Bonner County HR Director Jonathan used the Commissioners' HR meeting to seek board direction on a cluster of operational policy items including employee records for EMS, the Friday-after-Thanksgiving holiday, relocation allowances, an administrative-leave policy and two pending personnel enhancements.

Jonathan told the commissioners he had invited Chief Lindsay to discuss confusion about EMS employee records and the paperwork for soon-to-be former employees, and asked for guidance on whether EMS should contract with HR for records handling. He said the prior direction was to "continue as usual" for ambulance staffing until changes were formally made, and noted a Bonner County Ambulance District meeting was scheduled separately.

On holidays, Jonathan said some offices had proposed treating the Friday after Thanksgiving as a paid holiday while others preferred alternatives such as a single floating day in June to spread time off across the year; commissioners directed BOCC staff to poll department heads and report back at the next Tuesday meeting. Jonathan also reported he had found a 2020 SOP document and local practices showing some departments have offered relocation allowances even though the county personnel manual contains no relocation policy; he asked whether the board wants HR to draft a formal policy.

Jonathan said there is currently no administrative-leave policy in the Bonner County personnel manual and that he had reviewed federal and Idaho state resources to develop a draft policy if the board wants one. He also described other items HR is preparing: an employee-recognition program, workplace review process improvements, workflow changes for BOCC staff/SOP reviews, and planning for next year's budget cycle.

Commissioners asked HR to: (1) clarify which items are administrative vs. which require a formal vote; (2) circulate the outstanding documentation on two enhancements submitted earlier (a step increase and an added shift-supervisor position); and (3) limit meeting frequency to what the majority of the board believes is effective while ensuring timely direction. Commissioners differed on cadence: one commissioner favored biweekly updates while another cautioned against overmeeting and suggested direction could be given via liaison or limited agenda items.

Jonathan said he would follow up by emailing the board the specific administrative requests and the job-description documentation, and said he would work with BOCC staff to schedule focused workshops on policy and benchmarking items.