Calaveras County supervisors Tuesday hired an interim Community Development Agency director who will help decide if the agency should be dismantled.
John E. Taylor, whose 26 years in county government included seven as head of departments directly responsible for county planning and building functions, was hired to temporarily replace Stephanie Moreno whose resignation as head of the agency became official Aug. 1.
While Taylor's tenure is not expected to exceed five months, he has been asked to evaluate the CDA and make a recommendation as to whether the county should continue trying to merge its planning and building department functions.
Supervisor Tom Tryon, a longtime critic of combining the functions into a single agency, said Taylor may be able to come up with a recommendation in 60 to 90 days.
Taylor served more than 10 years as deputy county administrator in El Dorado and Solano Counties. In those positions, according to Calaveras County Administrative Officer Robert Lawton, he was involved in management and oversight of major projects including construction of county jail and juvenile hall facilities.
As acting community development director in El Dorado County, a post he held for a year, Taylor worked with county departments and public agencies to streamline the process for getting permit applications to the appropriate level of review under the California Environmental Quality Act.
Subsequently, he served as Solano County's General Services Director overseeing county functions including the airport, animal control, fleet management, county parks, purchasing, facilities management and real estate services.
He retired from county government in 2006 and has been working since then with Environmental Stewardship and Planning, Inc., a Sacramento-based land-use and environmental consulting firm. Taylor will take a leave of absence from the firm for the duration of his service in Calaveras County.
His $75 per hour compensation comes without county benefits. He will be reimbursed for expenses. Lawton noted that the current county budget allots $83 per hour for the CDA director's position.
Moreno was paid through the end of July and was given an $89,300 settlement. A letter from Moreno's attorney implies the settlement may have been in exchange for not pursuing charges of sex discrimination.
Calaveras Enterprise
August 6, 2008
By HOYT ELKINS
Contact Hoyt Elkins at helkins@uniondemocrat.com or 736-4092.
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