Task force narrows ILA governance language; executive board to appoint director

The joint Cumberland County task force reviewed a draft interlocal agreement (ILA) that would create a joint public-safety answering point (PSAP) agency and landed on governance language tying hiring authority to the executive board.

Attorney Morfield said he had proposed adding a clause that "the joint agency shall adopt bylaws to govern the conduct of its meetings, including its meeting schedule," language the city attorney said she had no legal objection to. The chair and several members signaled agreement that the executive board should appoint and supervise the director and that the director "shall appoint everybody else," as Morfield put it.

Members raised concerns about how county personnel policies would apply if joint-agency employees were embedded in county systems. Manager Greer and other participants discussed models such as the county Board of Elections and local development corporations as administrative templates for payroll and legal services.

The task force asked attorneys to add explicit protections in the ILA language. On personnel protections, council member Hondros and others urged inclusion of salary parity, preservation of longevity pay and no loss of retirement service years for existing employees. The city attorney agreed to add language addressing longevity pay.

Attorneys were asked to return with an updated ILA that captures the governance structure, appointing authority, and personnel protections so the task force can move toward consensus.