LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Board of Supervisors this week gave its backing to a plan to recruit a new director for the community development department.
Current director Mary Darby tendered her resignation to the board after a closed-door assessment on Tuesday July 12. It comes into effect on November 4.
Human Resources Director Pam Samac presented the recruitment plan to find the seventh Director of Community Development since 2016.
She said they opened recruitment on July 14. If they don’t get a decent pool of qualified candidates, they want to pitch it to 10 recruiters to find one to lead the process.
After reviewing candidates, if warranted, Samac wishes to schedule interviews with the Board of Directors.
Supervisor Bruno Sabatier said he wants the county to use professional recruiting firms to find department manager jobs.
Samac said it’s possible the county could get a number of good candidates like they did recently for deputy county administrator without bringing in a recruiter. She added that over the past six months, the county has begun recruiting better candidates for leadership positions.
She pleaded for the county to start recruiting on its own and wait three weeks before paying $25,000 to $30,000 for a recruiter.
At the same time, she said they may issue a request for an offer to recruiters so that it can be ongoing while the county accepts initial applications.
The county is currently in the process of another recruitment for a public health officer. Samac said the recruitment agencies used by its network of recruiters are very busy and said they were too busy to even give quotes for services. However, that could have changed and she said they could ask for offers again.
Samac said she would have the first review of nominations on August 9. At that time, she said they already had a qualified candidate.
She said they could do an assessment on August 9 on the candidates they have. “I don’t believe you have to have four or five to compare and contrast if you have a great candidate.”
At the suggestion of County Administrative Officer Susan Parker, council agreed to put a standing item on its closed agenda to discuss recruiting.
Darby suggested the board also advertise the position with the American Planning Association, because she said that’s where all the certified planners are and the county can find great candidates there.
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