Orange County NC Website
7 <br /> Commissioner Gordon asked what was said about the oversight. She asked what the <br /> LGC said commissioners should be doing, especially since the Orange County Board of <br /> Commissioners sometimes gets accused of micromanagement. Frank Clifton said that there <br /> were audit findings repeated from prior years and that is some indication that there needs to <br /> be an explanation. <br /> Commissioner Gordon said that she would like to see some minutes or the proceedings <br /> of that meeting so that she can know exactly what the LGC said. <br /> Frank Clifton said that he would ask, but the meeting was all of ten minutes. He can <br /> give a summation of what was said. <br /> Frank Clifton pointed out that Orange County is only 65% reporting to the census. He <br /> encouraged everyone to complete their census forms. <br /> He said that there was a meeting today with the Mayor and Manager of Chapel Hill and <br /> the Chair to talk about libraries and other things. He relayed to the Chapel Hill representatives <br /> that the Board of County Commissioners would like to move forward with an increase in the <br /> subsidy to the Chapel Hill Library, but it may be some time coming depending on budget <br /> issues. There was also a discussion of forming a committee of members of the two boards to <br /> talk about the parameters of the agreement (two Board of County Commissioner members and <br /> two Town Board members). <br /> Chair Foushee made reference to the committee and said that the Mayor has the <br /> authority to appoint two council members, but she does not have that authority. She thinks <br /> that Commissioner Jacobs and Commissioner Nelson would serve admirably. They agreed to <br /> serve. <br /> 10. County Attorney's Report <br /> a. A Report on the Costs and Benefits Associated with Bringing Social <br /> Services and Child Support Enforcement Legal Services In-house <br /> The Board considered information regarding the possibility of replacing the current legal <br /> services model for the Department of Social Services (DSS) and Child Support Enforcement. <br /> John Roberts said that he is not asking for any action, but he is just showing the Board <br /> the numbers. He said that it would not be easy to bring this in-house because it requires quite <br /> a bit of specialization. Currently, these services are provided by contract. Between $29,000 <br /> and $45,000 could be saved annually with the creation of two new positions and bringing <br /> these legal services in-house. He said that three judges in the County are opposed to any <br /> change. <br /> There are three options: maintain the status quo, unify the contracts and allow one law <br /> firm to provide these services, or bring the services in-house and hire a staff attorney and a <br /> legal assistant. <br /> The actual costs currently are around $96,000 for this fiscal year. For next fiscal year, <br /> if the Board decided to go with a unified contract, there might be a savings of $16,000. For <br /> option three, the total cost to the County would be approximately $68,400. <br /> Commissioner Yuhasz said that when he reads the testimonials from the judges it is <br /> clear that the attorneys are doing a good job and he would like to consider keeping them. He <br /> said that it also seems that the testimonials are for the people and not for the system. He <br /> would like to look at transitioning to a different system when these attorneys are no longer <br /> willing to participate. <br /> Commissioner Pelissier said that she was leaning that way until she read about <br /> retirement costs. <br />