Supes fork out dollars to save juvenile hall

County lawmakers grumbled Tuesday when forced to turn loose the tight grip they held on their purse strings to rectify the county’s juvenile hall with the state.

Just four years after the facility’s expansion to house up to 22 inmates, cuts to staffing over the years put the juvenile jail in jeopardy of losing certification.

The facility has remained out of compliance, since it was inspected in January, said probation chief Brandon Thompson.

Thompson faced the Glenn County Board of Supervisors like he was facing a firing squad when he asked for money from the General Fund to add a juvenile hall counselor to the existing position allocation list.

“Without this addition, based on existing staffing levels, the facility would have to cap the total population at 10,” Thompson said.

The facility currently houses 21.

Total salary and benefits for the job total about $62,000, but Thompson said he already had $30,000 allocated to his department in “extra help dollars” which the department would give up.

Finance Director Don Santoro said the remaining $32,000 would have to come from the county’s “contingency fund,” something the board was hesitant to dip into.

Thompson told the board he was keenly aware of the fiscal crisis facing Glenn County, but in order to achieve mandated compliance and be able to house more than ten juveniles in the facility, the position was necessary.

Thompson’s request for 32,000 was in addition to his request Tuesday for $40,000 from salary and benefit allocations to pay for unexpected expenses, a request to overfill the juvenile hall manager position, where the permanent employee has been out on leave two years, and a request to fill two counselor positions listed which the county had frozen.

Supervisor Tracey Quarne said he understood the probation was understaffed and had be in compliance, but that he had trouble with salary money going for “buying stuff.”

When chastised by board members over the needed money, Thompson reminded them that the probation department has been cut by more than $600,000 over the past ten years, his office allocation is of the lowest in the county, as is his gas budget, and the county has 400 probationers for each probation officer.

“It’s disheartening,” he said. “If I had another way of doing business, I would do it.”

After supervisor John Amaro reminded the board that the county had pledged to keep law enforcement, which includes the Sheriff’s office, the District Attorney’s office and probation, as a top priority, the board acquiesced to Thompson’s request.

The board also approved other personnel requests including authorization for District Attorney Bob Holzapfel to recruit someone to fill the position of prosecutor Maynard G. Brower, who is retiring in August.

Public Works Director Dan Obermeyer asked to fill a custodian position that was vacated this week. He also requested approval to hire 20 part-time workers for road projects that will be funded by the state.