Pillsbury Family Farms speaker urges federal audit of Lake County grant and accounting practices

During the Lake County public-comment period, a speaker identifying herself as Kylie of Pillsbury Family Farms urged outside oversight of the county's fiscal management.

Kylie said, "It is time that we have the federal government to step in and take a serious look at the fiscal management of our county," and asked auditors to "follow the grants, follow the accounts, follow the audits to follow the money." She raised questions about whether the county's presented financial statements matched underlying records and said she had seen other counties where grant money could be traced more clearly.

Kylie specifically referenced cannabis-related fiscal items and asked the board to consider restoring a former cannabis equity grant model that, she said, "showed us that you can use grant money towards somebody's taxes and still accept another payment towards those taxes." She also alleged email exchanges between the tax collector and the CDD about cannabis-license issues and urged that outside review examine what happened before and after complaints were filed.

The chair thanked the speaker and closed public comment; the meeting transcript shows no staff response or subsequent motion to initiate an audit during the session.