With a lot of big county projects coming down the pike and decisions to be made over the next several years, what is the role of the county board and when is it appropriate to hire a county administrator to be the point person and keep everything coordinated? The county board discussed these questions at a work session at the courthouse Tuesday, March 16, 2010.
Commissioner Jan Hall said she doesn’t think the county can afford an administrator, especially in light of expected cuts in state funding.
A number of capital improvement projects were approved by the county’s voters with the passage of the 1% tax referendum last November. Commissioner Bob Fenwick said he thinks the board can wade their way through those projects without an administrator, but he suggested that they consider one for the future. He anticipates the retirement of Personnel Director/Board Secretary Janet Simonen several years from now and thinks it’s not too early to start planning for that. “I think it’s proper to plan,” he said. “If we don’t think ahead, we won’t do well when it happens. … Don’t hurry the process, but make it happen.”
Commissioner Fritz Sobanja noted some of the things the county board will be dealing with over the next few years: implementation of the 1% projects, finding a way to install fiber optic infrastructure throughout the county, the state-initiated redesign of human services, developing a Highway Department sinking fund, a possible joint maintenance facility with other public and nonprofit entities, and implementation of the ARMER narrowband communication system that will allow governmental emergency response agencies to interface with each other.
Hall, who was first voted onto the board in the 1990s, said commissioners’ jobs have grown over the years. They are required to sit on a lot of committees, she said. People who really look into what the county commissioner jobs entail would find they involve a whole lot more than attending three county board meetings a month, she said.
“Most of the people who have contacted me are not in favor of a county administrator,” Commissioner Jim Johnson said, adding that some have told him they think the county does need one. He does not think the general public sees a need for a county administrator yet.
The people who have told him they think the county needs an administrator outnumber those who think they don’t, Commissioner Bruce Martinson said.
Sobanja suggested an administrator could foster efficiency and avoid duplication of efforts.
Some people say the commissioners should be doing what the commissioners are thinking they might hire an administrator to do, Martinson said.
Commissioner Fenwick expressed discomfort with some of the roles the board must play at this point, roles that could be played by a county administrator. If not all of them agreed on a job candidate but ended up approving that candidate by split vote, for example, how fair would they be if that employee went to them with a grievance? he asked. He said he thinks department heads should recommend new hires and the board should simply endorse their recommendations.
Janet Simonen said she doesn’t think the board needs to approve new hires.
“We are
there for that purpose,” Commissioner Hall said. They will run into trouble if they don’t take responsibility for hiring, she said.
If the board is involved in hiring, Commissioner Fenwick said, they could easily risk discussing personnel data that should not be discussed in public meetings.
Thepublic counts on the county board to be “the tool that represents them,” Hall said.
What should the county board do, Commissioner Sobanja asked. Are they there to represent what the most vocal constituents want?
Micromanaging doesn’t work, Commissioner Fenwick said, but constituents sometimes want commissioners to get involved in departmental issues.
“The main thing to do is listen,” Sobanja said, but then he wondered, should they do what constituents want, or should they do what they believe is the right thing?
“We are
there to protect them financially,” Hall said.
The county needs an administrator to make things happen, Fenwick said. Lately, Sheriff Mark Falk has been spending a lot of his time dealing with financial and contractual issues related to the ARMER system. This is something a county administrator could do, Fenwick said, which would allow the sheriff to focus his energies on public safety. They need a “get it done” person, he said.
Fenwick suggested that they talk with department heads about their perception of the need for an administrator and ask them if it would improve effectiveness, efficiency, and finances. He recommended hiring a facilitator to help the board and department heads discuss the issue. Janet Simonen said she would be more candid talking to a facilitator outside a public meeting such as this. A lot of important conversations happen in casual meetings over coffee, Fenwick said.
Fenwick asked Jim King, a former nonprofit executive and Tofte town supervisor-elect, for his opinion. King answered that his job as an administrator had been to know everything about everything so the board could make informed decisions. He appreciates the work the county board does, but he doesn’t know how they can continue to find the time to do what they’re doing without an administrator, he said.
Janet Simonen pointed out that the city has an administrator, the school has a superintendent, the hospital has an administrator, and the tribe has a chair. Having a point person is helpful, she said.
Commissioner Fenwick said he would attend the next department head meeting April 5 to explain why the board is considering hiring an administrator and get their input.
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