Alturas City Council
Special Meeting
City Hall Council Chambers
March 11, 2026 at 1:00 p.m.
Alturas City Council Mayor Paul Minchella called the special meeting to order at 1:00 p.m. at the City Council Chambers. Councilmembers present: Paul Minchella, Jennifer Engel, Duanna Knighton, and Jodie Larranaga. Councilmembers absent: Brian Cox. Staff present: City Clerk Tacie Wheeler, City Treasurer Long, Director of Public Works Farnam, Fire Chief Jimmy Lloyd, Fire Marshal Eric Hunter, Interim Police Chief Ken Simon, Officer Jonathan Morgan. Public attending: 7.
All present joined together in the Pledge of Allegiance.
No public forum.
Discussion/action:
Councilmember Engel states that now that they have selected a new Chief, they need to revisit and terminate the contract for the Interim Chief. She says she would like to keep Mr. Simon on until Friday, if he is willing. She thanks him very much for his help.
Interim Chief Simon states that he discussed it with Jonathan, and he feels that Friday would be good to help him in the process of taking over as Chief.
Councilmember Knighton thanks Mr. Simon for his service to the City.
MOTION by Councilmember Larranaga, SECONDED by Councilmember Engel, to terminate the contract with Interim Police Chief Simon, effective Friday, March 13th. ALL AYES.
Discussion/action:
Councilmember Engel explains that it has been quite a while since the job description for Police Chief has been reviewed and updated. She has worked with Treasurer Long in getting this up to date.
Councilmember Knighton mentions that she knows this position requires the person to look for and apply for grants, but she didn’t see any mention of that in the description.
MOTION by Councilmember Engel, SECONDED by Councilmember Knighton to approve Resolution #2026-7 updating the job description for the Chief of Police position, repealing Resolution #2013-02, adding under Key Duties ‘Various forms of grant seeking and management.’ ALL AYES.
Discussion/action:
Councilmember Knighton says that they negotiated the employee contract and decided on a 2-year term so it would be the same Council reviewing the contract.
Treasurer long printed and handed out the updated contract with Attorney Kenny’s corrections on there.
There were two typos and in Section 2, subsection b, he added the verbiage “in accordance with the applicable State law relating to Police Chief’s contract.” MOTION by Councilmember Engel, SECONDED by Councilmember Larranaga to approve 2-year contract employment agreement for the Chief of Police Jonathan Morgan effective March 11, 2026 through February 29, 2028. ALL AYES.
With no further business to come before City Council, MOTION by Councilmember Engel, SECONDED by Councilmember Larranaga to adjourn the meeting and to return in regular session on Tuesday, March 17, 2026 at 2:00 pm, City Hall. ALL AYES
Respectfully,
Tacie Wheeler
Tacie Wheeler
City Clerk