Just received this from Sharon Wolff. I have emailed the CAO's office. And one of my specific questions was, "Are Sheriff Honsal and DHHS Director Connie Beck or any department heads taking a pay cut ?"
I have added her statement to the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors and the letter she received.
Sharon clarified, "I am not a management employee – I am a confidential employee."
I have known Sharon for years, I previously worked at CWS, I know her from the Rio Dell Times and a court case I covered. I do know other County employees like Donna Becker before I started reporting.
The BOS has money for their raises and to pay the law firm of Liebert, Cassidy Whitmore but not their employees. This law firm threatened me over my coverage of Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell.
Sharon's email:
"The Humboldt County BOS meeting this morning included public comments from many long time county staffers who recently received letters notifying them of changes in their classification resulting in a loss of pay and benefits (aka demotion). This is a county wide initiative being done quietly by Human Resources – most if not all county departments are being impacted but HR has not provided any lists of impacted departments and staff so far. I would encourage you to review the video and all public comments – including right before they go into closed session about employment issues. We are in the middle of a years’ long staffing crisis and county staff members are covering multiple positions now due to the high vacancy rate because all of the state and federal mandates remain. This would seem to be a bad choice of timing for “unit modification” efforts that results in taking away pay and benefits to the mid-level staff simply because we are an unrepresented group. We have been told by county HR that there are no appeal rights or ability to fight this which is why they can do this. It is purely up to the BOS at this point but it will impact all county services to some degree."
Sharon's statement to the Humboldt BOS:
Good morning, Chair and Supervisors. My name is Sharon Wolff. I’ve worked for Humboldt County for 26 years, currently I am your legislative analyst in DHHS. I took time off today to speak as an individual.
Last week, a number of my coworkers and I received letters moving our positions out of the Management and Confidential group and into AFSCME. The letter calls it a unit modification, but when it takes away your pay and benefits, it’s a demotion. I’m the most senior person in DHHS affected.
For many of us it means a frozen salary — no step increases or cost-of-living adjustments until the new range catches up — and the loss of administrative leave, vacation conversion, and other benefits.
This comes in the middle of a long-term staffing crisis. You froze hiring in May 2023. As of January, the County’s vacancy rate was nearly 17 percent. The mandates haven’t gone away, so the remaining staff cover the gaps. I’m learning to process timecards along with my own work. I have been working on CARE Court implementation to help fill in the staffing gaps. Some of my coworkers were told they’re losing M&C status because they’re still doing work “substantially similar” to their old jobs — work they’re doing because we can’t fill the vacancies. They’re being penalized for covering for the freeze.
At last Thursday’s HR meeting, many questions went unanswered. We were told this is happening because it can — as an unrepresented group, we have no formal right to appeal the unit decision.
The letters also say this Board has already approved a grace period for some of our benefits. That means some of this has already come before you, but affected employees were never told when, or what was approved.
These designations were the County’s choice years ago, and changing them now is a choice, too. Many of us are the senior staff working out H.R. 1 implementation and how to minimize the harm to our community. These letters sucked the oxygen out of the room for all county employees — not just those who got one.
I understand the deficit. But there’s a better way. I’m asking you to:
First, grandfather current employees — move positions to AFSCME when they become vacant. You get the savings over time without driving out experienced staff during a hiring freeze.
Secondly, direct HR to communicate with the affected employees including how many positions are involved, the effective dates, and when this Board acted on the grace period.
Thank you.
3:57 p.m. update: County of Humboldt Public Information Manager Cati Gallardo sent me this response. "Hi John,This matter will be considered in open session by the Board of Supervisors at a future meeting. Since the County of Humboldt’s labor negotiations are ongoing, we must maintain the confidentiality of that process. For that reason, we are unable to provide further comment at this time."
