June 8, 2005
10:00 a.m.
MACo Conference Room
Helena, Montana
DRAFT MINUTES
Officers
XX Bill Kennedy, President
XX Doug Kaercher, 1st Vice President XX Bernie Lucas, District #9
XX John Prinkki, 2nd Vice President ___Paddy Trusler, District
#10
XX Bill Nyby, Fiscal Officer ___Bill Carey, District #11
XX Jean Curtiss, Urban Representative XX David Schulz, District #12
XX Carol Brooker, Past President
District
Chairs Association
Representatives
XX Richard Dunbar, District #1 XX Leo Gallagher, Attorneys
XX Mark Rehbein, District #2 ___ Peggy Kaatz Stemler, Clerk and Recorders
XX Joan Stahl, District #3 XX Marilyn Hollister, Clerks of Court
XX Art Kleinjan, District #4 ___ Joseph Christiaens, Coroners
XX Arnie Gettel, District #5 XX Larry Carver, Magistrates
XX Carl Seilstad, District #6 XX T. Gregory Hintz, Sheriff
& Peace Officers
XX Maureen Davey, District #7
XX Ron Roberts, Treasurers
XX Chuck Notbohm, District #8 ___ Karla Christensen, School
Superintendents
OTHERS PRESENT:
Executive Director, Gordon Morris; Assistant Director, Harold Blattie
and Lewis and Clark County Commissioner, Mike
Murray.
as presented. The
motion to approve the minutes was seconded by Board member Seilstad.
The motion passed
without objection.
Budget Committee’s
proposed budget for fiscal year 2006. He highlighted the revenues and
expenditures
for the Board and
noted that dues were recommended at $250,750 with the PILT assessment at
$12,443
based upon the most
recent PILT payment. He added that the Montana Public Employees Association
had submitted a final
payment on the MACo building located on Airport Road in the amount of $71,276.60.
This represents the
full and complete payout for principal and interest owing under the initial
sales agreement.
Nyby noted that the interest portion
approximately $4,500 is accounted for in the FY’06 budget and the
balance has been put
into a fifteen month CD at Valley Bank.
Nyby advised the Board that the budget
as presented anticipated the hiring of the Executive Director
in January. He
pointed out that an amendment would be necessary if the Executive Committee
elected an
earlier hiring date.
He noted that pursuant to the discussion the estimated cash reserve shown at
$129,651
would have to be
adjusted accordingly. President Kennedy noted that with the Executive
Committee’s
action to offer the
position to current Assistant Director L. Harold Blattie, effective July 1,
2005, the Board
needed to ensure that
funds were available to accommodate this change in addition to the funds
necessary
to address
termination. Nyby pointed out that the budget showed MACo obligation for fiscal
year 05 with
the Trust picking up
termination accruals effective for FY’ 06. He also noted that this action would
save
expenditures that
were anticipated in respect to advertising for and recruiting a new Executive
Director,
approximately
$12,000, which would be available for other purposes. President Kennedy
requested a list
of staff salaries at
the proposed increased level at 2.7% reflecting the cost of living.
The discussion noted that the Board and
the members needed a better handle on the budget due to
the number of new
members and the complexity of the budget. Urban Representative Curtiss
recommended
that this issue be
addressed at the annual meeting and that the Board in the future authorize
salary
adjustments for the
coming fiscal year at the mid-winter board meeting. A request was made to have
Blattie
do a power point
budget presentation at the annual meeting in September.
Urban Representative Curtiss moved to
adopt the budget as presented, and thanked the
Budget Committee and
staff for the work that went into it’s preparation. Board member Seilstad
seconded
the motion and it
passed without objection.
3. Scholarship Presentation: Bill Kennedy, MACo President,
reported to the Board that the
Scholarships had been
award to two excellent candidates. He noted that neither recipient was able to
be
present due to
scheduling conflicts, but that Elizabeth Wright had submitted a thank you
letter, which
he read to the
members. The scholarship recipients were:
$1,000 - Elizabeth Wright, Billings
Senior
$500 - Shaye Skovgaard, Skyview
MACo Assistant
Director, commented that some districts had unfinished business in
regard to the chairs
and the vice chairs.
It was noted that the current chairs should determine if they are going to meet
prior
to the annual
conference or whether they would meet at the annual conference. They were asked
to notify
MACo of their
decision. Several interim committees were identified that would require
monitoring over
the coming interim,
specifically to be noted were: the Law and Justice, Revenue and Transportation,
State Administration
and Veterans Affairs and Education and Local Government Committees. In
addition,
three studies were
being undertaken that would require MACo involvement: the study of mental
health
delivery and
diversion (SJR 49), the oil and gas gathering lines study and the study of
prosecutorial services.
2nd Vice
President during the recent District meetings were conducted and the following
Commissioners
had been nominated:
Richland County Commissioner Mark Rehbein, Pondera County Commissioner
Cynthia Johnson and Missoula County
Commissioner Jean Curtiss. He noted that each would be
receiving the
standard letter advising them of their nomination and asking if they wished to
have their
names go forward.
Nominations for Fiscal Officer were
received and current Fiscal Officer Bill Nyby, Sheridan County
and Allan Underdal,
Toole County Commissioner, had both been nominated. They too would be asked
if they wished to
have their names go forward.
6. Other Business:
Morris responded that the effort had been terminated in Lewis and Clark
County. He noted that
mylocalgov.com had been purchased by Official Payments during this
period and that Tim Melton
was still heading up the effort.
He would advise Melton of the interest and recommend follow-up.
Detention Group is working with the Casey Foundation to bring in a
juvenile detention expert
to conduct a training session, probably August 1, 2005. The Western
Region is working with
the Board of Crime Control in this effort and the Board of Crime Control
would be sending out
invitations to the other regional centers in regard to the session.
by the most recent session had not been
adequately funded. The 211 Task Force, that Curtiss
serves on, will be focused on establishing a “help”
number system in the eastern portion of the
state and
they are trying to qualify for federal funding in this effort. The Task Force
will be
reporting to the Health and Human Services
Committee at the up-coming annual conference.
amended at the earlier Board meeting and she
requested consideration of a further amendment
to specifically require “mandatory county of origin labeling.” She submitted
an amended version
with the suggested language for consideration. Based upon the submittal
from Board member
Davey, Board member Kleinjan moved to adopt the resolution as amended.
The motion to adopt
was seconded by Board member Schulz. Board member Rehbein commented that
“blood meal”
should be included and it was pointed out that it was in so far as
“blood and bone meal” were
referenced in one of the closing whereas clauses. It was requested that
the resolution, if adopted,
should be sent to the Governor, Secretary of Agriculture and our
Congressional Delegation.
Without further discussion the motion to adopt the amended resolution
passed unanimously.
Courtroom Safety Task Force and a MACo
representative was being called for. Following
discussion, it was suggested to see if Lewis and
Clark County Commissioner and Board member
Ed Tinsley would have the time to serve in this
capacity.
drug program being promoted by the national association. A lengthy
discussion followed
centering on the fact that this was not a program for county employees
currently enrolled in a
health benefit program or other individuals likewise with alternative
coverage, but directed at those
among us who have no coverage. The card would be distributed freely at
the courthouse, the
health department, etc. Board member Rehbein moved to have MACo endorse
the program and
encourage counties to enter into the agreements with NACo and begin
making the card available.
This motion was seconded by Past President Brooker and with no further
discussion passed unanimously.
· 1st Vice President Kaercher advised the
board that as chair of the committee appointed to review
the job descriptions for the Executive Director and the Assistant
Director he had prepared a draft
for consideration related to the “Associate Director” and was
recommending no change in the
Executive Director’s job description. He did note that the Executive
Director’s job description
lacked the ADA physical demands of the job. This was noted for the
record and has been
addressed. Following a discussion of the description for the new
Associate Director, Kaercher
indicated he would revise the description to
eliminate
the language dealing with supervision by
and of the Board and would generally clean up
the duties section related to a comment from
President Kennedy. In following up this
discussion, it was reported by Kaercher that the
By-Laws need to be amended to address the concerns raised as to the
hiring of the
Associate Director and proposed the following amendment:
Section 1. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The
Executive Director shall perform such duties as are assigned by the
Board of Directors for implementing Association
policy, and shall be responsible
to the Board. The Executive Director shall
supervise the Association office
and staff.
The Board of Directors shall be responsible for an annual evaluation
of the Executive Director
The
Executive Director shall compile, publish and maintain a Staff Policy
and Procedures Manual, which shall be
reviewed annually by the Board of Directors.
The Staff Policies and Procedures Manual shall
include a detailed job description
for the Executive Director and such other staff
positions as may be created.
The
Executive Director shall be responsible for the hiring and termination of
staff personnel consistent with the Staff Policies
and Procedures Manual.
The
hiring of an Assistant Associate Director shall be by the
Executive Board and
by the Executive Director, requires
the concurrence of the Executive Committee then
ratified by the MACo Board of Directors.
1st Vice President Kaercher moved the
By-Law change to be presented to the membership at
the annual conference in September. Board member
Davey seconded the motion and the
members approved it without objection.
·
President
Kennedy advised the Board of letters he has received recommending the
appointment
of Harold Blattie to the position of Executive Director. He indicated letters were received from
Lincoln County, Yellowstone County and that
Powder River County had called. All District
Chairs reporting recommended hiring Harold
except District 1 which recommended advertising.
·
Based
upon the announced recommendations, 1st Vice President Kaercher
moved to rescind
the Board’s earlier
decision to advertise and instead promote Harold effective July 1st,
2005.
This motion was seconded by Past President Brooker and passed with Board member Dunbar
voting nay. As a result of the outcome of this
motion, President Kennedy announced that the
Executive Committee will begin immediately to
work out any and all details in negotiation with
Harold and will advise the Board of the
conclusions. The action as proposed was moved for
Board approval by Board member Schulz, seconded
by Board member Gettel, and passed
without objection.
There was discussion of the timing and the
potential impact of vacancy savings on workloads
with concern that service levels might decline
if the Associate position was not filled until January.
Both Gordon and Harold noted that this was a
good time to engage in vacancy savings and service
need not suffer with the involvement of the
Executive Committee and Board members as needed.
Urban Representative Curtiss moved that the
Board go forward with the budget and advertise for
the Associate Director. No motion was made, but
it was the apparent consensus of the Board.
With no further business, the meeting was
adjourned at 2:00 pm.