Board agrees on title and job description for administrator
The Plumas County Board of Supervisors is poised to hire some help — a county administrator.
After years of debate about whether such help was needed, and, most recently discussing what to call the position, the board took just minutes April 17 to approve the job name and description.
The recruitment process and salary range will be determined at the board’s next meeting scheduled for Tuesday, May 1.
Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff Engel said that he and the county’s human resources director, Nancy Selvage, “went over this job description very thoroughly” before sharing it with the board.
“I thought it turned out perfect,” Engel said.
Supervisor Sherrie Thrall, who had been a vocal opponent of hiring a county administrative officer agreed and said, “You have finally arrived at something I can agree with.”
The board voted unanimously to adopt the title and job description, but the topic of salary needs more discussion.
“I’d like to have it a range that could be negotiable,” said Supervisor Lori Simpson, “and we could put in incentives.”
While Engel suggested $90,000, the board opted to wait until its next meeting to discuss compensation.
According to the job description, “The primary function of the County Administrator is to oversee the preparation, adoption, and administration of the county budget.”
The position will also be “vested with the authority and titles of County Budgetary Officer, County Safety Officer, County Insurance/Risk Manager and County Purchasing Agent.”
The six-page job description includes a host of duties, and is very similar to that of a county administrative officer.
When asked the following day what he saw as the key differences between the two, Engel said, that there weren’t any. “It’s a CAO,” he said.
Supervisor Lori Simpson agreed, and said that as the supervisors hashed out the job description, they realized that they would have to give the position some authority for it to be effective.
The FIRST Criteria should be COMMON SENSE. There is no degree requirement for common sense. The second should be an understanding and knowledge of our community and how we can grow to become more competitive economically – not just survive – but THRIVE. This implies GROWTH vs. stagnation. We are in a unique position to do something productive that could potentially bring life to the Board, not just manage it, but enliven it and LEAD.
Without a doubt the CAO duties should have direct oversight over all of the 15-some Plumas County Departments. Having department heads report to the various Supervisors needs to stop. The CAO must be in charge of oversight of all departments alleviating an conflict of interest. Supervisors should use the CAO as an intermediary. This will then allow the 5 supervisors to focus FINALLY on the future of the County — creating jobs and a vision plan for the next 30 – 50 years — cutting expenses — consolidating departments — sharing administrative staff and consolidating the old, outdated and in some cases neglected facilities, to mention a few. It’s time to dream and embrass the future. Mimi Garner, Candidate District 5 Supervisor 2018.