Lake County Board amends public works position allocations, adds two deputy roles

The Lake County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to adopt an amended resolution, No. 2025-76, adjusting position allocations for fiscal year 2025–26 in the Department of Public Works (budget unit 1903) and creating two deputy positions.

Human Resources staff presented the amendment and a corrected job description. "We are asking for you to amend a resolution for the position, allocation for public works, by creating a deputy Public Works 1 and a deputy Public Works 2," Pam Parker said. Parker said the correction clarifies that the Deputy Public Works II position must hold a license to practice engineering in California; the prior posted description mistakenly listed the license as not required. "It said not required to have a license and they are required to have the engineering license," Parker said.

The board briefly discussed whether the county’s engineers routinely use a professional seal on projects. A board member asked, "Do our engineers use their licensing for projects? Do we actually go out and engineer them and put our stamp on those?" Staff deferred technical questions to Public Works staff and noted that some management staff hold seals but do not routinely apply them in their current roles. One staff member said a county engineer "has a seal ... but he hasn't used it in 10 years because he hasn't had to in his current position." Board members said the new 1/2 classification structure gives hiring flexibility: the county can hire a deputy without a license and promote after licensure, or hire a Deputy II who already holds the required license.

The presentation also flagged a display error on the public agenda platform: one board member noted that the item appeared under "Trinity County" on Granicus, a hosting error staff said they would correct before posting the final materials.

Board members asked whether the personnel changes would affect salary budgets. Staff said the county is "fully evaluating the functionality and capacity of the department" and that any adjustments to budgeted salaries had not yet been finalized. The staff presentation and board debate made clear the change deletes two positions and adds one; specific reallocation of salary savings was "not specified" during the meeting.

After public comment, a board member moved to approve the amended resolution. The motion passed on a 5-0 voice vote. The adopted amendment updates position allocations for the Department of Public Works and incorporates the corrected job description requiring a California engineering license for Deputy Public Works II. Staff said they will continue evaluating department structure and report back as needed.