1 1 2 3 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS' COURT 4 Special Session 5 Monday, April 29th, 2019 6 9:00 a.m. 7 Commissioners' Courtroom 8 Kerr County Courthouse 9 Kerrville, Texas 78028 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 PRESENT: ROB KELLY, Kerr County Judge HARLEY BELEW, Commissioner Precinct 1 24 TOM MOSER, Commissioner Precinct 2 JONATHAN LETZ, Commissioner Precinct 3 25 DON HARRIS, Commissioner Precinct 4 2 1 I-N-D-E-X 2 NO. PAGE 3 1.1 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 3 action to approve the Public Relations 4 Director Purpose & Procedures. 5 1.2 Consider, discuss and take appropriate 4 action on personnel matters related to 6 the correction of county grade/step for employees. 7 *** Adjournment. 10 8 *** Reporter's Certificate. 11 9 * * * * * * 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 JUDGE KELLY: Okay, I'm going to call item 2 1.1 consider, discuss and the appropriate action to 3 approve the Public Relations Director Purpose and 4 Procedures. 5 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Did everybody see it? 6 Did everybody take a look at what I'm going to add to it 7 and -- 8 MRS. STEBBINS: Commissioner Moser was the 9 only one who added to it. And I was waiting for more 10 input from everyone else to make the modifications, and 11 I have no other modifications besides Commissioner 12 Moser's. And I didn't print those out to bring today. 13 I can do that quick. I'm so sorry. 14 MRS. JENNIFER DOSS: I've not seen it. 15 MRS. STEBBINS: Really? 16 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Has everybody seen it? 17 Okay, so the idea was to slow it down. She's going to 18 probably feel like she's -- having been a news reporter, 19 feel like she's handcuffed for awhile, but she'll get 20 used to that. And I think that I tried to address the 21 Judge's concerns that we get information out that 22 shouldn't be, and tried to also address the concerns of 23 the Court to get information about disasters and what 24 have you, things that people are needing, fast moving. 25 So I think all of those are addressed in this policy. 4 1 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Unchartered waters, so 2 there are concerns. I agree with Judge on some of his 3 concerns, so we gotta feel our way through this, with 4 limitations. 5 COMMISSIONER MOSER: So the agenda's to 6 adopt it? 7 MRS. STEBBINS: Yes, Sir, it is. 8 COMMISSIONER BELEW: To adopt it as is. 9 MRS. STEBBINS: If you can come back to it, 10 I'll run downstairs. I know that you have an executive 11 session item that I think Jennifer's got covered. I'll 12 run downstairs, print it out and come back. Briefly, is 13 that okay? 14 JUDGE KELLY: Table 1.1. We'll move on to 15 1.2 consider, discuss and take appropriate action on 16 personnel matters related to the correction of county 17 grade/step for employees. Is that going to be in 18 executive session? 19 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We can try it without. 20 JUDGE KELLY: It's just us chickens right 21 now. 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: But it's also be 23 recorded, so it's open to the public anything that's 24 being said is what I'm saying. And I think we can 25 handle it. 5 1 Let me start and we can see real quickly. 2 There is one employee that was left off that I think 3 everyone was aware of, and we need to add -- 4 JUDGE KELLY: Which one was left off? 5 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I can't -- 6 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Can't say. 7 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Without going into 8 executive session. 9 (Commissioner Letz showing Judge Kelly a 10 document.) 11 JUDGE KELLY: Oh. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So do you want to go 13 into executive session? 14 JUDGE KELLY: No. That's fine. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So that was -- but the 16 other -- the bigger thing really is that the court order 17 was not sufficient to correct everything, and I'll read 18 the court order, is to approve to authorize the Human 19 Resource Department to contact specific supervisors, 20 employees, and former employees about adjustments to the 21 step and grade system, and as the Auditor's and 22 Treasurer's Office shall have checks ready to issue. 23 What we didn't say was that we're going to 24 correct the problem on their -- what do you call the 25 records, Jennifer? We didn't correct the step and grade 6 1 for the employees. 2 MRS. JENNIFER DOSS: For the personnel 3 change form. 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: We didn't make all the 5 personnel changes to all the impacted employees, and the 6 HR Department can't go in there and change a step and 7 grade employee without us specifically saying we need to 8 do that. So we need to make a motion to specifically 9 authorize -- I'll make a motion to authorize the HR 10 Director to correct the step and grade for the seven 11 employees? 12 MRS. JENNIFER DOSS: Yeah. You have a list 13 of the summary. 14 JUDGE KELLY: It was six and now it's seven. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: It was seven employees, 16 and there were four retirees, or employees that are no 17 longer with us? 18 MRS. JENNIFER DOSS: Well, former employees. 19 There's nothing to change with them. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That's true because 21 they're gone. I make motion to correct the step and 22 grade for the seven affected employees that we have 23 previously discussed, and authorize checks be issued to 24 them. 25 MRS. JENNIFER DOSS: That appear on the 7 1 list. 2 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Second. 3 JUDGE KELLY: Okay, a motion made by 4 Commissioner Letz, seconded by Commissioner Belew to 5 issue a court order to specifically instruct the HR 6 Director to change the step and grade corrections that 7 this Court previously found. Is that fairly stated? 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes. While we had you 9 as Director, is that specifically that's what you want 10 the Court to do? 11 MRS. JENNIFER DOSS: Yes. As presented to 12 you on the list. 13 JUDGE KELLY: Okay, of those seven? 14 MRS. JENNIFER DOSS: Those seven, yes, Sir. 15 JUDGE KELLY: Okay, any further discussion? 16 Those in favor raise your hand. Unanimous, five zero. 17 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And the other thing -- 18 JUDGE KELLY: And did all that without 19 executive session. 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And the other thing that 21 we need do is the one additional employee that was 22 found, we need to authorize a check to be issued to -- 23 or be printed through the Auditor's and Treasurer's 24 Department, so that check can be -- so the same process 25 can be followed. 8 1 JUDGE KELLY: I will go ahead and make the 2 motion that with regard to the new employee that we 3 recently discovered that was on list, employee number 4 seven they'll be referred to, that they'll be checks 5 issued to him pursuant to the agreement that we've 6 reached before. 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Second. 8 JUDGE KELLY: Okay, so I made the motion, 9 seconded by Commissioner Letz to include employee number 10 seven for the issuance of his check -- check or checks? 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Checks. 12 JUDGE KELLY: As previously ordered by the 13 Court. Is there any other discussion about that? Those 14 in favor raise your hand. Five zero, unanimous. 15 Okay, are we back on the agenda back to 1.1? 16 MRS. STEBBINS: You have the updated draft 17 in front of you that Commissioner Belew sent out for 18 suggestions. Commissioner Moser responded with 19 suggestions. This has both of those into one document. 20 If you have any questions about it, or would like any 21 additions made, and y'all decide that today, I can make 22 them, and you can approve it with those changes made, 23 and I'll get it back to Jennifer and Jody as needed. 24 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So under the purpose 25 for the Public Relations Officer, that pretty well's 9 1 already been established. What I wanted to get to is 2 the sensitive information and case work, that it's clear 3 that it's cause for termination if you violate these 4 things under the procedure portion of it. 5 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: And the consent would 6 come from that individual. 7 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Yeah. 8 COMMISSIONER HARRIS: Okay. 9 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Should it be -- what I'm 10 thinking about is information that's prohibited to be 11 released, that hopefully all the elected officials and 12 department heads know that, but I'm not certain of that. 13 COMMISSIONER BELEW: You could say and/or 14 prohibited. If it's prohibited by law, she wouldn't 15 know that unless told. 16 MRS. STEBBINS: She'll be -- as a Director, 17 she'll need to take the Public Information Training, and 18 the Open Meetings Training. She'll need to do those 19 things, and she'll get the personnel policy from HR, 20 she'll have at least a handle on what she should ask 21 about if she's being asked for it. 22 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Okay. 23 MRS. STEBBINS: Is that helpful? 24 JUDGE KELLY: Is there any further 25 discussion? 10 1 COMMISSIONER BELEW: So I move that we 2 accept the Public Relations Director Purpose and 3 Procedure as presented. 4 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Second. 5 JUDGE KELLY: Motion by Commissioner Belew, 6 second by Commissioner Moser to accept the Public 7 Relations Director Purpose and Procedures as presented. 8 Any further discussion? Those in favor raise your hand. 9 And I'm going to abstain, so 4-0-1. 10 COMMISSIONER MOSER: Okay. This first and 11 final is Public Relations Director; not officer, right? 12 COMMISSIONER BELEW: Right. 13 * * * * * * * 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 11 1 STATE OF TEXAS * 2 COUNTY OF KERR * 3 I, DEBRA ELLEN GIFFORD, Certified Shorthand 4 Reporter in and for the State of Texas, and Official 5 Reporter in and for Kerr County, do hereby certify that 6 the above and foregoing pages contain and comprise a 7 true and correct transcription of the proceedings had in 8 the above-entitled Commissioners' Court Approval Agenda. 9 Dated this the 9th day of May, A.D. 2019. 10 11 /s/DEBRA ELLEN GIFFORD Certified Shorthand Reporter 12 No. 953 Expiration Date 04/31/2020 13 * * * * * * 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25