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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 19931109 590 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS SPECIAL MEETING NOVEMBER 9, 1993 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in special session on Tuesday, November 9, 1993 at 7: 30 p.M. in the EMS facility on New Hope Church Road in Hillsborough, North Carolina. The purpose of this meeting was to receive a report from the EMS Strategic. Planning Committee and to discuss the County's pay plan. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Moses Carey, Jr. , and Commissioners Alice M. Gordon, Stephen H. Halkiotis, Verla C. Insko and Don Willhoit. COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr. , Assistant County Managers Albert Kittrell and Rod Vissar, Clerk to the Board Beverly A. Blythe, Human Resources Analyst II Lana Chandra, Human Resources Director Elaine Holmes, Purchasing Director Pam Jones, Budget Director Sally Kost, EMS Director of Administration Jeanette Smith, and EMS Director Nick Waters NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE EMS STRATEGIC PLAN EMS Strategic Plan Steering Committee Chair Norman Gustaveson introduced the members of the committee and other volunteers who have helped . the committee. The purpose of presenting this report is to provide an Dpportunity for the County Commissioners to have some input into the process before it proceeds. Dr. Griggs summarized the planning process that started eighteen months ago. They decided to embark on a process that would focus on outcomes. They first had to decide exactly what they wanted the EMS program to do in terms of saving lives and reducing mortality. The process they decided on includes a program that will measure these }rinds of outcomes, measure the result of those methods and then measure the outcomes. They are at the point of identifying the major outcome issues and devising a way to apply quantitative/qualitative measures in terms of the satisfaction of the people they are serving. Dr. Griggs emphasized that the- responsibility for focusing on outcomes and to keep EMS on target to get the most from their planning efforts and system design efforts would best rest with the EMS Council. How this council is constructed and who will be on it needs to be determined. , Bob Lockwood, Director of the local Red Cross and a member of this Task Force, distributed the results of a phone survey. They made 805 calls and received 203 responses. He summarized the results as distributed. Jan Smith, member of this Task Force, listed the attributes as prevention, public health education, training within their own system, communication within the present system and equipment used at the present time. She stated that the two main concerns are physiological and patient satisfaction. She explai;ied what- they would look at and how they would follow the process to solutions. They will evaluate and prioritize their ~ecommendations. Norman Gustaveson made reference to page 18 of the handout and gave a brief summary of the direction they hope to pursue. 591 Commissioner Insko stated that she feels what this committee is doing fits very neatly with reinventing government -- how can we do the best job we can with limited resources. Since people are changing, technology and demands are changing so the County has to constantly look at citizen expectations. Chair Carey stated he feels that EMS needs to be integrated with the ' Rescue Squad services and other services. In answer to a question from Commissioner Gordon, Norman Gustaveson stated that at some point the responsibility for implementing, overseeing and monitoring the strategic plan must be determined. This may be the role of an expanded EMS Board or Advisory Council. This responsibility will require a diversity of experience in this field and expertise in specific areas. Shirley Marshall, member of the EMS Advisory Council, noted that the representation on the Council from the municipalities has been inadequate. Chair Carey commended the Council on what they have thus accomplished stating that he feels they are going in the right direction. Norm Gustaveson stated that they will continue evaluating and putting a report together from the information received from the three subcommittees. They have no recommendation for the budget at this time. SALARY PLAN PERFORMANCE EVALUATION ISSUES Chair Carey presented for Board discussion four basic policy issues. 1. Does the Board want to continue with a Work Planning Performance Review system? 2. Does the Board want to continue to tie Performance Evaluation to Merit Pay? 3. What types of salary increases does the Board want to continue to pursue? 4. What consistency should there be between increases in salary plans and other aspects of the County budget? Commissioner Gordon stated she feels there are.not enough women in the system and that the salaries of the women department heads are lower than men department heads. She asked that this issue be addressed. She feels the Work Planning Performance Review (WPPR) system is working unless it is contributing to lower salaries for women. There was a consensus of the Board that there needs to be a performance review system which provides for an annual evaluation and a cooperative mutual interchange. With regard to issue number 2 stated above, Commissioner Insko asked if the department heads and other supervisory positions benefit more from merit pay and has the gap between their pay and the next highest person widened. She also questioned if the merit pay plan produced a system whereby the County is paying above the market rate for certain positions. Chair Carey stated that since the WPPR system rewards people for lower performance standards less than outstanding, it may not be achieving the desired objective. John Link noted that the present method gives a percentage increase. He asked the Board if they wanted to consider lump sums for merit and if so would it be added to the permanent base pay or paid separately. 592 If it is attached to the permanent base pay of the employee, they would have to go to a different kind of stepless .salary range. Over time when adding percentages, the highest paid employees receive significantly more. Commissioner Insko suggested that the persons in those positions that consistently perform at a level higher than expected be considered for eclassification to determine if that person is doing the same job or a different job. Elaine Holmes stated that if a person's job has changed and they are performing different duties, that position is reclassified John Link made reference to the relationship between performance and pay. Examples of several types of relationships were listed on attachment 3 as distributed to the Board. He noted that by looking at the rate of change between the lower and higher grades, the market for those particular job skills and how those relationships have changed over time need to be considered. Something that the staff needs to address is the mistrust of supervisors on the fairness of doing the evaluation. Department heads have discussed this issue and agree that an effort needs to be made to be objective and fair in evaluating employees and in doing work plans. In answer to a question from Commissioner Insko, John Link stated that a survey of the employees has not been done. However, he has talked with the consortium and they would rather keep the WPPR system than to go back to the numerical system. With the WPPR process, the department head and employee sit down and agree on a work plan. Commissioner Willhoit asked that information be provided comparing selected types of jobs and their salaries with those industries in the Research Triangle Park. Commissioner Halkiotis asked that when attracting people for jobs, is the assumption that the County is also attracting people to live here. He fears there are people working for orange County who do not live in Orange County. Commissioner Insko suggested that an employee survey be conducted to determine what kind of pay plan the employees would like to have. Commissioner Halkiotis suggested that the survey include how the employees like working for County government and if they feel they are appreciated or rewarded. He also asked that custodial salaries be compared with the two school systems and industry. Commissioner Gordon made reference to a letter to the editor from a - county employee who did not understand why the increase -irr-his -salary- -- recommended by the Manager was always decreased by the Board of County Commissioners and wonders if County employees understand the pay plan. Chair .Carey suggested that the survey ask County employees how they feel when school employees are given a higher percentage increase than County employees. John Link will bring back to the Board a draft of a survey that will be sent to all County employees. It was agreed that as soon as the survey results are received as well as the additional information requested above, another Special Meeting will be scheduled. XJO MN ENT With no further discussion, Chair Carey adjourned the meeting. The 593 next regular meeting of the County Commissioners will be held on November 16, 1993 at 7:30 p.m. in the OWASA Community Room in Carrboro, North Carolina. Moses Carey., Jr. , Chair Beverly A. Blythe, Clerk