LAKEPORT, Calif. – The county's retired Public Works director has been appointed to fill his old position on a temporary basis in the wake of his successor's resignation last week.
On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors emerged from closed session to approve the interim hiring of Gerald Shaul to fill the Public Works director's post.
Following a performance review last week, Brent Siemer – who had succeeded Shaul after he retired in the spring of 2008 – retired, effective Jan. 19, as Lake County News has reported.
Siemer said in an interview last week that he had not been able to meet the board's expectations.
County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox said that Shaul's appointment was effective Wednesday, and he reported to work at 8 a.m.
“The board also directed us to begin an open recruitment to fill the position on a permanent basis,” Cox said.
Cox added, “The board was very pleased that Gerry was available and willing to help us out during this interim period. Obviously, due to his past experience in the department he can hit the ground running.”
Shaul, 64, said Wednesday that he was “just like an old penny” that you can't get rid of.
“There was a collective groan when I walked in this morning,” he joked.
The Public Works director has a number of responsibilities, serving as airport manager, county road commissioner, county engineer and district engineer for Lake County Special Districts, the county reported.
Shaul said he has not yet spoken with board members about their concerns or issues just yet, but was working to get back up to speed with the department.
He said how long he'll stay on with the county is dependent on the county's recruitment, noting it could be challenging to find the right person to come in right now unless they're coming from another county engineering situation.
With the county set to begin putting its next fiscal year budget together in March, Shaul said he'll be helping staff formulate that planned budget document, noting a fiscal conservative is needed to assist with the task right now.
He said he's stayed active in the county engineers association, which has helped him keep abreast of public works and transportation funding issues not just locally but across the state.
The other task Shaul is tackling now is assessing outstanding department issues and projects.
“There's a lot of projects that were started when I was here that haven't been completed and I need to get to the bottom of that, because there's a lot of funding that's 'use it or lose it',” he said.
The department Shaul will once again lead is different than he left it. Last year the Board of Supervisors formally separated the Water Resources Division and made it into its own department, appointing Scott De Leon to head it up.
Shaul said the Water Resources staff is still in the same part of the building, so at first glance it doesn't look that much different.
However, he said there are less people in the department, as staff cuts have been necessary because of the county's lean financial times.
Overall he said the he thinks the department's divisions “are pretty competent.”
During retirement Shaul has kept busy with projects including sitting on the Ely Stage Stop Committee. He's assisted with engineering and staking out the property, located in Kelseyville, where the museum property is located.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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