photo credit: City of Ukiah
A map of Ukiah in Mendocino County and proposed
annexation areas. 

On Tuesday evening, the city of Ukiah held a workshop to inform residents about the process of annexing unincorporated land in the Willow area south of the city and a portion of Millview to the north, a recent proposal by the city that has raised concerns among locals.
At the beginning of the meeting at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center, which was packed with approximately 100 people, the city's outside special counsel, Phil Williams -- a local attorney -- announced that the workshop would not include a group Q&A section.
Instead, information would be provided by four different presenters positioned around the room, each providing an overview of annexation based on topics like economics, zoning, Local Agency Formation Commission guidelines, and public safety.
Once Williams announced there wouldn't be a Q&A section of the meeting, about half of the attendees left the conference center. Then the presenters, who were various staff members from the city of Ukiah, formed into four sections around the room to give their presentations.
Shannon Riley, the city's deputy city manager, led a presentation on the economics of annexation and how it could affect the finances of both the city and Mendocino County.
"One question we've been hearing a lot is, will annexation bankrupt the county?'" Riley said. "The county is definitely having some financial struggles right now, but the city has nothing to do with that."
Riley said during her presentation that if the proposed annexation is approved by the Mendocino Local Agency Formation Commission, the county's finances would not be significantly affected. However, she also detailed the master tax-sharing agreement signed last summer by the city and county that states if unincorporated land is annexed by Ukiah, the county will lose a large portion of its tax revenue over a set number of years. The proposed annexation will ultimately decrease the county's sales tax revenue, property tax revenue, and transient occupancy tax revenue.
Jesse Davis, Ukiah's chief planning manager, led the presentation on zoning and development, outlining how land can legally be used in terms of residential, commercial, industrial or agricultural purposes.
Davis, who has worked for seven years as a planning manager for both the county and the city, told concerned residents that water service would not change in the areas proposed for annexation. He said neighborhoods like Willow and Millview are already part of an incorporated water district, the Ukiah Valley Water Authority, and residents will not be required to switch providers.
"A majority of the parcels in those neighborhoods are going to be using the same services," Davis explained during his presentation.
Most of the workshop's presenters allowed little time for attendees to ask detailed questions about the proposed annexation's impacts on residents.
It remains unclear what kind of agreements the city might make with local utility companies that manage gas, electricity and sewers, and whether residents in the proposed annexation areas will need to transition to new providers for those utilities.
Ross Liberty, the founder and owner of local business Factory Pipe and a member of No Ukiah Annexation, a grassroots organization opposing the city's annexation proposal, said he doesn't believe the city is offering an unbiased presentation of the project.
"This meeting was not an unbiased meeting," Liberty said after the workshop. "It's their short bullet points that cater to a 30-second attention span. They think that we need education, but that it needs to be short and simple."
Liberty, a lifelong Ukiah resident, said most locals he's spoken to from the proposed annexation areas are skeptical about joining the city.
"You just ask anyone from the area to be annexed if they want to be, and it's absolutely no," Liberty added.
Liberty also said he doesn't believe the county's finances will bounce back from a steady decline in tax revenue over the coming decades if the annexation is approved.
"If this goes through, the county will not be viable," he added. "If they do this, [the county's] money is going to be gone."
To learn more about the annexation proposal or ask questions, people can attend the Ukiah Planning Commission meeting at 6 p.m. June 11 at the Ukiah Civic Center, 300 Seminary Ave.

This story was first published on mendovoice.com, an affiliated nonprofit site supported by Bay City News Foundation. Find the original link with more content, photos and links here:
https://mendovoice.com/2025/06/ukiahs-annexation-workshop-leaves-many-residents-frustrated/