Stop Paying Twice: Raise the Bar for Leadership, Restore Fiscal Accountability

Dear Supervisors and County Leadership,

Nevada County stands at a critical fiscal crossroads. As labor costs continue to rise, state and federal funding declines, and essential services come under increasing pressure, it is time to face the uncomfortable truth: we are paying twice for leadership—and getting half the results.

Our government has become a shell of what public service should be. High-level department heads are drawing down over a quarter-million dollars a year in total compensation, while the County simultaneously contracts out many of their most basic functions—strategic planning, budget analysis, workforce assessments, legal counsel, data reporting, and even regulatory interpretation. This dual-payment model is not a strategy. It is a symptom of systemic dysfunction.

What’s worse, the revolving door of outside consultants doesn’t just duplicate internal roles—it shields underperformance. Rather than build operational strength within departments, we’ve incentivized a culture of dependency. Instead of holding leadership accountable to deliver on their job descriptions, we prop them up with external help.

The result? An expanding bureaucracy that masks inefficiency, burns public dollars, and erodes trust.

And this is no accident. In today’s Nevada County, becoming a department director isn’t about qualifications, experience, or independent problem-solving. It’s about loyalty—to County Executive Officer Alison Lehman. The unspoken truth among County staff and informed residents is clear: if you align politically and personally with the top brass, especially Lehman, you’re eligible for promotion. If not, your talents and ideas will be sidelined.

This consolidation of influence, veiled under the guise of “team cohesion,” has created a closed loop of groupthink and cronyism. The hiring process for senior roles lacks rigor, scrutiny, and transparency. The County is hiring for comfort, not competence.

Worse yet, the grant funding boom that masked this underperformance—thanks to the generous fiscal era under President Joe Biden and Governor Gavin Newsom—is drying up. With federal pandemic relief waning and state deficits looming, the era of easy money is ending. What remains is the hollowed infrastructure of a local government that never had to stand on its own operational feet.

If we don’t correct course now, Nevada County will be forced to slash services or hike taxes and fees just to maintain the status quo. That’s not fiscal management. That’s fiscal malpractice.

Redundancy Is the Norm, Not the Exception

From Human Resources to Planning, from Environmental Health to Housing Development, nearly every department is using outside consultants to manage day-to-day tasks that directors and their senior staff should be equipped to handle.

Need to analyze staff compensation? Hire a consultant. Need to interpret a state regulation? Hire a legal advisor. Need to develop a strategic plan? Bring in an outside facilitator.

Why? Because directors either don’t have the training, won’t take the initiative, or don’t face the pressure to deliver real, independent work.

This isn’t about vilifying individuals. It’s about exposing a system that promotes loyalty over capacity and comfort over performance.

A Smarter Path Forward: Four Necessary Reforms

One: Raise the Standards for Department Leadership

We must end the practice of filling director roles based on proximity to executive power. These are not symbolic appointments; they are functional leadership positions with six-figure consequences.

• All department heads should meet merit-based criteria, including:
  Relevant advanced degrees in public administration, health policy, finance, environmental science, or equivalent.

• Appropriate certifications (CPA, PE, AICP, SHRM, MSW, etc.).

• Documented experience handling the specific responsibilities their departments require—especially those currently outsourced.

• A proven track record of building in-house operational strength—not just managing outside contractors.

If our directors cannot lead without a consultant on each shoulder, they are not the right people for the job.

Two: Reduce Dependency on Consultants

We must set a hard policy line: if the task can be done internally by a qualified director or their staff, it should be. External contracts must be vetted for necessity—not convenience.

Every department should have a target reduction in outside contracting, with progress reviewed publicly. The goal is not to punish departments—but to force leadership to lead.

Three: Eliminate Redundant Internal Support Functions

Too many internal roles exist solely to buffer leadership from responsibility. Parallel communications teams, duplicative analysts, redundant legal counsel, and overlapping grant writers create unnecessary overhead.

These should be consolidated and aligned under centralized strategic support—not scattered as structural padding.

Four: Tie Compensation to Countywide Results

Public trust is eroded when leaders receive automatic raises regardless of performance. It’s time to align senior compensation with measurable success in:

• Growing local revenue (property tax, sales tax, TOT, transfer tax).

• Meeting workforce and affordable housing goals.

• Reducing operational reliance on consultants.

• Increasing internal capacity and innovation.

Only when the County moves forward should leadership move up.

This Is a Stewardship Crisis

The Board of Supervisors is currently finalizing a three-year resolution for senior staff compensation. This is your moment. Do not rubber-stamp automatic increases while the County drifts further into administrative bloat.

Accountability is not persecution. It’s professionalism. The public isn’t asking for miracles—just for leaders to do the work they were hired, trained, and paid to do.

It’s not enough to have good intentions. Competence, transparency, and operational skill must become the new gold standard. Otherwise, we will continue to pay premium prices for substandard performance.

A Call to Action for the Public

To my fellow Nevada County residents: silence is complicity.

• Attend Board of Supervisors meetings. Raise your voice. Ask questions about consultant contracts, senior staff performance, and hiring standards.

• Submit letters, comments, and public input—even if you’re repeating what’s already been said. Repetition is resistance.

• Use the Public Records Act to investigate spending. Look behind the curtain.

• Volunteer your skills. Share your expertise. If the County won’t hire qualified staff, let the public help guide reform.

We cannot afford to pay twice for services we’re not receiving once. We must expect more. Nevada County deserves a public sector that serves the public—not itself.