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Supervisor requests rule requiring county employees to use leave for board duties; motion pulled for further review
Summary
Supervisor Vannouch proposed adding a provision to the board's annual code of performance requiring county employees to take leave for Board of Supervisors duties and submit leave requests for public review. After discussion the motion's second was withdrawn and the proposal was referred to a future work session for more study.
Supervisor Vannouch proposed during the Jan. 7 Stafford County Board meeting that the board amend its annual code of performance to require county employees who serve as supervisors to take leave when they perform board-related activities, and to submit those leave requests to the county administrator for public review.
Vannouch said the purpose was transparency and to head off questions from constituents about whether county-paid time was being used for board activities. She said the proposal would cover both full- and part-time county employees and added it was not an accusation against any named colleague.
Several supervisors said they supported reviewing the code of performance but objected to adding the single item on the floor without a work-session review. Doctor Young and Supervisor English both said they would prefer the board consider the broader code document in full at a work session. Supervisor Vannouch agreed to withdraw the second and have the item placed on a future work-session agenda for fuller consideration.
Why it matters
The proposed change raised questions about transparency, employee rights and the limits of board oversight of staff who also serve as elected officials. Any change to the code of performance that affects personnel reporting and public disclosure of leave would require staff analysis of privacy and human-resources rules and likely a formal work-session before a vote.
What happens next
The mover withdrew the second and the item will be scheduled for a future work session for discussion and possible revision. The board did not take a formal vote on the substantive language at the Jan. 7 meeting.
Ending
Supervisors agreed to consider the code of performance as a fuller package at a later work session rather than adopt a single-line change during the Jan. 7 meeting.
