HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolutions - 2015.12.09 - 22145MISCELLANEOUS RESOLUTION #15317 December 9, 2015
BY: General Government Committee, Christine Long, Chairperson
IN RE: CORPORATION COUNSEL — CREATION OF SECRETARY I POSITION
To the Oakland County Board of Commissioners
Chairperson, Ladies and Gentlemen:
WHEREAS changes in the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which took effect July 1,2015, resulted in
Corporation Counsel becoming the FOIA Coordinator for all County departments, with the exception of
three; and
WHEREAS Corporation Counsel is required to track each FOIA request and FOIA response for the
departments, and review FOIA denials; and
WHEREAS in the three month time period since the legislative changes took effect, Corporation Counsel
has helped facilitate 1,035 FOIA requests; and
WHEREAS the vast majority of these requests they would not have seen absent this legislative change;
and
WHEREAS the new FOIA responsibilities have dramatically increased the work load of Corporation
Counsel's support staff as they are required to review FOIA matters on a daily basis due to the short time
frame required for the County to respond to a FOIA request; and
WHEREAS from fiscal year 2012 through fiscal year 2015, the number of assignments per attorney in
Corporation Counsel has increased by twenty-eight cases per attorney due to collection of unpaid debt,
G2G and information technology contracts; and
WHEREAS the increase in attorney cases has resulted in the number of assignments to increase by two
hundred and twenty-five for support staff; and
WHEREAS these assignments have also increased in complexity requiring more working hours to
complete; and
WHEREAS Corporation Counsel has reviewed its operations and determined areas where efficiencies
could be realized; and
WHEREAS it has been determined that a full-time Secretary I is needed in Corporation Counsel to allow
their office to meet their statutory obligations and continue to meet the demands, expectations, and legal
needs of their clients; and
WHEREAS Corporation Counsel has had a Secretary I working in its offices on a temporary basis since
August 12, 2015; and
WHEREAS a part-time non-eligible Secretary I was created through the Emergency Salaries Reserve
Account to provide assistant with the FOIA workload; and
WHEREAS it would improve efficiency and responsiveness to have an additional secretary available to
handle the typing and filing of court documents and other administrative duties; and
WHEREAS having an additional secretary would enable the office to continue to provide quality legal
services in a timely matter; and
WHEREAS funding for this position is available in the Emergency Salaries Reserve Account.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Oakland County Board of Commissioners approve the
creation of one (1) Full-Time Eligible Secretary I in Corporation Counsel (#1010501).
Chairperson, on behalf of the General Government Committee I move the adoption of the foregoing
resolution.
GENERAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE
GENERAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE
Motion carried unanimously on a roll call vote with Fleming absent.
Resolution #15317 December 9, 2015
The Chairperson referred the resolution to the Human Resources Committee and the Finance
Committee. There were no objections.