P-0125 - Commissioner Requests for Information from County Staff 03-06-2002

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-- 3 When a County Commissioner requests additional information that may require limited additional work such as two hours or less, the Commissioner may direct the request to the department head or the Manager. The Manager or department head involved responds directly to the request as soon as possible. If the department head is contacted directly he or she advises the Manager of the request. In this instance, the additional. information generated is provided to all Commissioners. 3. Additional Information Requiring Significant Staff Work (More than Two Hours) When a County Commissioner requests additional information that may require significant additional staff work such as a new report or amendments to an existing report, the Commissioner makes the request to the Manager. If a department head receives such a request directly and, after examining it, determines the request will require significant additional staff work, he or she refers the request to the Manager for the Manager's review. If in the Manager's opinion the request will require significant work, the Manager reviews the request with the Board Chair. The Manager and the Board Chair discuss how the request relates to the Board's goals and priorities. As necessary, the Board Chair discusses the request with the involved County Commissioner or all Commissioners to reach a decision on whether to have staff provide the requested information. B. Requests During Board of Commissioners' Meetings (Follow Up Items) During Commissioners' comments or in the course of discussion of a particular Board. meeting item, a Commissioner may make a request for additional information. 1. If based on the experience of the Board Chair, another Commissioner who has knowledge of the subject, or the Manager such request would seem to involve significant time (more than several days), it is the responsibility of the Board Chair, other Commissioner or Manager to bring this to the attention of the Board. In this way, the Board may decide whether it wishes to pursue the staff time investment required by the request. Also in this way the Board wi11 understand that the request will require more time, that it may not be possible to bring the information back by the next meeting agenda and that it may impact other work priorities. For example, the Public Safety Study arose as a follow up item to the Board's Comments. The decision was to pursue the study as an important objective for the Board. This did require significant additional time and did impact other work priorities. 2. If, as in most cases, the item does not require the above level of consideration, the Manager will address the. request and report back to the Board.