Public commenters press Sullivan County on ACC staffing, signage for public safety; HR says housing complaints dominated human-rights caseload

Public commenters at a Sullivan County Human Resources Committee meeting urged more transparency about complaint categories tracked by county human-rights staff, called for the county to require Roman/Latin-alphabet transliterations on business signage for public-safety reasons, and criticized staffing arrangements at the county adult-care center (ACC).

A resident who identified concerns about how human-rights investigations are reported told the committee that the public and legislators need to see complaint categories to detect trends. The resident said knowing whether complaints are about housing discrimination, bullying or harassment would allow better oversight and correction. Julie (last name not specified) responded that she maintains records going back to 2005 where available and that the office is now tracking cases consistently. Julie offered to provide a closed-case summary for 2024: “I can do all of 2024 that are closed out if you'd like a summary on what the complaint category was. I can do that.”

Several commenters addressed business signage that uses non-Latin alphabets. One attendee argued that businesses should include English or Roman/Latin transliterations alongside native-script signage so emergency callers and responders can identify locations and provide addresses. That commenter said it is a public-safety issue and proposed a local law requiring transliteration with a 45-day compliance period after adoption.

Public comment also included a sustained critique of staffing and management oversight at the ACC. A commenter argued the county has not enforced civil-service hiring standards for the facility’s director of nursing and assistant director of nursing and said contractor staffing practices (including large numbers of per-diem staff) contributed to a one‑star rating for the nursing home. The commenter urged the legislature and the county manager to ensure hiring complies with civil-service lists and contracts and urged HR and the legislature to take corrective action. The commenter said: “If you use the cheapest materials to build a house, your building will collapse. At a nursing home, the result of continually downgrading staff qualifications is neglect of the residents.”

Committee members and staff agreed the complaint-category reporting was useful; one committee member said Julie’s end-of-year presentation showing that housing-related complaints formed the majority was helpful in setting 2025 priorities. Julie said she had compiled historic records where available and would provide a closed-case summary of 2024 complaints to the committee.

The public comments concluded and the committee moved on to agenda business.