The Colusa County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday loosened the shackles they created when they implemented a hiring freeze in June to overcome a nearly $2 million budget shortfall in the 2022-23 budget.
Chairman Merced Corona has appointed Supervisors Kent Boes and Daurice Smith to an ad hoc committee to review and approve recruitment requests for positions that need to be filled sooner than it takes to get a request for approval on the board’s agenda.
Boes, who is a member of the budget committee, has been working with Chief Administrative Officer Wendy Tyler to find a way to continue services to the public amid a budget crisis without having to leave needed positions unfilled for an unwarranted length of time.
The board implemented the hiring freeze June 30 in a “low-up” moment after just learning about an annual $1.5 million loss in tax revenue and just needed time to figure out where the county stood, officials said.
“It’s been a month and I think we’ve figured out where our feet are and it’s time to move forward,” Boes said.
Tyler said she initially supported an organization-wide hiring freeze to give the county time to formulate a way to work with significantly less revenue, but a four-week delay for board approval only adds to an already lengthy recruitment process to fill critical positions.
“It’s really hampering the county being able to do business,” Tyler said.
Colusa County has a number of vacant positions that need to be filled, including a Human Resources Director to replace Jolene Church, who resigned in June, a transit manager to replace Thomas Simms, who left in July, and a transit operations supervisor to replace Barbara Rosas, who recently retired after 37 years of service.
Tyler said those three vacancies all occurred since the board implemented the hiring freeze just over a month ago.
In addition, a number of other positions will be left vacant with upcoming retirements, including an Office of Emergency Services technician and road superintendent.
The Agricultural Commissioner’s office, Health and Human Services, Probation Department, Behavioral Health, and the Clerk/Recorder’s Office also have vacancies that may need to be filled, officials said.
Tyler said that while it appears there are a lot of vacancies within the organization, there is really no more than usual given the time of year and budget, along with planned retirements.
The board agreed to relax their authority by allowing Boes and Smith the authority to work with Tyler and each department head to approve positions that need to be filled.
Due to budgetary constraints, however, the ad hoc committee and department heads still hope to try and recruit internally prior to open recruitment, possibly to move non critical personnel, who are paid by the general fund, into state and grant funded positions.
“As a Department Head, I totally embrace the idea to run it internally, if that is an option, if it is not so specific a position…and it works as a match,” said HHS Director Elizabeth Kelly, who has a number of open positions in her agency.
While the board did not lift the hiring freeze, given budgetary constraints, they did agree to turn the authority over to the ad hoc committee, which, in addition to Boes and Smith, will include Tyler, the Interim HR Director, and the budget analyst.
The streamlined process will shave weeks off the process for HR to recruit and fill critical positions, officials said. ■