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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOH minutes 030410 joint mtg BOCCAPPROVED 462010 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS JOINT MEETING WITH BOARD OF HEALTH March 4 2010 530pm The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a joint meeting with the Board of Health on Thursday March 4 2010 at 530pm at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill NC COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT Chair Valerie P Foushee and Commissioners Alice Gordon Pam Hemminger Barry Jacobs Bernadette Pelissier and Steve Yuhasz COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT Mike Nelson COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT John Roberts BOARD OF HEALTH Dr Anissa Vines Chair Chris Harlan Vice Chair and BOH members Dr Paul Chelminski Mike Carstens Christopher Cooke Tony Whitaker and Jim Stefanadis HEALTH DEPARTMENT STAFF PRESENT Health Director Rosemary Summers COUNTY STAFF PRESENT County Manager Frank Clifton Assistant County Manager Gwen Harvey and Clerk to the Board Donna S Baker All other staff members will be identified appropriately below 1 Introductions Introductions were made 2 Message from Board of Health BOH Chair Anissa Vines Chair of the BOH said that they are here to bring to the Board of County Commissioners attention issues that are of concern to them in reference to public health issues She went through the great works within the Health Department and spoke of the accomplishments of various staff She said that Orange County has a lot to be proud of as it relates to public health She said that the Board of Health wants to have an engaged discussion with the Board of County Commissioners Christopher Cook said that one of the challenges in public health is how to talk about public health with the normal person who does not know the lingo He said that they want to think about health from a collective health perspective and not just individually and within the family He said that public health is a provider of last resorts for those who cannot afford personal health providers He said that the Board of Health sees resources in public health as investments such as prevention health measures etc He made reference to a handout that shows that a 10 per capita investment over several years in a series of prevention programs yields in North Carolinas case a return of 56to the dollar invested 3 Statistical Update from Department Health Director Rosemary Summers made a PowerPoint presentation 20082009 Year in Review 20092010 Progress Overall Department Finances Final revenue and expenditures were 7348586 for the year inc grants 456500 in grant funded projects 2120785in fees reimbursements state federal County general fund supports 64 of budget Comparative Funding Data 0708 Orange ranked 7185 health departments for per capita spending for public health Statewide average per capita was 6240 Orange was 4393 Local per capita spending for Orange was 3839 and the average local per capita was 5017 ranking 57tn StatisticsDental 200809 4175 patient visits in dental clinics provided 12830 services 16 new patients 46 sliding scale patients 20092010 6 months 2064 patient visits 5850 services provided 48 are sliding scale patients most at the 20 pay level StatisticsDental Number of patients waiting for a dental appointment averages 52 a month in Hillsborough and 28 a month in Carrboro Twice as many children in Hillsborough are waiting for an appointment than in Carrboro StatisticsMedical Chapel Hill clinic comparing 6 months Prenatal patients increased from 36 to 68 59 Prenatal visits increased from 187 to 375 100 45 all prenatal patients are Hispanic and require language services 2 appointment slots 58 increase in primary care 89 selfpay patients in primary care are 020pay DECREASED appointment slots available for other services because of the 2 slots needed for interpreters 338 patients unable to get same day appointments measured during a one month period in fall 09 StatisticsMedical Hillsborough Clinic first six months 15 increase in sexually transmitted disease patients 9increase in primary care 92 primary care selfpay are 020pay Higher patients have Medicaid in Hillsborough clinic 115 patients unable to get same day appointments measured in 4 week span in fall 09 Both Clinics Overall 10 increase in selfpay patients as opposed to Medicaid in all clinic service categories child health family planning Majority of selfpay patients are 020pay Communicable Disease not STDs 25 patients with latent TB infections beginning 6 mo directly observed therapy 38 refugee communicable disease screenings 4376 seasonal influenza vaccinations 3x the usual number 2256 H1 N1 vaccines given 1600 doses redistributed to other practices 6 outbreaks 1 product recall H1N1 response continues Cited by state for not having functional negative pressure room for collecting sputum samples safely StatisticsEnvironmental Health Food Lodging software allowed better tracking of inspection of establishments Achieving only 35 of inspections on time New or changing restaurants continue to require plan reviews Public swimming pool inspections New federal rules that required most pool owners to fix install new drains and intakes Need to increase inspection frequency during the season Statistics Environmental Health Well and Septic Program Permits for all program areas were flat until October 2009 when the numbers started to climb December numbers were at the 7year average Wastewater treatment management program inspections still increasing Water testing requests remains stable over time Any Good News Received over 500000 in grant funds already this year Teen Tobacco grant renewed until June 30 2013 Management Academy team completing business plan for diabetes selfmanagement program Staff team selected to be trained in quality improvement techniques and apply to internal project Healthy Carolinians received recertification Staff members continue to win professional awards Orange County ranked 2nd healthiest county in state Challenges More demand for services than can be provided with current staff in dental and personal health Reductions in Medicaid reimbursement required service consolidation for home visiting services and reassignmentof staff Reductions in Medicaid reimbursement for dental services and for some medical services will impact some revenues New Smoke Free Restaurant and Bar Law requires additional staff time 4 a TwoService Center Model b Future Planning for Facilities Issues Discussion for 20102011 Rosemary Summers said that the Board of County Commissioners has talked about the twoservice center model She thinks that the intention was to have an open discussion Commissioner Yuhasz said that he has a foot in each board and he started with the dental clinic He said that the Board of County Commissioners does not want to lose services that they have now and the Board of Health wants to put the resources to the best possible use and these two are in conflict He said that there are both efficiencies and health concerns involved and there are political concerns involved and those two do not always lead to the same conclusion Dr Paul Chelminski said that in a period of strained resources the idea of focusing energies at one center is more efficient The most efficient center might be Hillsborough Anissa Vines said that the Board of Health gets complaints from the dental clinic in Carr Mill Mall about not being able to get appointments or call backs She said that they have talked about the limitations of the dental clinic for the past 23years She said that there is not the space or the resources to provide the services that are needed Commissioner Gordon said that if there is only one center in Hillsborough then people will have to travel to get to the clinic in Chapel Hill Chapel Hill and Carrboro have fare free buses and there is a 420 bus service between Chapel Hill and Hillsborough She said that the geographical center is in Hillsborough but the population center is in Chapel Hill and Carrboro There is a part of the CIP to build a dental clinic at the Southern Human Services Center She said that it is a complex issue to have only one center since travel is the main concern She said that most people coming into Hillsborough will most likely be driving She thinks that these things have to be considered and transportation is the key issue Commissioner Hemminger asked about the expansion of moving into the other part of the Whitted Building and if this would enable them to increase services in Hillsborough and Rosemary Summers said that the combination of the resources and the two clinics is what would enable them to see more patients It would be more efficient to have one site and they could see more patients at the one site than they can at the two separate sites currently Commissioner Hemminger asked Rosemary Summers to walk through how someone living in Carrboro could get an appointment at the Hillsborough dental clinic Rosemary Summers said that they schedule the appointments in onehour slots and they pretty much keep to that pace She said that the fact is that there are many more resources in the southern part of the County for people to access than there are in the northern part of the County This is one of the factors taken into consideration in making the proposal to locate the service in the northern part of the County Dr Paul Chelminski said that unless there is a commitment to fund the ability to have two sites and to get better quality equipment then there cannot be two sites He said that something has to change because the dental school is not carrying its weight and Piedmont Health cannot cover everyone else He is very concerned about access to care Commissioner Jacobs said that the Board of County Commissioners discussed this at a work session and there was a suggestion of surveying the users and seeing where they come from and getting a better demographic picture He said that this bleeds into the discussion of whether or not to plan to build a dental clinic at the Southern Human Services Center This has been in the CIP He asked if the Board of Health has discussed this Annisa Vines said that the Board of Health has talked about the extra footprint that is at Southern but the issue is complex funding why should it be at this location etc She said that staff is running ragged and it is a strain and not satisfying to patients Frank Clifton said that it has been pointed out that jurisdictions with a considerable population and a considerable land area find it more effective to concentrate resources at some location and make the best of it He said that if you are going to have a double service then you need to buy duplicate equipment and the County cannot afford that now He said that the County should not provide second rate service with second rate equipment At this time there are two facilities but only one is open at a time Commissioner Pelissier agreed that they need to understand where the clientele is coming from She said that it is an assumption that the population is in Chapel Hill but the ones with the most poverty are out in the County She said that it may be good to look at other health users and whether they need conestop shop with the human services Commissioner Yuhasz said that there is an apparent greater need in the Hillsborough area He said that he does not think that a consolidation in Hillsborough now should be read as an abandonment of the twoservicemodel The County does not have any funds to build a new facility but it could expand the current dental clinic at the Whitted Center site for the shortterm He suggested consolidating it for the shortterm and seeing how efficient it is and looking at how to provide transportation to Hillsborough for those living in Carrboro and Chapel Hill Chair Foushee said that it would seem that it is the Countys responsibility to ensure that the situation does not deteriorate Her fear is that if they do not seriously look at how to be more efficient then the current situation will worsen Tony Whitaker said that he was shocked to learn the amount of money they were paying for rent for the Carrboro dental clinic and it is not even used three days of the week Frank Clifton said that he met with the President of Durham Tech recently and he brought up this subject about possibly partnering and having ajointuse facility with the community college and health clinic facilities The idea was floated for future reference and the response was positive He said that if UNC Hospital sites at Waterstone this could really be a partnership Commissioner Gordon reiterated that they need to consider access for the people in Chapel Hill and Carrboro because 23 of the population is there and they pay 23 of the taxes She said that you cannot just consolidate in one area without thinking of the other areas Commissioner Hemminger verified that the lease at Carr Mill Mall is up in October 2011 and they will need to pay out if they leave early Rosemary Summers said that they could vacate earlier if there was a sublease Commissioner Hemminger asked when a decision had to be made Frank Clifton said that staff is doing an analysis of where the clientele is and this may help to determine the other variables such as transportation He said that he would not let the lease be the determination and he would go ahead and make the move if the County Commissioners agreed Commissioner Jacobs asked about the inadequacy of engagement of the dental school and if the County has recently approached the dental school Dr Paul Chelminski said that the Health Department cannot internally make referrals within UNC for dental patients with serious issues because they have to have cash to be seen He said that it is not part of the stated mission of the dental school to be a safety net provider Rosemary Summers said that they did ask the dental school directly about partnering with the County for services There have also been discussions with Piedmont Health about this The dental school said that it would be glad to provide the services but it would charge on a dollar for dollar basis This would be more expensive than how the Health Department currently operates Piedmont is considering this as an option but it is still in discussion Chris Harlan said that she heard that Piedmont Health is only accepting patients with insurance This will have a huge impact on the safety net issue As far as analysis she said that they need to look in the community and identify people who need dental services but are not seeking them Anissa Vines said that the Board of Health selected two issues to discuss this evening but there are other needs She said that they need to think shortterm and longterm and efficiencies This is a very complex issue She said that they do have a sense of urgency to be responsive to the residents of Orange County as it relates to dental care and public health 5 Closing Remarks Annisa Vines thanked the Board of County Commissioners for the opportunity to be here tonight and to share the issues With no further items to discuss the meeting was adjourned at 706PM Valerie Foushee Chair Donna S Baker CMC Clerk to the Board APPROVED 462010 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BUDGET WORK SESSION March 4 2010 700pm The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a budget work session on Thursday March 4 2010 at 700pmat the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill NC COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT Chair Valerie P Foushee and Commissioners Alice Gordon Pam Hemminger Barry Jacobs Mike Nelson Bernadette Pelissier and Steve Yuhasz COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT John Roberts COUNTY STAFF PRESENT County Manager Frank Clifton and Clerk to the Board Donna S Baker All other staff members will be identified appropriately below 1 Adoption of an Amendment to the Bond Resolution for the Approved Issuance of General Obligation Bonds to Refinance County Bonds Issued in 2001 and 2003 A motion was made by Commissioner Nelson seconded by Commissioner Hemminger to adopt the resolution which is incorporated by reference regarding the amendment to the December 15 2009 Bond Resolution to extend the maturities of the bond sale to refinance the Countys 2001 and 2003 bonds to December 31 2022 and authorize and direct staff to take the actions contemplated in such proceedings to complete the closing of the refunding bond issue VOTE UNANIMOUS 2 Retirement Incentive Program Frank Clifton introduced the County staff that was present Human Resources Director Michael McGinnis said that he is here to discuss another early retirement incentive program As part of balancing the budget for 20092010 there was a retirement incentive program and there were 150 eligible employees and they predicted that about 37 people or 25 would apply for the incentive Based on that the savings were predicted at 375000 The Manager actually approved 46 positions for retirement and there has been a savings of 800000 This number is based on the positions that will remain frozen and may be deleted Because of the retirements a number of departments had to look at the services they provided and the need for the services Several departments had to do some reorganization He made reference to Attachment 2010 Orange County Retirement Incentive Program description and said that this year they are looking at another retirement incentive program that will be similar to last years but more restrictive Employees have to have a minimum of ten years with the County to be eligible and they would need to retire by June 30 2010 There are about 18 people eligible with a potential for 375000 of savings Another change would be to allow the Manager to exempt certain positions from being offered this incentive because some positions could not be frozen for a long period of time This would allow the Manager to review the critical functions of the 91 eligible participants Commissioner Gordon said that it has been mentioned to have longer times for not filling positions In terms of County operations it did have an impact last year on County operations She said that although it saves money there could be some adverse affects on County operations Frank Clifton said that this will have an impact on County services but he wants to bring a balanced budget He said that some services he brings back will be reduced or deleted As they reduce staffing when the Board of County Commissioners gives the staff items to do at a Board meeting the list will get longer but it will take longer to do this He wants to mitigate as much as possible the affects to County services Commissioner Jacobs said that he does not want to take away jobs from people that work for the County He said that he would hope that the Manager will help the County Commissioners provide a good level of service 3 Budget Related Staffing Discussion Frank Clifton spoke about the functions of County government He said that in the departments there is some duplication of services Roughly half of the budget goes to education and the only place to substantially reduce County operations is through personnel costs He made reference to the attachment with the vacancy report Approximately 90 vacant positions equate to about 33 million He said that there is going to be a push for Emergency Services employees He said that the reality is that there will have to be a reduction in about 80100 positions He said that if the Board of County Commissioners is committed to bringing a balanced budget without a tax increase then he will shoot for 100 vacant positions to be deleted There will be some moving around of administrative staff to fill some of the vacant positions without changing the salaries If someone does not want to move then they will have to leave He said that all departments will be involved He said that Orange County is not having as tough a time as some other counties Commissioner Yuhasz said that the 5 million has to come out of the County side of the budget and he does not like this He wants to look at both the County side and the education side Frank Clifton said that he based this on the County side because he does not see the Countys total budget changing but a shift in expenses The reality is unless there is an agreement reached between the school boards the total County budget will not change except where the money is spent and how it is spent Chair Foushee said that yesterday there was a school collaboration meeting and the revenues will be the same this year as last year If there are more students then there is already a reduction She said that there should be an understanding that this will stretch across the entire County Commissioner Yuhasz said that this is a reduction of services to the public and no one entity should bear it all Commissioner Nelson said that he is supportive of this item and the previous item but he is concerned about the loss of institutional memory However with the reorganizations there have been more efficiencies He is still supportive of no tax increase Commissioner Pelissier echoed Commissioner Nelsonscomments She appreciates the approach of the Manager because she was afraid that they were going to have to lay off staff She likes the team approach to this situation Frank Clifton said that it is also his intent in the budget process to create an opportunity to set aside some money and give conetime incentive payment to employees if certain goals are achieved to show appreciation 4 Boards and Commissions Next Steps Chair Foushee said that the Board directed Commissioner Pelissier and her to meet with the Clerk about these next steps and it was difficult but there are still some outstanding questions She said that they came up with some questions for the Board of County Commissioners and to move through the issue of boards and commissions will involve a process The process is one that would require the County Commissioners to make some decisions Commissioner Pelissier said that in December the Board decided not to make any more appointments to boards but many of the boards are handicapped from doing business and so they would like to make appointments for statutory boards now and leave the others open One of the questions is whether or not the County Commissioners want to have a liaison to the advisory boards Other places do this through a reporting mechanism such as a work plan by the boards and commissions She asked what kind of reporting mechanism the Board wanted and what kind of appointment process there would be for the County Commissioner liaisons Chair Foushee said that the Board needs to decide whether or not to allow the Clerk to put the appointments up for the statutory boards A motion was made by Commissioner Hemminger seconded by Commissioner Nelson to make appointments to the statutory boards Commissioner Yuhasz asked how many statutory boards there were It was answered that it was a small amount and not all of them have vacant positions He said that he has concerns about the application process because the applicants are not always clear He said that he is not interested in appointing for all of the statutory boards because each application should have specific questions related to the boards Commissioner Gordon said that the Adult Care Home Community Advisory Committee and the Nursing Home Community Advisory Committee are both listed as statutory boards She asked about the statutory boards and which ones are in fact statutory VOTE UNANIMOUS Commissioner Nelson was not in the room 60 Chair Foushee said that she and Commissioner Pelissier decided in principle to have one person to represent the Board of County Commissioners on any board or commission Regarding the reporting mechanism Chair Foushee said that there has to be a way of recording what is actually happening at the meetings This mechanism needs to be determined Frank Clifton said that as the County reduces staff the numerous boards and commissions will have reduced staff support He said that it may be best to have a board member to record the board actions other than support staff The other suggestion would be to have these boards move to quarterly meetings rather than monthly meetings In the end these are advisory boards and they have to keep records of their meetings Commissioner Yuhasz said that he would prefer to see fewer County Commissioner liaisons on the boards and better reporting This would allow the boards to make decisions without the undue influence of a County Commissioner in the room Commissioner Pelissier agreed with Commissioner Yuhasz She would like to have a joint meeting with several advisory boards throughout the year She agrees with not having as many County Commissioner liaisons and having a better reporting mechanism Commissioner Hemminger said that the quick reports are good as opposed to minutes She said that for one board that she served on before becoming a County Commissioner a Councilmember was the liaison but did not attend meetings and they were to be called if the board needed anything She said that the board would come once a year to Council to report She also agrees with not having a County Commissioner liaison She said that having a County Commissioner on a boardcommission changed the dynamics of what the board discussed and how they discussed it Chair Foushee said that when County Commissioners attend board or commission meetings her thought has always been that if she is not a voting member then her role is a resource role only Commissioner Gordon said that if a Board of County Commissioners member is there then the implication from this discussion is that it was a bad influence She suggested just getting rid of County Commissioner liaisons for the advisory boards that are totally advisory in nature Chair Foushee said that she learned a lot about county government from being a liaison to the boards and commissions She does not know that she wants to give up being the Commissioner that gets an opportunity to sit in meetings and hear what is going on and provide insight and learn She is not ready to say that they should not have liaisons for boards and commissions Commissioner Jacobs said that all Commissioners have made good points His concern is similar to Chair Fousheesbecause of the learning aspect and developing relationships with people that are interested in particular issues He said that he has seen and heard that Board members will dominate a meeting and in that respect there are problems with how things are set up He said that he also knows of boards that go out and do surveys without the County Commissioners knowing about it He wants to be considerate in how the County Commissioners communicate whatever change is made Commissioner Hemminger said that since there are different types of boards it is hard to come to a consensus There are different guidelines for each board and commission She thinks that there could be different sets of goals or guidelines for each grouping Frank Clifton suggested not having anyone appointed as liaisons so that anyone could attend these meetings The County Commissioners could rotate attending the board meetings each month and could pick which ones to attend Commissioner Yuhasz agreed with this if the rotation could give an educational component Commissioner Pelissier said that it is a huge workload to attend so many board meetings If the total amount of boards that each person has to go to is decreased then the community would be served a lot better She said that she liked the idea of not having a liaison and rotating but that may cause some board members to only go to the ones they like Chair Foushee said that it seems that there is consensus to have a reporting mechanism template for each board and commission and this standard format can be determined at a later time This is for the internal boards and commissions and not the statutory or external boards Chair Foushee asked that the Board talk about the issue of having a County Commissioner liaison for these internal boards Commissioner Hemminger said that there would have to be a schedule where there would not be a quorum of the Board of County Commissioners Commissioner Gordon suggested letting the Clerk know who was going to attend the meetings and if four people show up then the last one that showed up would leave A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon seconded by Commissioner Yuhasz that the Board of County Commissioners not assign a particular liaison to the internal boards and commissions and that the County Commissioners will attend as they wish and make sure that there are not four County Commissioners at any one meeting VOTE UNANIMOUS Donna Baker said that she would use the subcommittee to help with the attendance process A motion was made by Commissioner Pelissier seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to ask the internal advisory boards to come up with a work plan every year and then at the end of the year to tell the Board of County Commissioners what has been accomplished with a summary Commissioner Jacobs amended the motion that the work plan should be consistent with the goals and objectives of the Board of County Commissioners Commissioner Yuhasz said that he is concerned about heading off some good ideas from advisory boards Commissioner Jacobs said that consistent with is not the same as parroting Frank Clifton said that all advisory boards need to understand that they are advisory boards and the Board of County Commissioners is seeking input VOTE UNANIMOUS Chair Foushee made reference to page 12 Advisory Board actions for considerationat the top which was the list of advisory boards with potential changes Frank Clifton reiterated that these are potential changes Commissioner Gordon asked if the public would be involved in this process Chair Foushee said that the subcommittee found it difficult to move forward because there was not a process She said that none of this should be done without public input Frank Clifton said that some of his recommendations may take a year or more He said that where the boards have been created by resolution they would have to be changed by resolution Commissioner Yuhasz that some of these boards were discussed at the last retreat He said that before the County Commissioners make any decisions they need to allow the advisory boards to make some recommendations back as to their charge and if it is worthwhile to continue with each boardcommission Commissioner Pelissier said that she does not want to ask every board what they think their function is but she would like to flag the ones that could be merged together She wants to know the pros and cons of the potential changes Commissioner Jacobs said that there is an argument that the VisitorsBureau could be spun off as a separate entity but he wants to know the pros and cons He made reference to an email from the Commission for Women about the cons of having anonprofit take over the role of operating the Commission for Women He said that this was very useful Chapel HillOrange County Visitors Bureau Commissioner Jacobs said that the County Commissioners should pose to the bureau the question of whether it is not time for the Visitors Bureau to consider being an autonomous entity and the pros and cons of that Frank Clifton said that he made this recommendation because there are two separate hotelmotel taxes authorized and collected in Orange County One goes to promote hotelmotel tourism and the other one goes to support recreational services He suggested partnering with the other entity that has ahotelmotel tax Chapel Hill and equally sharing the costs of promotion Commissioner Nelson said that this issue of Chapel Hill keeping part of these taxes for other purposes is pretty significant He suggested sending a letter to the Town Council asking them to designate 100 of those funds for tourism Commissioner Jacobs said that the VisitorsBureau is one of the most successful economic engines that the County has and it is a very engaged group A motion was made by Commissioner Nelson seconded by Commissioner Pelissier to ask the Chair to send a letter to the Chapel Hill Town Council regarding the hotelmotel tax allocation VOTE UNANIMOUS Commissioner Hemminger asked about Carrboro and Commissioner Nelson said that it has enabling legislation for ahotelmotel tax She suggested talking to the Mayors about this Commissioner Jacobs said to send a letter within the context of this discussion Chair Foushee suggested waiting until Carrboro has a hotel before approaching the Mayor about the allocation of taxes Frank Clifton explained how the taxes are collected for hotels and motels Commissioner Gordon said that the letter should be phrased within the context of the Chapel HillOrange County VisitorsBureau discussion and the pros and cons of this allocation procedure Frank Clifton said that Orange County is using all of the Visitor Bureaustax to promote Chapel HillOrange CountyCarrboroHillsborough tourism The Town of Chapel Hill is collecting roughly the same amount as Orange County and is providing significantly less to promotion If it is a governmental function then Orange County should take advantage of that and maybe use some of it for other functions such as recreational facilities Chair Foushee said that she would craft a letter for review by the Board of County Commissioners members It can be amended if it does not capture what should be said Basically the County puts forward about 900000 as opposed to 250000 that Chapel Hill contributes of the same tax collection This is the issue Commissioner Nelson said that Chapel Hill is aware of this because the Visitors Bureau talks about it every budget year A motion was made by Commissioner Jacobs seconded by Commissioner Hemminger to solicit from the Visitors Bureau a response to the Countys inclination to spin off as an independent entity and to tell the pros and cons VOTE UNANIMOUS Orange County Arts Commission Frank Clifton said that this is a unique situation because it is a department with one staff person This was created because there is some State grant money that comes in each year and there has to be a designated body to approve the distribution of those funds The County also provides a match for this function His recommendation is to put money in for this function but there is some overlap within the County and he cannot justify this fulltime position Commissioner Yuhasz said that it is not clear to him what the alternatives are and he would like more information on this Commissioner Nelson said that he has some strong feelings that the arts play a significant role in economic development and he is not convinced that the arrangement is currently working with economic development and the arts in Orange County He wants to think about this Lots of governments use the arts as an economic development engine He is not interested in disbanding the department but he would like to look at alternatives The Visitors Bureau could nurture the arts and this is an alternative worth looking at Chair Foushee said that this was going to be her suggestion too regarding the Visitors Bureau She agrees that the arts do affect economic development Commissioner Jacobs said that the Visitors Bureau has discussed this with interest but to turn the Arts Commission loose as anonprofit would be difficult The Board of County Commissioners formed this department so it would not have to rely on nonprofits Staff will communicate this to the Arts Commission and the Visitors Bureau Commission for Women Commissioner Gordon said that she is not ready to disband the Commission for Women as long as women make something like 70 of what men make and have other disadvantages She wants to continue this as a function There can be better ways of doing things but she does not want to disband it Commissioner Hemminger asked if it could be folded into the Human Rights and Relations function Commissioner Nelson said that he has been liaison to both of these groups and they like that idea better than going with anonprofit He thinks that it could be a good fit Commissioner Pelissier said that the County Commissioners should explore from both boards and see how they could merge and complement each other Frank Clifton said that when boards are merging then people should forget the titles and pay more attention to the people that are appointed The big issue is not focusing on one segment of society and looking at a broader segment of society Commissioner Pelissier said that she is concerned about advisory boards that render services and that this sets a precedent She was speaking about Girl Talk Commissioner Nelson said that the Commission for Women should hear this question He said that the whole vision is to get something started and then to spin it off They are doing a couple of pilot programs in some schools He said that the kids love it and the response from parents is good The hope is for the schools to take it over There has not been much activity lately in the Commission for Women but now they are turning it around Commissioner Gordon said that if there were a merger then the title should change to symbolize that it is a new group and that the Commission for Women was not sunset Commissioner Hemminger asked that the current members of the Commission for Women would be allowed to fulfill their terms on the new commission The Board agreed to explore a possible merger of this with HRC after hearing the pros and cons of it Economic Development Commission Frank Clifton said that there are several functions like this in the County that talk but do not collaborate Commissioner Yuhasz said that he is concerned that without a strong County presence there will not be economic development in the County He would hope that the Orange County Economic Development Commission would not be subsumed by Chapel Hill or Carrboro Frank Clifton said that there needs to be a stronger partnership with the other entities Commissioner Jacobs said that this is another one of those areas where the County is selfdefeating There are four economic development groups in Orange County He said that the first step is to bring all the parties together to discuss why it is not a functional system because he does not know if Orange Countys EDC even knows what its role is He suggested bringing in UNC also Chair Foushee said that basically this is about further study as to how to make what Orange County has more viable and to bring together all parties together to establish the roles She said that an annual work plan could address a lot of these issues She said that Durham Tech is a great resource Frank Clifton said that they have had these discussions and people recognize that Orange County has weaknesses Commissioner Yuhasz asked who would start this process and Commissioner Jacobs said that it could be brought up at an Assembly of Governments meeting Also the Managers could be directed to discuss it Another option would be to suggest a steering committee to develop a plan The Orange County Economic Development Director would make that suggestion Adult Care Home Community Advisory Committee and the Nursing Home Community Advisory Committee Chair Foushee asked if this was something that could be done merging these two committees and Frank Clifton said that he would have to research this Commissioner Hemminger said to ask the same questions about the pros and cons Information Technology Advisory Committee Commissioner Yuhasz said that he had the ITAC discuss the possibility of the sunset of this committee and the focus has been to a large degree on technical things He thinks that there should be a broader viewpoint on what information technology is and what it can bring to the County He thinks that the committee recognizes that it needs to provide advice along those lines There is a need for information technology advice He said that the members do not really know their charge or the history of the committee Commissioner Gordon said that the County created this committee to help provide expertise in information technology because back when the committee was created a number of years ago the County had not yet hired staff with all the necessary expertise Commissioner Jacobs said that he strongly agrees with Commissioner Yuhasz and that this committee should focus on emerging technologies He also thinks that there should be some association with the Economic Development function either a subcommittee or joint meetings periodically with the EDC Commissioner Yuhasz said that this committee is interested in continuing but it needs more focus Commissioner Gordon spoke in support of the emerging technologies focus Commissioner Pelissier said that the question is where this group belongs since the IT Director is focused on internal technology functions She suggested that it might belong more under Economic Development Personnel Hearing Board Commissioner Gordon asked what this does and Frank Clifton said that it reviews personnel decisions that the Manager makes and then advise the Manager Human Resources Director Michael McGinnis said that this board has met once in the last ten years It is in the Personnel Ordinance and it is the last step in a grievance process Chair Foushee said that she would feel uncomfortable if there was not a Personnel Hearing Board Commissioner Yuhasz asked if it could be appointed as needed and Frank Clifton said that there is a timing issue Commissioner Jacobs agreed with Chair Foushee Frank Clifton said that employees still have a process through the courts Chair Foushee said that this is not about the Manager but about due process Commissioner Hemminger said that the County Commissioners could be the Personnel Hearing Board Commissioner Nelson said that it would not be appropriate for the County Commissioners to be the Personnel Hearing Board Frank Clifton agreed Commissioner Pelissier said that she does not see how this board can help someone in a grievance process since it is only an advisory board Frank Clifton said that there is due process for grievances Commissioner Jacobs suggested asking the board if it still needs to exist and the pros and cons A motion was made by Commissioner Hemminger seconded by Commissioner Pelissier to adjourn the meeting at 1004 PM VOTE UNANIMOUS Valerie Foushee Chair Donna S Baker CMC Clerk to the Board