By Chris English
SCHOHARIE COUNTY — Another kind of court is coming to the Schoharie County Courthouse.
County Judge Ryan McAllister announced at the Friday, Sept. 19 county Board of Supervisors meeting that the New York State Third Department Appellate Division will pay a visit Oct. 7. It will hear three or four cases starting at 2 p.m., said McAllister, who was accompanied at the meeting by county Bar Association president Vince Capasso.
"It's a great honor to be able to have them come," said McAllister, noting that the last time this happened was in 2004. "It should be a nice day, a great event."
After the court session, McAllister said he has invited county Supervisors to meet with members of the Appellate Court.
In other actions from the Sept. 19 meeting, county Administrator Bryan Best reported that the process for bringing drivers and other employees under temporary direct county employment was going well.
The process was initiated at a special BOS meeting on Sept. 11 after the county was informed Aug. 25 that the Schoharie County Council of Senior Citizens, Inc. was terminated Oct. 1 two transportation contracts with the county. They called for the Senior Council to supply drivers and other positions for county-owned vehicles.
Best reported that the county has been able to hire 22 of the Senior Council's former employees for the 26 positions that were created at the Sept. 11 special BOS meeting.
"From my perspective, that is an amazingly impressive feat to hire that many people in four and a half days with the level of bureaucracy that exists in government," Best wrote in an email to this newspaper after the Sept. 19 meeting.
He further reported at that meeting that he was able to find a recruiter to find employees for the chronically short-staffed county mental health department.
"The county attorney is currently reviewing the contract, and as soon as he approves it, we'll begin working with them," Best wrote in the email. "The cost is 20 percent of the first year's salary, which seems pretty standard across the industry. It is also prorated for 90 days."
He continued: "We are only using this recruiter to help fill one clinician position in our Chemical Dependency clinic. It (recruiter fee) is 20 percent of that position's annual salary. There are three roles we are recruiting for, but only one open position. This way we have spread a wide net, but will only fill one position depending on who applies.
"I will add that the recruiter is only paid if they bring us the candidate we hire. If we find a candidate on our own, we won't have to pay the recruiter."
Best added that there are "three roles we are looking for (but) only hiring for one position. So, if we hire a licensed staff clinician, then we won't be hiring for the coordinator or staff Social Worker position. Same if we hire one of the other positions first."
The BOS held an executive session at the end of the meeting and then went into the public meeting again to vote on two items.
"We unanimously voted not to make a payment in settlement to a separated employee," BOS Chairman Bill Federice wrote in an email after the meeting. "We then voted not to reach a financial settlement with future employees separated for violence in the workplace."
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