County Commission Chairman Matt Brooks corrects his administrator’s misquote of a paid leave policy for first responders.
By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
A county policy giving first responders 120 hours of paid medical leave if they miss work from exposure to the Coronavirus nearly took a wrong turn Tuesday when the Levy County Commission was about to ratify the document.
Speaking to the board, County Coordinator Wilbur Dean misquoted the policy using information from an early draft that required Emergency Medical Technicians, paramedics, firefighters and emergency management employees to repay half of the emergency leave pay they were advanced.
Board Chairman Matt Brooks corrected Dean saying the 120 hours of additional Coronavirus-related administrative leave wasn’t an advance on their pay as Dean suggested, but was instead 120 hours of separate leave workers could take as needed and didn’t have to repay.
“Just to make a clarification on that, this is not an advance on leave for first responders, it is actually 120 hours of additional leave,” Brooks said. “This would allow them to have a full paycheck should something happen; God willing everybody stays safe and nothing happens, but we have to provide something.”
The policy will remain in effect for the duration of the county’s declared State of Emergency.
Brooks used his executive authority under the State of Emergency to implement the policy two weeks ago, but as a courtesy to the board he brought it back for ratification. He said he wanted the board to have a working copy and he wanted the board’s stamp of approval on the document he drafted with assistance from Dean, Human Resources Director Jacqueline Martin and representatives of the International Association Firefighters Local 4069, the public employees union representing ambulance crews and firefighters.
Dean gave a detailed explanation of the incorrect version of the policy when he introduced it to the board.
“As you know I recommended that first responders be exempted from the policy we adopted earlier,” Dean said. “This is a policy that simply allows us to advance them sick leave time in case of need, that they can pay back at half of their earn rate. That way if you had an employee that had just hired on to the county that did not have built up time for sick leave and they had to stay home or had others issues concerning this, they would have a way they could have a full paycheck and be able to have a process of paying it back.”
Brooks said later he didn’t think Dean intentionally misquoted the policy. He said the policy was already in effect. The board was merely ratifying the policy. He said there are so many things going on at this point in time it would be easy for anyone’s mind to drift back to an earlier draft of the policy.
“I mean right now, people’s mind can just go back to anything,” Brooks said.
Brooks said when he and Dean met with union officials to consider what the policy should say they brainstormed quite a few possibilities, including the one Dean mentioned that would have advanced first responders leave pay, but negotiators eventually settled on the final draft giving first responders 120 hours of administrative coronavirus paid leave with no strings attached.
Dean said later he made a mistake misquoting the policy.
“It was my fault,” he said.
Dean said he got the final draft of the policy mixed up with an earlier draft.
Board of County Commission Regular Meeting April 21, 2020; Posted April 21, 2020
