A heated debate ensues at the Susanville city council over the economic development position to be created in partnership with the Susanville Indian Rancheria.
There was a split among council members over collaborating with the SIR to establish an economic development position for Susanville. The proposed position had a salary of $370,000, split between the city and the rancheria, along with retirement and benefits. However, the position’s duties and scope of work were unclear, which sparked a heated conversation among council members.
While some on the council believed that the high salary would attract more qualified candidates, Council members Schuster and Brown opposed the idea. Schuster voiced that both the people of the city and the council have not had an opportunity to comment on the position, and the council cannot take the issue and “shove it down their throats.” Both proposed moving to table the matter until the next meeting when more details on the job were established. Council member Stafford suggested outlining the job description after setting the salary to expedite recruitment.
After a lengthy discussion, mainly between Schuster and Mayor McCourt, Councilmember Herrera expressed his concern that this would become yet another city undertaking that would stall., saying, “in three to five years, this place will be a ghost town if we [the council] do not do something”.
Eventually, the council agreed to bring back the conversation once the city staff could work up a job description and title at the next meeting. If that were not possible, the matter would return at the latest by March 15th.
