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Board seeks clearer notification, policy changes after missed notice for Monterey County Regional Fire District vacancy
Summary
A preliminary staff report on May 13 found the county's implementation of its special-district appointment policy was incomplete for a recent Monterey County Regional Fire District vacancy, and staff proposed explicit notification and process changes to ensure equitable and transparent appointments across supervisorial districts.
Monterey County staff on May 13 presented a preliminary analysis and recommended policy fixes after a recent appointment to the Monterey County Regional Fire District board exposed inconsistent implementation of the county's appointment policy.
Karina Bogovich of the Administrative Office summarized the background: Board referral 2023.19 directed staff to develop a policy to support equitable appointments to the Monterey County Regional Fire District Board of Directors, including broad notification of vacancies and meaningful recruitment across the district service area. That policy (Board Policy G-10) was adopted in February 2024, but a vacancy notice earlier this year was not disseminated consistent with the board's direction, prompting a follow-up referral (2025.04) requesting full and consistent implementation.
Bogovich said notification for the recent vacancy had been posted to a county-wide district offices email on Feb. 10, 2025, but staff recommended adding specific steps to reduce the chance of repeat failures. Proposed changes include sending vacancy notices to chiefs of staff for each supervisorial district and explicitly directing distribution to a Board-of-Supervisors "all" email list and county and fire-district social media and websites. Staff also proposed streamlining the application and nomination review process to clarify residency verification and supervisorial-district assignment and to return to the board in late June with a revised policy (G-20) and a new general appointment policy for special districts.
Supervisor Askew said the intent of the earlier policy was to ensure residents in all supervisorial districts, including newly developed areas such as East Garrison, have notice and an opportunity to apply; he urged explicit notification steps. Some board members asked that supervisors retain responsibility for posting and promoting vacancies via their offices and social-media channels; others supported staff'led posting to ensure consistency. Chief Sergeant Tee (representing district leadership) recommended streamlining the internal review team to reduce burden and suggested a short review team of administrative staff and the district representative could quickly verify residency and district assignment.
Board direction included: (1) staff to revise the policy to require explicit notification to the Board-of-Supervisors all-email list and to county and fire-district social channels; (2) staff to add chiefs of staff to the notification list as a safeguard; (3) staff to bring a revised G-20 and a general appointment policy for special districts back to the board for consideration in late June; and (4) staff and the Fire District to streamline the application review process for residency verification.
The Administrative Office and county counsel said they would draft the proposed policy amendments and return with a formal policy revision for the board's action. No formal board vote was required for the preliminary report; supervisors signaled support for the proposed steps.
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