Albany County committee confirms Shannon Colfill as human resources commissioner
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Summary
The Albany County Personnel Committee on voice votes confirmed Shannon Colfill as commissioner of the Department of Human Resources. Colfill emphasized recruitment, benefits education and centralizing HR processes; a legislator pressed staff to include salary disclosures missing from the meeting packet.
The Albany County Personnel Committee on a voice vote confirmed Shannon Colfill as commissioner of the Department of Human Resources.
Colfill, who identified herself as the deputy commissioner and acting commissioner, told the committee she brings experience in labor relations, training and employee engagement and outlined priorities including recruitment and retention, leadership training and centralizing HR processes. "It's not about who's right, it's about what's right," Colfill said, describing a vision of partnership with unionized employees and an emphasis on benefits education during the county's active open-enrollment period.
Committee member Grube pressed staff on a procedural omission: a county resolution, he said, requires salary information for appointments to be listed in the RLA, and he noted the salary was not included in the packet. A presenter apologized and said the omission was an oversight and that the salary information would be provided to the body after the meeting.
Colfill recounted prior private-sector and county experience, saying she spent 18 years with ShopRite, where she helped open five stores and hire about 2,000 employees, negotiated six collective bargaining agreements and oversaw disciplinary processes across multiple locations. On county operations, she described efforts to centralize HR procedures and to increase staff training and promotion pathways.
When asked about staffing, a presenter said the county had not yet started recruitment for a deputy and that any search would be public: "We'll go through Indeed. We'll post on the civil service portal. We'll use LinkedIn," the presenter said, noting the county would solicit broadly for the position.
A legislator moved to confirm Colfill, a motion was seconded by Miss Alex, and the committee approved the appointment by voice vote; no individual roll-call tallies were recorded in the transcript.
Colfill thanked the committee after the vote. The committee then moved on to the next agenda item.