County Commissioner Faulstich proposes five recommendations

Newly elected Marshall County Commission Adam Faulstich decided to “open Pandora’s box and go down the rabbit hole” with some items he wanted to “float” some ideas with the other commissioners and the county attorney.

Faulstich said that in his life experiences when there is new leadership within an organization sometimes a lot of places like to get involved or put out an employee climate survey to get an actual pulse of how your employees are feeling, things that they see that need to be corrected, things that they see that might need to be improved, and items we may never hear about or recognize that might be broken or need some attention. He wants to get a feel for where the county is as an organization as far as county employees go.        

The second idea Commissioner Faulstich brought forth was making sure county employees have what they need to succeed.  He has seen county employees getting beat up on social media and as a commissioner, he wants to know if they have the tools to succeed such as soft skills, professional training, and leadership training.  He said putting professional development back into our employees gives them the aspect of being a career government employee instead of just a regular job where you clock in and clock out and always looking for better pay.

The third idea Commissioner Faulstich brought forward was adding a fraternization policy to the employee handbook. He said this would keep good order and morale within the departments. The policy could keep a supervisor from having a romantic relationship with a subordinate.  He said if something like that did happen a lateral move might be possible.

Commissioner Bohannon motioned to have Mr. Faulstich begin the process of adding a fraternization policy to the handbook and Commissioners Stan Klotz seconded the motion which passed.  

Fourth on Commissioner Faulstich’s list of suggestions had to do with the “oh crap” situation the county ended up with when the bridge on Randolph Street in Centennial Park had to be closed. He thought to avoid something like that happening in the future the county should require the rotation of different engineering firms to complete the county’s bridge inspections.  Faulstich said he’s seen it before, when the same person or company is doing the same thing over and over, sometimes you get complacent or become lackadaisical.

Newly hired County Attorney Sean Surrisi asked Commissioner Klotz when the last review or revision of the employee handbook happened, and he said years ago.  County Auditor Angie Birchmeier corrected him and said it’s updated yearly.  She went on to say, the commissioners updated the handbook in December with a new social media policy.

Faulstich’s final suggestion was for those organizations not directly related to normal government business he wants to ask them for their administrative overhead costs and to allow the county to do an annual audit with them.  He said, “When it comes to taxpayer’s money it’s transparency and I could see it potentially protecting them and protecting us.”  He was approved to begin a draft ordinance on the recommendation.