LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday appointed the successor to the longtime county counsel and named an interim director for Behavioral Health Services.
Emerging from a late afternoon closed session, the board voted unanimously to appoint Lloyd Guintivano, a senior deputy county counsel, to succeed County Counsel Anita Grant, effective March 25.
Grant submitted a resignation letter to the board on Jan. 25, notifying the supervisors that her last day at work will be March 24.
The letter explained that well over a year ago, Grant had made the board aware of her intention to retire.
“I have been reluctant to select a date because I love this County and serving it has been the privilege of my life. Nonetheless, after thirty-one years in the County Counsel’s Office, seventeen of which as County Counsel, it is time,” Grant wrote.
She thanked her staff, noting she leaves with full confidence in their abilities. Grant also said she was thankful to have worked with many outstanding county employees and was grateful to the Board of Supervisors’ past and present members “for the wonderful opportunity to work here.”
The county opened a recruitment after Grant’s retirement announcement which closed on Feb. 16.
During recent board meetings, both Guintivano and another deputy county counsel, Carlos Torrez, had taken turns sitting in Grant’s place and advising the board.
The board then held special meetings on March 6 and 10 to interview the four applicants. Another interview meeting had been set for this Friday.
The resume on Guintivano’s LinkedIn account says he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Philosophy from the University of California, Berkeley, and received his Juris Doctor from the University of Nebraska College of Law.
He was admitted to the State Bar of California on June 1, 2006.
Guintivano, who has worked for the county of Lake since June of 2008, will begin at step one on the salary scale. The base annual salary for the county counsel’s job is $168,132, topping out at $204,360.
Out of the same Tuesday afternoon closed session came another department head appointment, although an interim one.
The board voted unanimously to appoint Assistant County Administrative Officer Stephen Carter as interim Behavioral Health Services director, subject to the approval of the California Department of Health Care Services.
Carter will maintain his existing salary, which has an annual range of $137,988 to $167,736 annually.
Earlier in the day, the board gave outgoing Behavioral Health Services Director Todd Metcalf a sendoff that included a proclamation thanking him for his 11 years of work with the county. He’s served as Behavioral Health Services director since December 2016.
Metcalf notified the board in a Feb. 17 email that his last day with the county will be Friday, March 17.
Metcalf is moving to the Big Island of Hawaii to retire soon. “In the meantime, I have accepted a position in Hawai’i County’s Housing and Community Development Department to address homeless and housing issues on the Big Island,” he wrote.
At its Feb. 28 meeting, the board agreed by consensus to accept staff’s proposal to hire a firm specializing in behavioral and medical health position recruitments in order to find Metcalf’s longterm replacement.
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