Office of the Assessor-recorder Numbers and Manners Count Office of the Assessor-Recorder Administration Building,

The current Assessor-Recorder has been elected to three consecutive four-year terms since 1994 and has chosen to retire at the end of his current term. Three persons are running for the Assessor-Recorder position, including a Deputy Assessor-Recorder, a current Auditor/Appraiser employed by the office, and a Public Works Department Senior Planner.

When asked to rate the overall effectiveness of the office, administrators interviewed by the Grand Jury gave it 9.5 on a scale of 1 (worst) to 10 (best). They cited a lack of complaints received by their office as one reason for giving it a high rating. When further questioned, however, they were unable to quantify the number of citizen complaints received over the past year. Employees of the office and citizens interviewed by the Grand Jury rated the overall effectiveness of the office much lower because of alleged rudeness and an inability to obtain information from the office. The Grand Jury found that the Office lacks a functional mechanism for compiling and tabulating citizen complaints. Heads of other County departments interviewed were also unable to provide the Grand Jury with a log of citizens’ complaints received by their offices. The Grand Jury finds that current County policy does not contain a requirement for a departmental complaint log to supplement County Administrative Policy 1-116, which provides procedures to be followed when the Board of Supervisors receives a written complaint from the public. The Grand Jury believes establishment and maintenance of such logs would assist in quality control within each County department.

Property Detail forms, which contain most of the characteristics of each property, are available on the Internet for all parcels in Shasta County. However, approximately one-third 4 5 of the electronic forms are incomplete. The Assessor-Recorder told the Grand Jury that continual progress is being made to complete the remaining forms.

Some employees interviewed by the Grand Jury stated that the work environment within the office is characterized by bullying and conflict between management and employees. There were allegations of gender, religious and age discrimination and complaints of “divide and conquer” tactics, micromanagement, and “untouchable” employees. Employees further stated that their complaints and suggestions are often unaddressed. Employees and administrators agreed that intradepartmental communication is in need of improvement. The County Personnel Department is currently conducting an investigation of those allegations. This complaint, therefore, is outside the jurisdiction of the Grand Jury.

Training programs for all office supervisory personnel should emphasize team-building and a positive work environment. 5 6 RESPONSES REQUIRED: