Supes examining Neville's job performance

<p>Sonoma County supervisors will discuss embattled Agricultural Commissioner Cathy Neville's job performance next week amid continuing concerns about her management of the office and a court hearing next week related to her arrest on suspicion of drunken driving.</p><p>County Administrator Veronica Ferguson declined to provide specifics about the performance review or what actions supervisors might take Tuesday when they discuss the matter in closed session.</p><p>“It's a personnel matter,” Ferguson said.</p><p>Neville did not return a phone call Tuesday seeking comment.</p><p>The 53-year-old ag commissioner has faced scrutiny since her controversial decision in July to fire Amy Cooper, the former director of the county's Animal Care and Control Division, two days before Cooper's yearlong probationary status was to expire.</p><p>The decision caused an uproar among animal control employees and sparked a county-led investigation that ultimately led supervisors to transfer the agency to the Human Services Department in September.</p><p>Ferguson said the county analyst she dispatched to interview animal control employees also interviewed employees who work at the ag commissioner's office and still report directly to Neville.</p><p>Ferguson said she was not made aware of what those interviews revealed, saying she's not had any direct contact with employees at the ag commissioner's office or with county staff who interviewed them.</p><p>“I've been cc'd on a couple of things, but no staff have talked to me directly,” she said.</p><p>Ferguson said that investigation is separate from the one being conducted as part of Neville's performance review, although such reviews in general usually include comments, including those made anonymously, from a department head's colleagues and subordinates.</p><p>Carolyn Lopez, a field representative for Service Employees International Union 1021, said union members and two employee representatives from the ag commissioner's office met with county human resources staff Nov. 23 to air concerns about Neville.</p><p>Lopez declined to be specific about what employees reported. “It was concerning enough that we are expecting the county to respond or take action,” Lopez said.</p><p>Neville is considered an “unclassified” county employee, which means she does not fall under the protections of the county civil service ordinance. She was hired by supervisors and any disciplinary action, up to and including termination, is a decision of the board.</p><p>Her four-year term as commissioner expires in December 2012. She earns $132,000 annually, not including health benefits, a car allowance and other perks.</p><p>California's ag commissioners also are licensed by the state, and according to law, can be stripped of the license for “neglect of duty, incompetence or misconduct in office” after a hearing.</p><p>Neville is due in court Monday related to her Sept. 10 arrest on suspicion of DUI. She was driving her 2006 Nissan Sentra on Highway 116 near Graton at about 9 p.m. when she was pulled over by a CHP officer who said that he noticed her swerving.</p><p>She was arrested after a field sobriety test. Officers said she resisted but the district attorney chose not to charge her with resisting arrest.</p><p>Her blood-alcohol level was 0.11 percent, above the 0.08 level at which drivers are legally presumed to be under the influence.</p><p>Richard Ingram, Neville's attorney, did not return a call Tuesday seeking comment.</p>