April 30, 1998 - 7:00 PM - County Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes (Recessed)

April 30, 1998 - RecessedApril 30, 1998The Johnston County Board of Commissioners resumed Regular Session on Thursday, April 30,1998 at 700 pm in the Commissioners Meeting Room, Johnston County Courthouse Annex, Smithfield,North Carolina, with the following membersPresent Norman C Denning, Chairman, James W Cash, Vice Chairman, Jerry F Wood,Eleanor N Creech, Cookie Pope, Thomas M Moore, and James H Langdon, JrAbsent NoneAlso Present Richard B Self, County Manager and Joyce H Ennis, Clerk to the BoardChairman Norman C Denning called the meeting to order and the following business wastransacted1 Classification and Pay Study - DiscussionSusan Ennis, and Eleanor Poole with the MAPS Group, were present to answer any questions theBoard might have concerning the classification and pay plan studyCounty Manager, Richard Self, stated he would prefer the County adopt the Personnel Policy asan ordinance instead of by resolution as recommended When a policy is adopted as a resolution, thecourts have stated the employees serve at the will or pleasure of the employer, and no policy or procedureschange that Adopting the policy by ordinance assures that each employee receives due process in the caseof disciplinary action or termination He noted the employees under the State Personnel Act have thisguarantee and, in his opinion, County employees should too He noted the policys grievance proceduresare outlined in the policy and are standardCommissioner Tom Moore agreed stating every employee should have a fair hearing and allshould be treated the sameBoard members discussed various aspects of the proposed policy and pay planCommissioner Eleanor N Creech stated she liked the proposal for a flat rate longevity pay Shenoted, however, she has problems with some of the pay grades some seem too high, some seem too low,and in some cases there appears to be too much difference between grades for employees with similarwork loads and responsibilitiesCommissioner Cookie Pope questioned the use of Wake County, Raleigh and Cary forcomparisons in the surveyIn response to these comments, Mrs Ennis noted the study looked at each job based on standardclassification factors, then at market pay The survey included Wake County, Raleigh and Cary becausemanagement indicated these are the areas to which they are losing employees She stressed that in makingcomparisons with other entities, the study neither took the highest or lowest figures They tried to take allfactors into consideration and find a balance between program size and structure and complexity of thejob Sometimes jobs carry the same title but are significantly differentCommissioner James H Langdon, Jr spoke of the importance of proper training and a goodevaluation instrument to carry out performance evaluations He noted the Board must decide if this planis reasonably affordable now, and equally important, if it can be implemented on a continuing basis toinsure that all employees receive benefits from the planChairman Norman Denning commented that although the plan is not perfect, it appears to be agood place to startMrs Ennis outlined the items that would formally need to be adopted by the Board the salaryplan with ranges, the list of classes by grade assignment, and the personnel policy32The Board agreed they needed more time to study the plan before making a decisionCommissioner Pope noted she wanted to make sure this policy is the tool the County needs and that shecan justify it with the taxpayers They agreed to discuss this again at the regular May meetingsSeveral employees were present and commented on the proposed planChief Deputy Ken Smith, representing Sheriff Freddy Narron, addressed the Board concerningthe recommendations for two positions in the Sheriffs Department The administrative captain andadministrative sergeant positions were recommended in the plan as administrative supervisors instead ofsworn officers He noted the Sheriff does not feel that he should lose two sworn officer positions, and hasstated that while these two employees do administrative work, they also perform duties that can only bedone by a sworn officer Deputy Smith stated the officers do clerical work because the department doesnot have enough administrative staff, however, both are supervisors of other officers He stressed thatcivilians can not supervise officersDeputy Smith noted the Sheriff has talked with the MAPS staff, but has been unable to convincethem to change their recommendations He commented the Sheriffs Department would be better off nothaving a plan at all if it means losing these two sworn officer positions He questioned the fact that long-term dedicated employees will see little benefit by the plan, and questioned how this will affect overallmoraleIn response to these comments, Mrs Ennis noted that MAPS normally does not discuss specificpositions in open forum Thom Wright with MAPS worked with the Sheriffs Department He hasdiscussed these positions with the Sheriff and will continue to work with him and the County Managerto resolve these issuesCommissioner James H Langdon, Jr commented that when classifications are changed, this oftenhappens He noted that is the reason he wants to make sure the County will carry through with theprogram in the future Everything cant be done at once, but everyone needs to know they will be helpedby the plan He noted the long -term employees are the real value of the system and they should feel thiswill help them in the long runC P Thompson, Chief Building Inspector, responded to earlier comments about comparisonswith Wake County, Raleigh and Cary Mr Thompson stated his inspectors are cross - trained in all fiveareas in order to allow his department to cover the entire County with 15 inspectors Considering JohnstonCountys size, it would take approximately 40 to 50 inspectors if they were only certified in one area Hemaintained that he loses employees to Wake, Raleigh and Cary because they can get higher pay with lesscertification He noted he is not losing employees to Harnett, Sampson and Wayne CountiesAl Gaskill, Communications Director, voiced his appreciation for the plan noting it addresses theentry level pay for employees, which is something the County has neededSteve Strickland, Assistant Health Director, commented the Personnel Policy provides some toolsfor management, which the County has not had He noted merit pay will provide motivation for goodemployeesEMS Director, Dewayne West, agreed Payroll Officer, Jan Whitley, noted she had not seen theentire plan, but had questions about some of the classificationsMental Health Director, Dr Dan Searcy, noted the plan can be refined as needed, but basicallyit is a good plan and asked the Board to consider it favorablyMrs Ennis commented on the clustering affect that results when entry level pay is brought up tomarket She directed the Boards attention to the pay option charts and encouraged them to adopt at leastOption I and propose additional funding so the Manager and Department Heads can work toward bringinglong -term employees to the mid -point of the scale She noted the longer the long -term employees stay atthe bottom, the worse the situation will be33County Manager, Richard Self, pointed out several changes in the proposed personnel policycompared to the existing policy He noted the plan recommends employee dental insurance, an increasein sick leave to 12 days per year, and a new vacation schedule based on length of service If implemented,the roll over of vacation leave to sick leave would drop to one -half to encourage employees to take theirvacationThere being no further comments, Commissioner Jerry F Wood moved the Board adjournCommissioner Cookie Pope seconded the motion, which carried by unanimous voteNorman C Denning, ChairmanJoyce K Ennis, ClerkDetailsAnnotationsEntry PropertiesModified11192013 114415 AMCreated3242003 14935 PMTemplateMinutesFieldsMinutes - TypeRecessedMinutes - Date4301998Book21