Ousted Yolo County counsel hired by El Dorado
By Kathryn Reed
Beginning Sept. 2, El Dorado County will have a new county counsel.
Ed Knapp is retiring effective Aug. 29. Taking his place is Robyn Drivon.
Robyn Drivon
Per state law, county counsels serve four-year terms.
“There was about a year and a half left in Lou (Green’s) term when he retired, so the board appointed me as county counsel to fill out the last year and a half of Lou’s term. That term ended May 5, 2014. I advised the board that I didn’t want to put my name in for the next four-year term since I’m 65 years old and didn’t particularly relish the prospect of working until I was 69,” Knapp told Lake Tahoe News.
Knapp started with the county as assistant counsel in the early 1990s.
Drivon’s term in Yolo County ended April 5. However, this is from the Feb. 19 Davis Enterprise, “The Board of Supervisors emerged from closed session last week with a two-sentence statement announcing that recruitment would be getting under way for a replacement for current County Counsel Robyn Drivon, but no additional information or explanation was provided. Evaluation of the county counsel, however, was one of the items on the closed session agenda.”
Drivon was hired by Yolo County in 2006 as chief counsel, having spent a year as assistant. She also was interim chief administrative officer in 2009.
She has been hired by El Dorado County at step 5, which has a salary range between $12,833.60 and $15,600 per month.
Stephanie McCorkle, public information officer for El Dorado, said finalizing the contract would occur before Drivon starts.
The July 14 El Dorado County supes’ meeting minutes say, “She is hired at step 5 of the salary range plus contingent upon board approval on an open agenda item the 5 percent salary increase already scheduled to commence in January 2015 will be accelerated to her start date plus she will be given credit for 80 hours of vacation and 80 hours of sick leave on her start date.”
Without knowing the reason she was removed elsewhere it is open to speculation. It does suggest that she was hired in this county without any proper employment screening or review which is a well known pattern. Being removed somewhere else is usually a non-starter. This county’s dysfunction appears to be growing.
“YOU FIRE THEM, WE HIRE THEM.” I think that is the motto on the El Dorado County seal… We don’t need “Clean Government,” as one District 2 candidate is proposing, we need to “Clean House” and get rid of all the overpaid dorks who are running (make that ruining) OUR government.
Everyone is laughing because it is the Nutting candidate that has signs saying she is running for “Clean Government” a term that is funny considering her husband is the definition of dirty politics and unclean hands.
$12000. to $15000. a MONTH! Seriously???? A month??? For an “ousted” former employee? I smell a rat(s)