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New policy allows for private staff meetings

Budget office staff now can meet secretly with supervisors without the entire board knowing

Date published: 1/22/2008

By DAN TELVOCK

A supervisor can now secretly discuss the budget with a staff member without the entire county board knowing about it.

At a recent Board of Supervisors' meeting, Supervisor Emmitt Marshall complained about a policy that requires all supervisors to be informed when one of them asks county staff to do work for them.

"I don't think that this is necessary at all," Marshall said. "I think I ought to be able to sit with staff and discuss any budget item without everyone having to know what I am talking about."

County Administrator Randy Wheeler said the policy's intent is to avoid any situation in which staff members are asked to do work for any board member that is then not shared with the rest of the supervisors.

The policy was not intended to prevent supervisors from asking staff basic questions, he said. But if a supervisor asks staff to study a proposal, create a new work product or perform a task that takes time to prepare, other board members were told about the request.

Marshall said when he approached a staff member last year to talk about the budget, he was told that the discussion had to be disclosed to all supervisors. He said he waited a year before he raised his concerns because he wanted to think about the policy.

Supervisor Gary Jackson said the current policy is sound.

"I think it is about transparency in government," he said. "We act as a board here, and I am troubled that any one board member would want to withhold information from another member. I think it puts staff in a very awkward situation because staff works with us. Having these private, even secret conversations, is disturbing to me."

Marshall said he's not trying to hide information from the public. He just wants to be able to work with staff to brainstorm ways to cut the budget or find additional money without his board members knowing about it right away. He said if the idea works, he'll bring it to supervisors during a meeting, he said. He said there was an incident "years ago" when one supervisor stole one of his ideas at a board meeting before he could make it public and take credit for it.

Marshall called for a motion that ends the policy only with the Budget Office.

"I don't have a problem with them contacting the county administrator," he said. "The problem I have is him contacting my fellow board members."

Jackson said the only rationale for the motion "is someone might look good on TV to the public."

Supervisor Benjamin Pitts said he doesn't care who gets the credit for an idea. But if a supervisor asks staff to do additional work on his behalf Wheeler should know about it.

"And, quite frankly, I think that direction needs to come from him," Pitts said. "I don't want to intimidate any other county employee."

The motion passed 5-2 with Pitts and Jackson voting against it.

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Date published: 1/22/2008

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