Lincoln County shuffling personnel

The Lincoln County commissioners are making changes in the internal structure and personnel management of the county government. The changes come in response to the retirement of long-time human resources director and executive assistant to the commissioners, Bill Bischoff.

The commissioners have appointed Commissioner Mark Peck to the position of acting County Administrator. Peck will serve as de facto manager for the county until Dec. 31, 2015. Peck said the temporary appointment, for which he will not be paid, is intended to help the county adjust not only to Bischoff’s retirement, but also to streamline operations and deliver county services better and more efficiently.

“We had conversations with the Montana Association of Counties and looked at what similarly-situated counties are doing,” Peck said. “We’re going to take our time and figure out what the best structure is given our current fiscal status. We’re not going to rush out and just hire a replacement.”

As part of the shuffle, Emergency Management director Vic White will assume Bischoff’s role as human resources director for the county.  Peck said the move fulfilled a vital component of the county’s long-term management needs.

“Vic has 16 years of human resources experience in the corporate world. He loves it, has a passion for it,” Peck said. “He’s also in-house and understands the county, everybody here respects him. The human resources piece has become so critical, especially with the Affordable Care Act, even though we’re self-insured. There’s also workers’ compensation, insurance, policy handbooks, staff development and training. Now we’ll have someone who can focus on that exclusively to help deliver better services to the people of Lincoln County.”

The commissioners moved Captain Kirk Kraft of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department into the position of emergency management director.

The county’s personnel manual is one of those items that requires updating, Peck said. Under the existing policy, the county is required to advertise any open positions, other than intra-departmental promotions, for one full week prior to hiring. Neither the human resources position nor the director of emergency management position were advertised as open for hire.

Peck said the county may have violated that provision of the policy manual, but the policy isn’t legally required and it is in need of revision.

“It probably is a violation,” he said. “But we have no legal requirement to follow it. It’s so outdated we can’t live by it. That’s why we need someone like Vic in there, to get it updated.”

Commissioner Greg Larson said he wasn’t aware that such a policy even existed.

Commissioner Mike Cole said the move was in the best interest of Lincoln County.

“We just felt that within the county structure we had people who could switch without a lot of stress,” he said. “We felt it would be a smooth transition.”

Peck said the focus of his time as acting County Administrator would be to modernize and streamline the organizational structure of the county.

“I’m going to have department head meetings and meetings with all of the elected officials to figure out what our process is going to look like,” Peck said. “The next few months are going to be a transition.”