Supervisors Address Tax Collector Closure, Fair Leadership, Payroll Delays, Herbicides

QUINCY — In announcements by county department heads at the June 16 meeting of the Plumas County Board of Supervisors, Auditor-Controller Martee Nieman said that her department is still handling the functions of the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Department. The Treasurer-Tax Collector’s office was closed last week, but was expected to reopen on Monday, according to information county officials provided previously. Auditor Nieman said she is “wearing two hats,” but her office is “still functioning.” Board Chair Mimi Hall praised the Auditor for “keeping public service at the forefront.”

Human Resources Director Joshua Mizrahi announced that the county will appoint Katie Harris as the new Director of Fair and Fairgrounds Events. Harris was selected after a search and interviews with several high-quality candidates, he said. She will succeed John Steffanic, who is retiring after 17 years as Manager of the Plumas-Sierra County Fair.

Later in the meeting, HR Director Mizrahi asked for the Board’s authorization to minimize his department’s operations so staff can focus on the final implementation of the county’s electronic payroll system. The system, known as Munis, was purchased from Tyler Technology in 2016, but has never been fully operational. Repeated delays in implementing the system have been the subject of debate within county government and at Board meetings for several years, with some officials recommending it should be scrapped and replaced with alternative technology. Auditor Martee Nieman criticized the initial implementation of the payroll system, another component of which is already in use in her office: “You do not implement a new financial system piece by piece,” she said. Mizrahi, who was not the Director when the system was adopted, said the goal now is for the payroll system to go live by July 10. His request was approved by a unanimous vote of the Board.

In another action, the Board approved the county’s response to the Civil Grand Jury’s recent investigation of conditions at the Plumas-Sierra County Fairgrounds. The incoming Fair Director will be tasked with implementing the Grand Jury’s recommendations, according to the text of the response.

District 1 Supervisor Dwight Ceresola reported that, in response to some constituents’ concerns, he had reached out to the Forest Service for information on its plans for herbicide use in the Plumas National Forest. He was told, he said, that there would be no aerial spraying, and that application would be done by hand, using backpack sprayers, and would be “more controlled than people had been led to believe.” District 5 Supervisor Jeff Engel also said he had been told by a Forest Service official that “very little” spraying is being done, for vegetation control only, “not like Josh leads on to believe,” referring to Josh Hart, the Director of the Feather River Action! group. Hart alleged during the public comment period at the beginning of the meeting that Forest Service documents describe plans to spray 1.4 million pounds of herbicide in Plumas National Forest.