Loading...
2017-01-11 Meeting about PDR positionMeeting about PDR position January 11, 2017 9:21 a.m. Present: Commissioner Stamper, Commissioner Fund, Commissioner Jackson, Archie Smith, Daleyn Coleman, Becky Butler, Steve Walton Guest: Aaron Kunkler, who joined at 9:23 a.m. Recorder: Rieva Lester Archie Smith said the county has a Public Records position, which is a grade 19. Casey has a paralegal certificate, but her position is Public Records “specialist.” Archie asked what the board wants the position to do beyond public records requests. Commissioner Fund said there was concern about the public having a point person to contact about PDRs. She said the county also needs someone who would provide training elsewhere. Commissioner Fund and Becky Butler said the county needs someone who can track PDRs, can train staff, can create policies and procedures. Becky said the position ideally would do all records requests for all departments under the board and offer to provide the same service for electeds. Becky discussed the position being the “funnel” who would serve as the point person. Commissioner Fund talked about hiring a person who has experience already. The group discussed how Kim Amrine handles requests. The group said she coordinates with the requester and then with the corresponding department, asking that department for the information. The group talked about a future position searching out those documents themselves, rather than having the departments do that. The group talked about needed training for pulling queries, etc. The group talked about whether the PDR position would need IT skills or whether the county would continue using IT to fill PDRs. Archie discussed the benefits of housing the Public Disclosure position in IT. Commissioner Stamper talked about continuing to use IT to fill PDRs. Commissioner Fund talked about the intricacies involved with a PDR she currently is facing regarding her Facebook account. The group discussed the need for policies as well as systems for collecting and dispersing the information. The group talked about the proposed position being able to lighten the workload for all offices. Commissioner Stamper talked about the possibility of hiring within the county. Commissioner Fund talked about the liability of PDRs and the need to balance the spending and the risk. The group talked about the fact that Kim Amrine was supposed to be used in an interim capacity until the board made a decision about the position following Karri Muir’s departure. The group talked about the board administrator coordinator, which was the public records official for the entire county. Archie talked about spikes and lulls in PDR requests. Becky talked about pairing the PDR position with records retention. The group talked about the position serving Risk, HR, IT, the BOCC, Budget, etc. Archie said Karri would get inundated with PDRs and then hit a cycle where there were none. Commissioner Fund talked about using the position as a records retention point person for the BOCC, IT, HR, Risk, Budget, etc. Archie said the expectation would be that a records person would have training and experience before they’re brought in. Daleyn Coleman said the IT developers are union positions. Archie said managers are not union members. Archie said the position would need to be an exempt, confidential position. Commissioner Stamper said he envisions the position working with IT to fill the requests. Archie explained “confidential” status and discussed the salary basis test. He talked about it being a grade 18 up. He talked about the possibility of it being a 21 or 22. For example, Becky said Megan Sibbert, who is a records manager, is a 25. Archie said he would like the BOCC to outline what the board is seeking so that HR can create a job description and have it scored. Becky said many counties use a public records officer/manager/information specialist. She said Thurston County has a PD specialist who reports to a records manager. Archie said this couldn’t be an admin position if it’s an exempt position. He said “worker bees” cannot be exempt. They have to have independent decision-making. Archie said Karri and Kim both said they faced days where they were buried and days where they were able to work on other projects. The group talked about PDRs being time-consuming, especially with redactions, etc. The group talked about an admin not knowing what must and what must not be redacted. Commissioner Fund talked about the PDR position being the guru, the person who would have all the procedures, policies, and answers. Commissioner Jackson said he foresees the position continuing to evolve, whether it’s from Facebook, Twitter, etc. Archie said the question boils down to whether you’re doing county business via Facebook or their personal email or personal phones. The group talked about being able to set up Facebook so others cannot post. The group also talked about it being different for Facebook pages. Commissioner Fund left at 10:04 a.m. Commissioner Jackson asked what the best-case scenario would be. Archie said he would hire Karri Muir as the administrative coordinator, the position that had been created before. Steve Walton said he would keep the position away from the IT department. Daleyn said she agreed with Steve that it would be a direct report and that she agreed with Archie in using the administrative coordinator. Becky said she also would lean toward an administrative coordinator, which would also be able to clean up records, such as naming, filing and retention. Commissioner Jackson asked if the funding would come from Risk. Becky talked about looking at Risk and how and why it would fit there. Otherwise, the county could charge to the various departments, she said. Eric Eisenberg joined the meeting at 10:14 a.m. Archie said the timeline could be 90 to 120 days, from creation to fulfillment, for the position. He said appointing the position would hasten it. Commissioner Fund returned at 10:16 a.m. Eric told Aaron Kunkler that he had just finished going through Commissioner Fund’s Facebook account and would now go through the messages to see which are disclosable. Meeting ended at 10:20 a.m.