Daly out as CAO, Knorr takes over in EDC

By Kathryn Reed

El Dorado County Board of Supervisor on a 3-2 vote Nov. 4 accepted the resignation of CAO Terri Daly. Supervisors Norma Santiago and Ron Briggs were in the minority.

Santiago and Briggs also are the two supervisors who are being termed out and won’t be in office starting in January.

Human Resources Director Pamela Knorr has been appointed temporary chief administrative officer.

This action came one week after Daly had removed all of her personal belongings from her office. In all of this time she has had access to the county email system. Today she sent the following email to employees:

Terri Daly

To all my fellow employees:

As you probably have already heard announced at the Board of Supervisors meeting today, I am leaving the county’s employment. It has been a mutual decision. From my perspective, I feel that the culture of the county is no longer conducive to any further positive change under my watch.

It has truly been an honor to work with the employees of this county over the past four years. You do amazing things each and everyday — you save lives, you improve lives, you do things to improve the county. As the CAO and as a resident of the county, I thank you for all the work you do. You make my life better because of your work. Thank you.

Best success in all you do.

Terri 

Daly was not at work on Monday, but she did go to lunch with many of the department heads.

In open session on Nov. 4, Briggs said how he supported Daly and did not believe she had been dealt with fairly.

“Norma has been a supporter of Terri, and will likely provide input on her accomplishments and successes in the near future, which are many in the four years of her time with the county,” Judi McCallum, Santiago’s assistant, told Lake Tahoe News.

Daly has been accused of creating a hostile work environment, with her department being one of the worst morale-wise when an outside consultant was hired to investigate the inner workings of the county. She turned a budget surplus into a budget deficit. This was done in part by hiring more than 100 people – many of them to work in the CAO’s office.

Knorr used to work for Alpine County and is Daly’s friend. Daly gave her a $30,000 raise — though, the board OK’d it.

It is unusual that Assistant CAO Kim Kerr was not given the job as acting CAO. She, too, is a friend of Daly’s and comes with her own baggage, including financial issues when she was city manager in Ione, as well as handling of contracts in El Dorado County.