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Chair defends hiring authority and funding for executive search firm
Summary
Chair said county code gives the chair authority to appoint department heads from manager-provided lists and defended a July 14 approval of contingency funding to hire an executive search firm for difficult hires. He also acknowledged conducting some interviews independently and said appointments still require board approval.
The chair explained the county's hiring process, saying the code provides that "the chairman shall appoint the heads of the departments of the county from a list provided by the county manager and with the consent of a majority of the commission members." He said that balance of power remains in place and that the code "still supersedes any policy here in the county."
On July 14 the board "decided on July 14 to approve funding for contingency that would allow the county to utilize an executive firm to fill those critical positions," the chair said. He described the contingency as a line item that could be used as needed and defended the practice as one used in prior hires. When challenged about whether he interviewed the communications director on his own, he said, "Yes. So I did conduct interviews on my own because, again, there was an interest to not hire or interview at the district commissioner level," and added that final approval comes from the board.
