MINUTES OF THE INFORMAL MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:
SEPTEMBER 3, 2008
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Executive Session: Pre-Evaluation and Goal Setting of Board of Supervisors Executive Assistant 1
Site Visit: Discussion with County Auditor Tom Slockett, 913 South Dubuque Street, Iowa City... 1
Chairperson Sullivan called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building at 9:05 a.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Larry Meyers, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan.
Motion by Neuzil, second by Harney, to enter into Executive Session at 9:05 a.m. for an annual evaluation of Executive Assistant Mike Sullivan under section 21.5(1.i), Code of Iowa, “to evaluate the professional competency of an individual whose appointment, hiring, performance or discharge is being considered when necessary to prevent needless and irreparable injury to that individual’s reputation and that individual requests a closed session.” Roll call: aye: Harney, Stutsman, Sullivan, Neuzil, Meyers.
Motion by Neuzil, second by Meyers, to leave Executive Session at 9:39 a.m. Roll call: aye: Harney, Stutsman, Sullivan, Neuzil, Meyers.
Recessed at 9:39 a.m.; reconvened in the office of County Auditor Tom Slockett at 10:05 a.m.
County Auditor Tom Slockett said he will conduct a walk-through of the Auditor’s Office to show the Board how the office is ramping up for the General Election. Slockett presented a handout entitled General Election Space Utilization. The handout listed the following areas for review: Small Conference Room, Minutes Area, Unity Computer, Lobby, Ballot Room, Accounting Area, Physical Plant, Back Room, Carquest, and Satellite Voting. Slockett said the small conference room is used for elections data entry, attaching, and phone answering. It will include four desktop computers, a 5-port network switch and four phones.
Slockett said the Unity computer will have two additional modems and phone lines with rollover/stepper capability installed September 5, 2008. Slockett noted that Election Technician III Bogdana Rus has been working on the ballot for the General Election.
Slockett explained that early voting will take place in the lobby, as was done in 2004. He noted that there will be a lot of over-the-counter voting and therefore parking may be an issue. Slockett said that voters could park in the Armory Building parking lot. Public member Hanna Gugliuzza asked if handicapped parking will be accessible at the lobby entrance. Slockett said yes.
Harney asked when early voting will start. Slockett said early bird satellite voting will begin September 25, 2008 at the Iowa City Public Library. Stutsman asked if the Auditor’s Office always prepared such a detailed plan and said it is impressive. Slockett said they did it for the last General Election. There was a 78% turnout four years ago and 47% voted early or by provisional ballot. He said this year, the office has had 3,700 requests for early voting and four years ago, there were 6,000 requests at this point in time. Slockett said if all those people turn out for satellite voting the office will have to monitor it carefully. He said it is predicted that it will be an all time record turnout in 2008. The voting public is informed and educated. In order to best handle the turnout, the office will need all methods of voting available to the public working at full capacity. Slockett said that requests for absentee ballots are down. He said there might not be as many groups going door-to-door to get people to sign up early. If this holds true, the elections staff will have to adjust to higher turnout at satellite sites and on Election Day.
Slockett said the purpose of satellite voting is to make voting convenient. He said that after the 2008 election, the Secretary of State will discontinue use of I-Voters at satellite sites. This is a concern because it will create additional work for the Auditor’s Office and may cause duplication of effort at the satellites and the office. However, Slockett said, use of I-Voters is approved for the 2008 election.
In the ballot room, Slockett said space is inadequate. He said he is looking forward to acquiring the space from Facilities Management, adding he hoped to have had it by now. He explained that one possibility is to move some of the Accounts Payable and Payroll staff to the facilities space, but he is concerned with having employees in an interior room with no windows for extended periods of time. Slockett told the Board that he would appreciate anything the Board could do to speed up the acquisition of the space. R. Sullivan asked why the additional space is needed. Slockett said that the current space is inadequate. Slockett added that with the addition of cubicles in the Auditor’s Office, the staff gained privacy. The downside however, he said, is the space is not scaleable. R. Sullivan said he and Meyers had a liaison meeting with Facilities Manager David Kempf and he doesn’t think Kempf can meet the November 4, 2008 deadline. Meyers said that he had the same understanding as R. Sullivan.
Slockett said the outer office area will get very busy and will need the additional space. He said most of the office staff is asked to help out. He noted that as many as 1,000 ballots or more sometimes come into the office per day. Stutsman asked if the Auditor’s Office plans to keep the space permanently. Slockett said yes, as the current Auditor’s Office conference room is being assigned to Human Resources. Stutsman asked if all these items have been included in the budget. Slockett said yes.
Slockett moved into the back room and pointed out the key card access. He said that key card access has been scheduled on the other doors to the Auditor’s Office, that way there would always be a record of who enters and leaves the office. He said security cameras are installed to keep a constant record of who is present in the room with live ballots. R. Sullivan asked how frequently recording turns over. Slockett replied that election materials are kept 22 months for Federal Elections, and that the camera recordings are kept through canvasses and challenge periods for all elections.
Harney asked what is stored in the file cabinets in the back room. Deputy Auditor Chris Edwards said older records that are not used as often. Deputy Auditor Mark Kistler said older mapping records are also stored in the file cabinets. Harney asked if those records could be electronically filed or stored on discs. Kistler said they could be scanned.
At Carquest Slockett showed the Board the AutoKarts which hold the M100 and the AutoMark. The equipment can stay in the carts and the batteries can be charged and recharged. He explained that Polk County also uses the carts. They purchased them after a 70-year-old poll worker sprained her back while trying to lift the 70 pound AutoMark. He said that one healthcare claim could pay for all of the carts. The carts are much easier for poll workers to move around at poll sites. Deputy Auditor Lisa Allen pointed out the color-coded election supply bags for poll workers which work wonderfully. R. Sullivan asked if it is recommended that surveillance cameras be in the Carquest area. Slockett said they are in place. Harney said he was concerned about humidity in the building and asked if there is air conditioning. Slockett said there is air conditioning in Carquest. He said there is some workspace available in Carquest but it is not ideal.
R. Sullivan asked if the building has a key card entrance. Slockett said yes. R. Sullivan asked what was done with the old machines. Slockett said ES&S offered to take the Ivotronics but didn’t offer any compensation. He said that the Ivotronics are a computer and he hopes someone will come up with a use for it. Slockett said the computer could be used as a master voter list. He explained that currently paper master voter lists are in each precinct as voters can change addresses on Election Day. He said this is a difficult process: IDs are required for same-day registration and some students and some elderly for example, have IDs without expiration dates, but Election Day Registration requires IDs to have expiration dates or the ID to say “no expiration”. People who are already registered to vote in another precinct can change their address at the polls because they already have been verified. Slockett said he’d like to sell the equipment if the County does not find a use for it, but it will be difficult to sell because there is an excess supply in the United States. Rather that give it up for nothing, Slockett hopes to find a use for it.
Kistler introduced GIS Technicians John McKiness and Adam Gebhart who do GIS parcel maintenance. He said they review new parcels, plats, and subdivisions. They also work on other projects. R. Sullivan asked if they have stayed at 99% ever since they caught up. Kistler replied yes, they’ve kept up with new divisions of property. He said that Account Clerk IIs Steve Thomsen and Keshab Pokhrel update ownership records and work on budgets and property taxes. Kistler said Map Delineator Kathy Elliot works on splits and combines with the Assessor’s Office. Kistler said two cubicles are used by part-time real estate employees and other part-time employees of the Auditor’s Office. Slockett thanked the Board for adding GIS employees and said it has made a big difference. He said there is a legal requirement to publish changes in precinct boundaries, which Gebhart has been working on. Kistler showed an aerial precinct boundary map, also done by Gebhart.
Deputy Auditor Dana Aschenbrenner said his area is responsible for accounts payable and general ledger. The accounting staff does a lot of data entry and processes claims. He said that every year the volume of claims processing increases, while the staffing remains static. Aschenbrenner said the staff also verifies that departmental budgets are correct and that there is adequate cash flow. Neuzil said that an additional staff person would be needed to handle the accounts payable from the Joint Communications Center. Aschenbrenner agreed and said they are at the breaking point with current staff. He said that currently the department is thinking about the upcoming budget cycle that they work on with Board of Supervisors staff, and they also help with election duties such as reconciling absentee ballots.
Slockett said 18,000 accounts payable and payroll checks are issued each year. He said accounts payable is a one-week sprint for Account Clerk II Mydge Krob and payroll is a two-week sprint for Account Clerk II Carla Scherbring. Slockett added that over 1,000 W-2s are processed annually. R. Sullivan again thanked everyone for getting the bills and payroll done during the flood. Slockett said that the Auditor’s Office had three employees who stayed in motels so they could get to work during the flood and it is reassuring to the public and a credit to the County when more than $1,000,000 each, in accounts payable and payroll went out on time. Harney asked if any vendors are paid electronically. Slockett said no and that the County should take a look at that.
Deputy Chris Edwards said in addition to helping with overall office management, he directly supervises Scherbring. He said he also helps out with Elections and Accounting. Slockett said that Edwards knows more about the office than anyone else. He said Edwards is very understated.
Deputy Auditor Casie Kadlec said that Account Clerk II John Deeth and Administrative Secretary Nancy Tomkovicz are full-time minutes staff along with part-time employees. She said last year, the staff attended 192 Board of Supervisor meetings. The minutes department also files all County 28E agreements, contracts, and leases. In addition they do all County bid lettings, and publish the County’s legal notices. Kadlec said she also oversees advertising for departmental employment needs and she helps with elections.
Neuzil said it seems like all hands on deck during Election Season. Slockett agreed and said that the staff works really hard. He said the office hires many temporary employees during Election season. One of the biggest jobs is to assign poll workers to precincts. R. Sullivan asked if the 17-hour Elections Day shift is an obstacle for recruiting poll workers. He asked if they have considered using split shifts. Slockett said that there are some poll workers who work split shifts, but it doubles the training time and workers needed to staff the sites. He added that it also creates scheduling issues. The legal requirement states that one half of the precinct workers have to be present the full day. Slockett explained that new Federal requirements require poll workers to file I-9’s and two IDs and are considered County employees. He added that many poll workers sign up because they want the time-and-a-half pay for working more than eight hours. He thanked the Board for allowing poll workers to be paid time and a half for hours worked in excess of eight hours.
Neuzil asked if the elections office has enough poll workers. Slockett said no, adding that this is a big problem nationwide. He said that in 2004, the office made an appeal for more poll workers the day before the General Election. A national trend, he said, is for businesses, government offices, and organizations to grant extra vacation time to employees who want to work at the polls. Slockett said counties successful at this grant their employees an extra vacation day and full compensation in exchange for being a poll worker on election day.
Slockett explained Election Day is a very long and stressful day for poll workers. Voters are not always in the best mood. Poll workers have a major responsibility to administer case law, the Code of Iowa, Administrative Code, and Attorney General Opinions. The Auditor’s Office trains poll workers extensively but it is still stressful. Poll workers also deal with poll watchers. Slockett said it would be great if the County could allow employees vacation time to work the polls while receiving full compensation as a poll worker. He said Human Resources Administrator Lora Shramek indicated she sees potential problems with this. Slockett said he would love to see it begin to be implemented as it’s a great way to provide public service and he hopes to successfully deal with any obstacles or barriers. He added that having a seniority policy eliminates contentiousness when new poll workers are utilized. Slockett said he would like to see the County, cities, University, and school districts implement such a program.
Meyers asked if it would help to increase the hourly rate of pay for poll workers. Slockett said sure. Neuzil said he thought McDonald’s was paying more than $10 an hour. Neuzil said that they should be realistic and assess the poll worker wage rate after each election. Meyers asked if the office has enough poll workers to cover the November election. Slockett said no, that the office is still advertising for help and sending letters to recently retired folks. He said office staff handed out recruitment postcards at the County Fair. One problem, he said, is that in the General Election, registered voters are more than 2:1 Democrats to Republicans, and the law requires a balance of Democrats and Republicans working at each precinct. Slockett said the Auditor’s Office works closely with the Republican Party and Young Republicans as well as with the Democrats, but as a practical matter they want their good volunteers working for them on Election Day.
Kistler said in a related issue, Auditor Slockett has previously asked him to work with the Board to increase the pay for township clerks and trustees. He said he would take advantage of them all being present to talk about it now. He said that they are paid $8.00 per hour and many of the trustees and clerks are also poll workers. Neuzil asked if there would be a way to increase the wages gradually. Slockett said he was unaware that Kistler hadn’t discussed this with the Board earlier, and yes it could be done gradually. R. Sullivan asked if someone could write the Board a brief executive summary of the issue so the Board can put it on a meeting agenda. Kistler said he could do so, he has the figures and it is not a lot of money.
As the site visit concluded, the Board of Supervisors thanked Slockett and his staff and Slockett in return, thanked the Board for their service.
Adjourned at 11:16 a.m.
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By Nancy Tomkovicz, Recording Secretary