Calaveras County CAO explains general‑law status, procurement limits and steps to streamline permitting

Theresa Hitchcock, Calaveras County administrative officer, described the county's government structure and steps staff are taking to streamline permitting and capital planning.

Hitchcock said Calaveras is a general‑law county, meaning it must follow state law on certain matters and has less contracting flexibility than charter counties. "A lot of people wanna know why we don't contract out more services and literally, legally, we can't," she said. She added pursuing charter-county status would be a significant lift and that current board members have not expressed interest in that change.

Hitchcock described improvements to permitting and facility management: online plan submissions, online inspections (photo-based), preapproved plans for faster permitting, and an electronic capital asset database the facilities director developed to track failures and forecast maintenance needs five years out. "We have an idea of what is going to happen to our different facilities for 5 years out," she said, noting the goal is to avoid expensive emergency repairs by scheduling maintenance.

Hitchcock also explained that procurement for social-service contracts typically proceeds through RFP or RFQ processes and that funding-source rules often dictate contract terms and allowable expenditures.

No board vote or formal policy change was announced in the interview; Hitchcock described current practices and staff work to improve efficiency.