"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)"

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 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 and serve as your legislative analyst in the Department of Health and Human Services. I have taken the time off today to come speak to you as an individual.

Last week, a number of my coworkers and I received letters telling us our positions are being moved out of the Management and Confidential group and into the AFSCME bargaining unit. 

I have the honor of being the most senior person in DHHS to be demoted with this action after 26 years of service. To be clear, this is a “reclassification” of current staff positions, but when the action is to take your pay and benefits away – it’s a demotion. 

This has been truly a kick in the pants for your staff that have stuck with the county through thick and thin for years now because we are proudly public servants and we believe in the mission. 

Humboldt County is in the middle of a long term staffing crisis across all departments. You froze hiring in 2023 and the impacts of that have been building ever since. We can’t fill positions but the mandates remain so the jobs still have to get done by the remaining staff. 

You’ve got people covering all kinds of tasks in addition to their assigned work because our department needs us and that is what we do. I am learning to process timecards along with a whole lot of others in DHHS because of the staffing shortages.

Some of the staff were actually told that they’re being reclassified and losing pay and benefits specifically because they are still doing “substantially similar” work to before they were promoted. They’re doing both jobs currently because we can’t hire to fill the vacant position. Your staff are being penalized for covering those vacant positions in addition to their other job responsibilities by having their pay and benefits reduced with this reclassification.

We had a meeting with HR last Thursday where some information was provided on the reclassification effort but many questions remain unanswered as this has all been done behind closed doors right up until those letters went out. 

We were told by HR that the reclassification actions against the management and confidential group was being done because you can – we’re an unrepresented group so we have no rights to appeal this. 

For many of us, the “reclassification” means a frozen salary, with no step increases or cost-of-living adjustments until the new range catches up. It means losing administrative leave, vacation conversion, and other benefits we've relied on in our employment agreement. 

I understand the County faces a serious budget deficit, and I respect the need to control costs. But the County also has a serious staffing shortage which is very well known by the Board. 

The letters that went out absolutely sucked the oxygen out of the room for ALL of your county employees. Those that didn’t get a letter directly are now watching for the knife coming after them. They are feeling the stress and anxiety from their coworkers who have gotten this kick in the teeth – we’re a small family in the county. 

These are a lot of your senior staff members who are integral to figuring out HR 1 implementation in DHHS and how to minimize the harm to our community. Now is not the time to target your staff with a (maybe) penny wise and pound foolish attempt at “reclassification” right in the middle of a massive staffing crisis and the implementation of dramatic changes to your safety net programs.  

I consider this to be the first of many public conversations we need to have about the county budget and efforts to reclassify staff and strip them of pay and benefits. 

Framing this as trying to “correct a mistake taken years ago with classification” without talking about the actual impact to staff is insulting to the demoted like myself. Particularly since the county has always had the right to define the M&C group as they like – it wasn’t a mistake, it was a choice. As it is now.

We all see the compounding impacts of the years long hiring freeze in all of our departments and in all of our services. There is no end in sight for the freeze either. We are asking for the Board to grandfather in existing staff in their current position so that they’re not being stripped of pay and benefits. 

The reclassification effort can absolutely be put into place so that upon vacancy, the position is moved. That protects your existing staff while allowing for the budget savings you’re envisioning to be put into place without a negative impact on county services. 

The mandates on the county remain even if you don’t have any staff left. If the county is going to go after their existing staff in order to help balance the budget then the members of the Board may need to start cross training in your departments to cover the mandated services to your residents. 

Thank you!