On a beautiful spring morning in Loyalton, this past Tuesday morning, May 16, all five members of the Sierra County Board of Supervisors answered the roll call at the beginning of their tenth meeting during 2023.

The top of the agenda, Public Comments, rarely takes any time because few people take advantage of this opportunity to speak directly to the Supervisors about items not on the regular agenda. This week, however, a resident of Sierra Brooks, Mickey Wayne, made an impassioned speech concerning the inability of residents to make complaints about the practices of the Planning Dept. without fear of reprisals.

During the Department Manager reports section of the meeting, Jeremy Miller, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for the County, spoke about July 6 being the date when the county’s updated website will be unveiled. Miller also requested the Board establish a Tech Committee to help with controlling ongoing and future information technology projects and Supervisors Roen and Adams both expressed interest in becoming members once Miller brings a draft resolution authorizing such a committee before the Board. Next, Brandon Pangman, Director of Planning, told the Board he had recently met with the contractor who had helped tried to assemble a General Plan for the county, without success several years ago, and Pangman is optimistic about being able to complete the plan, mandated by state law, in the near future. Pangman also mentioned he, along with Supervisors Roen and Heuer plus Jeremy Miller, had attended a Broadband for All meeting in Grass Valley last Friday.

Next, by 5-0 vote, the Board approved an agreement between Sierra County and Truckee River Watershed Council securing mitigation and monitoring of a grading permit for stream restoration for the Little Truckee River. They also directed staff to work with the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship (SBTS) on an application for a grant from California’s Recreation Trails Program to help fund work on the proposed Smithneck Creek bike path. In other unanimous votes the Board agreed to convey a 0.81 acre piece of “surplus” county land abuting the Downieville Cemetery to the Cemetery District in order to preserve the unmarked graves in what is popularly known as “the paupers cemetery” and to provide room for any future expansion of the existing graveyard; they agreed to pay the County Forester up to $118K over the next 18 months for laying out and administering the Green Acres and Roadside Fuels projects.

The Board then held two “timed items”, one to hear Greg Williams of the SBTS implore the county to assist as much as possible with snow removal on the road leading to Packer Saddle in advance of the Downieville Classic being held in mid-July and another to present Lea Salas, Director of Behavioral Health Services, with a pre-retirement certificate of appreciation for her 20 years of steller service to the County of Sierra.

But, smooth sailing for the Board came to an abrupt halt when the salaries for the Tim Beals’ replacements for his Director of Planning and Director of Transportation jobs came up on the agenda and the floor was opened for public comment. Once again, Mickey Wayne objected to Pangman’s appointment, saying other candidates should have been considered because, “He is not a good person" and "he has put my family into a state of servitude for the past six years.” Next, Laura Marshall, County Assessor, asked what the Board had done to establish the $141K salaries being awarded to Beals’ replacements. Currently, the County Clerk-Recorder, Assessor, CTO, and Behavioral Health are being paid $128K while the Sheriff, District Attorney, Tax Collector, and Social Services Director earn $153K. Tim Beals’ salary is $169K. Did the Board bother to follow the procedure she had to use when setting wage rates for her employees - looking at wage rates for comparable jobs in several counties? When her question was met with complete silence, Marshall, who said her issue was “not about money, it’s about respect”, resigned her voluntary role as the Solid Waste Fee Administrator, effective immediately. However, she will remain in her elected position as County Assessor.