Supervisor Heidi Hall Double-Dipped On Government Pay

Heidi Hall held two paid government positions simultaneously, one of which was Nevada County Supervisor.

For nearly seven years while she was a member of the board of supervisors from Nevada City and until June of 2023, Heidi Hall was also working for the California Department of Water Resources as a Program Manager. Hall was first elected as a Nevada County Supervisor in 2016 and began serving in such capacity in 2017.  In March of this year, Hall seeks re-election for her third consecutive four-year term.

Supervisor Heidi Hall’s online resume on LinkedIn. Note that Heidi herself indicated the Supervisor roll as “Full-time.” Screenshot taken January 12, 2024.

The Board of Supervisors Received Three Pay Increases on the Basis that the Job is Full-Time

In 2008 and upon the request of the supervisors, the Nevada County Grand Jury conducted an inquiry into compensation and benefits review for the board of supervisors and determined that the position of supervisor in Nevada County is a full-time position. The grand jury recommended that, because the position of supervisor is a full-time position, the board of supervisors needed a pay increase to reflect such fact. After the grand jury recommendation in October of 2008, and again in 2018, the supervisors gave themselves pay increases on the basis that the job is a full-time position.

In 2022, Caleb Dardick, who at the time was the acting assistant chief executive officer for Nevada County, cited the 2008 Grand Jury report while advocating for the adoption of an ordinance increasing supervisors’ pay a third time. During his presentation to the board of supervisors, Dardick confirmed that the position of supervisor is a full-time position.

A slide from Caleb Dardick’s 2022 presentation advocating for a pay raise for supervisors because it is a full-time, “seven-day-a-week position” requiring “more than 40 hours/week” See the full presentation.

After Dardick’s presentation to the board advocating for the third increase in supervisors’ pay on the basis that the supervisor position is a full-time job, the board of supervisors did, indeed, give themselves another pay increase in January of 2022.

Government Pay from Two Separate Jurisdictions is not New to the Rood Center

After becoming a supervisor in Nevada County in 2017 and receiving a full-time salary for such a position ever since her initial election victory, Heidi Hall was also paid over $800,000 in total pay and benefits as a program manager for California Department of Water Resources. This double dipping is not new to the Rood Center. In 2007, Kathleen Smith who was the Nevada County election officer at the time, was found to be moonlighting as a city clerk for Rio Vista. As a result of double dipping between her job as the elections official for Nevada County and serving as a city clerk for Rio Vista, some of the Nevada County supervisors called on her to resign. Shortly after the discovery that Smith was working for two separate jurisdictions simultaneously, she did, in fact, resign from her elected position in Nevada County.  

Hall Asserts that Supervisor is a Part-Time Position in Nevada County

Hall retired from her job with California Department of Water Resources in June of 2023 - a year and a half after the supervisors voted for their most recent pay increase. Despite the 2008 Grand Jury report and Dardick’s presentation in 2022 which both concluded that the supervisor position is a full time position since 2008, Hall asserts that the board of supervisors position is still characterized as a part-time position.