NorCo Council to Consider Gracedale, Fiscal Director Salary and Senior Centers Tonight

Tonight, Northampton County Council will be discussing Gracedale, the Fiscal Director Salary and Senior Centers.

Gracedale - An Update is scheduled during the Human Services Committee, and it is supposed to come from Director Sue Wandalowski. Why? Just weeks ago, Gracedale was removed from her portfolio, so why is the mouthpiece? And she herself has stated in several of her defensive presentations that she's no expert. She is defensive and inaccurate when it comes to the nursing home. The person who should know what is going on is the Administrator, but she has only rarely spoken. 

When the full County Council meets, they will consider the establishment of a Gracedale Oversight Committee, which hopefully will be headed by Dave Holland, a former Administrator at both Gracedale and in Monroe County. 

That's overdue, especially after the latest visit from the Department of Health that included: (1) another resident (I think we're at four, but he's called Resident 1) who wandered off and who had to be brought back by police; (2) an agency LPN who documented having provided medications and performed tests on the resident while he was wandering the streets of Nazareth, a pretty neat trick; and (3) a biker resident (he's Resident 2) who never should have been admitted and was hoarding meds like oxycodone and bringing in booze and a knife. 

One of my readers, a "local healthcare expert," had this to say:

A friendly review from a local healthcare expert… resident 1 was not assessed properly and should have been on a locked unit based on the resident’s mental health status. There was poor or likely no communication between the aide, lpn and nursing supervisor. The lpns and nursing supervisors are very weak as demonstrated by the various severe deficiencies. Resident 2 should never have been admitted to Gracedale. It was obviously done to fill a bed. No plans were developed to manage the resident’s substance abuse disorder. He belongs in a rehab facility, not a nursing home. The bed is better left empty than admitting a trainwreck violent resident who Gracedale is likely not even able to bill for. I am sure he is there for free care. Dumb. Who wants grandpa living with a drug user biker with dangerous behaviors. And get rid of the smoking. Very few nursing homes allow it. It is a risk for a variety of reasons and takes staff away from care to supervise smoking. Lastly, I see that Gracedale is already partially under the direction of a nursing home management company - CHR. That nugget is in the last sentence of the plan of correction and should be communicated to the general public. The state directed them to use a state authorized company to train the staff as the state determined the home (really the county) is unable to do so. And by the way, the plan of correction is overly complicated and just not doable for any nursing home. So many steps in these processes that no nursing home could comply with. After the plan of correction is completed, run it through quality assurance committee to develop more simplified processes that are doable. Shrink the home down to 350-400 residents, get somebody in there like CHR or other qualified outsourced professionals to run the operation, and rebuild from the ground up. Crazy things can and do happen at every healthcare facility whether it be a hospital or nursing home. It is people taking care of people. You must have systems to deal with those situations. Gracedale has no systems. I hope the county officials read this for the benefit of the poor souls who live there.

Senior Centers. - The state recently cut $400,000 from the county's budget, which is used to fund senior centers. There might be more cuts if and when the state legislature adopts a budget. This will be discussed in the Human Services Committee. 

Fiscal Director. - Last week, the county lost out on a CPA with 30 years of accounting experience because they insisted on setting the pay at a much lower salary than the Executive wanted to provide. It's true that County Council. with some limitations, sets the salary. So Council will be asked to give the Executive authority to negotiate a salary with a proposed hire. 

NorCo's New Fiscal Affairs Director Declines the Job Over Low Salary

Last week, Northampton County Council voted to confirm Deb Watlington, a CPA with 30 years of accounting experience, as the county's new Fiscal Director. But they did so at a lower starting salary - $109,632 - than the $125,108 proposed by Executive Tara Zrinski.  Council members Ken Kraft, Kelly Keegan, Jason Boulette, and Jeff Warren were more than happy with a higher salary for what would have been the county's first Fiscal Director with a CPA. 

The final vote to confirm Watlington at the lower salary of $109,632 was approved by Council members Lori Vargo Heffner, Tom Giovanni, Ken Kraft, Dave Holland, Jason Boulette and Theresa Fadem.

Council member Qayyum was opposed to hiring Watlington at any salary.

County Solicitor Melissa Rudas had argued that the Executive has the authority to hire at a higher rate, but my reading of the Career Service Regulations (which could be incorrect) limits the Executive's authority to raise anyone's salary to only one step. Council approval is needed for anything higher. 

In a comment published on this blog, Council member Kelly Keegan warned that this could happen. She stated, 

Northampton County has gone months without a Fiscal Director, one of the most critical financial positions in county government. We've struggled to attract qualified candidates because the salary simply isn't competitive. Potential candidates have declined interviews or withdrawn from consideration because they could earn significantly more elsewhere.

Then, after an extensive search, we finally found a highly qualified candidate willing to leave her current position and take a pay cut to serve Northampton County. Instead of welcoming her and recognizing the sacrifice she was making, Council chose to amend the resolution and reduce her starting salary from Step 3 to Step 1.

Think about the message that sends.

We complain that we can't find qualified people. We acknowledge that the private sector and neighboring organizations pay more. We finally find someone willing to come here anyway, and then we decide to pay her even less?!

This wasn't fiscal responsibility. The difference in salary is negligible in a multi-million-dollar county budget. What isn't negligible is the cost of leaving a key financial leadership position vacant, delaying projects, overburdening existing staff, and creating instability in county government.

The question taxpayers should be asking is simple: Are we trying to recruit and retain talented professionals, or are we making political points at the expense of effective government?

Actions have consequences. If this candidate walks away, Northampton County will once again be searching for a Fiscal Director while wondering why qualified applicants aren't lining up for the job.

I believe that Watlington should have been hired at the higher rate requested by Zrinski. In pushing this hire down to the low rung on the pay scale, a majority of County Council allowed the perfect to be the enemy of the good. Watlington may have had no specific experience with county government. But she has 30 years of accounting experience and is a CPA and would be part of an office that is already very talented. County Council should reconsider what really was a mistake if Watlington is still willing to serve.