County planning director resigns

The resignation Tuesday of interim Community Development Agency director John Taylor turns another page in the continuing saga of interim appointments in Calaveras County government.

Earlier in Tuesday’s board session, supervisors voted to eliminate the CDA director’s position and establish the managers of building and planning as department heads.

Taylor’s resignation, effective Friday, may prompt changes in the county’s recruitment process. Supervisors called an emergency closed session to discuss the resignation.

County Human Resources Director Francine Osborn said the consulting firm of Avery and Associates of Los Gatos has been employed to seek a replacement for planning director Robert Sellman, who retired on Dec. 26.

Taylor has been filling that position and the CDA post on an interim basis, awaiting the board’s decision on the scope of the job description for Sellman’s replacement.

Jeff White has been interim head of the Building Department since the county terminated its contract with Vali Cooper and Associates last year. Vali Cooper was hired by the county after Stephanie Moreno became head of the newly created Community Development Agency in 2006, and fired former chief building official Ray Waller.

Vali Cooper’s mission was to recommend reforms in the Building Department and the county installed Mike Rodriguez as its top building official under the direction of Moreno. Rodriguez was a Vali Cooper employee. White stepped up as interim head of the building department, after Moreno resigned after the County Grand Jury issued a scathing report on CDA operations. The county is not actively recruiting a permanent chief building official at this time, according to Osborn.

Meanwhile, Mike Miller serves as interim director of the County’s Public Works Department, a post he took over in October 2007 when Public Works Director Rob Houghton resigned and opened a private engineering firm which continued to do occasional business with the county.

Miller and Taylor work for the county for an hourly wage since they are retired and can work only 960 hours per year under terms of their retirement pension agreements.

White is paid $70,969 a year as interim building official. If the position were permanent, it offers four additional pay steps leading to a cap of $86,278.

The planning director position — which has been held by Taylor since Sellman’s departure — has a pay scale ranging from $81,515 to $99,091.

Miller is paid $67.30 per hour and varies his work days to stay within the 960-hour limit.

Hiring a new public works director has been difficult, because persons with the necessary skills for the post are in great demand and command “big, big bucks,” according to Osborn.

Layoffs in the public and private sector during the current recession may put new, qualified people into the job pool, Osborn said.

    Contact Hoyt Elkins at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 736-4092.