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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOMM - Meeting Minutes - SB 1-21-21 - 1-21-2021 - SALARY397 MINUTE BOOK SALARY BOARD WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLANIA IMR LIMITED E1316649LD Salary Board Minute No. SB 1-21-21 January 21, 2021 The Washington County Salary Board met in session in the Public Meeting Room of the Courthouse Square Office Building, Washington, Pennsylvania, for the purpose of reconvening with the following members being present: Commissioners Diana Irey Vaughan, Larry Maggi, Nick Sherman and Controller Mike Namie. Also being present: Solicitor Jana Grimm; Chief of Staff John Haynes; Finance Director Joshua J. Hatfield; Human Resources Director Shelli Arnold; Clerk of Courts Brenda Davis; Executive Secretaries Marie Trossman and Randi Marodi; Chief Clerk Cindy Griffin and Administrative Assistant Joyce Thornburg. Mrs. Vaughan called the meeting to order at approximately 10:21 a.m. Moved by Mr. Sherman, seconded by Mr. Maggi, approving Minute No. SB 1-7-21 dated January 7, 2021, as written. Roll call vote taken: Mr. Sherman — Yes; Mr. Maggi — Yes; Mrs. Vaughan — Yes; Mr. Namie — Yes. Motion carried unanimously. PUBLIC COMMENT The Chair recognizes Clerk of Courts Brenda Davis. Ms. Davis is requesting to amend the agenda to include discussion of Ms. Davis's Salary Board request based on her email dated January 4, 2021. Moved by Ms. Davis; and seconded by Mr. Sherman, approving to amend the agenda for Salary Board SB 1-21-21. Roll call vote taken: Ms. Davis — Yes; Mr. Sherman — Yes; Mr. Maggi — No; Mrs. Vaughan — Yes; Mr. Namie — No. Motion carried. FOR THE BOARD'S CONSIDERATION BUILDING AND GROUNDS Maintenance, summer employee; $10.00/hour; create seven positions, not to exceed budget amount, effective 5/3/21 through 8/31/21. Moved by Mr. Sherman, seconded by Mr. Maggi approving the foregoing personnel request. Roll call vote taken: Mr. Sherman — Yes; Mr. Maggi — Yes; Mrs. Vaughan — Yes; Mr. Namie — Yes. Motion carried unanimously. CLERK OF COURTS Ms. Davis thanked the board for allowing her the opportunity to discuss the Clerk of Courts office. She stated that when she came into office, she was turned over an office that had malfeasance and misappropriation of funds and that she spent the last year evaluating the office based on the Controller's audit findings over the last several years. She went on to discuss a copy of the county budget that she had distributed and noted that her office turned over $3.2 million to county as reimbursement from the collections of her office. Ms. Davis stated that the amount is substantial and that misappropriation occurred because of a lack of oversight from the department head and staff members. She continued that it is imperative that the board establish the position to protect the safeguards of the taxpayers and they money that they are depositing at her office. She stated that when the controller and the chairman at the time Mr. Maggi, brought this matter to light and to the media, that it was not pleasant and she felt that this is the last chapter that can be closed and that they both can say they successfully cleaned up the Clerk of Courts office and that is was done in collaboration with everyone else. She also stated that she is willing to continue to work hard but that she wants to make sure that when she is no longer there overseeing these funds, that this does not happen again. Ms. Davis remarked that her office has historically been known for thievery, including paying bills that were not appropriate. She discussed her audit exit with the state auditor who conducted a review over the last fourteen months and thanked the state for being there as the Controller's Office can only do so much. She stated that the state auditor went through every deposit for the past four years and that there are MINUTE BOOK SALARY BOARD IMR LIMITED E1316649LD WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLANIA no findings. Ms. Davis said that she would like to continue working with the Controller's Office to make sure that she is able to turn over all of this money so that it can be freely put in to the budget for the Commissioners to properly fund other departments. Ms. Davis noted that her office has been under an administrative order since September 17, 2019 which has her office processing paperwork within a timely fashion. She further went on to say that she has done the best of her ability to make sure that the order is followed and that the order was just updated on Friday with the same conditions carrying on. She stated that she testified two weeks ago that her office is following the order but that in order for her to follow the order, she needs the proper personnel to make sure that this does happen. Ms. Davis remarked that her request to turn her part-time position into a full-time position will not increase her budget. She stated that she is willing to work within her means and that she had a substantial cost savings last year of approximately $60,000. She also stated that her bank accounts are even, minus the $100,000 that is still missing from her predecessor. She continued that she will not always be in office and that her employees need to be structured to ensure that they are safeguarded and that the Commissioners can continue to have their budget balances without having to raise taxes. Ms. Davis stated she only needs $15,000 and that she has provided documentation showing that she can provide this from her budget. She further stated that changing banks resulted in a savings of $10,000 and that her accounts now earn interest and she has earned to date $4,563 in interest monies. Ms. Davis asked the board for their consideration to turn this part time position to full-time, at no additional cost to the taxpayers and to let the Clerk of Courts office receive all the benefits of their hard work over this past year. She stated that moving forward, that she would like to respond to audit findings that she worked with all County Commissioners and the Controller to make sure that this misappropriation never happens again. She further stated that this is a collaborative effort to safeguard the taxpayers' money. Ms. Davis asked for the board's votes and asked for a motion to turn her part-time position into a full-time position as the assistance collector at no additional cost to her budget. Mr. Sherman stated that he still has questions about the Clerk of Courts office. He stated that Ms. Davis has done a great job and that he is proud to have worked together to get her elected. He further stated that while there is no question that her office has jumped leaps and bounds, he is still a steward of the taxpayer's dollars and that he does not feel that he has the information needed to make a sound decision on the matter. Mr. Sherman said that he appreciates the fact that there have not been staff additions to the Clerk of Courts office since 1997, and that the county has grown since then. Mr. Sherman requested the following information from 1997 to the present: the number of cases filed in the office, the number of employees, the change in population and the change in the number of judges and magisterial district judges. Moved by Mr. Sherman; and seconded by Mrs. Vaughan to table the discussion of the Clerk of Courts request until the requested documentation has been provided. Ms. Davis stated based on the numbers from her office and the files that are maintained, in 1997 there were 500 to 700 cases per year. She continued that it may be difficult getting the number narrowed down due to different computer software programs and the migration from one to another over the years. As for the population, Ms. Davis stated that we are awaiting the most current census information. Mrs. Vaughan stated that there is a formal request for additional information and that the board needs to vote on the motion on to table the discussion of the Clerk of Courts request until the request documentation has been provided. Ms. Davis stated that she believes the information that she is being asked to provide is ridiculous and that everyone knows how busy her office is. She further stated that the Board needs to work together to make sure this does not occur in her office. Ms. Davis said that she will fight for the Clerk of Courts office because no one else has, until Mr. Namie and Mr. Maggi took it to the state police when there was malfeasance. She said that this is the opportunity to correct past practices and that she is trying to follow Mr. Namie's twenty years work of auditing of her office. Ms. Davis stated that she had grief with the State over some of Mr. Namie's findings and that she pushed back with the State because it is what the County wanted. Ms. Davis stated that she is saddened that this is falling on deaf ears and that this is an opportunity to come together in unity. u 0 K�LO] MINUTE BOOK SALARY BOARD WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLANIA IMR LIMITED E1316649LD Roll call vote taken: Ms. Davis — No; Mr. Sherman — Yes; Mr. Maggi — No; Mrs. Vaughan — Yes; Mr. Namie — No. Motion denied. Moved by Ms. Davis; and seconded by Mr. Sherman to turn the part time position into a full time position utilizing all monies in the budget and the cost savings that the office incurred in 2020, to go toward turning this position into a full time position. Prior to her vote, Mrs. Vaughan stated she believes the information that was requested is important and legitimate and is needed before making a decision. Prior to his vote, Mr. Namie stated that when the money has not yet been budgeted, a majority of the Board of Commissioners must place the money in the budget and that an action of Salary Board cannot force the majority of the Board of Commissioners to increase the budget. The Salary Board vote can take place prior to the Board of Commissioners taking action, however, it would require a majority of the Board of Commissioners to have vote yes on the Salary Board action. Roll call vote taken: Ms. Davis — Yes; Mr. Sherman — Yes; Mr. Maggi — No; Mrs. Vaughan — No; Mr. Namie — No. Motion denied. Ms. Davis asked Mr. Namie it is permitted under statute that an elected official sits on Salary Board when they are requesting something for their department. Mr. Namie responded in the affirmative. Ms. Davis asked that if a discussion was held yesterday regarding her request, why was she not invited to attend. Mr. Namie responded that he would defer that question to the County Solicitor but that his position is that agenda meetings are open to the public and executive sessions are open to elected officials who have an item on the agenda for Salary Board. Ms. Davis stated that she feels that the Human Resources department should have made her aware of her rights when she asked them if she needed to do anything additional with her request. Mrs. Vaughan confirmed to Ms. Davis that her request was on the agenda at yesterday's executive session and that she would provide a copy to her. Ms. Davis made a formal request to go before the Salary Board at the next agenda meeting and asked what time she would need to be present. Solicitor Grimm responded to Ms. Davis that the agenda meetings are publically noticed at the beginning of each year. Mrs. Vaughan confirmed with Ms. Davis that she wants to attend the executive session for Salary Board and not the agenda meeting of the Board of Commissioners. Ms. David stated that she would need to attend the agenda meeting as well according to Mr. Namie, to have the money added to her budget. Mr. Namie responded that the budget amendment can take place after the Salary Board action as long as a majority of the Board of Commissioners vote in the affirmative. LEAVES OF ABSENCES — lanuary 7. 2021 to January 20. 2021 Mrs. Vaughan noted for the record the following leaves of absences: Casey Bamberger, Office Manager, FFCRA, 01/04/21 to 01/12/21 Deanne Bergles, MDJ Clerk, FFCRA, 01/14/21 Lori Catlett, MDJ Secretary, FFCRA, 01/14/21 Jamie Dziak, MDJ Clerk, FFCRA, 01/14/21 Linda French, MDJ Clerk, FFCRA, 01/04/21 to 01 / 18/21 Mildred Glaze, MDJ Secretary, FFCRA, 01/12/21 Merry Hainer, Clerk Typist II, FFCRA, 01/04/21 Marcia Harvey, MDJ Clerk, FFCRA, 01/12/21 Sonja Hatfield, Administrative Assistant, FFCRA, 01/04/21 to 01/15/21 Shaienne Heinen, MDJ Clerk, FFCRA, 01/12/21 Melanie Jesko, MDJ Clerk, FFCRA, 01 /08/21 Jacquelyn Key, MDJ Clerk, FFCRA, 01/12/21 Victoria Kozlowski, MDJ Clerk, FFCRA, 01/14/21 Diane Kuntz, MDJ Secretary, FFCRA, 01/14/21 Lorie Martos, MDJ Clerk, FFCRA, 01 /04/21 Natalie Mazza, Custodial/Working Supervisor, FFCRA, 01 /07/21 to 01 /07/21 Kathleen Miller, Asst. Deputy Clerk of Courts, FFCRA, 01/04/21 E E O MINUTE BOOK SALARY BOARD WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLANIA IMR LIMITED E1316649LD Zachary Neil, Certified Assessor II, FFCRA, 01 /15/21 Kathryn Sheldon, MDJ Clerk, FFCRA, 01 / 11 /21 Tracey Welsh, Real Estate Data Collector, FMLA-Medical, 12/21 /20 to 12/31 /20 There being no further business, Mrs. Vaughan declared the meeting recessed at approximately 10:49 a.m. THE FOREGOING MINUTES SUBMITTED FOR APPROVAL: T , 2021 i ATTEST: CHI�/CRIs� H 0