LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — This week the Board of Supervisors held a discussion on possibly returning the Human Resources Department to a free-standing department once again after several years of it being under the control of the County Administrative Office.
Supervisor Bruno Sabatier asked the board to consider the matter during its Tuesday meeting.
Since 1980, Human Resources has primarily been a stand-alone department, with brief periods of having been placed under the County Administrative Office for various reasons.
However, in 2018, the board handed the department over to County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson at her request.
At that time, the county was in the midst of a lengthy classification and compensation study that led to the supervisors approving two rounds of county employee raises during the pandemic totaling $21 million. That resulted in Huchingson and other department heads seeing large increases in pay.
Huchingson is preparing to depart her job this week, and earlier this month the board appointed Huchingson’s assistant, Susan Parker, to act as interim county administrative officer.
One of the matters raised during the discussion was the concern about a potential conflict for Parker to oversee Human Resources while it undertakes the recruitment for the county administrative officer’s job, which Parker has confirmed she intends to pursue on a permanent basis.
Noting that the county will soon have a new beginning with the next county administrative officer, Sabatier asked the board to separate Human Resources from the County Administrative Office in order to allow the new county administrative officer to focus on priorities including economic development and housing. He also offered a resolution to allow the separation.
Human Resources Director Pam Samac said she serves at the pleasure of the board and takes its direction from the board. Samac maintained that working with Huchingson has been positive, noting that Human Resources has benefited from synergy, training and leadership Huchingson has offered.
“I have appreciated the way that it has been,” Samac said.
It was noted during the discussion that Human Resources would need a half-time accounting person to cover the fiscal services now being offered by the County Administrative Office.
Supervisor Tina Scott said she thought there was no issue and things are working well.
Huchingson said that it’s true that Human Resources has gone back and forth between being under the County Administrative Office and a stand-alone department. She said the current model is common among the 12 counties used for comparison in the classification and compensation study.
She said the board will soon be making a decision about a permanent county administrative officer and it would be wise to take input from that person about the structure.
Supervisor Jessica Pyska said the conversation should be tabled until they have a new county administrative officer in place.
It was Board Chair EJ Crandell who would address what he called “the elephant in the room.”
He acknowledged that the interim CAO — Parker — has the potential to impact the recruitment for the job on a permanent basis.
While he said he believes that’s just “optics” and that it wouldn’t be the case that Parker would influence the process, the public might see it otherwise. He said he would like to see Human Resources be a stand-alone department.
“Let’s clear up those optics,” replied Pyska.
Samac said she’s in a confidential unit and hasn’t discussed the recruitment with the interim county administrative officer.
She again said she responds directly to the board.
“I believe that I have the professionalism to draw that line,” Samac said, adding that Parker is professional and would never cross that line.
However, County Counsel Anita Grant would speak up to correct statements Samac made repeatedly, claiming she answers directly to the board.
That’s not the case, said Grant, noting that Samac has a boss — in this case, the county administrative officer.
Grant suggested there were ways to reduce the optics of some kind of a conflict of interest.
“Conflicts are built on many things, including fear of consequences,” Grant said.
She suggested the board might want to establish some very clear rules that the Human Resources director has to follow for this recruitment, which may address any issues the public has.
“I too have distanced myself from this recruitment,” said Huchingson, adding that there recently was a development in the recruitment that required Samac to reach out directly to the board chair.
Grant noted that, as far as recruitment optics, appearance doesn’t mean an actual conflict exists. However, she added, that appearance can be more pernicious than the actual conflict might be.
She said the board could ask Samac to come back with basic requirements for the recruitment to guard against conflict and favoritism.
While there wasn’t consensus to pursue any changes with Human Resources’ structure, the board did agree to have staff pursue Grant’s suggestion for rules to guarantee the integrity of the county administrative officer’s recruitment.
When those guidelines come back, Sabatier said he also wants the supervisors to discuss what they are looking for in the next county administrative officer — including strengths and the focus of their efforts. He said he’s had some confusion over why they haven’t had that conversation yet.
Crandell thanked the board for the discussion, saying that he wanted to make sure everything is on the table.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Supervisors discuss control of Human Resources Department
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On