Commissioners set closed meetings, remove two agenda items; public comment raises payroll concerns

The commission voted to remove two agenda items and authorized two closed meetings to discuss personnel matters and pending or reasonably imminent litigation, then heard a public comment alleging payroll errors in the county's HR processing.

A motion to strike agenda items 5 and 6 was made and seconded; the chair noted the motion passed 3-0. Speaker 3 then moved and the commission approved a closed meeting to discuss "character, professional competence, or physical or mental health of an individual or individuals" (item 7), and separately approved a closed strategy session to discuss pending or reasonably imminent litigation (item 8). Both motions were seconded and approved 3-0 and were scheduled to occur following the regular agenda items.

During public comment, the same Speaker 3 said it was "unacceptable" that the HR department had not fully paid all employees, stating payday was last Wednesday and that roughly nine people had not received full pay. "Payday was last Wednesday, and there are people that still have not received their full pay," the speaker said, adding that manual checks could have been issued to some employees to avoid delayed pay. The speaker characterized the delay as a legal issue tied to required pay dates.

The chair then moved the meeting into the previously authorized closed sessions following the public portion; no public votes were taken in the closed sessions during the recorded public meeting.