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Legislature advances local law to split HR and civil service; confirms department appointments
Summary
The Labor and Civil Service Committee advanced a package of local laws to split the county’s HR and civil service functions into two departments, create/reclassify positions and confirm leadership appointments. Committee members were told the change will cost about $8,000 in 2025 and roughly $70,000 in 2026 to staff the new structure.
The Labor and Civil Service Committee on Nov. 5 advanced a package of actions to establish separate Human Resources and Civil Service departments, create and reclassify positions, and confirm department leadership.
County Manager Fluman described the local law package (LCS 19–22) as a charter‑level change to formally recognize separate HR and civil service departments. The manager said the move separates work that had been handled together and allows staff to specialize. The staffing changes were described as producing an $8,000 increase to the 2025 budget and about $70,000 to the 2026 budget to finance new deputy positions and other adjustments.
As part of the package the legislature took the following recorded actions: creation and elimination of certain positions across departments; confirmation of Joseph McQueen to the position of Director of Civil Service (LCS 21); confirmation of Danilo Plant to the position of Director of Human Resources (LCS 22); and a personnel reclassification in the Public Defender’s office (LCS 23) moving a Public Defender 7 position to a Public Defender 6 role to reflect hiring qualifications and save approximately $4,000.
The items were moved, seconded and reported to the agenda. Committee discussion included confirmation that the board typically appoints department heads and the legislature provides confirmation. One committee speaker encouraged members to support the initiative to build redundancy and efficiencies in county personnel operations.
Note on transcript consistency: during discussion the transcript references a deputy director (Deneen Lopant) being elevated to director of HR, while LCS 22 as read on the agenda confirms the appointment of Danilo Plant to Director of Human Resources. That inconsistency appears in the meeting record and was not resolved on the floor.
Action recorded
• LCS 19 — Adopt local law C of 2025 to establish separate HR and Civil Service departments. Outcome: reported to the agenda.
• LCS 20 — Create and eliminate certain positions to implement the department split (budgetary impact: +$8,000 in 2025; +$70,000 in 2026). Outcome: reported to the agenda.
• LCS 21 — Create position of Director of Civil Service and confirm appointment of Joseph McQueen. Outcome: reported to the agenda.
• LCS 22 — Confirm appointment of Danilo Plant as Director of Human Resources. Outcome: reported to the agenda.
• LCS 23 — Create and eliminate certain positions at the Public Defender’s office (reclassify Public Defender 7 to Public Defender 6; estimated $4,000 savings). Outcome: reported to the agenda.
Provenance: topic introduced at 00:19:03 and committee business concluded at 00:21:44.
