Sonora, CA — With some notable structural changes anticipated for the Tuolumne County Office of Emergency Services (OES), the Assistant Director has submitted her resignation notice.
We reported last month that the board of supervisors voted 3-2 to direct staff to investigate moving OES from the County Administrator’s Office over to the sheriff’s office and develop corresponding changes to the county’s ordinance code.
County Administrator Roger Root, under current county rules, is the OES Director. Dore Bietz is the Assistant OES Director and oversees the day-to-day operations. Bietz has opposed moving OES over to the Sheriff’s Office for logistical and operational reasons, and stated that it has nothing to do with the sheriff’s department or its staff members.
At today’s board of supervisors meeting, during the time set aside for staff reports, Bietz provided an overview of some recent initiatives of OES, and praised several people in the county.
At the end of the speech, addressing the supervisors, she stated, “While we as staff might not always agree, we do serve at your direction. I understand that, and I see that you have on next week’s agenda an item to formally move OES under the sheriff’s office by resolution. I respect your decision to do that. With that, I know that you will support my decision. This morning, I formally gave my resignation. My last day will be May 30.”
Bietz said she will stay on through the end of May to help with the likely transition of OES from the CAO’s office to the sheriff’s office.
Several of the board members praised her afterwards. Supervisor Ryan Campbell called her, “hands down, one of the best public servants” in Tuolumne County. Supervisor Jaron Brandon said it is “a huge loss.”
OES oversees several emergency planning efforts and related recovery efforts from disasters. It also helps coordinate the response to emergencies and things like evacuation planning.
