Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By ZACHARY MARANO
Hurley — The Iron County Human Services board made several decisions involving vacant positions within the department at their meeting on Monday.
The board approved a job description for a new lead social services worker position. Human Services Director Cally Bucknell said that one of the purposes of this position is to answer day-to-day questions that social workers would normally need to bring to their managers.
Bucknell said that a child services worker, Mercedes Anderson, is interested in filling this position. The board will consider Anderson’s appointment to lead social services worker at its next meeting.
Bucknell also talked with the board about compensating staff for taking on additional responsibilities when there are vacancies within the department.
“The job duties don’t just sit vacant when there is not a person in that role. And so, I want to have a conversation with the board about if there’s some sort of way to reward or incentivize that individual for taking those job duties, because otherwise all you’re doing is providing them more work in the same amount of time and then it creates burnout faster and faster,” Bucknell said.
The board authorized and instructed Bucknell to develop a staffing plan to present at the next meeting. The board also approved the creation of a second aide position to help fill vacancies wherever they appear.
Bucknell also said that some county employees are interested in vacant CST/CCS positions, but only if they change them from contract to employee status. Bucknell said that in the future, other staff may want their positions to change to employee status, but it was also important to fill these vacancies. The board agreed to bring this item to the finance committee for approval.
Bucknell told the board that another children’s social workers, Monica Lemerond, will leave the department on July 29 and had requested an exit interview with the board. Lemerond appeared at the meeting on Monday, explained her reasons for leaving and offered advice to the board.
“First, I just want to say I had a wonderful experience here,” Lemerond said. “I love it here. I love the people. Human services is amazing here. It really is. This job was a steppingstone for me – it always was going to be because I want to be a therapist. That’s what I’m moving on to do. That being said, there’s a few things y’all need to know.”
Lemerond then urged the board to fulfill department staff’s requests whenever possible. She said that when they ask for things, it’s not because they want them, but because they need them. Lemerond said that she loved the child services worker position, but it is also very difficult and comes with many hours of lost sleep. She said that “every little improvement (from the board) helps keep you going.”
Lemerond also recommended having professional development system accounts ready for new employees before their first day, so they can begin online training immediately. She said that her account was not ready when she started and she had to wait weeks to begin training.
Lasty, Lemerond said that the board should provide the department with new legal counsel. The human services department and board has disagreements with District Attorney Matthew Tingstad about whether Tingstad represents the department in court and other concerns.
Vice chair Anne McComas thanked Lemerond and wished her good luck at her future job.
Bucknell said that she expects relations with the DA to continue deteriorating. She said she is working on a resolution requesting the county board to allow the department to seek new legal counsel.
The board also accepted the finance committee’s recommendation to accept the securitization option for the recent opioid settlement. Bucknell said that this means that they will receive a bulk payment up front and smaller payments for the next 82 years from pharmaceutical companies.
In her report to the board, ADRC/Aging Manager Trista Olson said that their backup cook position is still vacant. She said that the Hurley Senior Center board will consider making this a full-time position serving all meal sites at their next meeting.
Olson said that the nutrition program will increase the suggested donation for meals from $4 to $5 starting Sept. 1. She said that a 30-day public notice will be published and letters explaining the increase will be included with the Aug. 1 meals.
Olson said that they will also apply for a $5,000 Gogebic Range United Way grant to purchase a backup generator for the center. She said this would allow the center to continue making meals for all meal sites during a natural disaster or emergency. The current emergency plan is that the center would close its doors and staff would work in the Hurley School District cafeteria to support seniors and vulnerable adults.
