Commissioner-Aide Contact of Administration Employees
Purpose
To adopt a uniform procedure for the handling of various types of requests by County Commissioners and/or their Aides.
Authority
Section 3.01, titled separation of powers, of the Hillsborough County Charter adopted by the Board of County Commissioners became effective on May 28, 1985, is listed below:
“Separation of Legislative and Executive Powers. The power of the county government shall be divided between legislative and executive branches. No person belonging to one branch shall exercise any powers appertaining to the other branch unless expressly provided herein.”
Policy
The Home Rule Charter of Hillsborough County provides for the separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches. The Charter sets out that the County Administrator handle administrative and personnel matters within his purview. Therefore, it is inappropriate for anyone besides the County Administrator to direct staff on how to proceed in carrying out the duties of their employment.
The County Administrator is accountable directly to the Board of County Commissioners for the appropriate functioning of the executive side of County Government. Therefore, the County Administrator is responsible for the actions and activities of all County Staff within his organization.
It is understandable that County Commissioners require quick and accurate information on ongoing County activities, in order to be responsive to the citizenry. In order to allow the County Administrator to better manage his employees; however, Commissioners and their staff are encouraged to contact the County Administrator’s Office or utilize the Administrative Referral System. This system assigns and tracks correspondence and requests from Commission Offices and individual citizens to the appropriate County department or other staff. This system was implemented for the purpose of insuring timely and comprehensive responses to members of the Commission and the general public. Further, the system formalizes and documents the proper chain-of-command that includes a Department Director and Assistant County Administrator.
If the urgency of an issue does not permit processing through the Referral System, Commissioner Offices will report any direct contact with staff under the County Administrator via e-mail.
(Reference: Administrative Directive #198)