Supervisors to shift several staff roles: ECICOG citizen seat, historic preservation staffing and auditor office reassignments

The Johnson County Board of Supervisors discussed multiple personnel and staffing reassignments during its April 2 work session, including the county’s citizen appointment to the East Central Iowa Council of Governments (ECICOG), staffing of the Historic Preservation Commission and internal reassignments in the auditor’s office.

Erin (County administration) said Allison Wells previously staffed the ECICOG citizen seat and recommended that, with a new economic development coordinator soon to be hired in Planning & Development Services (PDS), the county assign that role as the citizen appointment to improve coordination on ARPA and economic-development grants. “We think that the position to switch from the grants manager to what we hope to be soon filled, the economic development coordinator moving forward,” Erin said. Employment manager Inez Meds confirmed interviews were complete and a candidate was undergoing reference and background checks; staff said an offer was targeted by the next day.

The nut graf: Supervisors agreed to place the ECICOG appointment on the formal agenda for approval and asked that the board be able to designate the PDS director to staff the Historic Preservation Commission; both personnel/appointment changes will be formalized at upcoming meetings.

On historic preservation, Erin said Planning & Development Services is a better departmental fit for staffing the commission because planners have permitting, land-use and meeting-management expertise. Supervisors agreed to appoint the PDS director (or a designee) as the county staff liaison and directed administration to put an appointment on a forthcoming agenda.

Auditor’s office staffing: the auditor’s representatives explained a personnel reshuffle intended to avoid adding headcount. When a minutes-person retirement left an unused part-time position, staff proposed moving that unused part-time headcount to accounts payable; concurrently, a real-estate staff retirement will permit shifting a full-time headcount to accounts payable without adding total office headcount. The auditors said the reorganization keeps overall staffing levels the same while addressing workload needs in accounts payable.

Ending: Supervisors instructed administration to place the ECICOG citizen appointment and historic-preservation staffing change on the next formal agenda and asked HR and auditors to provide any follow-up details needed for final approval.