MONROE — Green County’s highway commissioner now has the ability to hire and fire employees within his department without approval from the Highway Committee, the county Board of Supervisors decided in a unanimous vote Tuesday.
“What I would say is it non-politicizes the positions that are coming in at the county level at the highway department,” commissioner Chris Narveson told the board before the voice vote.
The change, requested by Narveson and Corporation Counsel Brian Bucholtz, removed language from a county ordinance requiring all Highway Department hiring and firing first be approved by the Highway Committee. County Clerk Mike Doyle said the old code limited the department.
“I think this is some language that goes back many, many years,” Doyle said, adding that Narveson has “a big department, and he has to have the flexibility to run it.”
No other county departments “that I know of” need committee approval before making employment decisions, Bucholtz said, except when trying to create a new position or remove an existing one. Bucholtz said the change was something he had wanted to do for “a while” to make things run more smoothly in the department.
“I don’t need someone who’s good with the public. I need someone who’s good with a truck.”Green County highway commissioner Chris Narveson
The ordinance had given the highway commissioner an extra hurdle to clear, made more difficult by the fact the committee only meets once a month. When a fast decision was necessary, Narveson would have had to call a special meeting, Bucholtz said.
Narveson highlighted the problem with an example: He’s currently trying to hire a highway mechanic. He has several candidates with interviews lined up, which under the old rule would have been done with at least six other people in the room, including the five committee members and Narveson.
“I don’t want people sitting in an interview with a staff of people. It’s intimidating,” Narveson said later, adding if he had an open position for a snow plow driver, potential hires could get nervous in that setting. “I don’t need someone who’s good with the public. I need someone who’s good with a truck.”
Under the change, Narveson noted Tuesday he’ll still have to get approval from the Personnel Committee if the person he wants to hire for a position doesn’t fit within the guidelines set by the county for that position. If he finds someone for an open position who fits within the guidelines, he would have full discretion to hire them.
The Highway Committee consists of Supervisors Harvey Mandel, Russ Torkelson, Calvin Wickline, Jeff Williams and chair Ray Francois. When asked by board chair Art Carter if they were “fully on board” with changing the ordinance, members responded in the affirmative.
Supervisors Steve Borowski and Kate Maresch were not in attendance Tuesday.