Linn County supervisors approve temporary staffing increase, routine minutes and a fire-district reappointment

The Linn County Board of Supervisors on Oct. 20 approved a temporary increase in hours for a senior account clerk in Community Services, approved routine minutes and an employment change roster, and reappointed John Burke to Fire District 7.

David (Dave) Thielen, director of Linn County Community Services, asked the board to approve increasing a senior account clerk from 30 to 40 hours per week through June to handle higher transaction volume tied to behavioral health realignment and increased contracts with ECI and DCAT. Thielen said the department will absorb the additional cost in its budget and that the request is intended to be temporary pending clarity about the fiscal-agent arrangement: “So we're back here today … to help with the workload for this position,” he said.

Supervisors discussed budget absorption and noted the change would be reviewed during the regular budgeting process; the board then approved the vacancy form request. The transcript shows the motion carried after the vote call but does not list individual vote tallies or the names of the motion mover and seconder.

Other routine actions recorded at the meeting: the board approved minutes for Oct. 13–15 (motion carried), approved the employment change roster (motion carried), and reappointed John Burke to Fire District 7 for a term expiring Dec. 31, 2027 (motion carried). The chair adjourned the meeting after those actions.

The board did not attach conditions to the temporary staffing increase at the meeting; staff said they will monitor workload and decide during the January budget process whether to continue the additional hours beyond June.