Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Government Administration topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board approves resolutions sending opioid authority and administrator contract to full county board
Summary
Supervisors approved resolutions to confirm outside counsel’s authority to add parties in the county’s opioid litigation and to forward a county administrator job description and contract to the full county board; the contract language was edited to remove subjective performance phrasing and change removal threshold to two-thirds.
Adams County supervisors voted to approve resolutions that (1) clarify outside counsel’s authority to add parties to the county’s opioid litigation and (2) forward a revised county administrator job description and an employment contract to the full county board for final action.
Corp Counsel told the board that at least one pharmaceutical company questioned whether the counties’ fee agreement with outside counsel authorized adding new defendants; outside counsel believes the agreement does permit adding parties but asked the county to adopt a clarifying resolution. “Our outside counsel disagrees with them and thinks that the agreement does authorize Adams County to add new parties,” Corp Counsel said.
Supervisor Evers moved to approve the resolution and send it to the county board; Supervisor Gubarski seconded. The board approved the motion by voice vote and will transmit the resolution to the full county board.
On the county administrator job description and contract, supervisors approved sending both documents to the full county board. The committee made two edits to the employment contract before forwarding it: removal of a sentence that stated “an average level of performance is not acceptable under this contract and the county administrator must consistently exhibit above average skill and diligence and initiative,” and changing the removal-by-board threshold so removal requires a two-thirds majority rather than a simple majority. The chair said the subjective phrasing was removed after discussion with the administrator because the language was “presubjective” and department reviews and evaluations provide the appropriate performance feedback.
Supervisor Taylor moved to send the job description to the county board; Supervisor Edwards seconded. A separate motion to forward the administrator employment contract also passed and the document will appear on the county board agenda. The board did not discuss contract salary terms in detail during this open session.
Why it matters: The opioid resolution clarifies legal authority for the county’s participation in ongoing multi-county litigation; forwarding the job description and contract begins the full-board approval process for the county administrator position, including a clarified removal threshold and removal of subjective performance language.
