COLUSA COUNTY (MPG) – The Colusa County Board of Supervisors is on the hunt for an Assistant County Administrative Officer to take on some of the tasks currently performed by CAO Wendy Tyler.
The board, in their last meeting of 2023, established the new second-in-command position over administrative operations of the county. The board also approved the job description and allocated a salary that tops out at $211,668 a year.
Board Chairman Kent Boes said the county has long talked about the need for another high-level administrator, which comes with a salary to match, but has been hesitant to move forward due to the county’s financial outlook.
“It’s a shocking number when you look at it, but if you want to attract good talent, you have to offer good money,” Boes said.
The county agreed to start the position at $132,300 as the base salary, hoping to attract someone who might also be the right person to take the helm when Tyler retires, which she indicated may be in 2025.
Human Resource Director Dar Rhoads, who brought the proposal to the Board of Supervisors on Dec. 19, said about six of nine comparable counties have added a No. 2 position to their administrative staff, largely because of the ever-growing duties that are assigned or simply absorbed by the CAO.
“Additionally, the Board and CAO have recognized that, as a result of the complex and growing body of responsibilities, there needs to be a succession plan in place to ensure continuity and consistency in county operations,” noted Rhodes. “While there may be department heads with interest in the CAO position as a career path option, and to remain in service to the County of Colusa well into the future, the county must nonetheless plan to ensure its continued success.”
To start, the new CAO will likely take on various administrative functions and make executive-level decisions related to purchasing and procurement, information technology, buildings and grounds, risk management, and budget.
Rhodes said by redirecting a range of executive-level work to an Assistant CAO, it will enable the CAO to complete projects that require more time, such as developing a capital facilities plan, establishing a county legislative platform, building a multi-year budget, reviewing and recommending updates to policies and procedures, and by assisting the board with strategic planning.
Both Health and Human Services Director Elizabeth Kelly and Clerk/Recorder Cristy Edwards supported the hiring of an Assistant CAO, despite the additional drain on the budget.
Kelly acknowledged that her department, alone, put a tremendous burden on the CAO’s time and that having a backup would increase the efficiency of department heads countywide.
Edwards agreed the salary was high but said the position would pay for itself by allowing the CAO or ACAO more time to tap into state and federal resources and develop a plan to increase fees charged to the public countywide, just as she increased fees in her department.
“That alone would bring in revenue to offset it,” Edwards said.
The board, after some discussion, were unanimous in authorizing Taylor to fill the position as soon as possible, despite acknowledging there was an increasing gap between upper management salaries and those of rank-and-file and mid-management employees, which Rhodes said would have to be addressed at some point.
In the end, the need to develop some sort of succession plan for the retiring administrator won out over the concern for the money.
“We’ve discussed this for a while now, and it was either we’re going to need to put in two to three mid-to-upper-level positions to pick up the slack or to go down this road,” said Supervisors Gary Evans.
While there is no guarantee the new assistant CAO, once on board, will be the person to advance to Tyler’s position when she retires, the board said it was important to get someone into the No. 2 spot as soon as possible to get them up to speed and take on tasks that need to be done.
“It will also allow me, in my last 18 months here, to really accomplish some of the things that (the board) has asked of me for the past several years that I have just not been able to do, because I have been working on things to try and keep the organization running.”
To pay for the position, the board will leave some funded positions vacant and use salary savings from positions not funded in the current budget cycle, such as an IT technician and a purchasing agent, with those tasks being assigned to Tyler’s assistant.