the first step is having difficult conversations with families about the possibility of separation which includes preparing essential documents and speaking with legal service providers to understand possible immigration options.
While organizations can provide basic templates, Ramos said the strength of a family preparedness plan comes from tailoring it to each family’s circumstances, since “not every family is a one-size-fits-all.”
She added that there are also guides explaining what to do if immigration enforcement knocks on the door, how to respond when shown a warrant, what steps to take if detained, and which documents to store securely.
What happens if both parents are detained and there’s not a trusted adult to care for their child in Fresno County?
When a parent in Fresno County is detained by immigration authorities, the county’s child welfare system is not automatically involved, said Kim Smith, deputy director of Child Welfare at Fresno County Department of Social Services.
Their involvement begins when a call comes into the care line, known as the county’s Child Protected Services hotline. Each call is screened based on the information provided, and staff may offer guidance or resources. If the report includes allegations of abuse, neglect, or a caretaker’s absence, it can trigger an investigation.
In those situations, a social worker evaluates whether a parent’s detention has left a child without someone to care for them. The aim, Smith said, is to follow whatever preparedness plan the family already has in place, such as arranging for a relative to care for the child.
Smith said Fresno County is already largely aligned with the intent of California’s new AB 495, since the county’s approach prioritizes keeping families together.
When a child comes to the county’s attention and a caretaker is missing, staff first look to create a plan at the most basic level with relatives. The county already helps families develop care plans and works with 13 Neighborhood Resource Centers to ensure they can access support.
“It will reduce the need for child welfare involvement by expanding caregiver authorization,” Smith said. “It gives families access and encourages parents to identify trusted caregivers and make proactive plans that preserve family connections.”
If no relatives or close family friends can be identified, the county places children in approved resource family homes, supervised by the child-welfare agency and operated by a qualifying “resource family,” and then works with those homes to offer children stability.
Maintaining educational and emotional stability, Smith added, is key to minimizing trauma. The department partners with local education agencies, probation, behavioral health, and regional centers to ensure that children can stay in their schools and communities.
“Keeping a kid connected to community, school, and family helps with their mental wellness,” Smith said. “Our number one goal is to prevent children from entering care whenever possible and to maintain family connections.”
Jennifer Podkul, chief of global policy and advocacy at Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), said the organization sees a growing number of children enter deportation proceedings on their own, either after being apprehended at the border or picked up within the U.S. Once detained, they’re classified as “unaccompanied minors” and given individual deportation cases, a process that often takes years.
After apprehension, Podkul explained, children are sent to federal shelters while the government searches for an adult sponsor, typically a parent, relative, or family friend, who agrees to care for them during their case. Once placed with a caregiver, KIND provides legal assistance and social services, including access to food, clothing, and mental health support, especially given the trauma many children have experienced.
The new California law helps mixed-status families plan for emergencies, but Podkul emphasized that children already in proceedings are facing fast-changing federal policies.
She described policies shifting daily, from President Donald Trump’s administration offering $2,500 to some unaccompanied minors to “voluntarily” self-deport to tightening legal access and renewing detention. ICE has increasingly detained children following routine hearings or incidental enforcement encounters and transferred them to government shelters, resulting in about 600 detentions so far this year, according to reporting by Propublica.
Increasingly, KIND’s Fresno office is seeing children who were already living with family being redetained and kept in federal custody until deportation, a shift she described as a “path of exit” rather than a path to protection. This constant flux, Podkul said, has fueled confusion nationwide about how to support immigrant children.
“Every day there’s something new,” Podkul said. “One day we get an email saying there’s a new directive: now we’re offering kids money if they go back; now we’re taking away their lawyers; now we’re putting them back in federal custody. It’s constant.”
For Podkul, the most urgent concern is the “gravity of the unknown.” Without centralized tracking, she said, no one knows how many children are being separated from their parents.
How does family separation affect a child’s mental health?
First Five Fresno County’s executive director Fabiola González and early childhood initiatives director Hannah Norman said the current climate of immigration enforcement has parents reconsidering school, child care, and other services to protect their children, which could compound early trauma.
They emphasized that the first five years of life are critical: About 90% of a child’s brain develops during this period, and early trauma—like separation from a parent—can shift a child’s brain from learning to survival mode.
Norman explained that children cannot comprehend the legal complexities of a parent’s detention, only the loss of a trusted caregiver, which can create trauma that carries into adulthood.
“We are trying to support all of the efforts that we know are wrapped around that child’s first five years, to make sure that they show up to school ready to learn, and anything that gets in the way of a safe, healthy environment,” González said.
They said that the organization focuses on filling gaps in early childhood care and promoting awareness of toxic stress, which can have lifelong mental and physical health effects. This includes investments in home visitation, parent-child programs, and other supports to mitigate the impacts of toxic stress and family separation.
Jason Williams, founder of Fresno-based Brain Wise Solutions, said his nonprofit focuses on training organizations to better serve families affected by trauma. His own organization grew out of his experience working in child protective services and local nonprofits, where he saw a critical need for trauma-informed practices.
For organizations serving immigrant communities, Williams said the training emphasizes how trauma can shape decision-making and relationships.
Brain Wise trains nonprofit staff to create safe, welcoming environments for clients before asking them to navigate complex systems, teaching how trauma from detention or family separation can put parents and children into survival mode. Workshops and ongoing support cover neuroscience, coping strategies, and practical approaches for working with clients under stress.
Williams said building and rebuilding trust is a central part of the training. Organizations are taught to follow through on promises, maintain consistency, and strengthen family and community ties, which can prevent children from entering foster care or unsafe situations.
“The easiest way for organizations to do that is to avoid making empty promises and to keep the promises they do make—it can be as simple as showing up,” Williams said. “Many immigrant families already don’t trust institutions like the court system or the police, so whenever we say something and don’t follow through, it erodes trust that is already very difficult to maintain.”
Williams said his organization also advises staff on supporting bilingual and multilingual needs, recognizing that children are more likely to form trusting relationships when cared for in their native language.
Through this approach, Brain Wise Solutions equips nonprofits to serve immigrant families with compassion and understanding, helping children navigate trauma and supporting organizations in creating safer, more responsive environments.
Fresnoland’s practical guide on how families can prepare for potential separation is available here.
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Washington’s financial disruption means fewer teachers for Monterey County’s migrant students
By George B. Sánchez-Tello Monterey County migrant education needs someone to work in Castroville. A full-time job earning up to $31.62 an hour, work starts at 5 a.m., visiting bus stops, parking lots and work sites, like the agricultural fields that connect much of Monterey County. On the weekend, that person might visit flea markets, […]
Interactive mapping tool helps tell the story of California’s Tribal resistance
The damming of California’s rivers has been hugely consequential to the economic, cultural and ecological geography of the North State. Here in Shasta County, the erection of the Shasta Dam has been lauded by the Bureau of Reclamation as a monumental feat of American engineering, generating local jobs and pivotal to “[benefiting] millions of people miles away,” by means of irrigation and power generation.
But like the construction of all hydroelectric dams in the area, someone paid the price. In the case of the Shasta Dam, it was a community of Winnenem Wintu whose village was flooded as the Sacramento River was dammed in the 1930s. Other Tribal communities were also forced from their homes with the development of hydroelectric dams in the adjacent counties which straddle the ancestral homelands of the Wintu, Pit River, and Maidu Tribes.
But in the years since the initial dispossession from their land, first by the federal government’s illegal confiscation and then by flooding, the Indigenous peoples of the North State have frequently challenged both their physical displacement and the ongoing extraction of resources from that land — the latter of which has often occurred at the hands of the power industry.
Over recent years, researchers at the University of California have set out to document that long arc of Indigenous resistance in the North State through a series of interactive “StoryMaps” that are included in a larger corresponding curriculum for public use.
Carrying our Ancestors Home, is a California-focused educational tool first established at UCLA, which now features new multimedia StoryMaps focused on the history of what has become known as California’s North State. The StoryMaps combine written text, photos, videos, and links to readings that teach users about Indigenous resistance, leveraging primary sources and interviews with Tribal members themselves.
To visualize the history of Indigenous activism among the Maidu and Pit River nations, UC Davis scholars Beth Rose Middleton Manning and Marc Dadigan — who also freelances for Shasta Scout — mapped areas of the North State’s mountainous terrain that have been successfully reclaimed by Tribes after previously being held by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E).
Speaking to a reporter this week, Middleton described the scene of one of the team’s interviews with a member of the Pit River nation. It’s a moment that crystallized for the researcher the disparity between the use of land long stewarded by Tribal communities and the lack of benefit they’ve received from those infrastructural projects.
“We were standing out there with two Tribal members, and there’s power lines buzzing overhead, and these are from projects that were put in almost a century ago,” Middleton recalled. “But these Tribal members were never serviced by that power. They still aren’t.”
What the StoryMaps also lay out are the dubious means by which the state and federal government obtained Tribal land on which many hydroelectric dams exist today. In the 1850s, federal agents were deployed to Northern California to negotiate “treaties” with Tribes for millions of acres of reservation land that were to be allotted to Indigenous peoples. But many of those treaties were never ratified by the federal government, effectively disenfranchising Native signatories of their rights to the land in spite of the signed contracts.
“Where people thought they had some protected rights to land, those were actually lands that were opened up for settlement,” Middleton explained, noting that this was just one bureaucratic means by which California Tribes were displaced, a betrayal that occurred in conjunction with the state-sponsored genocide of Natives up and down the state.
Diving deep into the legal battles that ensued between Tribes, PG&E, and the federal government in the aftermath of Native dispossession, the StoryMaps focus on specific actions such as the Battle of Four Corners that occurred in 1970, when a group of Pit River Tribal Members engaged in occupation of federal lands, resulting in their violent arrests.
“Pit River people eventually developed a clever legal strategy with their attorney Aubrey Grossman, a veteran litigator of the civil rights movement,” narration from a StoryMap titled From Occupations to Land Back explains. “They would get arrested for ‘trespassing’ and force PG&E and the federal government to prove in court [that the government] actually had title to the lands.”
Other themes addressed in the StoryMaps include the Indigenous stewardship of the Maidu people, and how damming of the Klamath River not only severed their access to the land they once cared for but wrought immense ecological damage on populations of fish and beavers.
The text cites some of the Maidu’s precolonial and sustainable practices as relates to seed gathering and fish harvesting. When gathering roots, for example, Maidu people left enough seed for regenerating the plants in the next season, and, when fishing, they released fish who had yet to lay their eggs.
By platforming Tribal members to tell their own stories in their own voices as part of the StoryMaps, Middleton said, “we’re inviting people to look at these recordings and documents and think about what happened with treaty-making, with the development of hydro facilities, with the seizure of Native lands for both public and private purposes.”
Each StoryMap within the larger curriculum includes a series of reflection questions, with which students or anyone engaging with this resource can ask themselves about how this history still resonates today. “To me, that’s the essence of learning,” Middleton added, “looking at and listening to information, and then really thinking about it. That’s our goal.”
The curriculum was created for use by the University of California, but any member of the public can now access the material for use with a class, or on their own. Other topics covered in the curriculum include protection of the genetic data of Native communities, responsibly archiving Indigenous art and cultural objects, and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, which is designed to facilitate the recovery and return of Native ancestral remains to modern-day Tribal members.
Do you have a correction to share? Email us: editor@shastascout.org.
County recovers missing $700k from fraud attempt
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After an attempted fraud that appeared to have cost nearly $700,000, San Benito County has recovered the funds courtesy of Wells Fargo Bank.
According to county Supervisor Kollin Kosmicki, the money was officially back in the county’s account by the morning of Nov. 12.
Kosmicki thanked Wells Fargo for helping recover the funds, noting that losing them would have significantly impacted the county’s already tight finances.
The recovery was the result of weeks of email exchanges and constant communication between Wells Fargo and the county, County Treasurer Melinda Casillas said.
The fraud was first reported on Oct. 16 after the County Administrative Office announced an investigation into a $696,602 payment approved by the Auditor-Controller’s Office. Casillas raised the alarm the day before when she was alerted to a suspicious transaction.
Officials said the payment request came from someone posing as a contractor in a phishing scam, designed to trick victims into revealing sensitive information. That same day, Auditor-Controller Joe Paul Gonzalez released a statement saying the funds had been recovered.
But at a special meeting on Oct. 21, Casillas told the Board of Supervisors that Wells Fargo had reversed the reimbursement because the account that received the funds had been closed. She and Gonzalez told BenitoLink they are unclear about the bank’s process for returning the funds.
What Casillas said they did know was that on the morning of Nov. 10 a pending transaction appeared in the county’s account for the amount that was fraudulently taken; the next day the funds were posted; and the following day the bank verified the payment and closed the claim.
“I’d like to know myself,” Gonzalez said. “But the bank has its own internal processes.”
He added that Wells Fargo had said the investigation could take up to 90 days, but resolved the issue in less than a month.
During the Oct. 21 meeting, the board wrote a letter to the California State Controller’s Office asking for assistance.
Following a $360,000 county library embezzlement case which led to the sentencing of two former library employees last summer, the county requested proposals for an external audit to review internal financial controls and recommend reforms. The results of that process are expected to be announced at the board’s Nov. 18 meeting.
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Locals rally in San Benito County against Prop. 50
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Residents gathered at the corner of Hwy 25 and Tres Pinos Rd on Oct. 18 to oppose Proposition 50, the measure spearheaded by Gov. Gavin Newsom that would change California’s redistricting rules in an effort to counter Republican-led redistricting in red states.
Across social media, mailers and campaign signs, opposition to the measure is appearing throughout San Benito County. More than just an effort organized by the local Republican Party, it’s being supported by others who oppose the measure, local Republicans say.
“Prop 50 seems to be a unifying factor, but it’s definitely very organic,” Peter Hernandez, local business owner, former county supervisor and former Republican candidate for the 18th Congressional District said. “You don’t have the structural organization at the local levels, but you have passionate people who do believe in this.”
Prop. 50 is part of Democrats’ strategy to counter Republican attempts to preserve their majority in the House of Representatives after the 2026 elections. In August, President Donald Trump asked Texas Republicans to redraw their state’s congressional map so as to flip five seats in the 2026 midterm elections and keep their current majority—a move Texas Gov. Greg Abbott initially resisted but ultimately agreed to pursue.
Unlike Texas, where redistricting can be approved through the state legislature, any change to congressional district boundaries in California must be submitted to voters. So, state Democrats—led by Newsom—put Prop. 50 on the Nov. 4 ballot to offset Texas’ gains.
Former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has emerged as a prominent voice opposing the measure. A longtime supporter of independent redistricting, he backed the 2008 initiative that created the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, which has drawn the state’s maps for the past 15 years.
Currently in California, state and local redistricting occur every 10 years following U.S. census results.
Protecting that independence, Schwarzenegger says, is protecting democracy.
“What Texas is doing is wrong, but California doing the same thing in reverse isn’t the answer,” Schwarzenegger said in a mailer distributed across the county. “Californians are leaders in political reform. Our best defense to destructive politics is real transparency, accountability, and competition.”
Local Republican leader Robert Bernosky told BenitoLink that California should focus on its own challenges, rather than getting into national political fights.
“What Gov. Newsom is doing is using our state to oppose the president,” Bernosky said. “We have to worry about California and let others worry about themselves.”
State Democrats campaigning for a “Yes” vote say Prop 50 wouldn’t eliminate California’s independent redistricting commission. Instead, they say, it would only pause its work for five years until new maps are drawn after the 2030 census. Their stated goal is to flip enough congressional seats to push back against federal health care cuts that were mandated in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Local Republicans say that changing the maps midway through the decade violates California’s laws. “Basically it’s changing the rules midstream,” Hernandez said.
San Benito County Republican Party Secretary Celeste Toledo-Bocanegra told BenitoLink that with Prop. 50 Newsom is “disregarding the California Constitution.”
“When you give politicians power, they have problems giving it back,” Toledo-Bocanegra said. “Prop. 50 is a big power-grab.”
If approved, Prop 50 will change the congressional district to which San Benito County belongs. Since 2021, the county has been part of District 18, a seat Democrats have held for more than three decades. The district also contains parts of Santa Clara County, including Gilroy, Morgan Hill, and sections of San Jose, as well as parts of Monterey and Santa Cruz counties.
The new maps, while keeping these areas, would add Coalinga, Avenal and their surrounding rural areas, to District 18. Both areas, in Fresno and Kings counties respectively, lean more Republican.
To Hernandez, this change poses a threat to rural communities.
“Rural communities are increasingly being absorbed into urban districts, and Prop. 50 would only accelerate that,” Hernandez told BenitoLink. “This means the issues facing rural communities will be ignored, and rural voters will lose their voice.”
In contrast, Bernosky said he believes adding Coalinga and Avenal and their surrounding areas could end up benefitting local Republicans by adding more red votes to District 18, potentially bringing them closer to electing a Republican representative. But the overall outcome could backfire, as Republicans may lose five congressional seats statewide, dropping from nine to four.
“Yes, it could increase our chances of having a Republican representation in San Benito County,” he said. “But that doesn’t do any better. What’s better for San Benito County is to have more statewide Republican representation.”
For the remaining two weeks of campaign, Toledo-Bocanegra said she is going to call registered Republicans in the county to remind them to vote “No” and offer to pick up and submit ballots.
Related BenitoLink articles
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Thousands attend ‘No Kings’ protest in Redding to denounce the Trump administration
More than 3,000 people gathered in front of the Redding City Hall and along Cypress Avenue for a “No Kings” protest this morning.
The Oct. 18 event was just one of more than 2,600 organized across the country as part of a nationwide protest movement against the policies of the Trump administration. The estimated crowd count for the Redding event was provided by organizers.
The nationwide protests demonstrate that the United States “does not belong to kings, dictators, or tyrants,” and that the Trump administration has pushed past its constitutional power into authoritarianism, according to the No Kings website. The movement’s national organizers cited ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests, the rollback of environmental protections and redistricting efforts in red states, among other actions, as ways the Trump administration is abusing its power.
The Redding protest was filled with music, dancing and cheering, unique signs denouncing President Donald Trump and smiling people of all ages. In conversation, many of the protesters voiced frustrations about Trump’s handling of immigrants in the U.S. and how they feel he’s overstepping his bounds as president.
“As a king, you don’t care about your people. You care about maintaining power,” said Shannon McMahon, a Redding resident who attended the protest. “And right now, I see the administration doing everything they can to maintain power. They say they’re doing what the voters asked for. But I’ve talked to people who voted for Trump; this is not what they asked for.”
Allene Fultz said she was born and raised in Redding, and that she’s disappointed to see the Trump administration “spin America in such a hateful way.”
“He’s just turning this country into something that I never wanted it to be, and what a lot of people don’t want it to be,” she said. “He’s spinning it like everybody wants the same things he does, and it’s just not true.”
No visible counter-protesters attended the Redding rally today — but the No Kings protest movement has drawn criticism from Republican leaders, including Speaker Mike Johnson, who labeled the protest as a “hate America rally.” Several people at the Redding protest told Shasta Scout they don’t see it that way.
“We can disagree with what the current Trump administration is doing without hating America,” Shasta County resident Brian Erickson said. “We wish to make a strong and independent America. We wish to really focus on having the most rights for the citizens, not for the corporations.”
Similarly, McMahon said she doesn’t think attending the No Kings protest made her anti-American.
“I see what we’re doing as actually protecting my American patriotism, my right to have a country where I can vote,” she said. “I want money spent on protecting the environment, or I want money spent on having more refugees be able to come in and find shelter here.”
This was the second nationwide No Kings protest event held — the first was held on June 14, the same day Trump held a U.S. Army 250th anniversary military parade on his birthday in Washington, D.C. More than 1,600 people attended the Redding No Kings protest in June.
Redding resident Joe Adams said he was glad so many people attended the protest today.
“It’s easy to feel alone when you’re just looking at stuff online and feel isolated,” Adams said. “I got a little choked up walking in here, just seeing all the people out here and the signs and the things like that. There’s a little sense of, ‘There’s more than just me that doesn’t like what’s happening.’”
See more photos of the Redding No Kings protest below.
Do you have information or a correction to share? Email us: editor@shastascout.org.
Homeless woman and advocates address Ukiah City Council after encampment ordinance passes
UKIAH, CA., 10/17/25 —The Ukiah City Council on Wednesday gave final approval to an ordinance that follows updated state guidance about unhoused people camping in public spaces and removes a requirement that encampments can only be cleared if shelter space is available.
During Wednesday night’s meeting, the City Council approved an ordinance amendment that will follow Gov. Gavin Newsom’s guidance on how local jurisdictions should address homeless encampments.
Earlier this year, Newsom released a model ordinance that aims to give guidance to government entities in creating their own policies on homelessness. The policies include providing advance notice of removals and partnering with service providers and shelters to help unhoused people.
The proposed changes to the city’s ordinance stem from the 2024 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, which stated that criminal punishment of people camping in public spaces is not considered “cruel and unusual” under the Eighth Amendment.
The approved change to the ordinance will remove the requirement that police may intervene in homeless encampments only if shelter space is available and a person refuses to move to the shelter. This means law enforcement can take action even when no shelter beds are available.
Another change requires the Ukiah Police Department and other city officials to make efforts to help people in violation of the ordinance find shelter. The police chief may also delegate enforcement authority to other city officials. Lastly, the amendment explicitly prohibits camping in the public right of way in a manner that blocks a pathway, in accordance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.
According to the 2025 Point-in-Time count for Mendocino County, an annual survey conducted by the Mendocino County Homeless Services Continuum of Care to count sheltered and unsheltered homeless people in the county on a single night in January, the total number of unsheltered people in Mendocino County was 440.
For local homeless advocates like Marigold Klein, who spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting, there needs to be designated locations in the city of Ukiah where people living in their cars can sleep safely.
“Ukiah needs a safe place to park for unhoused people,” she emphasized during the meeting. “I have talked to people who are working full-time and still living in their cars because they can’t afford both food and rent. I see disabled people, elderly people, we need a safe place for them to sleep and it’s legal for them to sleep.”
One of those people who works but can’t afford housing and lives in her car is Jana Baker, who also gave an impassioned speech during the public comment period.
“I am currently homeless, and I’ve worked all my life,” Baker said. She noted that the salary she makes only allows her to buy food and gasoline, but not housing. “I make $1,200 a month, that’s what rent is. I could rent a place, and give up my storage, gasoline, food, and I’d have a roof over my head. It’s ridiculous.”
Baker also spoke about how community members often assume homeless people are not working. She explained that many people who live in their cars — including some of her neighbors — work regular jobs but still can’t afford the costs of renting a housing unit.
“My proposal is to have a space where people can feel safe. I’d like to see Ukiah have a place for these people, people like me. For people who want to go to work and come back to their car and still feel safe,” Baker said.
At the end of the public comment period, city staff asked Baker for her contact information so they could ensure she is on the appropriate lists for local subsidized housing for people experiencing homelessness who want to transition into housing.
“Thank you for your time, I appreciate it,” Baker said before departing the meeting.
The next City Council meeting is scheduled for Nov. 5 at 5:15 p.m. at the Ukiah Civic Center at 300 Seminary Ave. Residents can also participate virtually via a Zoom link at the top of the agenda when it becomes available. Public comments can be emailed to cityclerk@cityofukiah.com or called in at (707) 463-6217. Meeting agendas can be found at cityofukiah.com/meetings.
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Bombshell lawsuit from former Shasta Assistant CEO Eric Magrini alleges retaliation, harassment over ideological issues
“[Mr. Magrini] believes that certain Board Members stalked his wife at her place of employment … and that certain supervisors stalked him and his granddaughter at her school.”
That’s an excerpt from a complaint filed by former Shasta County sheriff and assistant CEO Eric Magrini against Shasta County about a week ago. The lawsuit alleges multiple labor violations.
Magrini says his issues with the county began after he resigned from his role as Shasta County Sheriff and was appointed as Shasta County’s first Assistant CEO. In that role, Magrini alleges that “certain” county board members approached him saying they “intended to punish him for enforcing the COVID-19 orders and laws during the pandemic.”
“They accused him of being a traitor to the Republican Party,” the lawsuit reads, “and to those who objected to the imposition of COVID-19 health orders.”
Amid a litany of allegations that includes stalking and other forms of harassment, the only board member specifically named in the lawsuit is County Supervisor Kevin Crye. He is alleged to have been aware of where Magrinin’s wife worked, where his granddaughter went to school and where their family worshipped.
Crye did not respond to two requests for comment. He briefly discussed the lawsuit in broad terms during his radio show on Sunday, Oct. 5. Referring to Magrini as “the disgraced and failed ex-sheriff,” Crye focused most of his statements on broad claims of corruption in local government and what he referred to as the “crooked local media.”
“You know you’re succeeding when they call you a fascist,” Crye said, amid other wide-ranging remarks about his critics.
Magrini’s lawsuit claims he informed county officials — including the support services director, the acting CEO and county counsel — of the alleged harassment and retaliation against both him and some of those who worked for him. But according to the lawsuit, Magrini was told there was nothing county staff could do about the behavior of elected officials. Current Shasta County CEO David Rickert responded to a request for information by saying the county doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
Magrini says he also reported his complaints to various state and federal officials, including those at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing and the Department of Labor.
In March 2023, the lawsuit indicates, Magrini went on medical leave after his physicians informed him that his body could not tolerate his ongoing level of work-related stress. He says he asked the county to implement certain policies that would allow him to return to work without having contact with Crye, including a request to work in a remote office space. Instead, Magrini said, he was terminated in August 2024.
The lawsuit claims the county’s failure to act in response to his concerns resulted in the loss of his employment as well as his emotional distress, anxiety, stress and humiliation. He filed a claim with the county in February, according to the suit, and it was denied the next month.
Magrini is now asking the court to implement civil penalties against the county for multiple violations of California labor law and to award him damages of a currently unspecified amount to compensate for his losses.
An alleged hit list
The lawsuit references conflicts that allegedly occurred behind closed doors at the county, going back to 2021 and revolving around ideological issues, including COVID-19 and elections.
Several former employees at the county are named in the suit, including former county attorneys Rubin Cruse, Jim Ross and Matt McOmber, who retired or resigned between 2023 and 2024, and former public health director Karen Ramstrom, who was fired in 2022. Magrini claims they, like himself, were on a “hit list” of individuals who either enforced COVID-19 mandates or defended those who did.
His support for those individuals, Magrini’s lawsuit claims, only increased the hostile work environment he faced.
Divide over elections
The lawsuit claims Magrini was also retaliated against for supporting former Registrar of Voters Cathy Darling Allen amid “alleged conspiracy theories about the unfounded elections fraud during the 2020 presidential election.”
Magrini was targeted in part, the suit states, because he did not support the board’s effort to make “so-called” election reforms. The suit also describes how Magrini allegedly denied a travel request submitted by Crye in an effort to ensure that his meeting with MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell for election advice could be expensed to taxpayers. The trip, the lawsuit says, related to Crye’s attempt to “thwart the County’s election procedures.”
Reporting by Shasta Scout indicates that the travel request was eventually signed off by former Acting CEO Mary Williams.
In August 2024, just a few days after Magrini was terminated by the county, Williams gave public comment during a board of supervisors agenda item on proposed changes to county policy. The policies, which are cited in Magrini’s lawsuit, address how employees can seek recourse if they experience harassment or retaliation in the workplace.
Williams told the public the anti-harassment policies were the result of “a year of pressing for changes in outcomes in a system that is intentionally designed to lead employees to a dead end.”
“They tell a story,” Williams continued, “of a work environment where such specific and detailed policies are now necessary to address harassing, abusive and retaliatory conduct that procedures must be outlined for handling of complaints against elected officials.”
Speaking to Shasta Scout by phone Monday, Williams, who worked for Magrini as deputy CEO before being appointed to Acting CEO, said her former superior’s difficulties with the county were “one of multiple” situations she was referencing when she spoke to the board last year.
Today, Oct. 7, the Shasta County board voted unanimously in closed session to hire outside counsel to represent the county against Magrini’s lawsuit. The former sheriff told Shasta Scout he’s unable to provide comment on his pending litigation.
Do you have information or a correction to share? Email us: editor@shastascout.org.
Hollister planners approve 100% affordable apartment project
Lea este artículo en español aquí.
With no opposition from the public, the Hollister Planning Commission approved a 17-unit apartment project designated to include all affordable units in a 3-0 vote on Sept. 25.
The commissioners also approved a six-unit residential project, which includes an inclusionary housing element.
Though it wasn’t included in the application submitted to the city, applicant Community Services Development Corporation, a nonprofit that builds affordable housing in San Benito County, intends to provide senior housing. Executive Director Sonny Flores said the goal is to set aside seven of the units for senior citizens.
He said all the units will have one bedroom and be located on the ground floor of the multi-story building. He said the nonprofit is working with the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Cruz—which also serves Hollister and San Juan Bautista—to have those units meet the extremely low income requirements.
“Our goal with working with Housing Authority is to get project-based vouchers so those units can be for extremely low income tenants,” he said.
He told BenitoLink that the corporation would still designate the seven units for seniors if they are unsuccessful with the Housing Authority.
Flores said out of the more than 300 applicants on the corporation’s waiting list seeking affordable housing, there are more than 70 who are looking for a one-bedroom unit. He said the majority of those are seniors.
“There’s a huge demand for senior affordable housing and all forms of housing from extremely low family units to moderate rate,” he said. “Currently in San Benito County, we’re seeing a huge need.”
The project on Fourth Street includes multifamily apartments with one- and two-bedroom units spread over two multi-story buildings. One of the units is proposed to be designated for very low income, 13 would be for low income, and three for moderate income tenants.
According to the California Department of Housing and Community Development’s 2025 income limits, the San Benito County area median income is $140,200 for a household of four. That size household would be eligible for very low income housing if it earns less than $66,800 and low income housing if the household makes less than $106,950.
Flores said their current rent fees on their projects vary from $1,040 to $1,125 for two-bedroom units.
The project consists of seven one-bedroom units and 10 two-bedroom units. The project also includes 25 parking spaces, and 830 square feet of common open space including a playground, according to the staff report.
Flores said the next steps for the project is completing construction drawings and returning to the city for additional permits. He said ideally those steps can be completed within 12 months and then start construction.
He said the nonprofit has funding on hand available for the project but are pursuing state and other funds.
“The reason we would definitely like to work with the city or [secure] state funding is lower costs would lower the cost [of rent] to the residents ultimately,” Flores said.
Though Commissioner Julio Rodriguez supported the project because “we are in desperate need of affordable housing,” he expressed concern about residential projects being proposed in mixed-use zone designations, which aims to encourage commercial projects to include residential elements.
However, Flores told the commissioners the nonprofit bought the property in partnership with the Dollar General store developer to meet the mixed-use zoning goals.
“Dollar General was one part of it and we were finishing the housing part of it,” he said.
In 2023, the Community Services Development Corporation completed a 24-unit, self-housing project on Southside Road. The nonprofit also developed the Sunrise Senior Apartments in Hollister and the Palm Court apartments.
Also at the Sept. 25 meeting, the commission also approved a six-unit project known as Everglen 2 that includes a medium income unit. The first iteration of the project, which included six market-rate units, was denied by the Hollister City Council in May, which cited a lack of inclusionary and multi-family elements in the project.
The newer proposal does not require City Council review and approval, and would move forward unless the commission’s approval is appealed.
The commissioners’ discussion centered on concerns that the affordable unit would be the developer’s last priority and be the last to be built and occupied.
The board decided to make the project’s approval contingent on ensuring the affordable unit be occupied no later than the fourth lot.
The project on Chapel Road is considered an extension of the 82-unit project approved in 2022 and currently under construction by KB Homes.
The previous applicant, Pad Trust’s Augie Dent, told the council in May that he removed the residential units in the undeveloped area from the original project of 88 units because a 2022 density calculation “required to take them away.”
Everglen includes a linear park and walkway totaling 1.3 acres along Hwy 25. Some of the units are planned to have attached accessory dwelling units. None of the residential units in the first phase were classified affordable.
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