Public Safety committee approves multiple departmental hires, vehicle purchases; one item tabled

The Cayuga County Legislature Public Safety Committee on March 1 approved a series of resolutions authorizing personnel fills and vehicle purchases for county public-safety offices and tabled a proposal to separate jail supervisory staff into a distinct bargaining unit.

The committee approved two 9-1-1 staffing resolutions (JP 1 and JP 2) to fill a full-time position and a part-time dispatcher, and accepted a coroner-office staffing fill (JP 4) to replace a retired part-time account/court typist. The panel also authorized seasonal and patrol vehicle purchases for the sheriff’s office (JP 5, JP 7, JP 8, JP 9) and approved an agreement with Farnham Family Services to provide a credentialed alcoholism and substance-abuse counselor for the county jail (JP 10). A separate memorandum-of-agreement (JP 6) to separate jail captains and lieutenants from the current bargaining unit was discussed at length and was tabled until the next meeting.

Committee chair opened the meeting by asking for approval of prior minutes, then moved through departmental updates before taking the resolutions. The 9-1-1 director reported two recent grant awards and presented the staffing requests; both JP 1 (full-time) and JP 2 (part-time dispatcher) were moved and carried. JP 3 — a separate backup-center item related to equipment — was pulled pending further work and information.

The coroner’s office request (JP 4) for a part-time typist was moved, debated and carried after discussion about the coroner’s absence from the meeting. The sheriff’s office requests to authorize a seasonal marine-unit hire (JP 5) and to replace multiple high‑mileage marked and unmarked patrol vehicles (JP 7, JP 8, JP 9) were moved and approved as budgeted items. The committee also approved JP 10, authorizing a contract with Farnham Family Services to supply a credentialed counselor for jail services.

JP 6 — a motion authorizing the chair and sheriff to sign a memorandum of agreement to separate the jail captain and lieutenant positions into their own bargaining unit — prompted questions about necessity, supervision and membership, and drew both support and opposition from committee members. One legislator said the supervisory positions should remain in the current unit; the sheriff argued the change reduces conflict when supervisors handle discipline affecting members of their own unit. Rather than vote the measure down, a motion to table JP 6 until next month passed.

Votes on many of the items were recorded by voice and announced as carried; where specific vote tallies were not read into the record, the committee chair declared the items carried following the voice votes. JP 3 remains pulled for further staff work and JP 6 is tabled.

The committee also noted upcoming appointments to the Fire Advisory Board and the Procurement Committee, which will be forwarded to the full Legislature for action.

Less-critical items and follow-up resolutions were scheduled for the next meeting. The committee adjourned after the last resolutions were handled.