MINUTES
GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS COMMITTEE
February 21, 2007 3:30
P.M.
SCOTT HEYMAN CONFERENCE ROOM
Present: G. Stevenson, Chair; M.
Hattery; P. Mackesey; M. Sigler; D. Kiefer (arrived at 3:40 p.m.)
Staff: C. Covert, Clerk of the Legislature; D. Squires, Finance Director; J. Wood, County Attorney; S.
Whicher, County Administrator
The meeting was called to order at 3:35 p.m.
Mr. Stevenson postponed discussion on the meeting schedule until the arrival of Ms. Kiefer so that all members were present.
Mr. Whicher reported on the meeting he had with Department Heads this morning and one of the topics raised was emergency planning. Some departments are beginning to put their own plans together that address closing of buildings, reentry, etc. As a result there needs to be a discussion held in the future and direction given concerning authority issues, i.e., Department or Legislature.
In response to questions raised, Mr. Whicher explained the differences between the emergency plans being developed. At the department level, Ms. Martel-Moore is working with department heads using three emergency scenarios: localized short-term, localized long-term, and a massive event. Ms. Nelson is working at developing a county-wide plan. Questions such as relocating departments and staff, accessing records, etc. are being addressed. These two plans will help support and benefit Lee Shurtleff’s, Emergency Response Director, overall Emergency Plan. The plan that Mr. Shurtleff is responsible for is for the overall County and includes working with State and Federal agencies and applying for grants.
Ms. Kiefer arrived at this time.
Mr. Hattery asked if the County Administrator would coordinate decisions and Mr. Whicher said asking the County Administrator is the first step. But it is not clear under what authority the County Administrator is acting; a Legislative Resolution may be needed.
Mr. Whicher recalled that last year it was determined which buildings are critical to keep in operation, and a 3-5 year plan (generators) was developed for them, and the Health Department which was top priority, is now okay. This concept was shared with the new Tompkins County Council of Governments.
Ms. Mackesey expressed slight concern with all the money and time being spent on these plans and hopes that they will be used in the long-term. Mr. Whicher agreed and said that the hope is to develop generic responses so that future staff and officials can utilize the plans.
Mr. Wood also reported that another related item is the new law on Workplace Violence Prevention. The law requires counties to have a Workplace Violence Prevention plan in place by April 1st.
Mr. Wood reported he has received more information since the last Committee meeting concerning the lawsuits some counties have filed against the State concerning the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). Nassau County sent him their brief with two claims: (1) the State’s delay in implementing HAVA threatens to disenfranchise voters and frustrate Nassau’s fundamental duty to uphold the constitutional right to vote; and (2) the State’s manner of implementation was arbitrary and capricious and the resulting financial harm imposed on localities is unreasonable.
Ms. Kiefer asked if it would be worth Tompkins County joining the lawsuit based on the second claim. Mr. Wood said he does not see any one particular advantage for one county to join another as the court will decide based on the merits.
Mr. Squires
updated the Committee on the status of property subject to foreclosure and
distributed a list for information and review. One property was paid off since the last meeting. On March 13, he, the auctioneer, and
appropriate staff from the Departments of Planning and Assessment will be
visiting said properties and a catalog of the property followed with an
assessment of each property will be done by the Planning Department. The process is expected to be completed
in May including the auction.
Because there is a short list of properties, he may look into having a
joint auction with Tioga County.
Report from Public Information Officer
Ms. Lynch was not present for the meeting.
Following discussion the Committee agreed to meet the second Friday of each month at 2:00 p.m.
Departmental Reorganization Plan (Proposal first presented at 1/24/07 Committee meeting)
Mr. Wood distributed a draft recommendation from the Personnel Commissioner and commented that Ms. Fitzpatrick was unable to attend due to a family emergency. However, he spoke with her just prior to this meeting and she agreed the draft recommendation could be disseminated. She also stated she did not believe either of the positions in the County Attorney’s office have any affect on the other attorneys positions in the County as they are distinct. Mr. Whicher reminded the Committee that this was an issue several years ago when the DSS attorneys’ salaries were affected by the raise in the Assistant County Attorney salary. Mr. Wood stated the issues were between the attorneys in the Department of Social Services and District Attorney’s office.
Mr.
Whicher also stated that the Committee should insist on having the Personnel
Commissioner’s recommendation on letterhead with a signature; Mr. Stevenson
said he will ask for that information when the time is appropriate.
Mr. Wood said he would like to have the proposal separated as follows: (1) request to increase hours (17.5 to 20 per week) and salary for Deputy County Attorney; and (2) request to increase salary for the County Attorney’s position. He asked the Committee to consider the first request as soon as possible. The additional hours are needed as well as the expertise the Deputy provides especially in the areas of property and arbitration matters. He said it is difficult to hire an attorney to carry out these responsibilities at the current level and strongly urged the Committee to consider this.
Further discussion followed concerning the first request and Mr. Wood said the salary increase would place the position above the salary range and become a “red-circled” position.
Ms. Mackesey expressed concern with this and the continued disparity with salaries of various levels of positions in society. Mr. Stevenson said he shares the same concerns, but understands the needs identified by the County Attorney. Ms. Kiefer said her concern is with the number of hours that will be lost by not filling the Assistant County Attorney position. Mr. Wood commented that the challenging part will be office coverage, not the workload. Mr. Sigler said he also understands the concerns raised by Ms. Mackesey and Mr. Stevenson, but also understands the demand of the market and the cost to hire an attorney.
Mr. Hattery asked if additional staff will need to be added to handle some of the workload. Mr. Wood said there will be money left over due to the vacant position, but feels the target will be adjusted in the next budget season. He said it is possible that he may have to hire out attorney services in the future, but overall he feels this action will save the County money.
It was MOVED by Ms. Mackesey, seconded by Mr. Hattery, and unanimously adopted by voice vote, to approve and submit the following resolution to the full Legislature for approval:
RESOLUTION NO. – AUTHORIZING SALARY FOR POSITION ABOVE THE SALARY RANGE
WHEREAS, the Legislature desires to set the salary for an employee in the following position:
Deputy County Attorney
, and
WHEREAS, the system utilized by Tompkins County to assign salaries to positions based on job description is unable to match the market-rate salary of this specialized professional positions, now therefore be it
RESOLVED, on recommendation of the Government Operations Committee, That effective January 1, 2007, base salary for the incumbent in the title listed below shall be:
Deputy County Attorney $47,840 at 20 hours
RESOLVED, further, That effective immediately, whenever there is a vacancy in this title, a base salary will be set for the newly hired incumbent on an individual basis by a resolution of the Legislature,
RESOLVED, further, That no new monies are needed to fund this change.
SEQR ACTION: TYPE II-20
* * * * * * * * * *
Discussion followed concerning the second request to increase the salary for the County Attorney. Mr. Wood provided a brief history of how the County Attorney’s salary was established at the time of his appointment. At the time there was no rating or comparison on the position done and an agreement was made on the salary. Later, Ms. Fitzpatrick rated the position, which came out to a salary equal to that of the County Administrator, but this was never passed. Rating the position and removing it from the “red-circled” list of positions was raised by the County Administrator at the previous meeting and Mr. Wood said he would agree with that suggestion.
As the salary for the County Attorney’s position was recently increased for 2007, Ms. Kiefer feels disinclined to raise the salary again in the same year. She commented that this may be a discussion for the Personnel Committee as it will be discussing “red-circled” positions. Also it might be an item to consider during the next budget cycle. Ms. Mackesey agreed with Ms. Kiefer’s comments to have this discussed by the Personnel Committee and also agrees that timing is an issue.
Mr. Whicher stated, in reference to discussions held, he is not sensitive to someone getting paid more than he gets. Both positions, County Administrator and County Attorney, are highly professional. He reminded the Committee, too, that during the budget process in 2006, Mr. Wood had reported on personnel changes that were occurring and that he was looking at the organization of the department and would be coming back to the Legislature with a proposal. Mr. Whicher feels the proposal makes sense and saves the County money as well.
Following further discussion, Mr. Hattery MOVED, seconded by Ms. Kiefer, and unanimously adopted by voice vote, that this Committee considered the recommendation of the Personnel Commissioner and the County Attorney and agree that moving the County Attorney position to a graded position is a desirable approach and recommend the Personnel Committee consider this in its discussions.
Resolution
It was MOVED by Ms. Mackesey, seconded by Mr. Sigler, to approve and submit the following resolution to the full Legislature for approval. Following a brief discussion, a few suggestions were made and accepted by the Committee and have been incorporated into the resolution below. It was noted that there was no Public Works personnel in the line of succession for the Planning and Public Works Commissioner. A question was raised concerning the order of Successors for Emergency Response and Mr. Whicher agreed to confirm with Mr. Shurtleff the order and job titles. The vote on this was held later in the meeting to allow Mr. Whicher time to contact Mr. Shurtleff.
Grant Application
A summary of the grant application was provided. The County Clerk’s office is applying for a $74,900 grant for a County Land Records Initiative from the Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund. A copy of the full grant application is available upon request. Ms. Kiefer questioned a statement on the application form concerning the launching of information on the Internet. No one was present to answer the question.
Mr. Sigler was excused at 4:50 p.m.
Corrections to Tax Roll information dated 2006 and 2007 was provided and briefly reviewed by the Committee.
Appointment
It was MOVED by Mr. Hattery, seconded by Ms. Mackesey, and unanimously adopted by voice vote, to approve and submit the recommendation of Legislator Kiefer as the County Legislature’s appointment to the Ernest N. Warren Supreme Court Library Board of Trustees.
Resolution
Mr. Whicher was unable to obtain the information requested by the Committee as stated above, but would confirm the information prior to Legislative approval. A voice vote resulted as follows on the resolution with the understanding Mr. Whicher would contact Mr. Shurtleff: Ayes – 4, Noes – 0, Excused – 1 (Sigler). RESOLUTION CARRIED.
WHEREAS,
Section 31.07 of the County Charter specifies that the County Administrator and
specified department heads shall designate in writing, and in order of
succession, the deputies (or in the absence of officially designated deputies,
the employees of the department) who shall possess the powers and perform the
duties of the principal in the event of the latter’s absence from the County or
inability to perform or exercise the powers of the office, and
WHEREAS, the Charter further requires those
designations, except department heads elected on a countywide basis, to be
approved by the Tompkins County Legislature, now therefore be it
RESOLVED, on recommendation of the Government
Operations Committee, That the following designations of successors are hereby
approved,
RESOLVED, further, That this list is complete
and supercedes all previous designations:
Airport Manager: Assistant
Airport Manager
Airport
Terminal Services Coordinator
Operations
Supervisor
County Administrator: Deputy
County Administrator, Full-time
Deputy County Administrator,
Part-time
County
Attorney
Finance
Director
County Attorney: Deputy
County Attorney
Assistant
County Attorney
Commissioner of Social Director
of Services
Services: Director
of Administrative Services
Social
Services Staff Development and Quality Coordinator
Director of Emergency Assistant Fire and Emergency Management
Director
Response: Communications
Systems Manager
Administrative
Assistant
Public Health Director: Public
Health Administrator
Director
of Patient Services
Medical Examiner: Deputy
Medical Examiner, William Klepack, M.D.
Deputy
Medical Examiner, David Newman, M.D.
Mental Health Commissioner: Deputy
Commissioner Mental Health
Medical Director
Director of Mental Health Clinic
Clinic Supervisor
Director of Finance: Budget
and Finance Manager
Director
of Accounting Services
Commissioner of Personnel: Deputy
Commissioner of Personnel
Commissioner of Planning Deputy
Commissioner of Planning
and Public Works: Principal
Planner
SEQR ACTION: TYPE II-20
* * * * * * * * *
Countywide Elected
Officials:
Designation of
successor, in order of succession
For information only
Sheriff:
Undersheriff
District Attorney: Assistant
District Attorney-Linda Gafford
County Clerk: Deputy
County Clerk
Mr. Whicher briefly reported and commended the County Historian for the Annual Report prepared and distributed to Committee members.
Copies of the draft goals were
distributed to Committee members for review and comment. Mr. Stevenson said following a
discussion at this meeting he would revise the goals as recommended and forward
to Deputy County Administrator Paula Younger for further review and
comment.
Goal: Define roles of Department Heads, County Administration, and the Legislature (organizational culture and values). Committee members expressed support to have this as a goal. There is a need to define relationships, roles and the level of authority and power.
Goal: Advisory Board appointment policy review. Committee members felt a review of policy(s) would be useful.
Goal: E-mail system communications policy. Greg Potter, Information Technology Services Director, is in the process of upgrading the County’s e-mail system. It is expected that a revised communications policy will come to the Committee for approval.
Goal: Understanding trends regarding tax-exempt properties. Ms. Mackesey said this goal was made at her request. However, she feels it does not need to be listed as a goal but she would be willing to request the Assessment Department put together information to share with the Committee.
Goal: Update Administrative Manual. It was felt that this is an area that should be a high priority and needs attention.
Goal: Develop an overall picture of Legislature and Administration goals. Mr. Whicher said his department is in the process of setting their goals. It was felt that this is an area that would come later and that the first goal listed above should be addressed.
Goal: To understand staffing levels, number of departments and their structure. It was noted that this was suggested by Mr. Sigler (excused from meeting earlier) and this is an area he has interest in.
Goal: Define and review The History Center of
Tompkins County’s arrangement with Tompkins County. It was felt that this does not need to
be listed as goal but that a written synopsis of the contractual arrangement be
prepared that provides a clear understanding of the relationship. Ms. Mackesey agreed to prepare this
information.
Mr.
Stevenson encouraged Committee members to send him any written information
concerning the goals and he will meet with Ms. Younger to discuss them.
It was MOVED by Ms. Mackesey, seconded by Mr. Hattery, and unanimously adopted by voice vote by members present, to approve the minutes of the January 17, 2007, meeting as corrected.
The
meeting adjourned at 5:27 p.m.
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