Fresno County Municipal Code Ch. 2.08 County Administrative Office

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Charter reference— For provisions regarding the county administrative officer, see Fresno County Charter §§ 16, 19.

There is created a county administrative office of the county to be headed by the county administrative officer, which position is created.

(Ord. 568, § 1 (part); prior code, § 103)

The county administrative officer shall be appointed by the board of supervisors. The salary of that officer shall be such as is provided therefor in each annual salary ordinance of the county.

(Prior code, § 105)

It shall be the duty and responsibility of the county administrative officer and the county administrative office to:

A. Attend all meetings and committee meetings of the board of supervisors and generally advise with, assist and act as agent or representative of, and be responsible to it in all matters pertaining to the efficient administration of such affairs of the county as may be designated by this chapter or the board of supervisors;

B. Enforce all ordinances, resolutions, orders, directives and regulations of the board of supervisors as may be directed by the board;

C. Prepare, adopt and compel compliance therewith by all department heads, officers and employees, necessary management directives setting forth the administrative procedures and practices of the county which practices and procedures shall be consistent with such administrative policies as may be adopted by the board of supervisors in any ordinance, resolution, order, directive or regulation;

D. Conduct continuous research in administrative procedures and practices with special reference to the efficient and economic use of personnel, equipment and facilities and recommend to and require department heads to adopt such administrative procedures and practices as will promote the orderly, efficient and economic conduct of county business;

E. Recommend an annual county budget for the several offices and departments of the county and exercise continuous budgetary control by requiring department heads to operate within the departmental budget, recommending for or against all departmental requests for transfer of funds or the employment of additional personnel during the fiscal year, and approving the same only when it appears that the need therefor could not have been reasonably foreseen at the time of the adoption of the departmental budget and that the department has expended its funds and used its personnel in an efficient and economical manner in accordance with the administrative procedures and practices approved by the administrative officer;

F. Recommend a long-term plan of capital improvements accompanied by pertinent financial data and recommendations as to methods of financing;

G. Recommend desirable consolidations or arrangements of departments and functions to promote efficiency and economy therein;

H. Make recommendations to the board of supervisors relating to personnel policies, including the creation or abolition of positions, in the several county offices and departments and the establishment of salaries and wages therein;

I. Subject to the right of a department head to appeal to the board of supervisors, pass upon and approve or disallow all travel requests and matters relating to overtime as set forth in the salary ordinance or personnel rules, and the auditor-controller/treasurer-tax collector shall allow and pay the same when approved by the administrative officer or if appealed, the board of supervisors;

J. Subject to the authority and duties of the purchasing agent, make recommendations as to the purchasing of property, equipment and supplies;

K. Represent the county in its intergovernmental relationships;

L. Enforce provisions of Section 3.08.110 of this code relating to political activities of Section 3.08.110 of this code relating to political activities of county officers and employees; and

M. Subject to authority and duties of the county welfare director in accordance with Welfare and Institutions Code Sections 10800 et seq., make recommendations as to the provision of public social services.

(Ord. 04-001, § 1; Ord. 02-028, § 1; Ord. 98-016, § 1; Ord. 86-007, § 1; Ord. 518-A-2, § 1 (part), 1975; Ord. 568, § 1 (part), 1975; prior code, § 105.1)

To assist in carrying out the powers and duties herein vested in the administrative officer and the county administrative office, such officer or authorized members of such department may enter any county department and investigate the operation thereof with respect to the efficiency and economy of the administrative procedures thereof and may recommend to the department head any action relating to the use of personnel, equipment, facilities or budgetary expenditures, and may recommend, subject to civil service requirements, the disciplining, including suspension or discharge, of any employee. In the event the department head fails to forthwith comply with such recommendation, the administrative officer may issue a written directive to such department head requiring him to comply therewith. Any department head dissatisfied with such written directive may appeal the same to the board of supervisors and be heard thereon. Unless the directive is annulled or modified by the board of supervisors, the department head shall forthwith comply therewith, and if modified, shall comply with such modified directive, and in the event the department head then fails to comply with the directive, the administrative officer shall report that fact to the board of supervisors with his recommendation as to action, if any, which the board of supervisors should take. In the case of appointive department heads, such failure to comply shall be deemed such malfeasance and misconduct as to warrant, in a proper case, a recommendation for dismissal.

(Ord. 568, § 1, 1975; prior code, § 105.2)

It shall be the duty of each department head upon the request of the county administrative officer or a member of the county administrative office to provide any record or other information relating to the administrative operation of such department and to otherwise cooperate with the administrative officer and the county administrative office in the investigation of the administrative operation of such department. It shall be the duty of each department head to forthwith comply with any written directive of the administrative officer relating to the use of personnel, equipment or facilities of such office or other administrative procedures relating thereto, subject to the right of appeal as in Section 2.08.040. It shall be the duty of each department head to channel all requests to the board of supervisors through the county administrative office, which shall present the same to the board of supervisors with its recommendation thereon. In the event the recommendation is adverse to the request, the department head making the same shall be notified thereof and of the time when the same will be presented to the board of supervisors, and he may either withdraw the request prior to its presentation to the board or he may appear before the board and be heard thereon.

(Ord. 568, § 1, 1975; prior code, § 105.3)

No provision of this chapter is intended to vest in the county administrative officer or the county administrative office any duty, prerogative or discretion now conferred by law upon any other officer of the county and it shall not be so construed. It is the intent of the board of supervisors only to establish an administrative officer and a county administrative office and prescribe the prerogatives, duties, powers, responsibilities and functions thereof in order to assure a high degree of efficiency and economy in the purely administrative operation of the government of Fresno County.

(Ord. No. 18-002, § 1, 2-6-18; Ord. 568, § 1, 1975; prior code, § 106)

Subject to civil service procedures, where applicable, and with the prior consent of the board of supervisors, the county administrative officer shall appoint and be empowered to dismiss appointive county officers; provided, however, this provision shall not apply to county officers whose appointment is required to be made otherwise by state law or to the county counsel, county administrative officer, clerk of the board of supervisors, members of county boards and commissions or to subordinate officers now appointed by department heads.

(Ord. 568, § 1, 1975; prior code, § 107)

As to those appointive county officers whom the administrative officer is the appointing authority pursuant to Section 2.08.070, he shall establish a rating system reflecting his evaluation of their performance of the duties of their respective offices, and re-evaluate and review the same with the board of supervisors from time to time. Such evaluation and review shall be had as to newly appointed officers within six months of their appointment and thereafter at least annually.

(Prior code, § 107.1)

Editor's note— Ord. No. 18-002, § 2, adopted February 6, 2018, repealed § 2.08.090 and enacted similar provisions as § 2.04.040. Former § 2.08.090 pertained to clerk of the board of supervisors and derived from Ord. 568, adopted 1975.