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?. Special Presentations <br />a. Prison Labor Report <br />The Board received a report on the County's use of prison labor and provided direction <br />to staff on County use of prisan labor. <br />Personnel Director Elaine Holmes said that the Board requested this report on January <br />24t" and an interim report was provided on March 3~d. Orange County Correctional <br />Superintendent Mike Thumm was in attendance and was available to answer questions. <br />Human Rights and Relations Director Milan Pham and Economic Development Director Dianne <br />Reid were also available. <br />Commissioner Jacobs thanked the Clerk's office for searching out the article on the pink <br />sheet. He was hoping that Orange County might consider establishing some kind of entry level <br />job opportunity and work with the prisan system to help people make the transition back into <br />society. <br />Commissioner Jacobs asked haw well this works with the Durham County. He would <br />want to proceed cautiously. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis supported Commissioner Jacobs, but his objection to using <br />inmate labor is the perception that the County is using cheap labor. If it is a program for re-entry <br />into the workforce, then he could support this. He asked Elaine Holmes and Dianne Reid to get <br />together with the Department of Corrections to develop a creative model for prison labor. <br />Commissioner Gordon asked Mike Thumm to come forward and make any comments. <br />Mike Thumm said that he has been at the Orange Correctional Center since 1982. He has <br />been the superintendent since 1988. He said that he is committed to try and make a change in <br />people's lives. He is very open to a partnership with Orange County. <br />Commissioner Foushee offered her support to any program that lends itself to <br />rehabilitation, but she would like to know of any situations where employees might have felt <br />threatened. Mike Thumm said that he did not know of any problems like this. He does regularly <br />receive phone calls from Chapel Hill when there are inmates working in the Town of Chapel Hill <br />cleaning walkways, etc. <br />Chair Carey said that he was at a meeting recently where it was quoted that 25-30,000 <br />men were released from prison every year, and many come out without work skills. He would <br />like for Orange County to take a leadership role in skills development and educational <br />opportunities for inmates. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis would also be willing to help. <br />8. Public Hearings-NONE <br />9. Items for Decision--Regular Agenda <br />a. RFP Award: Needs Assessment for Replacement of Land Services Software <br />The Board considered awarding a contract to the Carolina Consulting Group of <br />Matthews, North Carolina, to provide a needs assessment for possible replacement of the <br />current legacy land records/tax assessor/revenue collector/register of deeds software <br />application. <br />Rod Visser said that the County still has several elements of software that are vital to <br />citizens that are antiquated, or 20-30 year old software. Several years ago, the Board <br />authorized the staff to engage in a stepwise process that led to the replacement of the software <br />for Personnel, Finance, Purchasing, and Budget. This proposal is to use the same stepwise <br />process far reviewing the current land services software, which is relating to Land Records, <br />Register of Deeds, Tax Applications, Environmental Health, Planning, etc. The proposal is for <br />