July 29, 2015 Cook County Board and Committee Meetings

12 Committee Meetings and a Board Meeting

Make for a Long Day Prior to the August “Recess”

Citizen George Blakemore, who speaks during the public comment period of almost all committee and board meetings, pointed out that having so many meetings on one day did not make sense.  He urged that the committee meetings be held on a separate day or days so that the Commissioners and the public would not be so tired and have time to consider the items on the agendas.  Meetings ran from 8:45 am to 3:10 pm that day with no break.

The newly appointed Commissioner for the 17^th District, Sean Morrison, who replaced Comm. Gorman who announced her resignation at the July 15 Board Meeting, was at the meetings.

Following are a few items of interest from this marathon day.  Note that all reports referred to are available on the Cook County web site;  go to http://cook-county.legistar.com and click on “Meeting Details” for the appropriate Committee on July 29 to gain access to the report. The Board and Committees are not scheduled to meet again until September.

Contract Compliance Committee:  Received the 2014 Cook County Annual Business Diversity Report detailing the different County departments’ compliance with including minority and women-owned businesses (“MBEs” and “WBEs”) in contracts awarded by the County.  Comm. Sims asked what the Health & Hospitals System  was planning to do so that more MBEs and WBEs would have the opportunity to get contracts.  The HHS representative said that HHS was having a vendor fair in September for both their large suppliers and MBEs and WBEs to help them network and for them to learn what contracts are expected to be awarded in the 2016 fiscal year.

Workforce, Housing, & Community Development Committee:  Met to hear speakers on various viewpoints to discuss the issue of paid leave.  Mr. Blakemore pointed out that the notice for this Committee meeting did not specify that this topic was going to be the focus, and he urged that in the future that the notice should be include this information.  The Committee recommended (which the Board later approved) a pre-apprentice program for inmates at the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, with thanks to the painters’ union.

Audit Committee:  Received several department audits by the County Auditor, as well as the 2014 Audits of the HHS and the County performed by outside auditors. In response to a question by Chair Daley, the County Auditor said that none of the other County Elected Officials have raised any questions about the right of the County Auditor to audit their departments.  The Independent Auditors mentioned that they were pleased that the deadline of May 31 for the 2014 audits was met; and that HHS had net income for the first time, but also stated that some of the costs attributable to HHS are not included, and if they were, then HHS would have had a loss.

Legislation & Intergovernmental Relations:  Recommended the appointment of Tanya Anthony as Director of Budget & Mgt. Services, which the Board subsequently approved.

Finance Committee:  Received the Revenue Report through May 31, 2015, the HHS Monthly Report for June, and the Projected 2015 Year-End Revenues and Expenditures Report.  There was concern about the Clerk of the Court’s revenues being down below those budgeted.  The CFO for the Clerk of the Court stated that this was partly due to fewer court filings (which is out of the control of the Clerk) and partly due to amounts due but not yet collected.  Some of the receivables have been assigned to a second collection agency.

Human Relations Committee:  The proposed amendment to the Human Rights Ordinance (15-4214) that  would prohibit employers and the County from inquiring about a candidate for employment’s past criminal record until after the candidate has been found to be qualified for the position was recommended (and later passed by the Board).  The amendment includes exceptions for positions for which there is an occupational requirement for a clean criminal record.  However, this was first amended to eliminate the requirement that employers must provide a written explanation as to why the candidate was not hired.

The proposed ordinance to prohibit a company that has been found guilty or has settled a claim of discrimination or sexual harassment from receiving a “Cook County economic incentive” was “received and filed.”  From the discussion, it appears that this proposal as written is dead, but Chair Boykin stated that he looks forward to working with the Assessor’s and President’s offices to craft a new proposed ordinance.  Comm. Fritchey mentioned his concern over including companies when there was a settlement, as opposed to an actual finding of guilt.

Board Meeting:

15-4648 (Proposal by Comm. Boykin to create a Gun Violence Czar and Committee to make recommendations to the County in 6 months) was referred to the Criminal Justice Committee.

15-4318 (Proposed contract for an Enterprise Resource Planning, ”ERP,” system that will allow for process improvements, best practices, streamlined and automated workflows, and real time reporting and analytics for finance and human resources functions across the County) was referred to Technology Committee.  Comm. Fritchey urged all Commissioners to attend this Committee meeting to learn more about this.  Total cost is listed as $66 million.

15-4067 (Proposed contract for a new Integrated Property Tax & Mass Appraisal System) was referred to Technology.  Total cost is $30 million.

15-4713 (Proposed ordinance amendment to require any increase in sales occupational tax, i.e., sales tax, to require 2/3’s approval by Board) and 15-4716 (Proposed ordinance amendment to require any increase in the retailer’s occupation tax to require 2/3’s approval by Board) were referred to Finance Committee.  Commissioner Fritchey’s proposed ordinance amendments to reduce the recently passed increase in the sales tax in 2017 to 1.25% (from 1/75%) and back to .75% in 2018 failed for lack of a second to the motion to refer these to Finance.

Submitted by Priscilla Mims, League Observer

Dept. Reviews Cook County 2013 Budget, October 22, 2012

Contract Compliance Director Shannon Andrews (new to the position) explained that this MBE/WBE/VBE office now includes Veterans (as well as minorities and women) in the effort to increase the use of  businesses run by these groups in Cook County contracts.  A relatively new ordinance was passed to accommodate this.  There are 10 FTE employees in this office.  Some accomplishments this year have been to make the registration process easier and more streamlined for these businesses, tracking contract compliance businesses, and having more outreach to minority-, women-, and veteran-run businesses.  The City of Chicago and Cook County now have the same requirements which should make it easier for these businesses to comply.  This year 19% of contracts have been awarded to minority-owned  and 5% to women-owned businesses.

Procurement/Purchasing Agent Lourdes Koss has been working on efficiencies and savings. This department has been training vendors on how to do business with the county.  She has been working on quicker bidding process because so many contracts are extended  instead of being re-bid on time. The cycle time for all contracts is still too high:  64 days for contracts under $25,000 and 264 days for larger contracts.  Much of the department has been restaffed from clerical to professional status and 35% of them are ready to take the qualifying Certified Public Professional Buyer exam.

Several commissioners questioned the use of consulting firm Accenture.  Concerns centered around this company getting paid to reduce expenses (for example in electricity use) when they really had no input on lower prices.  Another commissioner became angry at "middleman" use for office supplies.  Comm. Daley explained that the board had passed an ordinance--"procurement code"--which describes this process.  He did not feel the commissioners could exempt themselves from this code.

Kurt Summers, Chief of Staff, Office of the President explained that fiscal responsibility and streamlined methods transparency and accountability were goals of this office.  The budget calls for a $1.56 million decrease and lower staff numbers.  There are now 16 FTE employees.  The President's Office has partnered with 30 companies on a pro bono basis to improve services and lower costs.   They have reduced energy usage, produced on-time tax bills to save local governments money, and reduced hiring time.  Salaries for new hires are lower than under past administrations.  One commissioner expressed concern that there still isn't an attorney hired for the Board of Commissioners to help with ordinance writing and legal research.  It was explained that candidates have been interviewed and that several commissioners submitted members of their own staff for this position.

The newly named Justice Advisory Council deals with juvenile justice efforts and criminal justice in general.  They have been working on a bond court study to reconfigure bonds for low-risk offenders--reducing bonds so those awaiting trial  do not have to remain in jail.   Other areas of concern reducing the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center population as it is very expensive to house these youth and seems to be unproductive for their eventual release in society.  Fifty fewer youth detainees were held this year than last and the goal is to reduce the population even further.  Employment, housing, and healthcare for released detainees/prisoners is also a concern of this department.

The revamped Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department is designed to prepare for any type of incident--natural and man-made--that might arise in Cook County.  This department has had a lot of controversy in the past and it appears that reorganization, accountability, and more efficient use of equipment are goals.  There is also an increase in obtaining federal grants and in their efficient use.

Health and Hospitals System Board Meeting - Nov. 18, 2011

The meeting began with public comment and 3 speakers presented their complaint to the board that the company they represented had not had their contract to provide medical gases to the system renewed. They stated their feeling that the bid process had not been done as in previous years.

In the Finance Committee report Mr. Carvalho stated that it had been the intent of that committee to do contract discussion at their meeting, not at board meetings, but two issues from the meeting were not resolved at the committee level and needed to come before the board. The first had to do with the contracts for the medical gases. Historically the contract for the gases and for the servicing of the equipment for the gases had been bundled together. In reviewing the contract it was decided to split it into separate contracts - one for the gases and another for maintenance in the hopes that better pricing could be obtained. At the time of the Finance Committee meeting only the contract for the gases had been available and not the contract for maintenance so thus both items had been referred to the board agenda so they could be considered together. Both contracts were presented for approval. Mr. Carvalho further stated that these contracts had used the GPO process whereby the staff investigates the vendors who can provide the product and service needed, and then makes a recommendation after investigating costs and possible savings. It is not a formal bid process. The contracts were approved.

The other issue from the Finance Committee was $1m that had been designated in the 2011 budget for dental care and had not yet been used. Mr. Carvalho explained that initial efforts had been made to link with Access to Care to provide dental services throughout the county but that linkage did not work out. Due to changes in administrative personnel, planning for the dental program was taken over by Dr. Mason who worked out a proposal with Community Health a near NW side clinic staffed by volunteer physicians to provide 4 sites for free dental care for 4 years. While the orignial intent of the allocation had been to provide dental staff at Stroger Hospital, Mr. Carvalho said that it was deemed to be better to have scattered sites for the dental services rather than a central location. The board approved the allocation of money to Community Health to provide dental services and they expressed their desire that money be included in the next budget for dental services so the program will be able to continue once it is up and running. Mr. Ansell expressed his concern that the program be evaluated prior to getting more money but Mr. Carvalho stated that he thought evaluation should not be done by the Finance Committee but perhaps by the Quality and Patient Safety Committee. Most board members agreed with that.

Mr. Carvalho stated that the projected shortfall for the HHS budget for 2011 is $109m. He said at the next Finance Committee meeting discussion will focus on contract compliance, the GPO process and how they can be better integrated.

Director O'Donnell asked about the decline in patients being seen at Oak Forest Hospital. Dr. Ansell explained that Oak Forest has had about a 20% decline in patients coming in. With Oak Forest becoming an Urgent Care Center there does seem to be some confusion in the community as to what that means. Dir. Ansell stated that the UCC will be staffed by primary care physicians and nurse practitioners and the location is also changing on the Oak Forest grounds. Community outreach is being planned.

The meeting went into closed session at 8:30am.

Cynthia Schilsky

LWVCC Observer

CCHHS Board Meeting - October 27, 2011

The meeting was called to order at 7:40am by Chairman Batts. Four public speakers began the meeting. One speaker objected to the two proposed Price Waterhouse Coopers contract extensions on the agenda stating that the costs should have been included within the scope of their original contract. He stated that he runs a similar business and the costs cited would normally be included in an initial contract for such services. A Stroger physician presented the ongoing challenges of providing good patient care and the Mental Health Specialist IIs again appealed to the board to not eliminate their positions at Cermak Hospital to be replaced by MHSIII.

In approving the minutes of the Finance Committee three items were exempted from the approval as they were awaiting approval of Contract Compliance. Director Carvalho asked for guidance from the State's Attorney on whether waiting for Contract Compliance keeps the contract from moving forward. Now these contracts will have to wait another month for board approval and he asked that those submitting such contracts indicate if delay in approval will impact service delivery.

Mr. Cookinham, interim CFO, was asked to provide an update on the backlog of pending medicaide claims with the state. He stated that the rejection rate is about the same but he did not give a percentage and said the processing for 2011 has about three more weeks to go. Director Carvalho stated that he had heard that the county process was qualifying those patients who had medicare, insurance, or some source of payment and then all others were being sent to the state to sort out whether they would qualify for medicaide or not. He wanted to know what the percentage of payments that were not being sent anywhere was. Mr. Cookinham said he would check on this but he didn't think that the process was to just send them all to the state to see if they qualified.

A Shakman Compliance Monitor is to be hired and will report to Cathy Bodnar, CCHHS Chief Compliance Officer.

A representative from the Procurement Office reported on changes that have been made to the CCHHS Procurement Policy so that it will be in compliance with the changes in the Cook County code that was approved by the CC Board and went into effect on October 7. The major changes include:

• Approval by the board only necessary for contracts over $150,000
• Quarterly reports to the board on purchases less than $150,000
• All purchases are to be listed on a website
• Supply Chain Managment will be able to terminate contracts in accordance with terms in contracts and can amend contracts up to $150,000
• Requests for bids will now be posted on the internet not in newspaper

Dir. Carvalho requested that the log of complaints of interference with the supply chain process also be posted on the internet. A motion was made to amend the policy accordingly. The amendment was approved as was the policy.

The board was asked to ratify the changes that were made to the CCHHS budget in the President's Executive Budget that was presented to the board on Tuesday. Dr. Raju, CEO, stated that his team had worked with the President's office to come to a compromise on the budget and he had made changes that would not reduce serves or personnel but would challenge them to be more efficient. He intended to review all contracts going forward and hoped that the budget would pass with no further amendments as he needs to focus on other matters and not spend months enmeshed in budget struggles. In further discussion it was noted that this budget reflects another quarter cent reduction in sales tax and there will be another reduction next year. In order to preserve quality services the system will need to focus on the issues of increasing revenue and keeping patients coming to CCHHS. Also it was pointed out that they will have to address the often avoided issue of productivity which has plagued the system and that encompasses management issues and infrastructure issues that are wide spread. The revised proposed budget was approved. Chairman Batts said there are two public hearings scheduled for public comment on the revised HHS budget. Transcripts of the hearings will be provided to the CC Board. The public hearings that the CC Board is holding will not address the HHS portion of the budget.

Chairman Batts also stated that he has a donor for the Foundation that the board has set up but they need to get the Foundation Board up and running so they can accept the money. They still need to find outside persons to serve on the board although they have a list of potential members.

Cathy Bodnar, Chief Compliance Officer, gave a presentation on the CCHHS Conflict of Interest Policy.

Dr. Raju, the newly hired CEO, reported that his vision for CCHHS is that they will continue to do good work and become a national model for excellent care. There will be challenges since these are difficult economic times and it will take time. He stated that the Nominating Comm. for the board met and has submitted 3 names to President Preckwinkle to fill the position on the CCHHS board left vacant by the resignation of Andrea Zopp. He also said that Provident Hospital had an excellent Joint Commission report and he commended the staff for their work.

The meeting went into closed session at 9:50am to discuss collective bargaining agreements. The observer left at that time.

Cook County Health and Hospitals System

Board Meeting April 29, 2011

The meeting was called to order at 7:40am by Chairman Warren Batts. There were 2 public speakers.

• Mr. Blakemore stated his desire that HHS Contract Compliance be independent from the downtown office since HHS is an independent board they should keep this function separate from the county.
• A representative of AFSCME 31 made an appeal to the board concerning suspension of the WIC program. He stated that the program serves 23,000 women and children and is compliant with the strategic plan and wanted to know why the county program was being suspended and turned over to other non-profit agencies.

The Human Resources Committee reported that significant challenges continue with staff recruitment in part due to the "displacement" issue of union employees. It is still unclear how many positions are available to be filled. Further concerns from the HR committee meeting were to be discussed in closed session.

Mr. Carvalho reported for the Finance Committee. Physician billing continues to be problematic. Coding is an important component of the billing process and the problems seem to be more an issue of incomplete coding information than inaccurate coding. It has now been determined that HHS should plan to outsource the coding function and will issue an RFP within the next 5 months. After 18 months of attempting to handle the coding function internally they have been unable to make the process functional. Management is working with the union on this issue and they are required to notify the bargaining unit 5 months in advance of taking action to outsource.

During his report Mr Carvalho addressed the concerns of the 2 public speakers. He stated that HHS has brought the purchasing function in house and had intended to bring Contract Compliance in house as well but with the change in administration and leadership at the county they now feel that perhaps it is not necessary to create an HHS office of Contract Compliance. He said that they have had discussions with Ms. Hall, the Director of Contract Compliance, and she stated that political considerations play no role in the choice of minority and women contractors for the county.

As to the WIC Program Mr. Carvalho stated that he spoke with Dr. Martin, Director of CC Dept. of Public Health, concerning this program. He explained that the WIC program is actually a state program for which the CC Dept. of Public Health was a vendor. IDHS regularly seeks vendors and CC has historically been a vendor. The amount of money the county has received in the last several years has not covered the cost of the program and Dr. Martin has determined that it is no longer cost effective for the county to run a WIC program. Since it was not clear to the Board whether the discontinuation of this program needed board approval the issue was deferred to the next board meeting.

Dr. Carvalho reported that since the amount spent in overtime has been of concern to the CC Board the committee has been investigating the causes and ways to reduce overtime. He introduced Dr. Tedeschi and representatives from the Nursing Dept. to discuss their report on the OT issues. (They had a power point which the observer was not able to see since I was in the adjacent room listening to the meeting but the report is accessible online with the HHS Board information.) It was reported that OT is being used to cover staffing shortages due to displacement (necessity to relocate union employees before hiring from the outside) and LOAs (emloyees on Leave of Absence). HR can recruit but not hire during the displacement process and while the end date for displacement has been changed many times it was stated that the process should be completed by May 20 as long as there are no additional displacements and then nurses can be hired. Stroger is the most understaffed. As of April 1 there were 1200 vacant positions in HHS with 500 being at Stroger. CNA's are now being hired and previously there were few CNA positions. It was reported that in nursing alone there were 237 employees on LOA. Management of LOA and FMLA have been significant problems since they do not have the resources to mange it well and are looking to outsource this function. Another issue is that HHS has very few part- time positions which relates largely to benefits since the county does not have a good pro-rated benefits system for part-time employees. Hiring challenges were summarized as branding of CC (perception of instability), compensation (inability to compete in salaries), and hiring process technology issues.

An Action Plan for dealing with OT was outlined that included:

1. Completing the displacement process and filling 150 vacant positions in the next 3 months
2. Developing a system to manage the OT better with an electronic system
3. Partnering with the county to manage LOA and FMLA
4. Implementing a system wide nursing float pool
5. Bringing OT spending within budget by July 2011.

Michael Ayres, HHS CFO, stated that at the last County Board Meeting the Revenue Report indicated that HHS was still under their revenue estimate for the year. He indicated that he has since done a critical look at their budget and he is predicting a shortfall of $30-4om for the year. This is due to outstanding medicaide money, a physician billing system that is still not up and running and medicare billing concerns. He further stated that if they are unable to move ahead with the Strategic Plan (conversion of Oak Forest Hospital to an outpatient facility) they may also have to adjust the expense side of the budget as well before the end of the year.

A resolution was approved recognizing William Foley for his 2 year tenure as CEO of HHS as this was his last Board Meeting before he leaves CCHHS on May 6. Chairman Batts reported that Dr. Terry Mason will serve as interim CEO.

Authorization to establish a not-for-profit corporation to raise funds for CCHHS to carry out their mission was requested. It would be called the Cook County Health Foundation and would have a board that would be independent of the county and the independent board. The purpose would be to raise money to support county health services. No action was taken on this.

Mr. Foley reported that a rehearing has been scheduled for May 10 concerning the closing of the Oak Forest inpatient beds. He stated that this part of the Strategic Plan continues to be a challenge since there has been miscommunication about what is planned for Oak Forest. It is not really closing - but changing the nature of the services offered at the facility.

Mr. Foley recognized the Board for their courage in dealing with the issues at CCHHS. He outlined the following priorities for the board going forward:

1. Get past the layoffs and displacement process - rebuild morale and address employee satisfaction
2. Need to implement the Strategic Plan with the changes at Oak Forest being critical
3. Build infrastructure to move system forward ie. hiring process
4. Address revenue shortfall
5. Work with the county administration on the Independent Board structure and function
6. Enhance the image of CCHHS

Neil Khare from President Preckwinkle's office presented the CC Performance Management Initiative which he made clear is very important to the President. The Initiative is intended to provide good timely accurate data so management can make decisions and will make Cook County government transparent and accountable. There will be quarterly reports that will tie performance indicators to budget. There are 2 groups that are providing pro bono consulting services to assist departments in the process of goal setting so that robust goals can be established that are outcome oriented. By 2013 the system will be operational and the quarterly reports will be published. Senior management at the hospital has been trained and the training will continue with all union leadership.

The meeting went into closed session at 10:08am.

Board of Commisioners Meeting - January 12, 2010

The Board Meeting was called to order at 10:20am by President Stroger and after an hour of reading tributes and honors to various persons and groups the Finance Committee meeting was convened.

Comm. Peraica raised a concern about payment for private attorneys related to a Shakman case. Mr. Driscoll of the State's Attorneys office explained that a particular witness needed their own representation in this case and therefore county attorneys could not be used. This led to discussion of county compliance with the Shakman Decree. Comm. Peraica and Collins asked once again why it is taking so long, and costing so much for the county to come into compliance. Mr. Driscoll explained that the county continues to work towards compliance and that all the claims have been adjudicated. Comm. Daley stated that it is the Judge who will determine compliance. Comm. Sims and Murphy also got into the discussion stating that money should not be spent on Compliance Officers but go towards fixing the Human Resources Dept. so that hiring could be done the right way. They again requested that a desk audit of all positions in the County be done. Comm. Silvestri stated that the debate centers around those persons who occupy policy making positions since those are the positions that are "Shakman exempt", but these still seem to be undefined. The commissioners also sited the inability to comply with the orders of the Duran Decree (deals with Cook County Jail) due to the complexity of the issues involved. Mr. Driscoll stated that he thought Duran was an easier fix than Shakman.

Comm. Peraica also raised questions about the monitoring of contract minority participation. The office of Contract Compliance stated that they do monitor all contracts for minority participation and verify that the contract is carried out as outlined in the bid for the contract. Comm. Peraica wanted to know if contracts are also monitored if they are increased mid-contract. He also questioned why and how often contracts are being increased mid-contract, being particularly concerned with contracts at the JTDC. Comm. Murphy stated that she did not like the allegations that were being made at the meeting. Comm. Collins expressed concern with food contracts. Comm. Daley stated that if anyone had information about contracts that were not being carried out properly, they should turn that information over to the IIG.

The remainder of the agenda was dealt with in a routine fashion.

The following New Items on the agenda were referred to committees:

• an ordinance concerning social networking during meetings
• establishing a Diversion Program for mentally ill inmates at the jail
• conducting a feasibility study for a Bond Loan Fund for qualified arrestees
• establishing an Independent Civil Service type Board for hiring Shakman exempt employees
• an ordinance concerning cannabis possession

The meeting went into Executive Session at 12:50pm to discuss issues concerning Homeland Security, and the observer left at that time.

Cynthia Schilsky - Observer

1 Year Anniversary of CCHHS Board

CCHHS Board Meeting - July 16, 2009

This meeting marked the 1 year Anniversary of the CCHHS Board. The board reelected Mr. Batts as Chairman and Mr. Ramirez as Vice Chairman for the next year. Mr. Batts stated that all committee assignments and chairpersons would remain the same.

Mr. Foley, System CEO, introduced his new leadership team which includes a new CFO, Chief Clinical Officer, COO, Performance Improvement Specialist, Director of Human Relations and Director of Public Relations from outside of Cook County. He also introduced a Special Asst., General Counsel, and Stroger CFO who come from within Cook County. From his 90 Day Goals that the Board was reviewing Mr. Foley highlighted the data collection aspect which he said should be completed by the end of September, which will then provide the institution with a strong data set for determining goals and outcomes going forward. He also stated that there was a revised Organizational Chart included in their packet. Mr. Foley was commended for pulling together a strong leadership team within a relatively short time frame.

Personnel Rules were approved that will provide the general framework for the development of policies and procedures for Human Resources. They were compiled from 2 existing sets of rules. Yet to be finalized are the Patient Financial Accounting Policies which will address who the system serves and how identification/residency will be verified.

A $30,000,000.00 Master Lease agreement with Bank of America was authorized for execution and now goes to the CC Board of Commissioners for approval. This agreement is intended to be used for necessary equipment that will not be covered by the bonds issued by Cook County.

An update on the Illinois budget revealed that as of July 15 the County had not received $12m in medicaid funds. Since the budget has been approved and the Intergovernmental Transfer Bill has been signed it is expected that those funds will be forthcoming. The Core Center stated that they have received $3.5m from the state capital bill for refurbishing their facility. After some discussion of various programs that were losing or in jeopardy of losing grant funding a request was made that the board get a listing of all grant monies within the system and what funds could possibly be in jeopardy.

Ms. Duffy, Director of Purchasing, gave an update on the progress she has made within her department. They have a goal of Aug. 1 for the system to take over the purchasing and contract compliance function from the county. She thinks the goal will be reached although there are still some issues.

There was discussion several times during the meeting of an ordinance, dealing with county procurement policies, that is being introduced by Comm. Moldanado at the next CC Board meeting. The HHS Board members wanted to know if the ordinance would impact their contract with a Group Purchasing Organization. The State's Attorney representative stated that the way the ordinance is currently written it should have no impact. The HHS Board approved a resolution that expressed their opposition to any action that would impact their ability to contract with a GPO.

The Strategic Planning Committee stated that their Town Hall Meetings will begin soon, and they also will be meeting with the Commissioners as part of their process.

The meeting began and ended with closed sessions to discuss personnel and litigation issues.

Cynthia Schilsky, LWVCC Observer