The Board of Supervisors often highlight the need for transparency and ask County staff to think of ways to better inform the public. So, it is regretful, that on January 14th, the Board of Supervisors after a closed session discussion approved three new positions: Assistant County Administrator for Financial Services, Assistant County Administrator for Community Operations, and Assistant County Administrator for Community Development. These positions were filled by current County staff that consistently displayed quality and competency in their previous positions. However, since these votes took place without any background explanation it leaves to the community’s imagination whether these are new positions or rebranding of previous positions.
In at least one instance, it would seem like a new position was created as the previous Planning Department Director was elevated to Assistant County Administrator for Community Development and a new Planning Director was named. In addition to these moves, the Department of Social Services Director was quietly transferred to a new County position and a new Interim Director was named. This decision is noteworthy due to the recent criticism the Department has faced from several supervisors and members of the public.
There may be reasonable explanations for all these high-level personnel decisions. They may even turn out to bring greater effectiveness and efficiencies to the County, but the Board of Supervisors did not feel it was worth the time to explain this restructuring to the public. This contributes to why speculation festers in the community and contributes to the degradation of trust between governing bodies and those they govern.