As Shasta County tries to find a qualified replacement for Health and Human Services Agency Director Donnell Ewert, the Board of Supervisors is considering lowering the standards. The HHSA Director also serves as Director of Mental Health Services, which raises the bar considerably in terms of prerequisites under state law. Due to the difficulty in finding a qualified candidate, the board is voting Tuesday on a proposal to reduce the scope of the HHSA Director’s job by removing the mental health services role. The board needs to hire a director soon to and take on the backlog of work that’s been building since the departure of Ewert. He resigned his office after witnessing the criticism heaped on County Health Officer Doctor Karen Ramstrom, who was eventually fired without cause by a 3 to 2 vote of the Board of Supervisors.