Morrow County tables proposed risk/procurement manager; commissioners seek joint briefing with electeds and department heads

County staff presented an out-of-cycle FTE request for a risk, procurement and safety manager to manage centralized procurement, risk, fleet and safety programs and to support the county'wide ERP implementation.

The presenter described four core functions: "centralized procurement, risk management, fleet management, and safety programs," and said the position would be graded on range 25 and would not supervise staff but would provide centralized programmatic support.

Commissioners raised concerns about the potential for mission creep, the effect on department heads' purchasing authority and how the new position would interact with elected officials who manage certain offices. One commissioner said the board should avoid setting a precedent that administration must vet changes with other elected officials before bringing matters to the commission, while others stressed the value of a central resource to reduce audit and compliance risks.

After extended discussion, the board voted to table the FTE request and instructed the county administrator to convene a joint meeting of elected officials, department heads and staff so the proposal and job description can be explained and questions addressed. The minutes record the motion passing 2-to-1.

Next steps: Staff will schedule the joint briefing, share the job description and the procurement-approval thresholds being proposed (staff said the position could approve purchases up to $50,000 before routing them to the finance director for review). The item will return to a future board meeting after the briefing.