Hiring committee revived

Panel will have oversight power and issue reports

The Albany County Legislature is resurrecting a committee designed to oversee the hiring of county workers during tough economic times.

The Legislature voted 25-14 to bring back the committee to fill vacancies at its Monday meeting. The committee will consist of representatives from the county executive, comptroller and employee relations offices.

The committee would have the power to review and approve hiring for critical positions within the county government, with some exceptions. It would also report on all county employee resignations, deaths, retirements, promotions or other reason for a vacant positions.

The county, like many local governments, is facing a possibly crippling revenue shortfall due to the coronavirus pandemic. County Executive Dan Mccoy has estimated that the shortfall this year could be more than $35 million. Mccoy’s spokeswoman said the county already slashed unnecessary spending during the pandemic.

“The county executive is happy to work with the legislature and examine ways to include separately elected departments and welcomes further review by the County Attorney as he explores all options,” she said.

Over the next two months the committee is supposed to give a report to the Legislature on steps taken to cut the cost associated with filling open jobs.

The legislature will also consider a resolution in the next few weeks that would ban county employees from working on political campaigns while working their county jobs.

The ban is part of a larger resolution introduced by Republicans in the legislature that would require more exact methods for county employees to track and account for their working hours. The resolution came out of several reports, including an audit by former comptroller Michael Conners and a follow-up audit by Comptroller Susan Rizzo, examining weaknesses in the county’s timekeeping system for employees.

“There’s nothing in here that’s controversial whatsoever,” said Minority Leader Frank Mauriello. “We know that this is important to our constituents and the residents of the county.”

Conners’ report also alleged that multiple county employees worked on Mccoy’s re-election campaign while on county time. Rizzo’s follow-up report said it could not substantiate those allegations.