LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Another key department head in the county of Lake has resigned after less than a year on the job.
Mary Darby, who has been Community Development director since October, has tendered her resignation following a Tuesday closed session evaluation with the Board of Supervisors.
Deputy County Administrative Officer Matthew Rothstein confirmed to Lake County News that Board Chair EJ Crandell accepted Darby’s resignation on behalf of the board.
Darby’s last day with the county will be Nov. 4, Rothstein said.
“Staff are working to prepare for Board discussion of a recruitment strategy to fill this important County position,” Rothstein said in an email.
He said that discussion is expected to take place during the board’s meeting on Tuesday, July 19.
Lake County News emailed Darby to ask for comment but she did not respond.
The Board of Supervisors hired Darby on Aug. 31, with her appointment effective on Oct. 4. In a Sept. 9 special meeting, the board appointed Darby in an extra-help capacity ahead of her official appointment date.
Officials at the time hailed her skill sets and experience as key to helping the county take the next steps to improve the department, which plays a key role in the county’s development and economy.
Darby, a University of California, San Diego graduate who also holds a Master of Arts degree in city planning from the Georgia Institute of Technology, has spent most of her career in Georgia. She said at the time of her hire that she had been hoping to return to California.
She said she looked forward to providing Lake County with professionalism, loyalty and a high standard of customer service, and pledged that her team would operate with one main goal — “Successful results!”
Since her hire, the board had five scheduled closed session performance evaluations with Darby. Such evaluations usually happen once or twice a year at most.
Darby’s departure emphasizes the county’s ongoing challenge in filling the Community Development director’s job.
She is the sixth person to head the department since the start of 2016.
Darby’s resignation follows by less than a month that of Dr. Erik McLaughlin, the Public Health officer.
McLaughlin, who was on the job for less than four months and was working remotely from his home in Las Vegas, also gave the board his resignation following a June 21 closed-session performance review, the fifth of his tenure.
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