"Like drinking from a firehouse" was the term used several times during a briefing held recently for County Commissioners-elect, Justin Heath and Greg Koenig. Throwing around the short-handed language of acronyms used by state and local bureaucrats; WNDD, CEDA, EIS, BOR, county commissioners shared their wealth of experience, and staff provided an overview of departments and issues.
Koenig eventually stopped the presentation asking for clarification, "Nevada Association of County Officials, I don't know what that means."
Commission Chairman Pete Olsen said the phone company will also provide the new commissioners with a manual with a whole new list of acronyms. "You'll like them even less than us," he said.
Commissioners along with County Manager Jim Barbee gave an overview of each committee and department meeting, who is assigned to each along with a schedule of when each typically meets. There was also a discussion of the budgeting process which includes two days of hearings along with two days of department tours.
Koenig raised a question regarding scheduling extra meetings around the existing committee meetings, "Justin and I both have nine to five jobs, and if I take nine committees, that's nine half days plus two more days I'm like 11 days off next month," he said. "I know what time it takes, I took of the first Thursday and third Wednesday half day (regular commission meeting days) but to add five or six more days in the middle of the month, I can't do that." He said that while he was on the school board they held as many meetings as possible at night and extra meetings on Saturday. During his time on the school board, he said the staff accommodated the school board members, "and here it's like we have to totally accommodate to what they're doing."
Barbee clarified, "the meetings are not held to accommodate the staff," but more toward the groups who are presenting to the commission which could be anyone from the director of the Bureau of Reclamation to geothermal companies. "They practice regular business hours," said Barbee, "the rationale is not because any of the staff is unwilling to be here at six o'clock at night."
Discussion will continue on accommodating schedules.
Ben Shawcroft, Civil Deputy from the District Attorney's office presented information regarding the Open Meeting Law and Ethics. Because of the three member commission, any two commissioners are not allowed to speak to each other or they would constitute a quorum and would be considered deliberating. "Don't call each other, don't text, don't email," he said. In addition, if commissioners receive an email addressed to all three of them, they should not hit "reply to all" as that would also be considered deliberating. He reminded them to use their county email for all county business as that makes it easier when dealing with public records requests.
In terms of social media, Shawcroft warned commissioners not to use their private social media to address issues to the public to be official county social media sites. He said there have been several cases lately where elected officials ask the public a question about taxes or zone changes, etc. which turns their personal site into a public forum causing a plethora of laws to be activated, including records requirements.
Geof Stark, human resources director for the county, discussed the issues involved in managing 250 county employees. Title 3 of the County Code governs employee matters, due to the fact that county employees are not represented by a union or association other than the 50 sheriff deputies and 6 dispatchers. "We have a really good team which has been evidenced by what's going on with COVID right now - we have road department staff helping with testing, social services has been involved, the library has been involved, we have a lot of people pulling together."
Comptroller Sherry Wideman discussed property taxes and the budget, along with Assessor Denise Mondhink-Felton and county Clerk/Treasurer Lindsay Rothery.
Commissioners-elect also heard from consultants Jeremy Drew regarding the Navy expansion issue, Kia Anderson regarding the Churchill Lands Bill, and Chris Mahannah who covered the extensive issue of water in the community. Mahannah covered the importance of the Newlands Project to the recharge of community ground water.
Heath said it was great to learn about the departments and meet all the leaders of each department. "One of the best things was to hear how they restructured the public works department and also how the roads are maintained here in the county and how the wells are recharged from the canals," he said. "There was a lot of things I didn't know about the valley." He said he is really looking forward to service the community.
Koenig echoed the drinking from a firehouse comment, "they had so much coming at us at once it was a little overwhelming, there are so many acronyms." He is comfortable with the process because of his experience on the school board and exposure to the Open Meeting Law and Ethics, but says the commission will be like, "being on the school board on steroids." He is also impressed by the staff and their knowledge and looks forward to working with them as well as the commissioners.
"One of the things. I really liked and was kind of a relief is that they have a really good relationship with their employees. That was the part I hated the most with the school board is the contentious negotiations with the teacher's union every single year," he said. "I was really glad to hear that."
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