Van Maddox discusses salary changes with the Board

DOWNIEVILLE—Discussions continued at the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday concerning a potential upward adjustment to the pay of Sierra County’s department heads. The idea was initially brought before the Board at a meeting in Loyalton in December, when Auditor, Treasurer, and Tax Collector Van Maddox expressed dissatisfaction with the current department manager pay structure. Since then, department heads have further coordinated and met with the finance committee, including Supervisor Lee Adams, to hash out some details.

In general, the Board has become much more receptive to Maddox’s request than when the idea was introduced. While salary schemes are still being worked out, tier 1 department heads would expect to see an increase of five to ten percent. Tiers 2 and 3 would also receive raises based on a percentage difference from tier 1.

The options were considered after Sierra County department head salaries were compared to those of similar counties. The study found that our county has not kept up with inflation as well as have others. Still, the graphs presented to the Board to illustrate the point were too confusing for anyone to make good sense of, so more analysis is expected at future meetings.

A few department managers and members of the public voiced support and concerns, including Sandy Sanders, who pointed out that the county’s future financial situation cannot be accurately predicted. Sandy urged the Board to wait on making a decision at least until after California’s budget for next year is finalized and its effects on the county are known. Supervisor Adams concurred, having already expressed a similar point of view earlier in the discussion.

Public Works Director Bryan Davey stressed that he and other department managers would not accept any negative effects on their employees’ pay, saying that if push came to shove, “everyone would back down if there was an impact to employees.” He also noted that the reason cost-of-living adjustments for department head salaries hadn’t been made in the past was so employees could receive them instead.

Other news from the Board…

“Massive” Applicant Pool for Planning Commission Vacancy

The Sierra County Planning Commission has a vacancy for an unexpired term on the planning commission, which goes through the end of the year. The Board heard from a staggering five applicants for the position on Tuesday.

The applicants are as follows:

Alan Teague — A Sierra City resident who got his occupancy permit for a multi-year home-building project just months ago, Teague is a software developer who spent six years on the City of Alameda Planning Board. He believes in balancing property rights with environmental issues.

Gerald “Sandy” Sanders — Sanders has worked for a general contractor and a commercial brokerage firm in San Francisco. He has applied multiple times to the planning commission and is passionate about increasing the utilization of commercially zoned properties.

Russell Rosewood — Rosewood has been an owner/builder of a home in Calpine for the last twenty years, and has served on the Calpine water board. He believes himself proficient in reading and understanding the law, and loves the community and county.

Joseph Marcy — Marcy owns a small construction consulting business and was previously the Principal Partner/Owner of a General B Contractor and Architecture and Design firm. He is relatively new to the county, now living in Pike, but has been visiting for 10 years. Marcy is from a small town of similar size to Downieville in New York, and has a deep respect for nature and preservation. He hopes people will live sustainably on their land.

Glen Hauble — Hauble has owned the Sierra Pines Resort in Sierra City since 2019. He has been a Chief Financial Officer for multiple corporations. Hauble would like to see more consistency in the county’s zoning maps, which are notoriously poorly documented.

The Board decided that due to road conditions making it difficult for the county’s eastern residents to attend Tuesday’s meeting, a decision would not be made until the next meeting in Loyalton on Tuesday, March 19th. Supervisor Adams jokingly asked Board Chair Roen if he had notified the applicants that the appointee would be decided at that meeting by swimsuit competition.