TC Supervisors Move To Realign Some County Divisions
Sonora, CA — The Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors took actions toward realigning the operations of the Animal Control Division, Office of Emergency Services, and the Human Resources Division.
The first vote, 4-0, was to begin moving the Animal Control Division from the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office to the Sheriff’s Office. The supervisors felt it the sheriff’s office is a better fit to oversee those operations.
Considerably more time was spent on whether to move OES and HR from the CAO’s supervision to the board of supervisors. The vote was 3-1 with Supervisor Ryan Campbell opposed. He expressed concerns about OES potentially being politicized if under the board and argued, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Supervisors Anaiah Kirk, Steve Griefer, and Jaron Brandon were in support of the change. Kirk stated, “In the wake of the Grand Jury, and everything that has been going on, we are the elected officials. The CAO is not, and the department heads are not. At the end of the day, the buck stops with us.”
There were also concerns brought up about HR leaders, in the past, being concerned about speaking to the board members about decisions being implemented by the CAO.
The Supervisors also discussed the contract with Access Tuolumne and whether to open a Request for Proposals from other entities that could be interested in providing the services. Decisions related to that item were postponed to later this year.
In addition, there was a brief talk about whether the board wants to give a response to some type of comments made at a July 17 Visit Tuolumne County meeting. It was brought to the board’s attention by Supervisor Steve Griefer, who noted today that the issue has since been resolved, and an unnamed board member of VTC has stepped down. No additional action was desired.
Also of note, a decision on whether to approve a contract, up to one year, with Roger Root to be the Interim CAO was postponed to later this afternoon following closed session items, and the board lunch break.
