Merced County was pummeled in 2009 with a continued decline in home values, massive cuts in state spending and the dubious on-and-off distinction as foreclosure capital of the country.
County leader Dee Tatum announced his retirement at the dawn of '09, and a new county CEO was announced just before the final pages of the calendar flipped to a new decade. Before Tatum's final day, though, he was caught in a political ballyhoo or two that made this year's list of the most important county stories of 2009.
Tatum gone, Combs in
Larry Combs, former Sutter County CEO, was hired by the Merced County Board of Supervisors Oct. 27 to replace the retiring Dee Tatum.
Combs, 61, had worked as Sutter County's chief administrative officer for nearly 26 years, a long tenure, especially for top government leaders subject to changing political winds. Combs previously worked as assistant CEO in Kings County for five years, and in San Diego County as an analyst with the welfare department and CEO's office for seven years before that.
Combs was the front-runner in a national search that began after Tatum announced in January he'd retire at year's end. Tatum has managed county government since 2001. He retired with a $261,000 salary.
Merced County offered Combs a yearly base salary of $205,000, plus monthly allowances for a car ($700), phone ($150) and expense allowances ($400), totaling up to $1,250 a month.
Each year, Combs will be able to sell back unused sick and vacation hours, up to 50 and 80, respectively. Each hour is worth about $98.
The supervisors will evaluate Combs' performance by May 2010.
Combs is the fifth CEO to serve the county in the past 50 years. He served alongside Tatum from Nov. 30 to Dec. 18, the outgoing CEO's last day on the job.
Under Tatum, the county's reporting structure changed so that department heads would report to the county CEO and not the Board of Supervisors.
Tatum, an employee of Merced County since 1996, also worked for 16 years for Fresno County, where he served as an analyst with the health department and as division manager of mental health.
With a father in the U.S. Air Force, Tatum grew up "all over the world" in locations such as Turkey, the Philippines and Texas, he told reporters when he took the CEO position in 2001.
He plans to spend his retirement in Merced County, Tatum said at his last supervisor's meeting, earlier this month.
Tatum land deal probe
In early January, the state's Fair Political Practices Commission, or FPPC, a body that investigates potential political corruption, began an investigation into Tatum's Planada land purchase.
In 2005, Tatum bought a 24-acre piece of land in Planada for $245,000. Because of a series of questionable transactions involved in the deal, the Merced County civil grand jury opened an investigation then, but exonerated Tatum of any conflict of interest.
The complaint that led to the FPPC probe was filed by the Merced County Sheriff Employees Association. The union alleged that Tatum received a $55,000 gift from Pacific Holt Corp. when it sold him the 24 acres in Planada.
The association's allegations stated that Pacific Holt gave Tatum a discount, which amounts to a gift, when it sold him the land.
The accusation presumes that the sale price to Tatum was lower than the land's actual value -- which is hard to prove, since land prices fluctuate with each sale and transaction.
In July 2009, the FPPC concluded that Tatum broke the law by accepting a gift when he bought the land.
A letter dated July 16 was sent to Tatum from the agency. It stated: "Although we have decided not to pursue an enforcement action in this matter, the information in this case will be retained and may be used against Mr. Tatum should an enforcement action become necessary due to newly discovered information and or Mr. Tatum's failure to comply with the Act in the future."
Despite its findings, the FPPC decided not to take any enforcement action on the matter because the cost would outweigh the benefits, according to the commission.
County layoffs and cuts in services On Sept. 22, 18 Merced County employees scheduled to be laid off found out they would instead keep their jobs.
Faced with a massive shortfall, the supervisors had voted in August to lay off 89 employees and cut $33 million from the county's budget.
The 18 jobs were saved because of increased state allocations and openings because other positions had become vacant.
Supervisors OK'd sharp reductions in social services, with the county's public health, mental health and human services departments taking the biggest hits.
Jobless rate jumps; property values plummet
For the whole of 2009, Merced County's jobless rate topped 15 percent, reaching a high of 20.2 percent in March.
County unemployment exceeded the state and national averages each month, for the entire year.
Merced County's unemployment for 2009, month to month, was:
Jan.: 18.9 percent
Feb.: 19.9 percent
March: 20.2 percent
April: 18.1 percent
May: 17.3 percent
June: 17.6 percent
July: 17.6 percent
Aug.: 16.6 percent
Sept.: 15.7 percent
Oct.: 16.4 percent
Nov.: 18.3 percent
Unemployment figures for December will be released after the New Year's holiday.
Homeowners in Merced County were also hit by bad news in 2009.
Assessed property values across California fell this year for the first time in nearly eight decades -- and Merced County saw the biggest drop of all.
In fact, no other counties in California experienced declines even close to the level recorded locally, according to data from the state's Board of Equalization, which tracks property assessments across California, which was released in September.
The total assessed value of all property in Merced County fell $2.6 billion -- or 13.4 percent -- compared with last year. The next largest year-to-year decline was 10.5 percent, in Riverside County.
Statewide, property values dropped 2.4 percent.
Each year, county assessors release figures compiling the assessed value of all properties in their jurisdictions. The 2009 total for Merced was $17.4 billion. In 2008, the local total was about $20 billion. The total for 2007 was roughly $20.5 billion.
Reporters Jonah Owen Lamb and Corinne Reilly contributed to this story.
Reporter Danielle E. Gaines can be reached at (209) 385-2477 or dgaines@mercedsun-star.com.
