Auditor-Controller Karen Paz Dominguez reacts to Grand Jury investigation

EUREKA, Calif. — Humboldt County Auditor-Controller Karen Paz Dominguez is speaking out about the recently released Grand Jury report into her office.

The Humboldt County Civil Grand jury released a 25-page investigative report investigating Paz Dominguez on Thursday night. The report stated that Paz Dominguez had been found delinquent in filing state and federal financial reports. According to the report, that resulted in Humboldt County losing more than $2.3 million in funds and has placed another $9.7 million at significant risk.

During a press conference Friday afternoon, Paz Dominguez disputed portions of the investigations.

"The adaptation that I provided in my analysis of the grand jury report does dispute the $2.3 million because I have not seen any evidence that corroborates that," Paz Dominguez said.

The Grand Jury report also recommends 19 different actions related to areas such as communications and document filing to fix the issues surrounding the county's financial reports.

"When you get reports like this, that a report is only as good as the information that is provided to the authors of it. I would disagree with the assessment that things are not improving," Paz Dominguez said.

Paz Dominguez did agree with some of the recommendations such as requiring all county departments to submit financial documents to her within the timeframe and requiring the Board of Supervisors to act promptly when notified of conflicts between elected and appointed officials.

Additionally, some questioned the timing of the report with Paz Dominguez being up for election and the election just days away. Paz Dominguez acknowledged during the press conference that the timing does influence the election.

However, the Grand Jury said in a statement Friday the timing is not politically motivated. Their statement read in part, "The timing of our investigation release of our report were done in consultation with our legal advisors and the Humboldt County Superior Court." It went on to say "At no point were the Civil Grand Jury's actions or decision making informed by politics."

You can view the full Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury report about the Auditor-Controller's office report here.