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Laura Blackmon said that the personnel ordinance states that third parties may not be <br /> at pre-disciplinary meetings and the Board of County Commissioners asked for information <br /> about this issue. There is a chart in the packet that addresses this issue in other counties, and <br /> none of the counties allow third party representation. The staff also provided some models and <br /> options for third party representation. Staff is not recommending that the ordinance be <br /> changed. The biggest concern is that having third parties would make a more adversarial <br /> situation. <br /> Commissioner Carey said that he is happy that staff has moved beyond the <br /> constitutional right issue. He appreciated the three options and he would like to change the <br /> ordinance. He would support the first option, which is, "The employee is permitted to select a <br /> person of their choice to accompany them to the Pre-disciplinary Conference. This person is <br /> considered a support person only and is not allowed to participate in any way in the <br /> conference." He also thinks that the employees should be surveyed on this. <br /> Commissioner Gordon said she is concerned about creating an inequity between the <br /> State and County employees. <br /> Staff Attorney Annette Moore said that currently the rules do not allow attorneys to <br /> represent a State employee disciplinary proceeding. There is no mention of other people, just <br /> attorneys. She will go back to the Office of State Personnel and get more clarification. <br /> Commissioner Foushee said that she does support the first option instead of the <br /> second option. She has a problem with a trained Human Resources professional. If an <br /> employee is allowed to have a presence, then the employee should choose the form of that <br /> presence. <br /> Chair Jacobs said that this survey of counties in an anti-Union state is useless to him. <br /> He said that this environment is anti-worker from the State level. He thinks that the best option <br /> would be some part of 1 or some part of 2, where a trained mediator that is not part of County <br /> government would go in with the employee. <br /> A motion was made by Chair Jacobs to approve a hybrid of one and two, but make the <br /> representative a person who can speak, who is not an attorney, and who is a trained mediator <br /> from outside of County government. <br /> Human Resources Director Michael McGinnis said that the person would need to know <br /> Orange County's Human Resources disciplinary process. <br /> Commissioner Foushee said that if an employee is allowed to bring a presence with <br /> them, they should be able to choose who they want to bring in. <br /> Chair Jacobs said that he was suggesting that staff should have a list available of <br /> trained mediators just in case. <br /> Geof Gledhill suggested model one and the first sentence could read as it is. For the <br /> second sentence, the representative could be a family member, trained mediator, or another <br /> employee, but not an attorney. The last sentence is being changed to read that the person is <br /> considered a support person and is allowed to participate. <br /> Chair Jacobs agreed with this language, seconded by Commissioner Carey. <br /> Commissioner Nelson said that the mediator should be trained in human resources. <br /> Commissioner Nelson wanted to make a friendly amendment to the motion to change <br /> the language that the representative would be a trained HR mediator only. <br /> Commissioner Gordon said she that she would prefer to have this vetted more. She is <br /> not sure that all of the consequences are understood. <br /> The friendly amendment was not accepted. <br /> VOTE: Ayes, 3; Nays, 2 (Commissioner Gordon and Commissioner Nelson) <br />