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Protecting the
county, its assets and revenue managed by appointees
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Giving residents
an opportunity to express their opinion and weigh in on public
policy or actions the board might take
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Providing the proper forum that is
expedient for the board to conduct its business matters
These are the final matters that the Policies and Procedures
Committee is working on while redrafting the 1998 Policies and
Procedures Resolution. The seven-page document that steers Logan
County Board actions gives way to state law and Robert's Rules of
Order. It was identified last year by the new two-year, reorganized
board as needing a brush-up to current times.
Committee members have dutifully reviewed the document line by
line to remove, add or modify policies that would assist the current
and future boards. Choosing just the right wording that allows some
latitude when needed, yet provides enough structure, has been
laborious and is nearing an end but for a couple of sticking points.
One addition in particular has caused difficulty for a local
agency. It is planned to add that background checks would be
conducted on all appointments made through the county board. The
resolution states that the county board chairman appoints with the
consent of the county board.
At the request of the current county board chairman, Terry
Carlton, and with approval of Logan County State's Attorney Michael
McIntosh, appointment checks are already being done. The Logan
County Health Department administrator, Mark Hilliard, agreed to the
process in November, and new Health Board appointees were passed in
a couple of days.
The checks have been processed at no additional cost to the
county by using the LEADS system. While all Logan County law
enforcement-related agencies and all squad cars have LEADS, it has
been 911 Dispatch and EMA that have been providing the service for
the board.
Carlton said that the board gets names of a lot of people.
Recognizing the responsibility of knowing the people he and the
board are appointing on behalf of the public, he said, "It's all on
you.
"Do you just take these people's names and say, 'We're good'?
Most times you don't know them well enough.
"I'm not questioning their caliber or anything like that. I
applaud them for their years of public service."
But recognizing changing times and that information is readily
available, "as a county we might be remiss" to not take advantage of
that, Carlton said.
Committeewoman Jan Schumacher commented that it was previously
recognized in committee that the chairman has the authority to do
background checks anyway. But, by putting them in the policy, then
it would be consistent for current and future boards.
In attendance for the committee were chair Rick Aylesworth; Dave
Hepler, who also serves as board parliamentarian; Schumacher; Pat
O'Neill; Terry Werth; and Carlton.
The board chairman serves on all committees.
Guests present representing the local tourism bureau included
director Geoff Ladd, attorney Douglas Muck, Misty Bell and Stacie
Wachtel.
In regard to Muck's presence, Carlton said, "I would wait to have
our attorney here before I would want to hear from anyone else's
attorney here to investigate this."
Muck was allowed to speak his opinion and concerns. He
distinguished that there is a difference between someone applying
for a job giving consent to be investigated and privacy concerns of
people who wish to serve. He urged restraint in use of authority.
Ladd called on the committee to consider the structure of the
tourism board, its relationship to the county and to the state,
which he said create some unique circumstances. He recognized the
current societal and legal groundbreaking it presents, saying, "It
would need more definition to avoid discrimination." He emphasized
that the agency is state-certified, and it is important that his
agency be able to keep apolitical in its operations. That dynamic is
difficult to maintain. If appointments were to be overridden, it
could present problems.
Ladd brought forward ex post facto on behalf of current board
tourism board members saying, "We don't have term limits for our
board members."
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He added that reappointments and notices to the board are really
done as a courtesy. "It is really to let you know when someone is up
for reappointment and we want your blessing on that," he said.
"We want to work with you on this," Ladd said. One of the
problems is the process. There has been information leaked out on
other background checks, he said.
His full list of concerns is presented below.
In closing, the committee agreed to try to get a recommendation
from the attorney general and also to see what other counties are
doing.
[By
JAN YOUNGQUIST]
Ladd presented several issues that were of concern to him:
(Copy of file received)
1. Finalized
procedure needs to have an opinion by Attorney General's office to
make sure all is legal on a state and county level.
a) Any flaw in the
procedure opens up the possibility of litigation against the Tourism
Bureau
2. Finalized
procedure must be adopted by the County Board before implementation
a) Tourism Bureau
would need to cite a County Board resolution if it were to adopt any
new rules.
b) Tourism Bureau
cannot adopt a policy that is only that of the County Chairman –
what happens if he/she leaves?
3. Ex Post Facto
rules must be honored, whether board members are up for
re-appointment or not.
a) these were not
the terms that board members originally agreed to serve under, and
so these members are not subject to background checks
4. According to
County rules, procedure would have to be conducted by an authorized
company that is bonded and insured.
a) It appears to be
against county rules to use the Sheriff or EMA to conduct these
procedures
b) Concerns that
County insurance wouldn't cover damage to individuals if information
got out
5. We would need a
clear written indication of who is authorized to review the results,
and we would need defined criteria for adoption or rejection of
appointment
a) potential
litigation against Tourism Bureau if information about
background checks got out.
b) potential
concerns about discrimination based on federal standards – race,
gender, etc.
c) potential
concerns about using the information to force out people and put in
people with no regard to their value as tourism professionals
(a.k.a. political appointments).
Geoff Ladd
Executive Director
Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County
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