Board and Director Relations

POLICY: Board / Director relationship

The Pierce County Department of Human Services board recognizes and maintains the following guidelines in the Board’s relationship with the Director:

• Good management is an essential factor in the success of the Department. The Board acknowledges its role in governing program and policies, and recognizes the authority of the Director to implement those programs and policies, and carry out those duties vested to him or her by state statute;
• Efficient management exists through mutual understanding and cooperation between the Board and the Director. While the Director is accountable to the Board to show results, the Director cannot perform well and show good results if not given latitude to exercise independent judgment in executing board-approved policies. Therefore, the Board respects the Director’s need for latitude of judgment and discretion, and expects a full accounting of performance from the Director;
• Board members will refrain from individually discussing management and personnel issues with Department staff, other than the Director or Administrative Coordinator. The Board, in consultation with the Director, may confer with key staff at regular or special board meetings; and
• Authority for management of the Department will be through the Pierce County Board of Supervisors to the Pierce County Department of Human Services Board and Administrative Coordinator to the Director and then to other staff. The Board will require full and timely information from the Director concerning pertinent matters that relate to the management of the Department.

POLICY: Director communication to the Board

The Director will provide information and counsel to the Pierce County Department of Human Services Board. Accordingly, he or she will:

• make the Board aware of special events, relevant trends, material external and internal changes and the assumptions upon which any board-approved policy has previously been established;submit required monitoring data in a timely, accurate and understandable fashion;present diverse points of view, issues and options, as needed, for the Board to make informed choices; and
• present information in a form that is understandable and of a reasonable length.

POLICY: Authority of the Director

The job of the Department of Human Services board is generally confined to establishing policies, leaving implementation of policies to the Director.The Director is authorized by statute to implement necessary agency operations, make all decisions, take all actions and develop all activities which are true to the policies of both the Human Services Board and the County Board of Supervisors. The Board will respect the Director’s decisions and actions so long as they are true to the Board’s policies. This does not prevent the Board from obtaining information about activities in the delegated areas.No individual board member or officer has any authority over the Director. Information may be requested by such parties, but if such request, in the Director’s judgment, requires a material amount of staff time, it may be refused.Acting within his or her authority, the Director may not perform, allow or cause to be performed any act which is unlawful, insufficient to meet commonly accepted business and professional ethics for the "prudent person" test, in violation of funding source requirements or regulatory bodies, or contrary to explicit board constraints on executive authority.

Should a situation arise wherein the Director deems it unwise to comply with a board policy, he or she will inform the Board. Informing the Board assures that no violation is intentionally kept from the Board; it is not for receiving approval. Board response at that time does not exempt the Director from subsequent board judgment of his or her actions.

REFERENCE

Wisconsin Statutes 46.23

POLICY: Director performance evaluation

The Administrative Coordinator will prepare the evaluation with input from the Human Services Board or Chairperson.

Board members will not solicit information regarding the Director’s performance from subordinate staff. The board recognizes that including staff can seriously erode the relationship that must exist between the Director and staff.

REFERENCE

Pierce County Code 13-6

SECTION: Board
POLICY NUMBER: B-D-05  Board/Director relations
SUBJECT: Director Absence or Vacancy
EFFECTIVE DATE: May 22, 2003
REVISION DATE(S): Feb. 22, 2007

POLICY

In the absence of the Director, the Aging and Human Services Program Administrator may fulfill the duties of the Director.

In the event that the Director position becomes vacant, the Aging and Human Services Program Administrator shall temporarily fulfill the duties of the Director.  The Human Services Board shall meet as soon as practicable to consider options for filling the vacant Director position.