Sierra County Board Discusses County Management

DOWNIEVILLE — On Tuesday, the Sierra County Board of Supervisors convened for a special meeting to provide direction on how the county will be managed in future years.

Converting Elected Officials to Board-Appointed Positions

The Board discussed the possibility of converting the County Auditor/Controller, Tax Collector, and Clerk-Recorder positions currently elected by Sierra County voters to be board-appointed. Any decision would ultimately need to be made by the voters in an election.

If the change is made, a wider pool of candidates would likely be available for those positions. Current Auditor/Treasurer/Tax Collector Van Maddox noted that many potential applicants for his position, which Supervisor Paul Roen endearingly described as “numbers nerds,” may want nothing to do with the political aspect of running for office. Maddox believes that more qualified candidates may become available and that the potential for someone to be elected who is not adequately qualified would be reduced.

Of course, appointed officials would lessen county residents’ control over their government, and conflicts could be created when the appointees serve directly at the pleasure of the Board rather than the people of the county. Additionally, Board Chair Lee Adams suggested that having them elected takes some responsibility away from the Board and allows the public to address the officials directly.

Regardless, the Sheriff, District Attorney, and Assessor must be elected by the people according to the State law. The Board did not provide any direction on the item this week; instead, it found it best to first engage with constituents to gauge public sentiment. Chair Adams says he would not like to bring the option to the voters unless he is strongly in favor.

Maddox Retirement Looms, Department to Split

Sierra County Auditor/Treasurer/Tax Collector Van Maddox, who has served the county for 27 years, will retire later this year. Because Maddox’s role sprawls over so many departments, no one successor is expected to fill his role. In fact, Chief Deputy Auditor Roberta Allen, who was drawn to the county to work under Maddox, is also looking to retire later in the year and is unwilling to take on the Auditor position.

Maddox’s position will likely be split between the Treasurer/Tax Collector and Auditor/Controller, with further re-shuffling of county offices to be expected. Chair Lee Adams explained that the offices can be grouped in numerous ways, noting that the Sheriff was also the county’s Tax Collector at one point.

Specifics of the department split will be brought back to the Board of Supervisors at its meeting on March 4th. In the meantime, the county will begin recruiting a new auditor to take over from Maddox. An heir-apparent already exists for the Treasurer/Tax Collector office, so that role is expected to be filled. Once positions are settled, both offices will return to the Board to discuss further staffing requirements, which may need to be increased.

County Hopes to Combine Service Areas

Sierra County consists of five County Service Areas (CSAs) which provide area-specific public services. State law allows the CSAs to be funded by taxes from within the area, but the county’s general fund is not allowed to supplement their income. While some service areas have more income than expenses, others are losing money. If all five service areas were to be combined, the collected taxes would be able to cover all costs. The simplification could also help avoid litigation over CSA finance management.

The consolidation process is, unfortunately, not as simple as erasing the CSA borders. Independent of the county, the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) is responsible for establishing service areas. Because Sierra County’s LAFCo has no substantial funding or staff, the process will likely be delegated to a contractor. Sierra County LAFCo Executive Officer Brandon Pangman received a cost estimate from Jennifer Stephenson of Policy Consulting Associates, LLC for $36,200 to consolidate CSAs. Chair Adams noted that while expensive, pushing the item down the road would likely further increase costs.