John Heath appointed as Shasta County public works director 

The Shasta County Board of Supervisors voted three-two last week to appoint Interim Public Works Director John Heath as Shasta County’s Public Works Director. Heath had been serving in the top role in an interim capacity since May, when former Public Works Director Troy Bartolomei retired.

After appointment to the role, which also includes the title of roads commissioner, Heath will receive a 9% pay bump, according to county compensation rules. He has worked for the Public Works Department since 2000, starting as an engineering aide and making his way up the ranks to the title of assistant public works director before his interim appointment. His new role will pay just under $100 an hour, or just over $200,000 a year. 

Supervisors Allen Long, Chris Kelstrom, and Corkey Harmon voted to approve Heath’s appointment, with Supervisors Kevin Crye and Matt Plummer opposing. Crye cited Heath’s projected pay bump as the main reason behind his opposition to the appointment, emphasizing that he did not take issue with Heath’s performance.

“John, this has like zero to do with you,” Crye said during discussions about his opposition to the appointment at Tuesday’s meeting.

Bartolomei, Heath’s predecessor, worked for the county for 35 years before his retirement, and was compensated using the same pay scale as Heath.

Plummer’s opposition was focused on something else: performance. He said he’s not happy overall with the department’s results and level of service, something for which he gave some responsibility to Heath, given that he’s run the department for the last six months. Plummer explained his vote in an email to constituents after the meeting.

“When I look more broadly at Public Works — including Community Service Areas, Permanent Road Divisions and capital projects — I don’t yet believe the department’s results and overall level of service consistently meet the standard I think we should expect,” he wrote.

In that email, Plummer went on to comment on what he sees as a frustrating trend in county governance: his belief that some county employees receive appointments not necessarily for performance, but for commitment and popularity — without delivering results to taxpayers. 

While Plummer spoke generally about what he sees as the county government’s complacency, low standards, and a lack of emphasis on results for residents, he also took issue with Heath’s performance specifically.

“When he was first appointed interim director, I asked what his vision was for substantially improving the department. At that point, I didn’t hear the kind of clear improvement vision I was hoping for,” he said in his email, though he did note what he saw as recent improvements in Heath’s leadership. 

The three other supervisors didn’t pick up on any of Plummer’s concerns, voting quickly to appoint Heath with relatively little discussion, in part because he’s been there a long time.

“I was an advocate for bringing somebody up through the ranks,” Harmon noted.

Heath began his new position on October 28 following the meeting.

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