Thursday, December 7, 2006

County fires one, suspends another

by Kenneth Lassiter

Executive sessions and personnel moves were the order of the day Monday as county commissioners terminated the employment of one ambulance department staff member and suspended another department head.

All in all, commissioners racked up 140 minutes – two hours and 20 minutes – of executive sessions Monday with various employees as well as county counselors Mike and Jan Hayes in a meeting that stretched close to 1 p.m.

Commissioners spent 60 minutes of executive session with the Hayes attorneys, acting ambulance director James Tweed and geographic information systems and information technology director Chris Schmeissner for the first half-hour and Steve Scott of the ambulance department for the second half-hour. They emerged back into open session and commissioner David Christy made the motion to terminate Scott’s employment for “multiple violations” of the county’s computer policy regarding the usage of county computer equipment as well as “other actions unbecoming a county employee.” The motion passed unanimously.

From there, commissioners re-entered executive session with Mike and Jan Hayes and Schmeissner for 15 minutes before emerging into open session. Christy made another motion to suspend Schmeissner for three weeks without pay for “actions unbecoming a department head.” This motion, too, passed unanimously.

Commissioners had been meeting with Schmeissner in executive sessions over the past several meetings prior to taking action on his suspension Monday. Commissioners also met with GIS employee Duanette Baker and Mike and Jan Hayes in executive session for 25 minutes Monday prior to meeting with Schmeissner. Baker has also met in executive session with commissioners several times in recent weeks to discuss non-elected personnel issues, but no link has been confirmed between her meetings with commissioners and Schmeissner’s suspension.

The commission also Monday discussed the future of the emergency management director position that has sat vacant after the resignation of Don Haynes in October. Haynes, who stayed in county employment as ambulance director, is still on administrative leave with pay pending the results of investigation in that department. He also met with commissioners in executive session for 10 minutes Monday but no action was taken after the meeting emerged back into open session.

Commissioners decided they would try to get a job description for the emergency management director position together by Dec. 11. Christy, who has been checking the emergency management department’s mail and doing other day-to-day non-administrative work in Haynes’ absence, said the job is a full-time position and whoever enters it would likely be “two years behind” in terms of paperwork and policy work to be done. Getting the job description pieced together would be a big step toward being prepared to advertise the position for potential candidates.

Discussion turned to office space for the new emergency management director when hired, as there isn’t room at the ambulance annex for an office for that official. Commissioners questioned if there was space in the sheriff’s annex building, the old jail across the street from the courthouse or perhaps the old ambulance building that sits just east of the old jail. No further decision was made on that matter.

In other business Monday, the commission:

• Signed a replat of Dual H Subdivision for Jon and Judy Henry.

• Heard an update from Eloise Tichenor, planning and zoning director.

• Heard an update from George Pogge, road and bridge superintendent. Pogge reported the county survived last week’s winter weather with salt to spare and more was on order to refill the supply.

• Met with Jan Hayes in executive session for 15 minutes to discuss issues of attorney-client privilege.

• Heard an update from Eileen Filbert, health department director. Filbert reported the county had received the remainder of its flu vaccine with 720 doses delivered last week. She said the department would begin giving shots Wednesday.

• Met with Filbert in executive session for 15 minutes to discuss issues of non-elected personnel.

• Heard an update from Delia Heston, register of deeds. Heston offered the county $25,000 in technology fees generated by her office for use for qualified expenditures in other departments. The expenditures had to apply to services used by the register of deeds office and these services are also used by other county offices.

• Met with Susan Newell, 911 director, and Mike and Jan Hayes in executive session for 25 minutes to discuss matters of non-elected personnel and attorney-client privilege. Newell left the session after 10 or 15 minutes.

• Heard an update from Mary Underwood, county treasurer.