LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday decided to take no action on a proposal from the County Administrative Office to consider once again splitting the Water Resources Department off from the Department of Public Works.
County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson said she agendized the discussion because the county is anticipating a “considerable amount of infrastructure funding” in the next year or two thanks to the federal infrastructure bill.
She said the discussion was brought forward to enable the board to consider whether it would make sense to have the two departments separate in order to allow Public Works to focus on projects.
Huchingson said it’s a topic that the board has discussed before, noting that the two departments have been combined several times.
Most recently, the board voted to reconsolidate the two departments in August 2019. In July 2016, the board had split the two agencies.
Scott De Leon, director of both Public Works and Water Resources, appeared via Zoom. He made clear he didn’t support the idea.
“I appreciate the discussion however we’ve got a pretty good team up here and we have a system in place,” he said.
De Leon explained that Water Resources is covered by Public Works’ administration, which provides them with accounting, clerical and other administrative duties, and is handling that work without any trouble.
“The federal funding opportunities are certainly welcome,” and are a top priority for him, said De Leon.
He is working with a consultant from the Area Planning Council and is drafting a five-year plan for his department. De Leon added that Huchingson’s office has been working with a member of Congress on projects for specific funding.
“Personally I feel like we’re in good shape. I feel like we’re able to handle the workload and really would not like to see the disruption from the separation of the departments,” he said.
De Leon said he is still trying to fill jobs in the Department of Public Works and just completed a recruitment for assistant director. The recruitment yielded a good candidate who declined the job offer.
He said he wants to focus on filling jobs instead of separating the two departments.
Supervisor Moke Simon supported pursuing a split, pointing to climate change and the importance of water, and the work that needs to be done on the county’s roads. As such, he said it was important to have focused departments.
Supervisor Jessica Pyska said one of her big questions was whether the county had an understanding of the kind of funding it will be seeing from the infrastructure bill. She wanted to know what the workload would be and how the county would ramp up.
“We don’t know,” Huchingson said, explaining that the county hasn’t been advised of how much money will come, just that a lot is coming.
Supervisor EJ Crandell recalled that when the previous Water Resources director left, the board chose to have De Leon lead the department because of his knowledge, adding a lot of employees work well under De Leon’s leadership.
Supervisor Tina Scott questioned when the money might come in.
Board Chair Bruno Sabatier said he expected it will be six months before guidelines are set by the federal government. In the meantime, he said the county needs to have shovel-ready projects.
Sabatier said he appreciates the forward progress he’s seen in Water Resources, including matters dealing with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and moving the Middle Creek Restoration Project ahead.
He wanted to see the five-year plan completed and provide expectations to staff. “I don’t mind the conversation but I think it’s a little premature,” he said.
Sabatier also emphasized the importance of filling positions. De Leon said that he had been hopeful that with the county’s recent changes in compensation, there would be increased interest in jobs in his department.
They’ve done recruitments where no one has applied. De Leon said in this last recruitment, they had two applicants. One was very good, and despite him working with Human Resources to make the best offer the county could — including a signing bonus and moving costs — the applicant declined.
During public comment, Betsy Cawn, who has been a Clean Water Program volunteer since 2009, said she thought the proposal was disruptive, especially when De Leon said the department is working well.
Cawn suggested that before the board makes a decision to split the department, it should allow De Leon to work on the five-year plan, make a continued effort to recruit for an assistant director and advise the board what needs to be done, rather than making a decision based on big dollar signs.
She added that she thinks De Leon has done an excellent job, and that the board should let him make the decisions.
Ultimately, when it came time to suggest an action, board members sat silent, prompting Huchingson to ask if there was no direction.
Simon said he would like to pursue the split, but there was no consensus.
Sabatier said he wanted to wait for the five-year plan and set expectations.
“That’s where I am too,” said Pyska, and Crandell agreed.
Huchingson asked about the timeline to complete the five-year plan.
De Leon said it’s to be completed by February, and he will bring the plan and a summary to the board at that time.
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