8/2/1988 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Administrator Balczun and Director Blankenship have said that the memo was a draft. That means we have to go by the personnel regulations that are in effect and there is no policy on drug and alcohol abuse. Commissioner Eggert hoped for the benefit of anyone needing help right now, that we would do something very quickly to get the newly written personnel policies out to the employees, because she felt we owe them that. Perhaps there are people who would be seeking help who might be afraid to because they don't know what is going to happen to them, and she felt that was wrong. Chairman Scurlock felt that'all the Commissioners believe that alcoholic abuse is a sickness, and that an employee should have a job to return to after completing treatment. Attorney Vitunac repeated that his recommendation is to bring Mrs. Kiser back and start over, if she does have problems, that means we -have a department head with problems. If she doesn't have problems, then the County has saved all those other attendant costs. Commissioner Eggert still felt it would be better to have the hearing before an independent hearing officer because you have two employees involved here, Mrs. Kiser and Administrator Balczun, who feels he has handled the matter properly. Commissioner Wheeler asked if having a hearing officer puts the County in a better legal position, and Attorney Vitunac advised that it removes any allegation that the employee did not get an impartial hearing at this stage of the proceedings. Chairman Scurlock felt that if nothing else, it shows that the Commission is bending over backwards to get a fair hearing. Commissioner Wheeler said he would support the Motion, but hoped that we wouldn't be setting a precedent where every time we have a labor problem, we would go to independent hearings. Commissioner Eggert felt this was a unique case due to the length of time and the way people were involved. 32 Boa 73 PAI,E.-43 A U G 2 1988