criminal justice process. Some investigations are more complex than others, and when staff is conducting the investigation it usually takes longer. “There are so many variables,” Mason said. “I don’t know how you can make a generalization.”
With that in mind, let’s
look at a few other examples here in Humboldt County. Several did involve criminal charges, including the case of Humboldt County Sheriff’s Deputy Joseph Marsh. On the Fourth of July 2010, Marsh enlisted the help of a friend’s 10-year-old daughter to hold an illegal Roman candle firework. It exploded in their hands, injuring Marsh and blowing off the fingers on the girl’s right hand, leaving just the pinkie. After the incident, Marsh was kept on paid administrative leave for more than 6½ months, costing taxpayers $62,480. He pleaded no contest to misdemeanor child endangerment last September and is no longer employed with the county. Last January, the Humboldt County Drug Task Force and California Department of Justice were wrapping up a major marijuana trafficking investigation. They’d been targeting a Eureka couple named Brandon and Christina Savio. On Jan. 2, they pulled Brandon over near Benbow and arrested him. Meanwhile, agents monitoring the Savios’ Eureka house saw a neighbor walk in and out several times, hauling out an armload with each trip. This neighbor proved to be Gordon Glynn, then a deputy public guardian in the county’s Health and Human Services Department. His wife, Mari, was a mental health case manager in the same department. Officers searched their house and discovered that the Glynns, who’d been tipped off to Brandon Savio’s arrest by his wife, were hiding some of their neighbors’ belongings — two pounds of processed marijuana, four firearms and a large sum of money, according to a press release issued
the following day. Officers also found that the Glynns had a growing operation of their own, with more than 500 marijuana plants, processed bud, packing materials, more firearms and more money. The Glynns were placed on administrative leave the following Monday. They remained on paid leave for nine months and a week, earning more than $100,000 in salaries and benefits. Four months after their leaves ended, Gordon Glynn was sentenced to two years’ probation and the charges against Mari Glynn were dismissed. Neither is currently employed by the county. Other cases remain a mystery. Humboldt County Airport Manager Jacquelyn Hulsey, for example, was placed on administrative leave from Oct. 3, 2011, through Jan. 28, 2012, and despite numerous inquiries the Journal couldn’t find out why (“Where’s the Airport Manager,” Dec. 22, 2011). Hulsey’s job performance has been criticized by former employees, business leaders and former members of the county’s Aviation Advisory Committee. Following an investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board blamed a miscommunication between Hulsey and one of her employees for causing a 12-hour delay in search-andrescue efforts after a plane crashed off the coast of Trinidad in March 2009. The bodies of the two men on board that plane were never recovered (“The Plane That Wasn’t There,” Dec. 17, 2009). Hulsey earned $32,770 in salary and benefits while on leave. She remains employed with the county. As mentioned above, not everyone who has been placed on leave is suspected of misconduct. Last year, Jeannie Duncan, a legal business manager in the District Attorney’s Office, filed a claim for damages against the county, alleging that she was the victim of retaliation after complaining of sexual harassment and continued on next page
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Ultimately, Fulks said that without going into detail on individual investigations, he couldn’t explain why Humboldt County has been placing more people on leave, and leaving them there longer, than other counties with similar populations.
northcoastjournal.com • North Coast Journal • Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012
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