HomeMy WebLinkAbout931644.tiff MINUTES
WELD COUNTY COUNCIL
February 3, 1993 j
Tapes #2-93, 3-93 and 4-93
The Weld County Council met in regular session in full conformity with the Weld
County Home Rule Charter in the First Floor Assembly Room at the Centennial
Center, 915 Tenth Street, Greeley, Colorado, on Wednesday, February 3, 1993, at
7:30 p.m.
ROLL CALL:
The meeting was called to order by President Young, and the following members
were present, constituting a quorum of the members thereof: President Young,
Vice President Campbell, Councilman Gardner and Councilman Orr. Councilwoman Ott
was absent.
Also present were approximately 85 citizens and employees of the Weld County
Sheriff's Department, Patrick Armijo and the Council Secretary.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Vice President Orr made a motion to approve the minutes the January 6, 1993
meeting. Councilman Gardner seconded the motion. Vote was taken and the motion
to approve the minutes carried unanimously.
President Young then changed the order of the agenda, moving appointments and
correspondence until later in the meeting. He then proceeded to explain the
purpose and duties of the Weld County Council to the large audience, thanking
everyone for their attendance. A few minutes were taken by him to explain the
County strategic planning session, "Reinventing Weld County Government," attended
by Vice President Campbell, Councilman Orr and him. This conference was
mandatory for all department heads, was well-attended by elected officials and
was brought about by Amendment 1. President Young showed models of government
on an overhead projector and stated that the purpose was to come up with a more
efficient County government. Vice President Campbell explained that the meaning
of the word "empowerment" as used in this context is that more input from the
citizens regarding the way government is run is necessary.
NEW BUSINESS:
SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT REORGANIZATION
At this point in the meeting, President Young explained that he and Vice
President Campbell had met with Sheriff Ed Jordan and that the Sheriff had
forwarded documents regarding his department's reorganization to him, displaying
said documents on the overhead projector. This included the proposed
reorganization structure, with the para-military structure being eliminated.
Copies of this document were not available at the meeting but may be obtained at
the County Council office.
The first speaker to this issue was Deputy Dale Engle. His concerns included:
1. A civilian training coordinator from Denver had been hired at allegedly
manager-level salary for one or two days work in Greeley. This woman has
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February 3, 1993
allegedly been issued a $4,000 laptop computer to assist her in her duties. 2.
He believes that a conflict of interest exists between Sheriff Ed Jordan and a
subordinate. 3. The transfer between Deputy Dale Engle and another apparently
was not handled by any of the rules that had been used in the past; e.g. no SRI
test had been given. 4. He believes money is being wasted by poor management,
e.g. the employment of outside attorneys to defend against punitive damage suits
within the department, instead of using Weld County attorneys. 5. The issue of
low morale within the department was brought up.
Margaret Carleton then stated that her goal was to save the taxpayers $90,000,
the cost of a recall of Sheriff Ed Jordan. She wanted the record to show that
she had contacted the Sheriff with the issues and had invited him to attend the
meeting, to which he declined. She believes that certain Weld County personnel
policies have been violated and also that goals set by the department have been
negated by the reorganization and requested that the County Council investigate
this at a later date. She alleged that misuse of County funds by the Sheriff had
occurred, specifically in the areas of reimbursement of personal mileage
expenses, questionable travel expenses and unnecessary upgrades of equipment.
It is also her belief that the Sheriff's personal relationship with a member of
his staff has the potential of setting the County up with a sexual harassment
suit. DUI policies were questioned, and the statement that similar
reorganizations had been attempted in other locations and had not been
successful. Vice President Campbell requested a list of the places where
reorganization had been unsuccessfully (or successfully) tried. Mrs. Carleton
stated she would try to have specific data to back up her allegations regarding
the misuse of County funds within one month. The goals of the Sheriff's
Department are found in that department' s annual report. The final point of
discussion arising from Mrs. Carleton' s presentation was that 90 percent of the
department now belong to the Fraternal Order of Police, as compared to two
persons five years ago and less than ten percent two years ago.
The next speaker was Jan Stapleton, whose concerns included the following: 1.
The two-tiered health plan is unfair. Cost-of-living increases over the years
are barely covering health insurance increases. 2. She believes that the
shutting down of the juvenile facility against the advice of those working in the
area (judges, attorneys, prosecuting attorneys, etc. ) was an unwise decision.
3. The reorganization with regard to the jail is allegedly causing confusion as
to who is in charge. 4. With the managers on duty being unable to take a duty
position, a safety issue is created. Supposedly this does not leave enough
deputies to accompany an inmate when more than one are needed. 5. She claims
that the Weld County Sheriff's Department has become the laughing stock of the
western United States, and this in turn affects the way in which employees are
able to work with other agencies. Mrs. Stapleton concluded by stating she would
like to have the Sheriff admit that mistakes have been made and have people
willing to work together for a potentially good department. She stated that no
input from employees regarding the reorganization had been solicited.
John Fornier took the floor next and stated that in addition to the health
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February 3, 1993
insurance issue, (non)communication continues to be a problem, with the
reorganization fueling the rumor mill and creating anxiety among the employees.
He referred to a new line employee evaluation policy as of September 1992 in
which numerical scores are no longer given (pass/fail only) and in which the
wording is vague. This new policy was supposedly implemented with no one being
aware of it. He claimed that the current attitude is that all employees are
replaceable and that the department is losing many good employees with much
experience. The issue of the part-time employee being paid close to manager's
salary for working one to two days a week was again brought up, along with the
unconfirmed rumors that: 1. when overnight stays in Greeley are required, it
is at the taxpayers' expense, and 2. mileage reimbursement may be being paid
(she lives in Aurora. ) The gist of this issue appears to be that no one in the
department seems to know exactly what this person does, since she has no
supervisees. Mr. Fornier stressed that the employees in attendance do like their
jobs, like Weld County and don't want to leave, but were not happy about the way
the reorganization was done in secrecy. The employees feel as though they are
being treated as second class and not assets to the department. He claims that
not only the Sheriff, but also the Commissioners have refused to deal with the
employees face to face. In response to a question by Vice President Campbell,
he claimed that approximately two years ago the employees were placed on the
Commissioners' agenda and were not recognized.
Bev Turner stated that all of the issues she was concerned about had been
addressed but added again that the cost of living increases had not kept up with
inflation.
In the opinion of Les Hart, the reorganization had occurred too rapidly and had
not been thought through. He was also concerned regarding the lack of sufficient
uniforms in the jail.
Vice President Campbell then requested that if anyone present was interested in
having him contact him/her by telephone to please add his/her number to the
attendance sheet. He made a commitment to solicit the opinion of anyone
interested in discussing the evening' s issues .
Roger Ainsworth addressed the issues of the interview system for hiring, lost
evidence and the position of Undersheriff which has been eliminated under the
reorganization. This brings up the question of "who is in charge" should the
Sheriff somehow be incapacitated.
Thomas Johnston, Sr. , although a personal friend of Sheriff Ed Jordan, expressed
doubts about whether the Sheriff was aware of what is going on in the department.
He is concerned about evidence being transferred to the Greeley Police Department
and the procedure necessary to retrieve said evidence when it is needed. He
claimed that he was promised a computer for Weld County evidence years ago which
never occurred. As a result, all Weld County evidence work has been done
manually. Apparent lack of communication was also a concern. Mr. Johnston had
been told by Sheriff Ed Jordan and Mike Miller that under reorganization he was
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February 3 , 1993
going to be a work release supervisor. That evening, he received a telephone
call from John Cooke stating that it had been in error; Rick Dill said he was to
be trustee supervisor.
Dick Genova addressed the rumored combined "Weld County Department of Safety,"
being formed to avoid duplication of services. He felt that some of that
information may have come from him and explained that because his mother is a
Commissioner in Mesa County, she had heard about this proposal from the Sheriff
of Mesa County who had supposedly heard about it from Sheriff Ed Jordan.
Matthew Shyrock felt that this rumor was substantiated in that there has been
cross-training of records clerks, dispatchers, etc. at the Greeley Police
Department. He also cited poor communication within the department and gave as
an example that three years ago they had heard about schedule changes through a
Hudson newspaper.
Ken Poncelow spoke in defense of the reorganization and explained that all
department employees were scheduled for a training session during which they
would have a one on one to three on one opportunity to meet with the Sheriff and
a manager and ask any questions. Since Mr. Poncelow has a Master's Degree in
Communications, Vice President Campbell asked him for a commitment to get the
lines of communication going because that appeared to be a major concern of all
present. Councilman Gardner added that he intends to study the Weld County
Personnel Policy regarding the Undersheriff issue. Ed Haffner spoke briefly -in
defense of all those who had given years to the department.
President Young expressed concern about the allegations of illegal activity and
stated that the Council would be investigating said allegations but needed
specifics. Councilman Orr agreed that these were serious allegations and that
there was also a serious problem with the Charter issue regarding the
Undersheriff which should be dealt with immediately. President Young proposed
a special meeting with Sheriff Ed Jordan present to be held before the next
regular Council meeting. Vice President Campbell felt that the communications
issue should be dealt with before then.
APPOINTMENTS:
President Young noted the appointments listed and mentioned that he would be
unable to attend the Elected Officials ' Meeting on February 8, 1993. Councilmen
Gardner and Orr will make every effort to attend that meeting. It was decided
to hold the dinner meeting with the Commissioners on March 3, 1993, at Potato
Brumbaugh's. Council secretary will make the arrangements.
ADDITIONS TO AGENDA:
There were no additions to the agenda at this time.
CORRESPONDENCE:
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February 3, 1993
The correspondence received was duly noted by President Young and was
subsequently circulated among the Council members.
REPORTS:
COORDINATOR REPORTS
Councilman Gardner reported that he had obtained a file on the Milliken Sanitary
Landfill issue.
President Young attended the EMS open house on January 30 at the Union Colony
Civic Center. He also mentioned that the Council must deal with the Tom David
memo regarding salary and benefit issues. No response has been received from the
Council's investment recommendations. Follow-up on the Planning Department 1985
audit recommendations is also necessary.
OLD BUSINESS:
1993 MEETING SCHEDULE
The following schedule was tentatively agreed upon: April 7--Kersey; May 5--
Lochbuie; July 7--Milliken; September 1--Severance; November 3--Firestone; with
remaining meetings to be held in Greeley on the first Wednesdays'of June, August,
October and December. Councilmen will ascertain the availability of the various
Town Halls on those dates, and a Resolution will be adopted.
NEW BUSINESS:
VIEWING OF "AMERICAN AGENDA" VIDEO
It was decided, in the interest of time, to view this video at the next Council
meeting on March 3, 1993.
PAYMENT OF THE BILLS
Councilman Gardner made a motion to approve the payment of the bills as amended.
Vice President Campbell seconded the motion. Vote was taken and the motion
carried unanimously.
Mileage for Ralph Campbell $60.50
Mileage for Barbara Ott $28.00
Mileage for James Gardner $16.00
Fort Lupton Press renewal $19.00
SECRETARIAL RESEARCH REQUESTS
There were no requests of the Council secretary at this time.
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Page 6
January 6, 1993
PUBLIC COMMENTS:
There were no further public comments at this time.
ADJOURNMENT:
The meeting was adjourned at 11:30 p.m.
043
Date Approved David L. Youn , Pres' t
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Sandra Nagel, Secretary
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