Supervisors voted 4-1 on Tuesday to approve changes to the code that would lower the education requirements for the county’s top administrative position. Supervisor Robert Rivas had the dissenting vote.
The minimum education qualifications for the county administrative officer position before the change included at least a bachelor’s degree in business or public administration, with a master’s degree preferable. The new minimum qualifications, as OK’d Tuesday, would allow administrative experience to circumvent the education requirement.
“You should be tightening qualifications, not loosening them,” said county resident Tony Ruiz, a Gavilan Community College trustee, during public comment.
In a sometimes heated debate, supervisors disagreed as to why the change was necessary and how it could affect future hiring by the county.
“If the board approves this measure, we will be the only county that does not require our CAO to have a college degree,” Rivas said. “This amendment serves this county very poorly.”
Supervisor Anthony Botelho argued that while educational background is important, hard work is necessary for people to succeed in life.
“I’m pretty much self-taught,” he said.
He said officials should not exclude qualified people who don’t have a “couple of letters” on a piece of paper, referring to college.
A representative of the SEIU Local 521 union expressed opposition to the amendment, saying it appeared “suspicious” and that the board was looking to “devalue” qualifications.
“I believe that even tweaking this ordinance is a slippery slope” to lower qualifications, said Bill Freitas, a chief negotiator for the union.
The board wrestled with the language of the measure before deciding to include the more flexible “work experience” definition for applicants that narrowed the definition to specify an administrative background.
Rivas still voiced opposition to the change that includes “work experience” as a substitute for education.
“This isn’t a job you can learn on the job,” he said.
Botelho said the board was merely trying to open up the process to a wider pool of applicants.
But some residents who spoke out Tuesday and Rivas said it sounded like the board was changing the county code to accommodate interim CAO Ray Espinosa, whose education qualifications have recently come under scrutiny. When hired late last year as interim CAO, Espinosa did not have the minimum education qualifications for the job – the related bachelor’s degree – and only recently obtained a bachelor’s degree from Almeda University, an online college. Espinosa did not speak on the matter at the board meeting.
“You can’t believe smoke and mirrors,” Rivas said. “They (the board) are removing the education requirement.”
Botelho denied charges of a “smoke-filled room” agreement and said the process of hiring had gone through the normal channels.
“I don’t think any of us are not taking this seriously,” said Botelho.
