Shasta's newest county counsel leaving his old job in Yuba County after only five months

The man hired to be Shasta County's fifth county counsel this year has agreed to leave the same job in Yuba County after less than five months. And Joseph Larmour won't have far to move, because he lived in Shasta County while working for Yuba County.

Even though Larmour was offered the job two weeks ago, it wasn't clear Tuesday whether Yuba County officials knew Larmour was in line for the Shasta County job.

When asked Tuesday about Larmour, Yuba County Board of Supervisors Chairman Andy Vasquez hung up the phone on a Record Searchlight reporter twice.

Asked whether he knew the Shasta County board voted to hire Larmour, Vasquez said he did not. When asked whether he knew Larmour was a candidate for the position, he said "I don't think I want to talk about that right now, OK?" and hung up the phone.

When a reporter called him back to ask, about what he thought of Larmour's performance in Yuba County, Vasquez said "He's a great guy," but would not comment further and again hung up the phone.

Two weeks ago, the Shasta County Board of Supervisors voted to extend an employment offer to Larmour, contingent upon him passing a background check and going through other administrative hurdles.

Three members of Shasta County's Board of Supervisors thought enough of Larmour to pay him a $240,365 annual salary, a $20,000 signing bonus and a $5,000 car allowance.

While the board voted to hire Larmour on Tuesday, supervisors also approved hiring another attorney who would take on the backlog of up to 50 unfinished contracts that needed completion for the Health and Human Services Agency.

Larmour has nine years experience working as an attorney for various counties, according to a report to the board prepared by Monica Fugitt, the county's director of support services.

Supervisor Mary Rickert objected to hiring Larmour at a similar pay rate as former County Counsel James Ross, who had nearly 25 years experience.

Rickert said during Tuesday's meeting she spoke to references about Larmour.

"I have a responsibility to the citizens of Shasta County to call the references and I did. And I didn't exactly get a resounding positive to that. So I was concerned about the selection," Rickert said.

But board Chairman Patrick Jones defended the decision to hire Larmour.

He said the county had to increase the pay to compete with salaries offered by other counties and in the private sector.

"This is one of those key positions where we've had a hard time recruiting. We have not gotten a lot of applicants," Jones said.

Supervisor Tim Garman voted against the hiring and objected to paying Larmour a vehicle allowance.

"I'd love to support this, first of all, but I don't see a car allowance. That just bothered me because I don't think our counselors drive that much," Garman said.

Larmour's hiring makes him the fifth county counsel this year. Rubin Cruse retired in April. Then his replacement, Ross, retired in July. After he left, the position was filled with two other employees in the office, who worked as either interim or acting county counsel.

The board approved hiring Larmour on a four-year contract that would take effect April 8, 2024, according to a board report.

Larmour took over the job as county counsel in Yuba County effective Aug. 1, according to a report to that county's Board of Supervisors. He was the county's chief deputy county counsel before accepting the four-year contract with Yuba County.

Larmour's contract with Yuba County allowed him to live outside that county, and Fugitt said Tuesday that Larmour currently lived in Shasta County. Larmour did not return a phone message left at his office Tuesday.

In addition to hiring a new county counsel, the board voted to begin recruiting to hire a lawyer to write up and prepare contracts for the health and human services agency. The new attorney would be paid $168,537 a year in salary and benefits, according to a report to the board.

That work is currently done by the county counsel's office. Asked by supervisors whether hiring an HHSA attorney would add another layer of work, Senior Deputy County Counsel Trisha Weber told the board that contracts prepared and approved by the HHSA attorney would likely still need to be approved by the county counsel's office.

Reporter Damon Arthur welcomes story tips at 530-338-8834, by email at damon.arthur@redding.com and on Twitter at @damonarthur_RS. Help local journalism thrive by subscribing today!

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Shasta's newest county counsel leaving old job after only five months