Butte County Municipal Code Art. III Chief Administrative Officer

*Editor's note—Section 1 of Ord. No. 2341, enacted March 15, 1983, repealed former Art. III, §§ 2-20—2-24, and § 2 of said ordinance enacted, in lieu thereof, a new Art. III as herein set forth. The repealed provisions pertained to the county administrative officer and derived from §§ 1—4 of Ord. No. 468.

There is hereby created in and for the County of Butte, the position of chief administrative officer. The chief administrative officer is a county officer and not subject to the county civil service system. No provision of this article is intended to, nor shall it vest in the chief administrative officer any right, duty or responsibility now conferred by law on any other officer, department head or employee of the county.

(Ord. No. 2341, § 2, 3-15-83)

Chief administrative officer shall:

(a) Be chosen upon the basis of knowledge and skills in public administration, demonstrated administrative ability, and knowledge of public budgeting, personnel, finance and organization. This requirement may normally be met by a combination of education and experience equal to a master's degree plus five (5) or more years' experience in a highly responsible administrative or supervisory position in a public agency.

(b) Be appointed by, and serve at the pleasure of the board of supervisors, and may be removed from office by majority vote of the board of supervisors upon one hundred eighty (180) days' written notice of such removal. Such notice of removal shall be given at a regular meeting of the board. The board may also relieve the chief administrative officer of his duties during said period.

(c) Maintain residence within the county during his tenure in office, but he need not be a resident of the county at the time of appointment.

(Ord. No. 2341, § 2, 3-15-83; Ord. No. 2362, § 1, 8-2-83)

The salary of the chief administrative officer shall be established by the board of supervisors and be paid by the auditor-controller in the same manner as the salaries of the other county employees are paid.

(Ord. No. 2341, § 2, 3-15-83)

The chief administrative officer shall be the chief administrative officer of the county and shall be responsible to the board of supervisors for the proper and efficient administration of all county offices, departments, institutions and special districts under the jurisdiction of the board of supervisors. To this end, the chief administrative officer shall have those powers and duties set forth in this section and as reasonably implied therefrom, and shall be authorized to assign or delegate the administration of these duties to any department or person under the board's control, subject to the limitations imposed by law.

(Ord. No. 2341, § 2, 3-15-83)

The chief administrative officer shall:

(a) Administer and enforce policies established by the board of supervisors; promulgate rules and regulations as necessary to implement board policies.

(b) Refer policy matters and other matters beyond his authority to resolve to the board of supervisors for determination, direction or authorization.

(c) Represent the board of supervisors in the county's intergovernmental relationships in accordance with board policies and instructions; when directed, represent the board in dealing with individuals or groups concerned with county affairs.

(d) Attend all meetings of the board of supervisors, except when excused; when directed, attend meetings of commissions and committees established by the board of supervisors.

(e) Supervise preparation of the agenda; evaluate departmental and other requests prior to being submitted to the board, to determine if such requests should be submitted to the board, and make recommendations to the board on agenda items; propose necessary revisions of the county Code in conjunction with the county counsel; make weekly reports to the board on county matters.

(f) Analyze proposed state and federal legislation and make recommendations to the board of supervisors for positions on proposed legislation; and review all department head requests involving legislative activities.

(g) Negotiate or supervise the negotiation of, and execute contracts as authorized by the board of supervisors, subject to the limitations and procedures established by state law and those which have been authorized by the board through budget adoption; be responsible for the administration of all county contracts and their faithful performance.

(h) Supervise the county's insurance programs and advise the board of supervisors of recommended charges.

(i) In conjunction with the auditor-controller, maintain or supervise the maintenance of inventories of all the county's real and personal property, and undertake activities to prevent the misuse, loss, theft or damage of county property.

(j) Conduct continuous research in administrative practices so as to bring about greater efficiency and economy in county government; develop and recommend to the board of supervisors' long-range plans to improve county operations and to prepare for future county growth and development.

(k) Exercise control of county government in extreme emergencies when there is not sufficient opportunity for the board of supervisors to act.

(Ord. No. 2341, § 2, 3-15-83)

The chief administrative officer shall:

(a) Develop budget instructions and policies, revenue estimates, and departmental budget targets to guide departments in budget preparation.

(b) Recommend to the board of supervisors an annual county operating budget based upon long-range plans for acquiring, constructing, or improving buildings, roads and other county facilities; make recommendations to the board on the acquisition and disposition of real property, except for county roads, easements, and rights-of-way, which shall be the responsibility of the public works director.

(c) Establish a control system or systems to assure that the various county departments and other agencies under the jurisdiction of the board of supervisors are operating within their respective budgets; make recommendations to the board regarding requests for unforeseen and unbudgeted expenditures; approve fund transfers and budget revisions within appropriations, including additional fixed assets in accordance with the Government Code section 29125, and make recommendations to the board of supervisors for fund transfer requests which require board action under state law; establish policies for acquiring additional or replacement fixed assets.

(d) The chief administrative officer may establish a budgetary allotment system and such other expenditure controls which are necessary or desirable, and may authorize department heads to approve fund transfers except those requiring approval of the board of supervisors under state law.

(e) Keep the board informed of the financial status of the county and of other matters of major significance which affect the county.

(Ord. No. 2341, § 2, 3-15-83)

The chief administrative officer shall:

(a) Supervise the performance of county departments, within the limitations established by state law or the board of supervisors, by directing the establishment of standards, goals and objectives for quality and quantity of departmental performance and the measure of the performance of individual departments against thosestandards and goals; assign projects and scrutinize departmental expenditures to assure that they are necessary and proper.

(b) Evaluate all proposed departmental programs and recommend those to the board of supervisors that he/she feels should be approved or modified; periodically evaluate existing departmental programs and make recommended changes to the board where they are indicated.

(c) Evaluate departmental organization on a continuous basis; subject to the limitations of state law or the directives of the board of supervisors, initiate changes in interdepartmental organization, structure, duties or responsibilities when warranted, including authorizing the transfer of equipment between departments; assign space to county departments in county facilities, and authorize budgeted out-of-county travel and in-county business expenses in accordance with rules and regulations prepared, based upon policies established by the board; recommend to the board of supervisors the transfer of positions between departments and the consolidation or combining of county offices, departments, positions or units.

(d) Evaluate department head performance and recommend compensation in accordance with demonstrated performance; confer with department heads as necessary to discuss any shortcomings noted and to suggest remedial action.

(e) Assist and advise the board of supervisors in the appointment of a qualified candidate to fill any vacancy occurring in a department head position; and recommend to the board of supervisors, for their consideration and determination, the transfer, discipline or dismissal of such department heads, when appropriate.

(f) When necessary, or upon a department head's request, assist department heads in solving problems which inhibit efficient operation within a department or create friction between departments.

(g) Provide management training and develop leadership qualities among department heads to build a county management team that can plan for and meet future challenges.

(Ord. No. 2341, § 2, 3-15-83)

(a) The chief administrative officer shall review all requests to fill permanent and limited term personnel positions to assure that the position is required and that salary funds are available; make recommendations to the board of supervisors authorizing advanced step recruitment upon recommendations by personnel director; and keep the use of extra help and payment for overtime within available funds.

(b) Reserved.

(Ord. No. 2341, § 2, 3-15-83; Ord. No. 2748, § 1, 5-16-89; Ord. No. 2955, § 1, 9-24-91)

*Editor's note—Section 1 of Ord. No. 2748 added subsection (b) to § 2-20.7, thus implicitly designating the existing provisions as subsection (a). The bracketed text was added by the editor for grammatical correctness.

The chief administrative officer shall be responsible for, and exercise supervision and control over, services provided to county departments as follows:

(a) Direct the purchasing of supplies, materials and equipment through the procedures set forth in the purchasing ordinance.

(b) Exercise general supervision over all public buildings and property, whether leased or owned by the county, and such other public lands and facilities under the control and jurisdiction of the board of supervisors.

(c) Provide contract administration for building construction, authorize alterations and supervise the motor pool.

(d) Exercise general supervision over data processing, systems analysis and operations.

(e) Supervise all support services, such as duplication, central services, communications and other ancillary services.

(Ord. No. 2341, § 2, 3-15-83)

There is created in and for the County of Butte, five (5) Supervisor's Administrative Assistant positions. Supervisor's Administrative Assistants are not subject to the county civil service system. No provision of this section is intended to, nor shall it vest in a Supervisor's Administrative Assistant any right, duty or responsibility now conferred by law on any other officer, department head or employee of the county.

Supervisor's Administrative Assistants shall be appointed, removed and compensated as follows:

(a) Be nominated by the Supervisor and appointed by the Chief Administrative Officer upon the basis of knowledge and skills adequate to each member of the board of supervisors to carry out their elected duties and responsibilities;

(b) Be appointed by, and serve at the pleasure of, the Chief Administrative Officer. Notice of appointment and removal may be made at any time by notice to the Human Resources Director and Auditor-Controller;

(c) The salary of Supervisor's Administrative Assistant shall be established by the Chief Administrative Officer and be paid by the Auditor-Controller in the same manner as the salaries of other county officials are paid.

(Ord. No. 2899, § 1, 1-29-91; Ord. No. 3879, § 1, 6-8-04)

The Office of County Hearing Officer is hereby established pursuant to Government Code section 27720. The duties of the Office of County Hearing Officer are to conduct hearings pursuant to this Code. The Hearing Officer or Officers shall be selected pursuant to the protocol set forth in that document entitled the "Butte County Administrative Hearing Officer Program" as administered by the Chief Administrative Officer. The Program is based upon an alphabetical rotation through attorneys currently under contract through the Program. The Hearing Officer or Officers shall be attorneys at law having been admitted to practice before the courts of this state for at least five (5) years prior to his or her appointment and shall have the authority to conduct hearings; to issue subpoenas; to receive evidence; to administer oaths; to rule on questions of law and the admissibility of evidence; and to prepare a record of any proceedings pursuant to Government Code section 27721.

(Ord. No. 3944, § 1, 11-21-06)