El Dorado County approves pay raises for unrepresented employees, part-time plow drivers included

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved a three percent cost of living adjustment (COLA) for its unrepresented staff members. This increase goes into effect for part-time snow plow drivers as well since they are not represented by a union - only full-time transportation staff is.

While this doesn't solve the problem of getting enough snowplow operators on the streets of the county portion of the Lake Tahoe Basin for this winter, it helps those already on the payroll.

El Dorado County District 5 Supervisor Brooke Laine said the eight open positions for Tahoe Basin plow drivers could soon be filled. There are four already in the background process and four more have applied since last week's meeting on the subject in Meyers. Those eight spots are already in the budget for this season.

Without those eight, snow operations would be like that of the winter of 2023/24 and shifts wouldn't run 24/7.

Laine said, "Let's solve the problem for today, and then let's take the steps for long-term solutions later." She said many ideas have been coming forward including a trained commercial drivers pool that all area agencies can draw from, including the City of South Lake Tahoe, Caltrans, and the county. Higher starting wages will also be looked at to be comparable to other snow-plowing operations in the area.

Since plow drivers and their starting wages were not on the agenda, they had to be addressed during public comment at the end of Tuesday's meeting. Due to the Brown Act, items can only be addressed during an agendized meeting.

Laine said she was appreciative of all the letters of support from those at Lake Tahoe who would be affected by a reduced plowing staff. There were just a couple of people who commented during public comment, but many letters were received by the supervisors.

"The letters were not a form letter and it was incredible that people put a lot of thought into them," said Laine. "They were very personalized. They sent a strong signal to the Board that this is a problem in the Basin."

"Tahoe shows up in a unified, respectful manner," said Laine when residents get behind a hot topic.

El Dorado County District 3 Supervisor Lori Parlin criticized Laine during the meeting. Parlin said she is tired of a "granite wall" description of the divide between South Lake Tahoe, Meyers, and Tahoma and the west slope of the county. She thinks Laine has made a divide and it isn't real, though Parlin hasn't listened to all of the citizens of the east slope who have themselves recognized the granite wall separation for decades.

During the pay increase agenda item, the supervisors also had their COLA up for a vote but they decided to get the rest of staff taken care of first. it will be considered at a later date. They have received a COLA raise twice in 18 years.

Local 1 who represents 700 of the county's 1700 employees was not happy about the unrepresented employees being awarded a COLA while their contract hasn't been settled in over a year of negotiations.

This union represents the lower-wage staff members who often make less than $20 per hour.

"Take care of the lower-wage people first," said one caller, citing morale and retention are big problems in their departments.