Otero County, Sheriff discuss personnel policy
ALAMOGORDO – The Otero County Sheriff’s Office does not have a second captain position and potentially will not until after the new year when a new sheriff and commission are seated.
Otero County Sheriff Benny House wanted to reclassify a current deputy to captain to help the current captain with his scope of work. The current captain has been a supervisor for all of the department within the OCSO such as investigations, animal control and transport as well as other departments within OCSO.
House said the second captain's position would have also helped with oversight.
At the July 12 regular Otero County Commission meeting, commissioners rescinded the captain’s position until after the first of the year when a new sheriff and two new commissioners will begin their terms.
“This was brought to (the commission) in April because Sheriff House had come to me a couple months prior and requested the new position be created,” Otero County Manager Pam Heltner said. “I do not have the authority of creating a new position.”
At the April 12 meeting, the commission voted unanimously to post the “position within the Sheriff’s Office with the assistance of Human Resources and a hiring panel to follow the personnel policy,” the April 12 minutes state.
Since House had someone in mind he submitted a personnel action form to promote his selection. The promotion was denied by Heltner and in a letter sent to House she states that the subject will be broached at the July 12 regular county commission meeting “to reaffirm the process the county will take for this new position.”
The subject of a hiring panel was a sore spot and the wording of the personnel ordinance have been issues according to some documents obtained by the Alamogordo Daily News.
In correspondences between the Sheriff and County Manager dated June 24, 25 and 26, House wanted to do an internal promotion which Heltner denied based on the county commission’s motion which included a hiring panel.
At the July 12 meeting the commission, Human Resources Director Sharon Scott and Otero County Sheriff Benny House discussed the word “may” in the recruitment subsection of the county personnel ordinance.
The sentence states that “when a classified position becomes open, the elected official or department head, in coordination with the County Manager, may promote a qualified employee in the subject department to fill the vacant position.”
The debate over the word “may” in the policy was defined by County Attorney Michael Eshleman as being “a discretionary word, meaning it’s optional. If it was a mandatory word, it would be ‘shall’ or ‘must,’” he said.
At the July 12 meeting House said he was working with the County Manager until “she and the HR director directed me to violate policy for the promotion.”
“I’m not going to violate policy," House said. "I don’t care who directs me to, I’m not going to violate policy… I’m following your policy as it is worded.”
Since House had someone in mind for the captain’s position, he felt that the route he was directed to take was for a new hire and not for an internal promotion.
House added that the policy clearly states the process.
“For the promotion, applications and interview panels are not required,” House states in his June 26 letter to County Manager Heltner. “If we utilize this section for promotions, we would be in direct violation of the county policy handbook.”
The Otero County Personnel Policy can found online at ecode360.com/32788209.