Tuesday, February 23, 2016

[Kern County] Chain of command at issue at CHCSD

The Golden Hills Community Services District directors took a brief look at one of the recommendations of the recent Kern County Grand Jury report, which cited numerous problems within the district.
One of the 32 findings in the report was that directors were not adhering to the usual “chain of command” when asking for materials and/or work to be done.
Although the directors have 90 days to respond to the report dated Jan. 20, Director Kathy Cassil asked for some clarification from staff on the appropriate chain of command within the office staff. She told of some problems needing materials or information when the general manager was not available.
When asked to address the board at the Feb. 18 meeting, General Manager Bill Fisher said all requests should go through him and not house staff.
“There's not much that can't wait if I'm out of the office,” he said. “Leave me a message or call me, or check with the assistant general manager. I can't remember any items that couldn't wait until someone got in touch with me.”
Director Ed Kennedy pointed out that the “chain of command” is outlined in the GHCSD's Code of Conduct booklet.
“It states clearly on page 12 that a director must first go through the general manager,” he said. “The process is already in place. We don't need to reinvent the wheel.”
Kennedy also questioned why this was an agenda item when an Ad Hoc committee was set up to review the Grand Jury report.
“I don't think it's appropriate to discuss this now,” he said.
Director Marilyn White also said she felt uncomfortable speaking about it before all the directors' responses are given to the Grand Jury.
Legal counsel Joe Hughes said the issue could be discussed if Cassill had some confusion about the issue, which could give the Ad Hoc committee some extra information toward the final response.
The discussion ended there.
February 20, 2016
Tehachapi News
By Jill Barnes Nelson


No comments: