Personnel Committee

Special Meeting

September 19, 2006 - 8:30 am

DRAFT MINUTES

 

Members:                   Larry Cornell, Chairman; Mike, McKee, Vice Chairman; Sandy Price, Don Spaulding, John Troy and Tom Williams

Others Present:         Marilyn Brown, Chairman of the Legislature; Scott Schrader, County Administrator; Danny Ross, Legislator District 12 and member of Personnel Sub-Committee; Katrina Spicer, Secretary to County Administration; Richard C. Van Donsel, County Attorney; Dennis Whitt, County Auditor; Bob Howe, Board of Elections; Corey Preston, Cortland Standard

Absent:                       Steve Dafoe

 Mr. Cornell called the meeting to order at 8:34 a.m.

RECEIVE & ACCEPT:

 

1.          Personnel Sub-Committee Workshop Final Draft of Rules of Order.  A copy of the Personnel Sub-Committee Workshop Final Draft of Rules of Order was made available to Committee Members.  Mr. Spaulding made a motion to accept the Personnel Sub-Committee Workshop Final Draft of Rules of Order; seconded by Mr. Troy.  All members present voting in favor; none opposed; motion carried. 

 

RESOLUTIONS:

 

Legislature

 

1.         Adoption of Rules of Order – Mr. Troy moved adoption; seconded by Mr. Spaulding.  Mr. Van Donsel discussed briefly some proposed changes and issues with the draft copy of the Rules of Order.  Mr. Troy discussed briefly some proposed changes with the draft copy of the Rules of Order. 

 

The Committee discussed the document page by page and made the following amendments:

 

Page 1 of 30 – Mr. Spaulding inquired about the necessity of the definitions of Article and Article postponed indefinitely in the Rules.  Mr. Van Donsel explained that they are common usages.  Committee members discussed why they are both in the Rules.  The consensus of the Committee was to leave these definitions in the Rules and make no changes. 

Mr. Williams inquired about definition No. 3 Amendment and if the form needs to be used, and if so where can the form be found.  Committee members discussed using the form and discussed the availability of the form in the office of the Clerk of the Legislature.         

Page 2 of 30 – Mr. Van Donsel discussed definitions Nos. 13 and 17, Conflict of Interest and Direst Interest.  The Committee members and others present discussed making these definitions more clear.  Mr. Troy made a motion to strike the word “household” in definition No. 13 and add the list of family in parenthesis in definition No. 13 to definition No. 17 after “immediate family”; seconded by Mr. Ross.  All members present voting in favor; none opposed; motion carried.

Page 3 of 30 – No changes were discussed.

Page 4 of 30 – Committee members discussed definition No. 33, Quorum.  Mr. Troy made a motion to strike the words “should no vacancies exist” in definition No. 33; seconded by Ms. Price.  All members present voting in favor; none opposed; motion carried. 

Page 5 of 30 – Committee members discussed how to handle a special article since the definition for it because the definition is being omitted.  Additionally, Committee members discussed a motion to suspend the rules. Mr. Troy made a motion to add the definition for Motion to Suspend the Rules between definition Nos. 29 and 30 on page 3; seconded by Mr. Spaulding.  All members present voting in favor; none opposed; motion carried. 

Page 6 of 30 – Committee members discussed definition No. 47, Table.  Ms. Price made a motion to strike the words “when something else of immediate urgency has arisen” in definition No. 47; seconded by Mr. Troy.  All members present voting in favor; none opposed; motion carried.  Committee members discussed tabling a resolution to date certain and Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised.  Additionally, Committee members discussed that the definition “table to date certain’ defines itself and the consensus of the Committee was that a definition for that was not needed in the Rules. 

Committee members discussed adding “any other matter to come before the Board“ under Section B. Notification, Part 1, as “c.”  Ms. Price made a motion to add “any other matter to come before the Board“ under B. Notification, part 1, as “c.”; seconded by Mr. Troy.  All members present voting in favor; none opposed; motion carried.    

Page 7 of 30 – Committee members discussed the receiving and filing of the designation of Majority Leader and Minority Leader.  Mr. Troy made a motion to add “receive and file the designation of the Majority Leader and Minority Leader (if available)” to Article II, Section 1, Part C, as number 3, after appoint of a Clerk; seconded by Mr. Spaulding.  All members present voting in favor; none opposed; motion carried.

Page 8 of 30 – Committee members discussed that the Clerk of Legislature serves at the pleasure of the Legislature and that the Clerk can be voted out and replaced at any given meeting.  Committee members further discussed that the Clerk of the Legislature is not a two-year term position like others listed in this section; the Clerk of the Legislature is the only position that serves entirely at the pleasure of Legislature.   

Page 9 of 30 – No changes were discussed.

Page 10 of 30 – Committee members discussed the “Public Comment” section and further discussed the differences between “public comment” and “privilege of the floor.”  They further discussed the clarity of Public Comment and limiting any comments to be related to things on the agenda.  The consensus of the Committee was to bold the portion “any agenda item.”  Ms. Price discussed opening County Government to the public and the taping of Committee Meetings. 

Page 11 of 30 – No changes were discussed.

Page 12 of 30 – No changes were discussed.

Page 13 of 30 – Committee members discussed Section 5, part F and how it relates to emergencies and disasters.  Mr. Van Donsel explained that clarity should be defined in Local Law No. 1 of 1967.  Committee members discussed appointing a successor and not a temporary chair and further discussed the designation of Majority Leader and Minority Leader and Resolution 170-06 should cover this.  Mr. Troy made a motion to strike Part F, of Section 5; seconded by Ms. Price.  All members present voting in favor; none opposed; motion carried.     

Page 14 of 30 – Committee members discussed Section 6. Temporary Chair and Resolution No. 170-06, which covers the portion that was omitted. 

Committee members discussed “Q” and added that this is a significant change.  Ms. Price discussed that this reflects the responsibilities of the County Administrator.  Mr. Van Donsel discussed that this a chain of discipline issue and that the Legislature should be able to discipline the County Administrator if needed. 

Page 15 of 30 – No changes were discussed.

Page 16 of 30 – No changes were discussed.

Page 17 of 30 – No changes were discussed.

Page 18 of 30 – Committee members discussed adding County Administrator to No. 22.  Mr. Troy made a motion to add “County Administrator” to No. 22 after “Committee Chair”; seconded Mr. Cornell.  All members present voting in favor; none opposed; motion carried.          

Pages 19 and 20 of 30 – Committee members discussed the appointment of the County Attorney and the County Administrator and that there are no changes to the format of these as written.  Committee members discussed that these positions are listed here in the Rules because they interact at Legislative Meetings.  Committee members discussed the powers and duties as they are listed in the Rules and further discussed the referencing to County Law as it relates to these two positions.  They discussed that all new Legislators will receive a copy of the Rules of Order and a copy of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised.  Committee members discussed listing the positions and making the appropriate references and they pointed out that the duties of the Clerk of the Legislature are different than those of the County Administrator and County Attorney and discussed more the differences in duties and the references of those duties being.  Mr. Williams made a motion to list all the Legislative appointed positions, define those positions and make any and all references; seconded by Mr. Troy.  Committee members discussed the motion that was on the table.  Mr. Williams left room to take a phone call.  Committee members discussed the County Administrator’s duties being referenced in the Local Law.  Mr. Cornell, Mr. McKee, Ms. Price and Mr. Ross were opposed, motion failed.  (Mr. Williams was not present at the time the vote was taken.)  Committee members further discussed the Legislative appointed positions.  Mr. Troy made a motion to combine Article 7 and 8, list the position of County Attorney and County Administrator; under County Attorney leave duties 1, 3 and 4 then renumber and make appropriate references and under County Administrator make the appropriate references including all necessary references to Budget Officer; seconded by Mr. Cornell.  All members present voting in favor; none opposed; motion carried.            

Page 21 of 30 – No changes were discussed.

Page 22 of 30 – Ms. Price made an inquiry about changing the meeting place of the Cortland County Legislature.  Mr. Schrader explained that it would require a three-fourths vote of the Legislature.

Page 23 of 30 – Mr. Troy made a motion that the unnecessary capitalization of words under No. 3 be corrected; seconded by Mr. Cornell.  All members present voting in favor; none opposed, motion carried.

Page 24 of 30 – No changes were discussed.

Page 25 of 30 – No changes were discussed.

Page 26 of 30 – Chairman Brown inquired about No. 11 and recommended that it not be removed from the Rules.  Committee members discussed the Committee’s role in the selection of Department Heads.  Ms. Price made a motion to put No. 11 back in the Rules; seconded by Mr. Williams.  Committee members discussed adding the role of the Committee in the selection on Department Heads another place in the document.  Ms. Price amended her motion to add “delegate two members of the committee, who shall in conjunction and cooperation with the County Administrator, participate in the selection of a Department Head in a department assigned to it in these Rules” under Article IV, Section 1, Part A as No. 10; seconded by Mr. Troy.  All members present voted in favor; none opposed; motion carried.

Page 27 of 30 – No changes were discussed.

Page 28 of 30 – Committee members discussed E. General Services and that the name had been changed from Buildings and Grounds Committee to General Services Committee.  They continued to explain that this was done as an attempt to evenly distribute the workload in committees.  Mr. Schrader suggested some changes to the wording of the section.  Mr. Troy made a motion to remove the word Department in the first line and to change the capitalization of Buildings and Grounds to lower case and to add Buildings & Grounds Department before Data Processing in the seventh line; seconded by Ms. Price.  All members present voted in favor; none opposed; motion carried.    

Page 29 of 30 – Committee members requested that a typo be fixed. 

Page 30 of 30 – No changes were discussed

All members present voting in favor; none opposed; resolution approved as amended. 

Mr. Williams inquired about what is next on the agenda for the Sub-Committee.  Chairman Brown explained that they would be reviewing County Policies and Procedures and Ethics Policy.  Mr. Williams made a recommendation to have the Chairman of the Legislature appoint a Sub-Committee to review the Policies and Procedures of Cortland County.  Mr. Van Donsel inquired about the County’s Policies and Procedures and the Ethics Policy being two separate issues.  Mr. Schrader explained that yes they are.  He added that the Ethics Policy is more complex than other County Policies and recommended that it be looked at separately and discussed problems with Ethics Law and compliance issues.  Mr. Whitt recommended that the next step for the Sub-Committee be review of the Ethics Policy and he also discussed compliance issues.  The Committee members further discussed the Ethics Policy.  Mr. Cornell recommended to the Chairman of the Legislature that a Sub-Committee be appointed to review Ethics Policy and other Cortland County Policies and Procedures.  Mr. Schrader recommended that the Ethics Policy be looked at first and discussed the priority of this and future works of the Sub-Committee. 

Mr. Cornell requested that the changes made at this meeting to the Personnel Sub-Committee Workshop Final Draft of Rules of Order be completed and distributed to all Legislators for their review on Friday.  Committee members further discussed the distribution of this document.  It was the consensus of the Committee and the recommendation of the Chairman of the Personnel Committee, Mr. Cornell to take the following action as it relates to the proposed changes made to the Personnel Sub-Committee Workshop Final Draft of Rules of Order by the Personnel Committee making the document the Personnel Committee Proposed Rules of Order Revisions, 1.) mail a copy to all Legislators, via US Postal Service, 2.) e-mail a copy to all Legislators, and 3.) place a copy in the mailboxes of all Legislators.  Mr. Cornell explained that these steps are to be taken to be certain that every Legislator has had an opportunity to review the changes prior to the Legislative Session on Thursday, September 28, 2006.   

Personnel

 

2.         RFP Resolution – Deferred Comp. – Mr. Schrader explained that he had not been able to receive the information he needed and that he had a meeting later today regarding this same issue.  He requested that this be referred to the Budget & Finance Committee.  Mr. Troy made a motion to refer this resolution to the Budget & Finance Committee; seconded by Mr. McKee.  All members present voting in favor; none opposed; motion carried. 

 

Mr. Cornell adjourned the meeting at 10:43 a.m.

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