JOHNSTOWN - The Fulton County Board of Supervisors' Finance Committee Monday reviewed a dozen vacant county positions in an attempt to grapple with the county's proposed 2009 budget, but it ended up recommending 10 of them be filled.
The committee also decided it will review every vacancy that comes up in 2009. County Administrative Officer Jon R. Stead said final action on the committee's recommendations won't take place until the full board meets again at 1 p.m. Monday at the County Office Building.
The Finance Committee spent most of Monday morning huddling with department heads, going over their current vacant positions and being told how valuable they were. Representatives attended from the Highways & Facilities Department, Department of Social Services, county Residential Health Care Facility, Addiction Services Clinic and Sheriff's Department.
The committee's recommendations, in short, were as follows:
Highways & Facilities Superintendent Mark Yost said he needs a $45,202-a-year highway maintenance supervisor and $37,623-a-year equipment maintenance supervisor. He said the highway maintenance supervisor is in charge of reconstruction projects in the county and helps keep track of winter road conditions.
"Twelve months of the year, the highway maintenance supervisor is a very important position I need to maintain," Yost said.
He also said the equipment maintenance supervisor is vital because that person is in charge of maintaining most of the county's vehicles.
"It's a high level of responsibility in this job," Yost said.
After hearing Finance Committee Chairman Lee Hollenbeck say Yost's department is "pretty much down to bare bones anyway and you need these people," the panel voted to fill the positions.
DSS Commissioner Sheryda Cooper proposed keeping three vacant positions - a caseworker, a $36,185-a-year staff development assistant and a $32,426-a-year senior social services investigator. She said all three positions' salaries are about 75 percent reimbursed by the state. The committee voted not to fill the caseworker position now but keep in on the books with a $1 salary.
Cooper said her staff development assistant is basically a position required by law because the person provides mandatory training for DSS staff. She said the position does needs assessments for the department and formulates a training plan that goes to the state.
"They train most of the caseworkers," Cooper said.
The DSS official said the senior social services investigator is important too, because the person reviews the financial integrity of financial assistance programs and helps fight DSS fraud and recoups money for the county.
The board decided not to immediately fill a $39,919-a-year alcohol-substance abuse counselor position in the county Addictions Clinic after being told it was vital by clinic Coordinator William Doran. The position will be kept on the books at $1.
County Mental Health Department Director Ernest Gagnon told supervisors both the Addictions Clinic and the Mental Health Clinic continue to be very busy.
"We're not seeing a decrease in either clinic," Gagnon said.
Doran said the result of having the position vacant since August has been a "cascading effect" with a longer wait for mental health services. He said his clinic is running behind in treating patients. Six counselors each see about 30 to 40 patients, and the clinic handles 1,100 services annually, he said.
The committee recommended keeping five Residential Health Care Facility positions - a $19,011-a-year part-time account clerk, a $24,833-a-year full-time account clerk, a $26,305-a-year laundry worker, and two maintenance mechanics each paid about $33,000 annually.
"I think you need these positions, and I think you need them filled," Stead said.
Gagnon said the laundry position is vital because it involves personal laundry for the infirmary residents, and not the industrial laundry done by a contractor. Since the position has been vacant, he said, the work has been done by a contractor and has not been as good.
"We lose more personal laundry if we send it out [off site]," Gagnon said.
The committee also supported the filling of vacant per-diem cook jobs at the Sheriff's Department and filling a $34,836 corrections officer post.
The rest of the session was spent with supervisors debating the merits of a program the county implemented a few years ago in which all vacant positions are automatically reviewed by the Finance Committee.
"I think it's very important we try to keep a handle on these things," Hollenbeck said. "I would like to see it remain, at least through '09."