Nicole Reinert, newly appointed head of Plumas County’s department of public health, accepted the position with a promise of building personal relationships and working with county leaders.
“I expect that to be the most enjoyable part of the job,” she said.
Reinert, appointed Feb. 6, joins Michael Coelho, appointed Jan. 2 to lead the county building department. They are the newest heads of the county’s 26 departments. Their appointments, and several others in process, are reversing the trend of resignations that began in 2020 and continued into September 2023. Currently the county has three vacant department head positions.
“It’s progress,” said Debra Lucero, county administrative officer.
Reinert turned to local institutions for her education
Reinert was raised in Quincy and graduated from Quincy Junior-Senior High School in 2002. She left for Kansas City, Missouri, for several years, but returned “as a mom,” she said, eager to pursue an education in public health.
Reinert started working for the county public health department in 2017 as “extra help,” she told The Plumas Sun. By then she was completing her bachelor’s degree in public health at California State University, Chico. Reinert went on to earn a Master of Public Health degree from University of Nevada, Reno.
“I was strongly motivated to get an education. I wanted to become an expert in my field,” Reinert said.
Dixie Fire drew Coelho to Plumas County
For Coelho, the 2021 Dixie Fire was the draw to Plumas County. His wife Heidi had attended Feather River College and worked for the California Department of Fish and Game (now Wildlife) following the 2007 eradication of invasive northern pike in Lake Davis.
When Coelho learned that flames had destroyed Greenville he was devastated. “It just tugged at my heart,” he said. “I wanted to come and help.”
The following spring Coelho interviewed for a job with the building department. He put his Hanford, Kings County, house on the market, and “the rest is history,” Coelho said. He, his wife Heidi and their four kids moved to Meadow Valley in summer 2022. Coelho was introduced as head of the department in January 2024.
Reversing the resignation trend
Reinert and Coelho are positive signs that Plumas County’s resignation trend is reversing, said Lucero. Six department heads submitted their resignations between June and September 2023. They followed the departure of 19 of the county’s 26 department heads, who resigned or retired between 2020 and 2022.
Lucero cited a series of internal and external setbacks that contributed to the resignations. Since 2020, when Plumas County was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, it has endured the 2021 Dixie Fire, which burned from July 13 until Oct. 14, and a November 2021 cyberattack. Add low wages, and the result has been a loss of leadership and discontent among employees, Lucero said.
She is trying to be flexible in filling vacancies in both department leadership positions and elsewhere. With around 90 vacancies in the Plumas County workforce, some positions may be merged, Lucero said.
