01/06/2006: "First Meeting of County Council: Mon, Jan 9"

They may have a new name, but for at least the first official meeting of our new CC (get used to seeing "CC", for it stands for County Council), it may appear that nothing has changed. But once the "new" Council members -Lichter, Myhr and Ranker- join the rest of the County Elected Officials in a swearing in ceremony at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, (including a statement to uphold the SJC Charter), they will then take the first step toward a new form of government. Their first action will to secure a new bond for the government.

Once some of the administrative matters are out of the way, the first real sign that things are going to be different begins with the Council's first official action of two interviews on Monday with Candidates for the County Administrator Pro-Tempore position; and then on Tuesday they will appoint an Administrator Pro Tem.

The Charter states the position is open to "any qualified person other than a sitting member of the Legislative Body". According to SJC Prosecuting Attorney Randy Gaylord, the Pro Tem position "could have other duties in the County, and could be a department head, a department manager, or a citizen who is qualified"". As can be imagined, there has been much speculation as to who this person may be. The only County employee with past experience is the newly hired head of the CD&PD (Community Development & Planning Department), who has served elsewhere as a County Manager. There are at least two reasons why he may not be interested in the position: his past experience of working for a Board that was not supportive of a County Administrator-Manager concept was not a good one; and more importantly, his department is still running with a backlog of permits to be processed, so his abilities are needed where he is.

The Pro Tem will not have the full powers of the County Administrator, so there has been speculation by Court House watchers that the old BOCC members, who are now the new Council, may not be in any hurry to hire the County Administrator, who will, under the Charter, take away most of their power. The Charter gives the Council until May 5, 2006 as the date that the appointment of the Administrator "should" be complete. One cannot fail to note that the word is "should", and not "shall".