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Home My WebLink About20183874.tiffOFFICE OF WELD COUNTY COUNCIL 1150 O Street P O BOX 758 GREELEY, COLORADO 80632 EMAIL: countycouncil©weldgov.com PHONE: 970-400-4780 WEBSITE: www.weldgov.com WELD COUNTY COUNCIL 2018 — 3rd Quarter REPORT TO THE PEOPLE The Weld County Council is mandated in accordance with the Home Rule Charter of Weld County, Colorado, to report to the people of Weld County on a quarterly basis, those matters related to the council's review of Weld County government. This report summarizes the activities of the Weld County Council during the second quarter of the calendar year 2018. July 16, 2018 Whistleblower Program County Attorney Bruce Barker provided Council information given to the Board of County Commissioners regarding a whistleblower program. It was concluded by County Assessor Chris Woodruff, Sheriff Steve Reams and Clerk & Recorder Carly Koppes that a whistleblower program was not necessary as their departments already had one in place. Council members had several questions regarding a program, to be managed by the Council. Councilman Brett Abernathy made a motion that Council ask the BOCC for as much as $7,000 for whistleblower services. A roll call vote passes unanimously. Discussion of Elected Official Recall Procedures Councilman Abernathy drafted a proposed "recall procedure" to be adopted by the Council. Elected Officer Recall Procedure 07/16/2018 1. Confirmation from Weld County Clerk and Recorder of the necessary 15% of electors have signed the valid recall petition and requests a special meeting of the Weld County Council. 2. President of Council, or Vice President in event of absence of President, shall call for a special meeting within three business days of the qualified recall petition being reported by the Weld County Clerk and Recorder. Sheriff security shall be requested for the meeting by the President. 3. Quorum for this special meeting shall be the same as a regular meeting. Three (3) present County Council members shall constitute a quorum. In the absence of both the President andVice President a council member shall be selected by a simple majority to preside over the meeting. In this event, all duties of President, in these procedures, shall become the duties of the chosen Council member presiding over the meeting. 4. Petitioner and Elected petitioned for recall, with legal counsel present if desired, shall be allowed to testify to the Council at the special meeting following these procedures: • Secretary shall provide a written agenda and recall procedures to all attending Communi c.o► rions l2/5/I 2018-3874 Weld County Council 2016 3rd Quarter Report to the People Page 2 of 6 meeting President shall call meeting to order Pledge of allegiance and roll call Weld County Clerk and Recorder shall present recall petition to Weld County Council. Elected officer shall have 10 minutes to present testimony regarding the recall petition • Petitioner shall have 10 minutes to present testimony supporting the recall petition • Elected officer shall have 4 minutes for rebuttal • No public comment shall be allowed during this meeting Council members shall be allowed to ask questions of either party, no time limit shall be imposed • President shall close questioning when all attending council members have completed their questioning. • Discussion between council members shall continue until a motion to call the question has been properly made followed by simple majority in the affirmative. • All voting shall be by roll call • A motion shall be made by a council member to suspend the elected officer, with pay and benefits, until the completion of the next scheduled regular election. A simple majority in the affirmative shall suspend the elected effective 12:00 am the next calendar day. A motion shall then be made for a special meeting within seven (7) calendar days. At this meeting, each council member may invite one nominee, from the same political party, for the temporary replacement of the suspended elected officer. Notice of an executive session for the discussion of the replacement at the meeting shall be added to the agenda and public notice given. • Standard meeting rules and procedures shall apply for the conduct of this meeting. • Each nominee in attendance shall be allowed 5 minutes to address the Council. • The Council may enter executive session and may discuss the nominees for appointment as a temporary replacement for the suspended elected officer. Returning from executive session, the Council may vote on the discussion from the executive session of the Council in the open meeting. Meeting shall adjourn 5. Procedures following County Council suspension • Elected officer shall have all county accessibility removed, including but not limited to, building access, vehicle access, technology access, and personnel access. Elected officer shall surrender the above listed items, as well as any other county supported or funded items, at 8:00 am the first day of suspension to the sheriff. Thesheriff shall accompany the elected officer to collect Weld County Council 2016 3rd Quarter Report to the People Page 3 of 6 necessary personal items fromtheir county office. The elected officer shall remain under suspension until after the election results have been certified by the Weld County Clerk and Recorder to the Secretary of State with the following exception: o The elected officer shall be reinstated at 8:00 am on the Monday following theregular election if a defeat of the recall exists more than 5% of the unofficial popular vote, as reported by the Weld County Clerk and Recorder, with 100% of precincts reporting. 6. Removal of Elected from Office • Certification of a successful recall election to the Secretary of State shall immediately remove the elected officer from their office and responsibilities. Compensation shall end effective 8:00 am the following calendar day after election certification by the Weld County Clerk and Recorder to the Secretary of State. • Temporary replacement officer duties shall begin at 8:00 am the following calendar day after selection notification by the County Council. Temporary replacement officer shall be sworn to serve from this date through the certification of the election results. • Compensation and reasonable expense reimbursement shall be the only benefits provided for the term of temporary replacement officer's service. Compensation of thetemporary replacement officer shall be equal to the present compensation of the officethey are appointed to and prorated for days of service. 7. Reinstatement of Elected to Office • The elected officer shall be reinstated to their elected office with all duties, responsibilities and authority at 8:00 am the next calendar day following certification ofthe election by the Weld County Clerk and Recorder to the Secretary of State withunofficial results of less than 5% separating the affirmative and negative votes or; • The elected officer shall be reinstated to their elected office with all duties, responsibilities and authority at 8:00 am on the Monday following the regular election ifa defeat of the recall exists more than 5% of the unofficial popular vote, as reported bythe Weld County Clerk and Recorder, with 100% of precincts reporting. • The elected officer shall be subject to the results, whether re -instated or not, of theelection as certified by the Weld County Clerk and Recorder to the Secretary of State. • Elected officer shall coordinate reinstatement of accesses and duties with appropriate county personnel, departments and BOCC. 8. Temporary Replacement • The temporary replacement officer shall have the same access, duties and responsibilities of the suspended officer until the election results are Weld County Council 2016 3rd Quarter Report to the People Page 4 of 6 certified by the recall procedures and the elected officer is reinstated or removed from office. 9. Recall Procedure Changes • The parameters of the Weld County Council procedures for the recall of an elected officer may be changed at any regular open meeting with a simple majority vote in the affirmative, with a quorum present with the following exception: • Between the date an affidavit of recall is submitted to the Weld County Clerkand Recorder and the date certification of a recall election by the Weld CountyClerk and Recorder to the Secretary of State, no changes may be made to these procedures by the Weld County Council. Councilman Abernathy made a motion to enter the procedures, seconded by Councilman Michael Grillos. The motion was then withdrawn. After discussion, Councilman Abernathy made a new motion to make these the procedures of the Weld County Council and to change the verbiage from "In the event the officer is not recalled, he shall be immediately reinstated," to "In the event the officer is not recalled, he may be immediately reinstated," it was seconded by Councilman Grillos, and passed in a unanimous roll call vote. Another motion was made by Councilman Jemiola to adopt the Elected Officer Recall Procedure, seconded by Councilman Grillos. A roll call vote showed all ayes and passed. Executive Session to consider personnel matters pursuant to C.R.S. 24-6-409(4)(fi(i). Specifically. the County Council will consider the lob performance of Linda Kane. No one spoke to this item so the meeting proceeded. August 20, 2018 Presentation of Public Works Department by Director Jay McDonald Public Works is devised of six operations divisions, an engineering department and administration department. It has 2 deputy directors, 7 supervisors, 2 managers and several foremen and lead workers. When fully staffed, it has 256 employees. Mr. McDonald said Public Works maintains 740 miles of paved roads; 2,200 miles of gravel roads and 448 bridges. At any time, they have dozens of projects ongoing. County Road 49, the largest project in scope and cost in the 157 -year history of Weld County. County Road 47 is the final phase of the project. CR47 was designed by the engineering team and is a five -lane highway that links 1-76 with 392. McDonald said it's essentially complete. Discussion of Replacement of Elected Official Councilman Abernathy said it's important to move forward with recall procedures. The proposed procedures are as follows: Weld County Council Article XIII, County Council Pursuant to Section 3-15 Vacancies (1) A vacancy in the office of the County Commissioner shall be filled by appointment by County Council. Pursuant to Section 13-8 Weld County Council 2016 3rd Quarter Report to the People Page 5 of 6 (3) A vacancy in the Board of County Commissioners shall be filled by appointment by the Council. Said appointees shall be of the same political party as that of the previous officer, and the appointment shall be effective for the remainder of the term. Board of County Commissioners vacancy procedure 08/13/2018 1. Confirmation by the Weld County Clerk and Recorder of a valid recall petition shall be made to the Weld County Council. 2. Notification as required by Colorado Revised Statues shall be made for applications for a qualified replacement commissioner. Notification shall be made requesting applicant resumes to be delivered to the Weld County Council office in a sealed envelope by a date specified. (Should applications be requested prior to election day?) 3. Upon notification by the Weld County Clerk and Recorder to the Weld County Council that a recall election has been successful and certified to the Colorado Secretary of State, two (2) appointed Weld County Council members shall open and review all applicant resumes. Five resumes shall be selected from the responding applicants. (How do we confirm that applicant has been of the same party for a while and not recently changed due to the vacancy?) 4. The President of the Weld County Council shall call a special meeting within 3 business days of the certification of the ballot to the Colorado Secretary of State. ( estimating around December 15th) 5. The Weld County Council shall receive and review each of the five resumes during that meeting. A date for interviews of the chosen applicants shall be established at the special meeting. Resumes of applicants not chosen will be returned to applicants at next meeting or destroyed per County personnel document standards. 6. Invitations to each of the applicants shall be made by the Secretary of the Weld County Council for an interview at a specific time on the chosen date. ( can this be a private interview?) 7. All Weld County Council members shall be in attendance for interviews. 8. One applicant shall be selected for the vacancy on the Board of County Commissioners following completion of interviews. (Can this discussion be made in executive session?) 9. Notification of selection shall be made by the President by electronic communication to the successful applicant after adjournment of the meeting, but not to exceed 24 hours in duration after meeting. 10. Applicant shall be sworn in at the earliest available opportunity following notification. Councilman Abernathy said revisions were still being made and it needs to be reviewed by the County Attorney. Budget Discussion for 2019 Councilman Jordan Jemiola said the Council needs its own attorney, independent from County Attorney Bruce Barker. Councilman Abernathy said the County Charter gives Council to the power to hire its own attorney. Councilman Jemiola said the budget should be amended to include an increase of $30,100 in purchase services for a total of $60,000. And that personnel services should be increased by $20,000 to $41,023 to hire a part-time attorney. Councilman Jemiola made a motion to revise the proposed budget to $101,323, it was seconded by Councilman Abernathy, and it passed after a roll -call vote showed Councilmen Jemiola, Abernathy and Grillos in favor and Councilmen Gene Stille and Charles Tucker opposed. September 17, 2018 Presentation by Tom Parko, Director of Planning Services Tom Parko, began his presentation by stating planning services is one of the smallest county departments, but is always busy. He stated Weld County is the second fastest -growing county in the state. Planning services has 31 employees, which has been the norm for the last decade. Planning services specializes in planning, zoning, floodplain administration, oil and gas, small business development and zoning compliance. It also conducts building inspections, plan reviews and building compliance. Mr. Parko stated Weld County is the number 1 oil producing county in Colorado with roughly 23,000 active wells. The county currently has 23 active rigs, which is about half seen in 2014. Weld County Council 2016 3rd Quarter Report to the People Page 6 of 6 Planning services provides small business credits typically in the form of offsetting application fees, permits and other start-up costs. He said long-range planning is always looking toward future projects. That section of his department has 6 full-time planners. He said there's not a lot of commercial or industrial zones in the county, so a few years ago, his department came up with RAPID - Regional Areas Planned and Incentivized for Development. He said he receives many inquiries from developers interested in Weld County, so he wants to incentivize these types of plans. Planning Services is also revamping its web site to be more transparent, while also transitioning to a paperless application process. Discussion of Crime Stoppers Procedures Charles Poch, board president of Crime Stoppers, said he was approached by a citizen who said the Council was looking for a whistleblower program. He came to the meeting to explain what Crime Stoppers can offer. His colleague, Larry, stated they work with King Soopers and set up a program designed to fit within the confines of the organization. The whistleblower always remains anonymous. He said Crime Stoppers has been around since 1981. They also discussed an Ethics Line, which is a commercial service available to all Crime Stoppers programs. It provides an external anonymous reporting service available 24/7. Upon receipt of a complaint, a transcript is generated by a call agent and forwarded to the point of contact at the caller's organization or work place. Discussion of Conflict of Interest Clause in Charter Councilman Abernathy referred to Section 16-7 that states: Every elective county office shall become vacant, on the happening of any one of the following events, before the expiration of the term of office: Item 3) The removal of the officer, by recall or otherwise. County Attorney Barker said section 3 was eliminated when 1 b was approved during the last election. Councilman Jemiola said in the event of a conflict of interest, citizens can always submit a complaint to an ethics commission or any other state regulatory agency. WELD COUNTY COUNCIL Council President Gene Stille (. Council Vic President Charlesjltgker Councilrrpaf r Councilman Ab na by ichael Grillos Date Signed: November 12, 2018 Hello