Personnel Committee
August 10, 2006 - 9:30 am
APPROVED MINUTES
Members: Larry Cornell, Chairman; Mike, McKee, Vice Chairman; Sandy Price, Don Spaulding, John Troy
Others Present: Marilyn Brown, Chairman of the Legislature; Scott Schrader, County Administrator; Katrina Spicer, Secretary to County Administration; Annette Barber, Personnel Director; Laurie Gosse, Deputy Personnel Director; Corey Preston, Cortland Standard; Ryan Dean, News 10 Now
Absent: Steve Dafoe and Tom Williams (excused)
Mr. Cornell called the meeting to order at 9:50 a.m.
Mr. Troy made the motion to approve the minutes of the July 13, 2006 meeting;
seconded by Ms. Price. All
members voting in favor, minutes approved as printed.
RESOLUTIONS:
Personnel
Information Technology
2. Authorize Agreement, All-Mode Communications – Ms. Price moved adoption; seconded by Mr. Troy. Mr. McKee inquired if this was a maintenance agreement. Mr. Schrader responded that it was and the County gets their moneys worth from this. Chairman Brown inquired about any increase in the agreement; Mr. Schrader responded No. All members present voting in favor; none opposed; resolution approved.
DISCUSSIONS/PRESENTATIONS:
1. Personnel: Vacancy Report – Ms. Barber distributed Personnel Vacancy Reports and discussed the report. She reported good news that five new nurses had been hired and were going through orientation.
2.
Personnel: Unemployment Insurance Report – Ms. Barber distributed a
Confidential Unemployment Insurance Report and the committee discussed the
report. Ms. Barber collected all
copies of the report.
3. Personnel: Approval of Hiring Assistant Director of Patient Services (Step 3) – Mr. Schrader explained to the committee that under the Management Comp Plan any individual hired above Step 1 level will need to have Committee Approval. He further discussed that this position was advertised in the Syracuse, Ithaca, Binghamton and Cortland Areas and only received one application. He further explained that the individual that applied is qualified, has year of and the necessary experience. He would like the committee’s approval to hire her at Step 3. Mr. Troy made a motion to approve the hiring of the Assistant Director of Patient Services at Step 3; seconded by Mr. Spaulding. All members present voting in favor; none opposed; motion carried. Ms. Price inquired as to what the next step in the hiring process would be. Mr. Schrader explained that next they would offer the position to her and hope that she takes it. He added that all that was needed was the committee’s approval to hire her at Step 3.
4. Personnel Sub-Committee Report (Rules of Order) – Mr. Cornell distributed to all committee members the following memorandum:
RE:
Progress Report on Review of the Rules of the Legislature by
Subcommittee
Our Rules Subcommittee's
original target date of July has been extended in order to review other issues
that developed during our review and discussion. I believe that a thorough
review is preferred over a quick republishing of the rules.
The Subcommittee is near
completion of its review of the rules and is expected to request a preliminary
draft of their work be prepared by staff in August.
During this review, the
Subcommittee has met a total of eleven times and has reviewed line by line
each rule and law cited by the rules. We have reviewed each publication of the
rules that was available in the County's records. These publications included
the early Rules of the Board of Supervisors, as well as, the Rules adopted by
the first Cortland County Legislature of 1974.
We have encouraged input and were glad to receive some from Legislators who are not members of the Subcommittee.
Mr. Cornell discussed that changes have been made to the current rules but they Sub-Committee has no set date to publish the changes. He added that the Sub-Committee would like to ensure that the changes are correct and make the entire document correct. He additionally explained that all Legislators will receive a copy of the changed rules to review at least a week in advance. Mr. Cornell expressed his thanks to the Sub Committee members, Ms. Price, Mr. Ross and Mr. Troy. Additionally, he thanked Mr. Whitt and Mr. Schrader for their assistance. He explained that the Sub Committee had eleven workshops and he had additional meetings with Mr. Whitt regarding the Rules. Mr. Schrader extended his thanks for allowing him to have a chance to review the rules. Mr. Whitt explained that the Sub Committee reviewed every article in the Rules and agreed that the County Administrator should have the opportunity to review them. He additionally explained that all notes will be translated into a document and that this was a tough process but he is pleased with the work and outcome. Mr. Whitt discussed that a finished product should be available in a couple of weeks. Mr. Cornell expressed that the finished product will be a “user friendly packet and tool” with all referenced material attached. Ms. Price explained that the Policies and Procedures couldn’t be mixed with the Rules of Order. She added that the Sub Committee would like to look at them next. Mr. Whitt explained the differences between Policies and Rules; rules – run the Legislature and policies run the County. Ms. Price stated that she was speaking for the entire Sub Committee, if any Legislators have any issues with the Rules of Order, please bring it forward in advance to the Sub-Committee. Chairman Brown expressed that it is difficult to know if you have any issues with Rules until you see what changes being proposed. Mr. McKee inquired about where exactly the Rules and Policies are kept. Mr. Whitt discussed the lack of past publishing. Mr. McKee inquired if there was an Encyclopedia type book avail to refer to. Mr. Whitt explained and discussed the State Statue Book and further discussed the State Level Laws published in a code book, which is called codification of the laws. He added that most modern municipalities have these types of publications. Mr. Whitt also discussed the importance of a publication similar to the State Code Book at the County level. Mr. Whitt highly recommended that this should be done; codification of laws, and Mr. Schrader agreed. Mr. Schrader explained that in many cases the resolution refers to another document and that document should attached. He further explained that when the original resolution is pulled the document is not even attached to the original resolution – there is nothing to refer to. Mr. Whitt also explained that in many journals the resolutions, which were passed, have been published but in some cases the Local Laws have not been included in the Journals. He added, that this could possibly be to keep the overall cost of the Journals down. Mr. Whitt expressed that the first step of fixing this is to improve operations. Mr. Schrader explained that the cost to codify would be approximately between $50,000 to $75,000. He additionally explained that a firm would come in to do this and will have a printable copy at the end. He went on to discuss that the next step would be to bring the full document before the Legislature. Mr. Schrader explained that the key would be to start with this document and then maintain it from there. He went on to discuss ways to mitigate the overall cost and do some of the work in house. He went on to express that this document will save a great deal of time in the future for personnel in research time. Mr. Whitt explained that the manner in which these documents are currently, the County Attorney would have a difficult time looking up the current state of the law. Mr. Whitt discussed that the County Historian is locating copies of all journal indexes and journals and attempting to republish a complete index of journals. Mr. Whitt explained that the County is in the mode of identifying historical documents that exist. He further added that he is confident the newly changed Rules had all necessary documents needed to up date them.
Mr. Spaulding made a motion to adjourn the meeting; seconded by Troy. Mr. Cornell adjourned the meeting at 10:20 a.m.