Code Enforcement officer placed on administrative leave

Yuba County to investigate filmed incident of official cursing at resident

A Yuba County Code Enforcement officer filmed cursing at a resident last week was placed on administrative leave while the incident is investigated by the county.

Chris Monaco, who has been with the department since spring 2015, was placed on leave Tuesday morning, officials confirmed.

The minute-long video posted by Honna Stradiota on Facebook has amassed 16,000 views and hundreds of shares and captures the end of her encounter with Monaco March 14.

Stradiota told the Appeal-democrat that she had gotten permission from the property owner to park her RV on the Linda property and had already spoken to another Yuba County Code Enforcement officer before Monaco arrived. The video shows the two arguing about how long she can stay on the property when she tells him she’s “not a dirtbag.”

The video flips to show Monaco looking at an orange tag for the RV and Stradiota says, “people like me? I go and clean up …” before Monaco interjects telling her she has two days and that “you don’t do (expletive). Get out of here.”

It then shows Monaco walking back to his code enforcement Jeep saying, “Get outta here before I come drag the (expletive) outta here myself.” He is presumably referring to the RV. Stradiota said he “can’t talk to people like that” and that he’s code enforcement, not a cop. Monaco, halfway into his Jeep, replies: “And what are you? You’re a (expletive) homeless piece of (expletive).” The Jeep then speeds away.

Yuba County spokesman Russ Brown told the Appeal-democrat that officials are aware of the video “showing part of an encounter” between a resident and a code enforcement officer.

“The officer’s words and attitude captured in the video in no way reflect the professional conduct we require from our staff,” Brown said Monday. “We expect every single Yuba County employee to consistently treat everyone with respect. Please be assured that we are conducting a full investigation of this incident, and we will do whatever it takes to address this matter.”

Brown said the county is bound by rule and law and has to go through processes to make sure the incident is addressed correctly. It has now become a personnel matter.

Three days after her encounter with Code Enforcement, Stradiota was arrested on a Yuba City misdemeanor shoplifting and failure to appear warrant issued in February. She was released Tuesday to find that her RV had been broken into.

On Saturday, Stradiota received a message from a Facebook user – there was no profile picture, no name and she could not respond to message, meaning she was either blocked or the profile was deleted.

The message appears to have come from Monaco, though the County said Thursday it could not confirm that. The message tells Stradiota that her RV wouldn’t be towed until Monday, March 18, but that she will likely have it for longer. The user also apologizes:

“My apologies for being out of line and out of character,” the message states. “It can become very frustrating when handling the same unfortunate situations from unsavory sorts, which is also no excuse. You were wrongly and unfortunately viewed as such.”

The user then recommends she seek Habitat for Humanity’s Life Building Center at the foot of the E Street Bridge for assistance.

“If I could ask that you remove the video it would be greatly appreciated,” the user wrote. “Thank you and be well.”

Winter noticed locals were starting to leave their jackets and umbrellas at home, so she’s back for another hoorah. Rain is expected in the days to come.

“There’s a storm coming from the Pacific which will be moving in early today (Friday),” said Brendin Rubin-oster, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service. “Rain across the region is forecast from the late morning to afternoon,” he said.

Rubin-oster said the rain won’t be constant, but will linger through tomorrow morning.

“Not everyone will see it. After the early scattered showers, it should be clear for the rest of the weekend.”

From there, it is forecast that another storm will follow between Monday and Wednesday.

The Yuba-sutter area has received 22.4 inches of rain since Oct. 1 (the start of the current water year), already making it the 14th wettest season since weather data was first collected 122 years ago.

Although the area has seen more rain than usual this season, not too much more is expected. Rubin-oster said the only major concerns are for people to be aware that creeks and rivers are more full than usual. He suggested taking alternate routes when driving to avoid flood-prone areas. He said that melting snow from the mountains causes the water to be very cold, so swimming isn’t recommended.

“When the weather is nice people want to enjoy the water, but with the storms coming I would stay away. We’ve already had two people die within the last week,” Rubin-oster said.

Russ Brown, spokesperson for Yuba County, said there aren’t any major concerns with the upcoming weather.

“Rivers aren’t forecast to rise any higher and there aren’t any monitoring alerts. We feel good about that,” Brown said. “We do have a lot of snowpack, but that’s only a problem if we get extremely warm weather causing them to melt fast. Right now that isn’t an issue.”

To stay updated on the weather, visit www.nationalweatherservice.com.