Rock Island Today

Rock Island County Committee of the Whole met June 13.

Here is the minutes provided by the Committee:

1) Call to order and roll call

Members present: Richard Brunk, Larry Burns, Kim Callaway-Thompson, Dewayne Cremeens, Jeff Deppe, Don Johnston, Ed Langdon, Kenneth Maranda, Mia Mayberry, Drue Mielke (via phone), Luis Moreno, Pat Moreno, Rich Morthland, Scott Noyd, Cecilia O'Brien, Ron Oelke, Robert Reagan, Ginny Shelton, Rod Simmer (arrived at 5:45 p.m.), Edna Sowards, Scott Terry, Brian Vyncke, Bob Westpfahl Members absent: Mike Steffen, Kai Swanson

2) Public Comments

Mr. Chuck Frenell of Barstow was recognized for public comment. The concern he has today is that the Teamsters came to the Board back in January when there was a job posted for filling the Assistant Foreman position within the Highway Department. The Teamsters told the County Board at that point that they believed that was bad faith bargaining on the way the negotiations were handled with the former Administrator, Dave Ross. Subsequently two weeks ago an Assistant Foreman was hired. Mr. Frenell is just here to voice his displeasure in the Board and the actions of taking it this far.

3) Approval of minutes from the May 9, 2018 meeting

Motion to approve: Luis Moreno

2nd: Ed Langdon, Cecilia O’Brien

Voice vote

Motion carried

4) Hope Creek Care Center Board of Directors report

Mr. Hullon noted that he is here today to present the quarterly State of Hope Creek report. While there are great employees who work at Hope Creek, the struggles unfortunately continue. Number one: Hope Creek has a declining population. Number two: they continue to have a payer mix at Hope Creek that is frankly a recipe for disaster. Number three: Hope Creek continues to struggle in paying its bills. Number four: they have staffing issues at Hope Creek. Mr. Hullon said he will try to address these issues one at a time.

The first issue is the patient population. Through April, Hope Creek has had 168 patients. Mr. Hullon reminded the County Board that they took the home down to a 210-bed facility, so this is about an 80% occupancy rate. Mr. Hullon is told that the other homes in the area appear to be suffering a similar fate. While the county is more concerned with its own facility, these other homes, for better or worse, are not facing an onslaught of negative press. Some of those issues that have surfaced for better or worse in the press have drastically affected the enrollment at Hope Creek. Frankly, it kind of really takes away the great work all the people do at Hope Creek. They get bogged down with certain nuances that happen there and it hits the front page for better or worse. This has frankly been a factor there the last four or five months, but they continue to move on.

The second issue is the payer mix. Mr. Hullon reminded the County Board that they have had this conversation before. He has been up here before talking about the payer mix. Currently the Medicaid population at Hope Creek is 60%. As usual, the state is still behind in paying its bills, even for the big population that Hope Creek has. Hope Creek is not getting paid on time. Mr. Hullon said he will give a snapshot of how this really translates to real money and why this is a problem for Hope Creek. Mr. Hullon said he would start with the billing rates at Hope Creek. For private pay for a semi-private room, Hope Creek charges $194. For a private room, it’s $214. In Memory Care, a semi-private room is $219 and a private room is $239. Mr. Hullon told the committee to look at what they actually get paid. Medicare runs $400-500 depending on the rungs. There are certain categories you are going to fall in and get paid on. For private pay, Hope Creek gets paid $194. For VA, they get paid $194. For Medicaid, they get paid a whopping $140. Mr. Hullon asked the County Board what they think it costs to run Hope Creek per resident. He asked if any County Board members want to take a guess. Ms. O’Brien guessed $250/day. Mr. Hullon said it’s $221.19/day. With a 60% Medicaid population, Hope Creek gets paid $140 and even then they aren’t sure what they are going to get paid. All these rates from Medicaid if you add them up translate to about $5,550.60 lost per day. That brings Mr. Hullon to the next staggering number: the current total revenue over expenses for April is a negative $1.6 million.

Issue number three is paying the bills. Mr. Hullon believes Hope Creek is still 90 days behind with its vendors. He asked if that sounds right. Ms. Ewert said they are farther than that now. Mr. Hullon noted that his report goes back to April, so it’s gotten further than that. The numbers he had through April show $1.75 million owed to vendors. Hope Creek has borrowed $2.42 million. The total owed by Hope Creek is $4.1 million.

Issue number four is the staffing issues. Mr. Hullon has an analysis over a 14-day, twoweek work period according to Ms. Baker from Hope Creek. They run 294 shifts to cover Hope Creek for 14 days. The current staffing at Hope Creek cannot cover 135 of those shifts. That is about 46%. The point to note here is that this does not account for people who are on vacation, taking earned time off, or when nurses are sick and call off. The direct cost to the home when these things are happening is high agency costs. Hope Creek is mandated by the state to have so much staff. Agency costs since December have ranged from $110,000 to this last month, which according to an email from Ms. Baker today was the lowest it ever has been, $32,000. Currently there are about 13 full time and 13 part time RN and LPN positions they are having a tough time filling.

Hope Creek also has an aging report that doesn’t truly reflect what the actual dollar amount is. The aging report shows that Hope Creek is owed $4.4 million. In actuality, a good chunk of that money is so far out that frankly it’s uncollectible money. He has been working with Mr. Davis on coming up with a resolution, which he believes is item five on the agenda. This is something he believes that the County Board members will be voting on next Tuesday. He urged the County Board to really look at that and frankly give Hope Creek a vote so they can do something with this bad debt and uncollectible money and can at least start showing numbers that really reflect where they are on the assets side.

On a positive note, they do have great employees that work at Hope Creek. They continue to collect over $1 million/month. They are close to hiring a new Admissions Nurse, who Mr. Hullon has called a rainmaker who would really help the census and do a lot of shoe leather management, get out in the community and start pushing the positive sides of Hope Creek. He did have a chance to talk with a young lady on Monday if she is the one that Hope Creek decides to elect, she would be a strong asset.

Mr. Simmer is present.

Mr. Hullon continued that she certainly had the right things, was saying the right things, and her heart is in the right place. She has a lot of vigor and a lot of ideas and a lot of different ways of doing things.

Hope Creek is also starting to adjust the case mix. In discussions with folks at Hope Creek, they are thinking they would like to get Medicaid down to 45% of the patient mix. Mr. Hullon’s personal opinion is he believes that number needs to be closer to 30%. In short, that’s what he has today. He is happy to answer any questions.

Ms. O’Brien noted that when she looked through the minutes and there was an explanation of something new called a tele-sitter instead of a person when someone is in a room where their mind is not right and they might wander off or something. She asked how that tele-sitter works. Mr. Hullon said he has no idea. This is the first time he has heard of it. Ms. O’Brien said she will follow up with staff.

Mr. P. Moreno noted that the problems Mr. Hullon is talking about have been problems at Hope Creek forever since day one. What Mr. Hullon is telling them today, those problems aren’t new. Mr. P. Moreno thought that when they put the advisory board together and put them up there, they were going to change some of the stuff. They were going to change the pay mix and get it down from 60% to 30% or 40% or 45%. He asked why that hasn’t happened. The other thing he has a question about is up until now, really anything they’ve heard, and this is nothing against Mr. Hullon, but they’ve heard things are getting better. Mr. Hullon said they are. With a lot of the negative press…if you do not have private pay or Medicare folks, if they go somewhere else, it is going to start catching them. Mr. P. Moreno said he thought they had been working on that problem for the last year or two at least. Mr. Hullon explained that staff has been trying out there. They are not getting any Medicaid and are not spending that much on advertising. This Admissions Nurse, it was her position to go out and do it. Hope Creek is on the fourth person for the position who is supposed to go out and make rain. This will be the fourth person, he believes, who has tried to do that.

Mr. P. Moreno said his question to Mr. Hullon is what he is telling them. Mr. Hullon explained that his job is to report stuff. That’s something the County Board members will have to decide what they want to do. He is just saying that he time they have talked about has now hit them.

Mr. Simmer explained that what’s going on for the most part from a healthcare standpoint is that when Hope Creek got hit with IJ tags, that knocked it from four stars to three to two to one star. They don’t get referrals they used to get because they are not a three star. They are automatically kicked out. Mr. Hullon explained that Hope Creek doesn’t get ACO patients because it has one star. Mr. Simmer said those are the home’s bread and butter. He noted that there is also a new facility opening up that is going to take a lot more gravy off the top.

Mr. Simmer explained that Hope Creek’s numbers are dropping because they are denying a lot more patients that don’t have good coverage or have no guaranteed benefits. The good paying private care people that were in there, and the Medicare people that have been in there, over time they lose that status. They run out of money and their Medicare stops, so they turn into Medicaid patients. Once they are Medicaid, Hope Creek can’t get rid of them. That’s not what Hope Creek is there for. They’re Hope Creek’s forever until they pass. Hope Creek is not getting the new payment levels. These keep rolling up and they aren’t getting the new influx they need. Those things kill Hope Creek.

Mr. Simmer said that it’s going to take, according to Ms. Baker, a year to gain every star with nothing else against the home. Hope Creek has to be a three star facility to get the referrals it needs. They are still picking up some private pays now and then because people still know Hope Creek is a quality facility no matter what the stars are. They are still doing a darn good job. They still get Medicare now and then. He refers people he knows and hopes the other members do the same. He tells them about it says, “Don’t let the stars fool you.” He thinks Friendship Manor only has two stars. There’s another facility in the area that only has one star. It’s not just Hope Creek. The whole way they created the star system is there’s about a six-page paver on how to get the reaccreditation, but you can get knocked down in a day. The whole thing with the bedrails killed them. That’s one of the two that kept knocking them down. It’s going to take two years to build the stars back up. Until they get that back up, the numbers are dropping across the board for all homes on how many people are going into them. With the new one opening up and taking the gravy off the top, they’re going to lose those too. That’s for the more ambulatory people and it takes less people to take care of them. Right now for different acuities, some people may take three patients for every CNA. Other patients who are in better shape might take five patients per CNA. Some are one to one ratios. The ratios make a huge difference. As they get older and Medicaid patients become more time consuming, they go to a 1:1 or 1:2 nursing ratio and are more costly and Hope Creek can’t do anything. They are there until they are done and there’s no influx.

Mr. Simmer noted that with the last gal quitting again, they are losing those contacts. He talked to a couple people today. He knows the VA has said they won’t send any more. They don’t want anything to do with Hope Creek. Hope Creek turned away a lot of VA for alcohol, drug, and violent PTSD-type issues. They can’t take those in Hope Creek and they want someone who can take everybody. Hope Creek doesn’t have the nursing to handle some of the skilled stuff. There’s a limited amount and there’s only so much they can do. They have lost a bunch of nurses. They just tried to consolidate more and close one more unit because they’ve lost so many nurses now that they don’t have enough to staff. They have to consolidate and keep the numbers right or they’ll get another IJ tag. They are trying to regroup. Ms. Baker is doing what she can with this, but it is just in a mad tailspin right now.

Mr. Hullon noted that another thing to consider is perhaps it’s time to come below 210. Hope Creek doesn’t have the proper staff or enough staff to run that big of a facility, so they are running out to agency. Perhaps they don’t need a facility that big.

Ms. O’Brien noted that she has a question following up on Mr. Simmer’s information on the bad debt. She read through the minutes and it looks like the discussion is that Hope Creek doesn’t have a policy for how many days before bad debt gets turned into collections. She noted that there are probably two silos of bad debt. There’s the state, which can wait for years and eventually Hope Creek will hopefully get it. A collector doesn’t help with the state money. Then they’ve got the other bad debt. She asked if the Hope Creek Board has come up with a good policy to maybe start regulating that. She would say it’s a win-win if the company gets money. Mr. Hullon explained that the regulation comes from the County Board. It took a long time to get to this resolution. They have turned people over to collections and gotten close to $80,000-90,000. Ms. O’Brien asked if they do have a policy, then. Mr. Hullon said they have one for turning stuff over to collections. He came in before and asked for that. Ms. O’Brien asked if they are seeing a difference with that. Mr. Hullon said yes. Mr. Simmer noted that they had two houses turned over to them last month. Mr. Hullon explained that they are trying to shift the paradigm to a different way of thinking of how to go after the money that is owed to the citizens of Rock Island County.

Ms. Callaway-Thompson noted that she heard just yesterday that some of the local nursing home facilities that historically had very low percentages of agency usage have started to see a huge spike. Mr. Hullon explained that the hospitals compete for the same labor force of LPNs and RNs and they have deep pockets. He won’t say it’s their benefits because Hope Creek has great benefits. It’s their wages and fellowships. Hope Creek has to compete with that. Mr. Simmer added that Ms. Near on the advisory board teaches and she said they just are not seeing the bodies. The CNA program classes in the fall, they had to cancel them because no CNAs showed up. Rocky has a good CAN program. The CNAs do not seem to be as much of a problem as the RNs and LPNs who can go to the hospitals and make $5 more an hour. At the younger ages, they are more interested in that than the benefits package. He knows Hope Creek’s benefits are good and Hope Creek pays darn good. They are competitive with other facilities, but there’s a nursing shortage. UnityPoint is a large, large facility and they are bringing in people who are just learning this stuff at $5 less than Mr. Simmer’s wife makes, and she has 31 years. It almost offends her and the oldtimers who are there who started at $14 an hour. These girls start at $26-27. It’s appalling sometimes, but Hope Creek is paying close to that.

Mr. Davis explained that the resolution comes to County Board on Tuesday. It states that they are asking to send to collections bad debt over $100 or 180 days old or older. For Medicaid, they are looking at unpaid balances over 180 days old being written off. For Medicare, they are looking at 365 days old or older. They just started with this resolution and thought they could build on it. It’s a baseline resolution to start on and then they’ll take it from there to make any changes necessary.

Ms. Callaway-Thompson asked for confirmation that the county has an appeal in to the state legislators. Mr. Davis said yes. He noted that there have been some concerns with an issue with the state legislators. The county received not backlash, but the state was not so cooperative with the county working with them in the Billing Department. Mr. Davis would like to hold off, if they can, on reaching out to more legislators and putting pressure on them. He would like to wait until the Billing Department can kind of recapture the trust with the state so they can try to work with them closer.

5) Update on Uncollectible Accounts at Hope Creek

Item 5 was discussed as part of Item 4.

6) Condition of Funds report

Mr. Brunk noted that Ms. Palmer is not able to be here this evening, but her Chief Deputy Ms. Van Daele is here to answer questions or members can reach out to Ms. Palmer if they have questions over the next several days. Ms. Palmer’s reports were provided in the packet.

7) Staff reports

Ms. Ewert reported that last week, the county received sales tax for March of $329,827.19. The three year comparison shows that it was kind of down lower than it has been for the past two years. Ms. Ewert is not really sure why, but Sam’s Club closing might have been part of that. The county does get a percentage of the sales tax from there.

For interest, the current year interest for May 2018 is $43,272. The current year accrual is $838,695. The monthly interest rate is currently at 1.95%. That is up from last month’s 1.86%. Ms. Ewert noted that the feds were originally expecting to increase the interest rates three more times this year, but they scaled back to probably just two more times. That’s still ahead of the game.

Ms. Ewert noted that last week, the county had its first installment due date. Everyone is a procrastinator, so it’ll probably take at least through the end of this week or beginning of next week to get all of those payments put in. The first distribution is generally about 33% of the total tax levy because some people pay all at once upfront. About 33% of the tax dollars will be paid out on the 21st, which is in advance of the June 22nd payroll and next voucher payments. In case some funds need money to make payroll and vouchers, they are expecting to pay out prior to that.

Ms. Ewert reported that the General Fund has made it this far without having to borrow any money from a bank or any other fund. They have that loan, that forgivable loan, still hanging out there. That loan has a 10 year pay back if the county has to pay it back, and she doesn’t expect to have to at all.

Ms. Ewert reported that Hope Creek did have to borrow an additional $300,000 on May 30th against their tax anticipation warrant. That leaves their total loan debt at $2,725,000 in addition to the dollar amount Mr. Hullon reported of $1.7 million that they are behind in vendor payments. Their levy from taxes is at 2.655%. In reality, once they start getting some of their tax distributions, they’ll start paying down a little bit on the loans. First they'll pay down the bank loans, then they’ll start paying down some vendor payments as well. They are kind of splitting what they get in the distributions. Even if they put all that money towards their total debt, obviously it’s not enough.

Ms. Ewert informed the committee that she does have a Request for Proposals (RFP) out for the county’s voucher clearing account. Triumph Bank got bought out by TBK. At that point, they decided they were not going to purchase any securities against the county’s balances at the bank. Basically they were not going to collateralize any of the county’s money at the bank except for the minimum FDIC of $250,000. Lots of times when they were collecting tax payments, they were collecting $2-3 million just for that first installment. For the whole year, they probably took in about $7.5 million in taxes. In addition, the county had its voucher clearing account out there. When the county pays out vouchers, it’s like $1 million. They would have anywhere from $2 million down to $300,000 as checks are clearing. They weren’t willing to collateralize that without charging. They were going start charging possibly $2,000 a month for the additional collateral. The county is closing its accounts there. They stopped taking taxes. The county will be closing out the voucher clearing account. The RFP went out to all the banks and credit unions in the local area with a deadline by June 15. By next month, she’ll be able tell the County Board which bank got that bid.

8) Finance & Personnel Committee report

Mr. Brunk noted that the new County Administrator, Mr. Snider, has joined them this evening and they look forward to him joining the county starting Monday.

Mr. L. Moreno reported that the Finance and Personnel Committee met on Tuesday, June 12. The committee considered a vacation time carryover request from the Human Resources Department and recommended approval. The Benefits Specialist transferred to her position from the Health Department and brought her vacation time with her. She has not had time to use it and is requesting to carry over 66.1373 hours. The committee considered an Electric Consulting Services Agreement with E-Quantum. E-Quantum finds savings on the county’s electric bills and ensures the county is being invoiced correctly. E-Quantum guarantees a savings of 2.75% on what the county currently pays for electricity. They charge $125/month for the service.

The committee recommended approval of the wage reopener at Hope Creek. The union and the county agreed to a 0% wage increase for the remainder of the AFSCME 2371 contract. The union has already ratified.

The committee considered bids from the Highway Department as follows:

• For hot poured joint sealer, the only and thus lowest bid was from Riverstone Group at $12,150.

• For levee mowing in the Zuma-Canoe Creek Special Service Area, the low bid was $6,862.50 from Legacy Corporation.

The committee considered the annual prevailing wage resolution from the Highway Department and recommended approval.

The committee recommended approval of using Motor Fuel Tax to pay for a portion of the County Highway 11 bridge construction inspection.

The committee considered a supplemental engineering agreement to cover a design change to the County Highway 11 Bridge. The additional work is not to exceed $7,596.16, is in budget, and would reduce bridge maintenance needs. The changes will also make the bridge’s substructure last longer.

The committee recommended approval of a County Aid Request from Bowling Road District for a culvert replacement on 42nd Street West. The committee reviewed culvert quotes for the Zuma Road District County Aid Project and recommended approval of the low quote of $6,138 from Illowa Culvert and Supply Company.

The committee considered delinquent tax resolutions as listed on the agenda, transfers of appropriations, and appropriation resolutions for funds. The committee considered claims totaling $1,223,986.41 and Treasurer’s Disbursements totaling $1,732,117.10.

The committee considered the Board member per diem/mileage report.

9) Governance, Health, and Administration Committee report

Ms. Mayberry noted that next week at full County Board, they will be recognizing the Rock Island High School Boys’ Track Team for winning fourth place at the Class 3A IHSA Track and Field Meet and the Rock Ridge High School Softball Team for winning the Class 2A IHSA State Softball Championship. They will also be recognizing the Rock Island High School Girls’ Softball State Championship Team in July.

Due to a lack of members attending and a lack of quorum, no votes were taken this month at GHA. All votes were tabled until the County Board meeting and all discussion was informational.

The committee heard reports from Mr. Davis, Ms. Kinney, and Ms. Weikert.

The committee discussed the Electronic Consulting Services Agreement with E-Quantum that Mr. L Moreno touched on.

The committee discussed an Intergovernmental Agreement between the Rock Island County Board and International Association of County Board Members re: Equipment Purchase Program. This IGA allows the county to continue participating in the Equipment Purchasing Program with the IACBM, which Rock Island County hosts bids for every few years.

The committee heard the results of the wage opener at Hope Creek, which Mr. L. Moreno also touched upon.

10)Public Works & Facilities Committee report

Mr. Burns reported that the Public Works and Facilities Committee met on Monday, June 11.

The committee considered ZBA cases as follows and recommended approval of all: RZ-18-104, Martin & Kimberly Simms, Ag-2 to SE-2, Hampton Township; RZ-18-105, Martin & Kimberly Simms, Ag-2 to SE-1, Hampton Township; SU-18-207, Paul Wymore, Seasonal Recreational Use, Hampton Township.

The committee considered an Intergovernmental Agreement between the Rock Island County Sheriff, Rock Island County, and the City of Moline regarding the Oak Glen Property. The agreement allows the county to lease property at the old Oak Glen Home to the City of Moline and to sell to the City of Moline all structures, improvements, fixtures, and appurtenances on that property, including the elevated water tank and ground storage tank.

The committee reviewed bids for hot poured joint sealer and recommended the bid of $12,150.00 from Riverstone Group. Riverstone Group was the only bidder.

The committee reviewed bids for levee mowing in the Zuma/Canoe Creek Special Service Area and recommended the low bid of $6,862.50 from Legacy Corporation for all four locations.

The committee recommended approval of the annual Prevailing Wage Resolution for the County Highway Department. This resolution is required by state statute and sets the prevailing hourly rate of wages for workers engaged in public work.

The committee approved a request to close a portion of County Highway 59, Loud Thunder Road, for the annual Illinois City Fire Department Fundraiser from Saturday 8/11 at 9:00 a.m. to Sunday 8/12 at 1:00 a.m.

The committee considered a request for the Highway Department’s participation in the Children’s Safety Expo on September 8 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The committee approved providing a snow plow truck for the Touch a Truck display.

The committee considered a resolution authorizing the use of motor fuel tax funds for the County Highway 11 Bridge construction inspection.

The committee forwarded a Supplemental Engineering Agreement for the County Highway 11 Bridge to the Finance and Personnel Committee. The agreement covers additional engineering work and at a cost not to exceed $7,596.16.

The committee considered a Utility Agreement with New Windsor Cable, which will allow them to run a fiber optic line along County Highway 14 (190th Ave) at the Rock Island/Mercer County line. The State’s Attorney’s Office reviewed the agreement and had no recommended changes.

The committee considered a Bridge Inspection Agreement for the Rock Island-Milan Parkway Bridge, which requires an Element Level Inspection due to being placed on the National Highway System.

The committee considered an aid request from the Bowling Road District. Per statute, the county must pay half the cost of drainage structures for townships or villages that meet certain requirements. The request is for a culvert replacement on 42nd Street West.

The committee reviewed culvert quotes for the Zuma Road District County Aid project that was approved in 2017. The low quote was from Illowa Culvert & Supply Co. at $6,138.

11)Approval of County Board agenda

Motion to approve: Brian Vyncke

2nd: Mia Mayberry

Mr. Noyd noted that he has a question on the appointments. He asked how they come to that. He knows the Chairman has the final say, but how do they know who some of these people are that they are appointing. He thinks one was brought up previously. Someone asked for some kind of background on these people so the County Board knows who they are appointing and voting for. His biggest concern is that he had a name that he put in for the Airport Authority. He doesn’t know what happened to that name or what went on. He would just like to know how that’s done and have some information.

Mr. Maranda explained that the person he picked for the Airport Authority is an engineer from Shive Hattery. Mr. Noyd asked how Mr. Maranda picked her. Mr. Maranda said that comes from the Chairman, but if Mr. Noyd wants to change all of this.Mr. Noyd said he’s just asking. Mr. Maranda said he’s not getting upset about this. This is all done by resolution. The Chairman appoints committees and brings this to the Board. Mr. Noyd said he’s just asking. He would like clarification on how she was selected. His understanding was that the list of names went to the Airport Authority for them to decide. Mr. Maranda said no. He met with all three of them: Jim, Kurt, and John. He had about 10 names. He went with this engineering background and then he took some diversity into it. The committee has two males. He thought maybe a female would be appropriate.

Mr. Noyd asked if the Airport Authority had a say so in it. Mr. Maranda said no. Mr. Noyd asked if they reviewed the names and if they didn’t know anything. Mr. Maranda said he ran the names by them. Mr. Noyd said he’s confused. He asked if the County Board is selecting, why the Airport Authority has a say so on who they select. Mr. Maranda said they didn’t. He took these names to them. Mr. Noyd asked why he would take the names if the County Board selects. Mr. Maranda said because three members are appointed by the Chairman. He ran it by them to see who they thought would be the best fit. This is somebody with an engineering background with something geographical. Mr. Noyd said it was never brought up. He brought a name up and it was on a list and that was it. All of a sudden, they have this appointment and don’t know who she is. He understands the diversity, but he didn’t understand why that board would have input on who the County Board selects. Mr. Maranda said they didn’t. He took the names and he took the engineering background.

Mr. Brunk explained that appointments are at the discretion of the Chairman with the Board’s approval. He takes it that on this one, the Chairman conferred with that Airport Authority to get their thoughts. Mr. Noyd said he understands that, but why would they be appointing somebody and have the committee they are appointing that person to decide if they can work with this person. That’s letting them decide to him. He doesn’t know. Maybe he’s not seeing something.

Mr. Brunk noted that the idea was brought up before as far as maybe having more information on the appointments. Maybe that is a good idea so everybody has little bit of knowledge. Mr. Maranda said that was for a specific board that Mr. Simmer mentioned because there are specifics for that board. That was all spelled out in that agreement. He thought that’s where Mr. Simmer was headed with that statement. For the other boards, 90% are reappointments. When he goes out and looks for one… like he talked to Mr. Cremeens for one about the Four-Way. They have business to do. Like he said, he was struggling with the Four-Way. He talked to their attorney. When you look at these fire protection districts that have appointments…he can’t pick one up out there. When he struggles with this, then he reaches out and asks if people know anybody.

Mr. Reagan agreed with Mr. Noyd about getting a short bio of each of these people. Mr. Maranda said, “You’re going to get nothing.” He explained that these people are doing it like the County Board does it, basically. They make nothing. These people are just like the County Board members and enjoy being public servants. If they start putting pressure on them like that…Mr. Reagan said he’d like to at least know who they are. Mr. Maranda said he’ll see what he can do. He’ll see if he can get a bio from them. He’ll tell them it’s a necessity, it’s a requirement that they throw those bios out. He’ll see what he can do.

Ms. Callaway-Thompson was recognized, but noted that her comment is on another issue and ceded the floor until the discussion is over.

Mr. Terry said he’d like to reiterate what the Vice Chairman said. He appreciates what the language says. It’s the Chairman’s discretion. He would say they just have to trust the Chairman’s decisions and that he’s made an educated decision. He also appreciates Mr. Noyd’s concern and understands him wanting to know a little bit about them. They have that opportunity incumbent upon them, but they can only go with the Chairman. They get a list of appointees for Tuesday almost a week ahead of time, not to stick in their faces. A possible resolution to these concerns is that the County Board gets this a week ahead of time. If there is someone a member wants to know more about, he’s sure they can talk to the Chairman and get additional information. He agrees with the Chairman that any time they are adding to the requirements for public positions like this, it oftentimes discourages people. They have a week to ask if they have concerns with anybody.

Mr. Noyd said he thinks it’s a matter of liking to know who they are voting on. Mr. Brunk noted that for some members of this body, when they are putting their name and reputation and vote on the line to approve an appointment, there’s a reason the Chairman mentioned the resolution and there’s a reason this body approves the Chairman’s appointments. To say that they should just go into it blind, that could be a little bit dangerous.

Mr. Johnston noted that by the County Board’s own procedures, they have the option to submit names to the Chairman. However he does it is up to him. He submits the name for ratification and County Board approval. Whatever happens, their own procedure states that the Chairman submits the name and the Board makes the final appointment.

Mr. Langdon agreed with Mr. Maranda. He is right. These people that sit on these committees do not get paid. Mr. Langdon noted that he has been sitting on the Board of Health for four or five years and has seen a big turnover since he’s been sitting on that board. As the Chairman said, these are very stressful committees dealing with a lot of money and dealing with a lot of stress. He agrees with the Chairman that the way he appoints them is adequate for him.

Mr. Simmer agreed with Mr. Langdon that there is a lot of money on these things. That’s exactly why they need to know who. This is taxpayer money. They have to have somewhat of a clue. He doesn’t mind giving approval, but he’s not going to rubberstamp this. They have to have some kind of background. He’s sure she’s a perfectly good person for that, but not having clue on it…They handle millions of dollars going through the airport.

Mr. Brunk noted that he assumes they are not asking for a page and a half biography, just a brief paragraph about who they are, where they’re from, and their background. He’s assuming that’s what they are talking about so the Chairman is clear. Mr. Reagan added that he would even be okay if Mr. Maranda wrote the bio. Mr. Simmer said anyone who puts in for themselves should put why they want it and what their background is because they are looking for specifics sometimes. It’s definitely great to have someone who has an engineering background out there so they have some ideas. Like this board, having some diversity on this board is great. They have a lot of knowledge in different areas. That helps. To have those just write why they want to do it…There’s not much appreciation for it, he gets that, but what are their thoughts and what is their background. They are asking for a quick paragraph they can look over. Mr. Reagan agreed.

Mr. Maranda asked what they want him to do about the reappointments. There are three at the Health Department this month. Mr. Simmer noted that those are just reappointments and are already approved, unless there’s a problem with them. Mr. Langdon said no. They do a fine job and are all qualified.

Mr. Maranda went through the list of appointments. He explained that he depends on these people to bring these names forward.

Ms. Callaway-Thompson noted that, related to Item 2 on the County Board agenda, she’ll be traveling for work and will be calling in. She’d like to ask if Mr. Morthland would like to deliver the invocation. Mr. Morthland said yes and thanked Ms. Callaway-Thompson for the offer. Ms. Callaway-Thompson noted that Mr. Morthland did such a fine job last time.

Voice vote

Motion carried

12)The Committee of the Whole may vote to enter into Closed Session for the following:

• 5 ILCS 120/2(c) (1) – The appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body or legal counsel for the public body, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee of the public body or against legal counsel for the public body to determine its validity.

• 5 ILCS 120/2(c) (2) – Collective negotiating matters between the public body and its employees or their representatives, or deliberations concerning salary schedules for one or more classes of employees.

• 5 ILCS 120/2(c) (11) – Litigation, when an action against, affecting or on behalf of the particular public body has been filed and is pending before a court or administrative tribunal, or when the public body finds that an action is probably or imminent, in which case the basis for the finding shall be recorded and entered into the minutes of the closed meeting.

The committee did not enter into closed session.

13)Board member opportunity for brief comments (no decisions will be made)

There were no additional comments.

14)Adjourn

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