• Discussion: Demands for Information from the Public
• Human Resource Department Administrator Lora Shramek: Interview Questions; Employment Testing; Offer Letters; and Performance Evaluation Training
• Reports/Updates from Department Heads
• Scheduling Date and Time of Next Meeting

Chairperson Lehman called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order in the Johnson County Administration Building as a Department Head Meeting at 1:30 p.m. Members present were: Pat Harney, Mike Lehman, and Carol Thompson; absent Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman.

Department heads present were: Ambulance Director Mike Sullivan, County Assessor Jerry Musser, County Attorney J. Patrick White, County Engineer Mike Gardner, County Treasurer Tom Kriz, Department of Human Services Area Administrator Cheryl Whitney, Facilities Manager Mike Scheer, General Relief Director Mary Kay Hull, Human Resources Administrator Lora Shramek, Nutrition Director Mike Foster, Planning and Zoning Administrator Rick Dvorak, Public Health Director Graham Dameron, SEATS Director Lisa Dewey, and Veterans Affairs Commission Director Leo Baier. Staff present were: MH/DD Clinical Supervisor Bruce Juetten, Sheriff’s Major Duane Lewis, Board of Supervisors Administrative Assistant Carol Peters, Board of Supervisors Budget Coordinator Jeff Horne and Auditor’s Office Recording Secretary Casie Parkins.

Lehman said they had an inquiry as to what information is public information. County Attorney Pat White said a citizen wanted copies of emails between a County employee and the Board of Supervisors. He said the legal answer to this is, yes, emails are a public record and subject to being inspected and copied. He said there are not legal requirements for what is retained or not but they are accessible to the public. White said there are some public agency policies dealing with what is retained and what is not. He said that what people retain is up to them, but if it exists in electronic form it is subject to the public records statute. Lehman asked if someone circulates something to the Board of Supervisors, do they to keep it or can they delete it. White said that would be an example of a policy consideration, there aren’t any requirements to keep e-mail or phone messages. Thompson asked if they are at risk for not having a policy on this. White said they aren’t at any legal risk. Thompson said she sees no reason to have one then, because it would take a lot of work to keep track of emails and file them and print them which defeats the purpose of email and using less paper and having less work. Department of Human Services Area Administrator Cheryl Whitney said their department has had e-mails be entered into court records. Human Resources Administrator Lora Shramek said that people should remember that just because files have been deleted doesn’t mean they can’t be found by computer experts.

Stutsman entered at 1:42 p.m.

Human Resources Administrator Lora Shramek said she wanted to talk about interviews. Selection interviews are designed to probe areas of interest to the interviewer in order to determine how well a candidate meets the needs of the organization, Shramek explained. She said they tend to rely heavily on interviews for qualifying candidates more than any other process. She said there are 2 types of in-depth interviews, which are interviews that last about an hour: structured interviews and unstructured interviews. A structured interview is where the interviewer asks all applicants the same set of questions. An unstructured interview is one where applicants for the same position are asked different questions. Shramek said structured interviews are preferred because they ensure that similar information will be gathered from all candidates. She said this makes it possible to easily compare the qualifications and defend allegations of discrimination. Human Resources recommends having 2 interviews since the investment in time in the selection process usually more than pays for itself.

Shramek said employment testing can be done before or after the interviewing process. She said that many HR professionals feel non-discriminatory testing can lead to identifying superior candidates. Shramek cautioned that the HR Department should be made aware of any tests department heads are going to use before they are administered. She said the general guidelines for testing are like that of any other phase of the selection process. She said the test has to be valid and reliable and ADA compliant. The Human Resources Department recommends performance-based tests requiring candidates to complete an actual work task.

Shramek said offer letters of employment are not recommended. Shramek said if the department head feels they must have one or if the selected candidate is requiring one, the department head should let the HR department review the letter and coordinate with the County Attorney’s Office as appropriate. There is a lot of case law associated with offer letters of employment and most of it is not in favor of employers, Shramek said. She said offer letters can sometimes be construed as contracts and can jeopardize the probationary period and at will status of employees. She said courts have awarded terminated employees their full annual salaries because it was stated in and signed off on in an offer letter of employment.

She said that regarding internal transfers comp time must be used or paid out within the department that it is accrued in. She said vacation and sick leave accruals can follow the employee to their new department.

Shramek said she thinks it would be good to have performance evaluation training and how to properly evaluate an employee with the least amount of headaches as possible to accurately reflect employee performance. She said the suggestion is to have it at the next department head meeting, which is March 20th, 2001. She said the training would last about an hour.

Veterans Affairs Director Leo Baier said rising energy costs and the increasing number of veteran deaths are going to hit is budget hard this year.

Facilities Director Mike Scheer said Friday is his last day.

Planning and Zoning Administrator Rick Dvorak said the Building Code is up to date and they are enforcing it, and they have a full staff and a budget. Dvorak said he and Assistant Planning and Zoning Administrator R.J. Moore are invited to do a presentation in Dubuque this Thursday. He said there will be 75 governmental officials at the presentation talking about land use and fringe area agreements. He said Moore and himself are working on a plan to have Moore be involved as a presenter and they were invited to Charlotte, Madison and Albuquerque. He said the County doesn’t have to pay for any of this.

County Assessor Jerry Musser said every 2 years is re-evaluation year, so the assessors will be busy from now through April 15th and even into May.

Public Health Department Director Dameron said the HIV Prevention Group is now located in the ICARE building at 319 E 1st St.

Whitney said they are doing their annual mandatory reporter training, because the law requires that every 5 years mandatory reporters be trained in full again.

Ambulance Service Director Mike Sullivan said February 3rd at the Radisson they will be holding their annual EMS Conference, sponsored by the Johnson County EMS Association. He said it is an opportunity for firefighters, law enforcement and EMS personnel to get free continuing education. Sullivan reported that February is also National Child Safety Month so they will be doing little things with other agencies like car safety seat checks etc. during the month. He said they have a new Field Supervisor, Bob Libby, promoted from a full-time paramedic position, who started last week. Sullivan said the new location is going well.

Shramek said they are in the midst of contract negotiations for Secondary Roads and also the Admin. Contract. There is a full day session tomorrow and they hope to make a lot of progress.

SEATS Director Lisa Dewey said they have been at their new facility at 2000 James Street since the end of October. It has been a nice change for the drivers because there is more interactions between the drivers and the staff. She said they are finding they can service more of North Liberty and Coralville and still service the same amount of Iowa City.

The Board and department heads scheduled their next meeting at 1:00 p.m. on March 20, 2001.

Adjourned at 2:08 p.m.

Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor

By Casie Parkins, Recording Secretary