- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Health Services staff write no confidence letter against director
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Several key employees in the Lake County Health Services Department have written to the Board of Supervisors to state that they have no confidence in the performance of the agency’s director.
The letter, dated Dec. 5, faulted the performance of Jonathan Portney, hired a year ago to head the department that’s been tasked with leading the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Over the past several months, we have been disheartened by the actions of Director Portney. He has tested our willpower and confidence in his skill and ability to adequately lead this department. Under his leadership, morale has plummeted to depths never before seen at this Agency,” the three-page letter from the Health Services employees said.
The letter noted that during Portney’s “short, one-year tenure, the examples of poor leadership are almost too numerous to recall. He has alienated several of our community partners by being too arrogant to learn of our community ‘ecosystem’ and our unique qualities,” referring to those community partners as fire departments, the sheriff’s office, Social Services and Behavioral Health.
County Administrative Office staff confirmed to Lake County News that they are aware of the letter, which was circulated to the Board of Supervisors earlier this week.
“As you will appreciate, any Board response would be expected to encompass confidential personnel matters. As such, it is not appropriate to comment further at this time,” the county said in reply to Lake County News’ inquiry on the matter.
Asked to respond to the letter by Lake County News, Portney on Thursday noted that nine staffers out of more than 70 had signed the letter and that he is committed to understanding their concerns.
The Board of Supervisors hired Portney at the end of November 2021, nearly two months after they had forced the previous director, Denise Pomeroy, to resign just days ahead of the death of her husband following a lengthy illness.
The county’s action against Pomeroy outraged Health Services staff, some of whom contacted Lake County News to raise concerns about it and its negative impacts on the department as a whole.
Then-County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson, who appeared to have been responsible for forcing Pomeroy out and was subsequently named interim Health Services director, pumped her fist in the air at the Nov. 30, 2021, meeting after the board took the unanimous vote to hire Portney.
The board highlighted Portney’s experience with pandemic response as executive director of Daly City Health Center, and prior to that his work as director of the Community Health Ambassador Program for San Francisco’s Urban Services YMCA, director of the Hospital Family Resource Center and Rural Mobile Clinic for Waterloo Adventist Hospital in Sierra Leone.
Portney began the job as Lake County’s Health Services director on Jan. 10.
Portney sends out email about letter
On Thursday morning, Portney himself sent out the no confidence letter attached to an email to Health Services Department staff, along with what he termed as “community” and “partners.” Of the approximately 64 emails to which he sent the message, only three were not county of Lake government email addresses.
Recipients included the five members of the Board of Supervisors, County Administrative Officer Susan Parker and interim Public Health Officer Dr. Karl Sporer.
In it, Portney said Cal Fire Chief Paul Duncan — who was among those who received the email — submitted the letter on behalf of Lake County Health Department staff to the Board of Supervisors.
The staffers who signed the letter are Charlene Ellis, Eileen “Chris” McSorley, Amanda Frazell, Lynn Brookes, Carol Morgan, Danielle Woodford, Cindy Silva-Brackett, Liberty Perry and Celia Pulido. Portney also named them in his email.
“I want to share this with you because I believe in transparency. My continued goal will be to support all Lake County Health Department employees, partners, and the community,” Portney wrote.
“My open-door policy will remain in place. Please feel confident in reaching out to talk about any questions, comments, or future concerns you may have. I will work with the Lake County Health Department team to ensure that the necessary support is provided to continue the needed work for Lake County residents,” his email concluded.
Duncan had no comment when contacted by Lake County News and referred questions to Lake County Fire Protection District Chief Willie Sapeta, who also had no comment.
On Thursday night, Portney responded to an email from Lake County News earlier in the day to ask for his response to the Health Services’ employees concerns about his leadership.
“The Lake County Health Department (LCHD) has approximately 73 positions, and of these positions, 9 staff members have signed a Letter of No Confidence,” Portney said.
“My purpose is to ensure that all staff members at the LCHD are supported. Furthermore, my mission is to ensure that all community residents receive quality care and services in partnership with essential stakeholders,” Portney continued. “I am eager to seek further understanding from concerned staff and/or community members. To highlight my commitment in addressing their concerns, discussions are already underway to secure the necessary resources.”
The letter against Portney comes as he is facing potential prosecution for a driving under the influence case in Sonoma County.
On July 11, he was arrested by the California Highway Patrol’s Santa Rosa office on three charges — driving under the influence of alcohol, driving under the influence of alcohol with a blood alcohol content level of .08 or above and excessive blood alcohol.
The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office told Lake County News on Thursday that the case has not yet formally been charged.
Rather, it’s in review status and set to go back to court on Dec. 14, the agency said.
Because the case is still under review and pending a decision on whether it will be charged, the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office would not discuss the circumstances of the case.
The agency also said that every single case is reviewed in this manner.
Lake County News’ email to Portney asked about the DUI case, but in his Thursday night response email, beyond his statement about the no confidence letter, he said, “I have no further comments,” and he directed inquiries to the Lake County Counsel’s Office.
Earlier in the day, Lake County News did email Lake County Counsel Anita Grant as well as the County Administrative Office to ask questions about the DUI case.
July 11 was a Monday, so Lake County News has submitted information requests to the County Administrative Office and Grant to ascertain whether Portney was on county business and driving a county vehicle at the time of the arrest.
As of Thursday night, the county had not responded to those questions.
Staff outlines concerns
The letter criticizing Portney said his door is not as open to staff as his Thursday email claimed.
“He has never walked the halls to acknowledge Staff in the morning or to check in. He rarely has his door open, and the whiteboard on the closed door rarely indicates that he is available to ‘Deal with us.’,” the letter said.
Staff said Portney also moved his office to a corner of the building where he can enter and exit without being seen by employees.
The staff emphasized in their letter that “we are not troublemakers, malcontents, or disgruntled employees. We are the members of the County of Lake Department of Health Services and Community Partners who have given our hearts and souls to the residents of Lake County.”
The letter faulted Portney’s remote work practices, constant changes in command and department supervisors, his leadership style, his targeting of staff, and a lack of understanding of funding streams or the programs his department is running.
“He has not taken the initiative to learn,” the letter said.
Perhaps most concerning is what the letter alleged about Portney’s impact on key partnerships with emergency responders.
“This department has a long history of cooperation with law enforcement and fire departments. Our County's State of Emergencies with Destructive Wildland Fires, COVID, PSPS etc, over the last 5-6 years, had built a team of cooperation, respect, and ‘Doing the Right Thing’ for the safety of all county residents. Director Portney has all but destroyed these relationships,” the letter said.
It also referred to his action earlier this year regarding jail medical services which led to a clash with Sheriff Brian Martin.
The letter said Portney “did not feel that it was Health Services' responsibility to assist with the ‘Jail Medical’ Program. He didn't think he needed to be part of that and refused to sign. When it comes to Public Health, isn't a group of incarcerated individuals one of our most needy populations?”
The letter said Portney has alienated the county’s fire departments, most of which do not trust him and have agreed that a vote of no confidence “is relevant and necessary.”
Then there are issues with state licensure that the letter raised.
“Most recently, he has ordered nurses with a certain level of licensure to report to a supervisor that does not currently carry the credentials to supervise them. These nurses are licensed by the state of California, and following Director Portney's directive is not in alignment with state regulations and could jeopardize their licenses. This is the picture of clear mismanagement and lack of knowledge regarding governmental agencies,” the letter explained.
The staffers who signed the letter said they also fear retaliation if the Board of Supervisors takes no action to address the situation.
The Board of Supervisors typically conducts performance evaluations once a year, sometimes more often during the first year of employment. More frequent evaluations usually precede a department head’s departure.
So far this year, the board has scheduled several closed session performance evaluations of Portney, based on a review of county records. They included evaluations that were scheduled or took place on March 8, Nov. 22 and this past Tuesday, Dec. 6.
Deputy County Administrative Officer Matthew Rothstein said no reportable action was taken from Tuesday’s closed session performance evaluation of Portney.
That evaluation took place on Dec. 6, the day after the no confidence letter was dated.
“Tuesday’s item was an evaluation based on standard practices, and not responsive to any specific event. It had been rescheduled from a previous week,” Rothstein said on Thursday.
On Thursday afternoon, the Board of Supervisors’ agenda for the Dec. 13 meeting was released. It includes another closed session performance evaluation of Portney.
The full no confidence letter is published below.
Dear Chairman of Lake County BOS Supervisor Crandell, and Supervisors Green, Pyska, Sabatier & Simon;
We, the undersigned, proudly serve the residents of Lake County; we respectfully submit this letter as our official notice regarding a Vote of No Confidence in County of Lake Health Services Director Jonathan Portney.
We, the County of Lake Health Services employees, write this letter in great hesitation and only after much discussion and contemplation. We hesitate because we consider ourselves a team of dedicated, educated individuals, and it goes against our nature to break the chain of
command. We also hesitate because we fully believe that if this letter does not have the desired result and we continue to work under the current administration, there will most certainly be retaliation, be it overt or subtle. We will ultimately pay a high price for doing what we know in our hearts is the right thing for the County of Lake, its residents, and its employees. We have already experienced bits and pieces of this feared behavior throughout our day-to-day interactions with Director Portney.
Over the past several months, we have been disheartened by the actions of Director Portney. He has tested our willpower and confidence in his skill and ability to adequately lead this department. Under his leadership, morale has plummeted to depths never before seen at this agency.
We call into question the leadership qualities of Director Portney. During his short, one-year tenure, the examples of poor leadership are almost too numerous to recall. He has alienated several of our community partners by being too arrogant to learn of our community "ecosystem" and our unique qualities. (Fire Depts. /Sheriff's Dept/Social Services/Behavioral Health to start) He moved his office to a corner of the building where he can enter & exit without being seen by employees. He has never walked the halls to acknowledge Staff in the morning or to check in. He rarely has his door open, and the whiteboard on the closed door rarely indicates that he is available to "Deal with us". Mostly scribbled "DND" or 'Off-Site". He does not share when in the office, off or remote. By employees and other management not knowing his schedule, he is not held responsible for using accruals during time off.
His "Remote" work style is not conducive to a smooth running department especially when he has not issued an updated Org chart and claims "he has a plan" but won't elaborate even after many verbal and written requests. Many of the Staff do not know who they are responsible to report to as well as supervisors not knowing who reports to them. He haphazardly jumps in and out of the "Chain of Command," Directing Staff who are assigned to other Supervisors oftentimes resulting in confusion regarding tasks assigned or in wasted time by duplicating tasks, mostly without the supervisors knowledge.
When dealing with the state on many levels, he has shown his lack of proper leadership. He was in an email thread with general questions regarding Monkey Pox from the state; Deputy Director Jen Baker responded to the email with a "Respond All" and Director Portney in that thread. Nevertheless, Director Portney responded to the email a day later, saying almost exactly what Deputy Director Baker had said … it made us look inept and showed that this man gets lost in details.
Another instance of lack of attention to detail is the fact that he sent an email to advise Staff that the Deputy Director was no longer on Staff and then continued that "thread" while congratulating another employee on a promotion. The "Fired" staff member remains on his list of recipients for these "happy announcements" and even a "Happy Holiday/Thanksgiving Greeting". The fact that the majority of his emails have the "disclaimer" of "sent from my iPhone" speaks to the problem of him not being FULLY ENGAGED in his important duties. Let it also be noted that after the "firing" of Deputy Baker he was heard whistling a happy tune in his office.
This last week Director Portney targeted certain Staff. He issued an order for all employees working at the "858" building to come to the Bevins building for a group meeting regarding "transition from 858 back to Bevins". The group meeting was actually 2:1s with HR Director Pam Samac at his side. He did not stick to his "Proposed Agenda" and even called in another employee to address "Complaints" he had allegedly received of said employee being "unfriendly, not a team player and not open to communication" but wouldn't provide any instances of such said behavior. Please note that none of these employees are his "direct reports," and he chose to do this meeting when these employees' supervisors were all at out-of-town trainings and had no idea that he was doing this or that there were even performance issues with said employee. One staff member was feeling so targeted that she requested that the meeting be stopped and she have a union representative with her for a continuation of the meeting. During the second meeting, the focus again changed; it was not about "transitioning" all employees, just this one individual. Her job is handling the largest sum of money that has been granted to our department, and she is being moved from a quiet and secure office to a cubical right outside of his office with the most foot traffic. This cubical is open to the main hallway, restroom and exit. He even discarded the option that several other workstations are available, including one with other fiscal Staff.
Director Portney does not understand our funding streams or the programs that this department is running. He has not taken the initiative to learn. He has claimed that payments are ours when in fact, they are not and belong to other county agencies.
This department has a long history of cooperation with law enforcement and fire departments. Our County's State of Emergencies with Destructive Wildland Fires, COVID, PSPS etc, over the last 5-6 years, had built a team of cooperation, respect, and "Doing the Right Thing" for the safety of all county residents. Director Portney has all but destroyed these relationships. He said that he did not feel that it was Health Services' responsibility to assist with the "Jail Medical" Program. He didn't think he needed to be part of that and refused to sign. When it comes to Public Health, isn't a group of incarcerated individuals one of our most needy populations? Conjugal living having the highest risk of spread of communicable diseases.
He incorrectly handled the RFP process for LEMSA. He has alienated the EMS/Fire & ambulance departments. Most of the fire departments do not TRUST Director Portney and have agreed that a vote of No Confidence is relevant and necessary.
On many occasions, he has given Staff verbal directives but when it comes time for approving the action, there become extreme issues, and approval can't be given, so much time and effort is wasted.
Most recently, he has ordered nurses with a certain level of licensure to report to a supervisor that does not currently carry the credentials to supervise them. These nurses are licensed by the state of California, and following Director Portney's directive is not in alignment with state regulations and could jeopardize their licenses. This is the picture of clear mismanagement and lack of knowledge regarding governmental agencies.
In closing, we would like to remind you that we are not troublemakers, malcontents, or disgruntled employees. We are the members of the County of Lake Department of Health Services and Community Partners who have given our hearts and souls to the residents of Lake County. Our dedication to the residents of Lake County and to our members of the department gives us the courage to write this very difficult letter. Our agenda is strictly based in the wellbeing of our County so that we may provide the greatest level of service to all of the much deserving members of this community.
Signed:
Charlene Ellis
Chris McSorley
Amanda Frazell
Lynn Brookes
Carol Morgan
Danielle Woodford
Cindy Silva-Brackett
Liberty Perry
Celia Pulido
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
