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Executive board backs policy to formalize hiring and supervision of county council staff
Summary
The Cache County executive board reviewed a proposed ordinance to define hiring, termination and conduct rules for council staff and voted to recommend the policy to the full council; the policy would require the chair to extend conditional offers and the full council to ratify hires in public meeting.
The Cache County executive board recommended to the full council a new policy to govern hiring, supervision and termination of county council staff after a detailed presentation by Micah, the council’s policy analyst.
Micah told the board the draft would amend county code section 2.12 to make explicit that council staff “works for the body,” not for individual council members, while designating the council chair to provide direct (administrative) supervision, including annual performance reviews and approval of time off (Micah). He described a hiring procedure in which a chair-appointed hiring committee interviews applicants, forwards three finalists to the full council for an executive-session interview on professional competence, and the chair then extends a conditional job offer subject to ratification by a majority of the full council.
Members pressed for clearer language about what deliberations are permitted in executive session, and how to avoid taking a vote while in closed session. Several board members suggested alternatives — asking the chair to declare a preferred candidate and then either convening a special public meeting for ratification or returning to open session to vote. Micah agreed the draft should avoid phrasing that implies a vote in executive session and proposed editing the section to state the chair extends a conditional offer that must be ratified in a subsequent public meeting.
The policy also addresses termination and direction of staff. Micah said the draft makes council staff at-will employees but requires a public motion and majority vote of the full council to terminate. He emphasized a distinction between directions from the full council (which prevail) and requests from individual members (which staff may follow unless they conflict with a council action). Micah noted the policy would reinforce that staff cannot take statutory legislative actions on behalf of the council.
After questions about applying the policy to an ongoing hiring process, a member moved and the committee seconded a motion to recommend approval of the policy to the full Cache County Council. The committee recorded its approval by voice vote and asked that the item be placed on the Oct. 22 council agenda for final action.
The next step is for the drafter to revise ambiguous language (for example, replacing the word 'direct' with 'administrative supervision' in places where the chair’s authority is meant to govern personnel management rather than daily policy direction) and return the amended ordinance to the board and county attorneys for review before the full-council vote.
