A settlement has been reached between the Hall County Board of Elections and the Hall County Government after the two entities disagreed on how to handle the position of the election director. The feud began after a conflict earlier this year over which entity should manage the position.
Today, both parties reached an agreement that ensures each side will be fairly involved in the position. According to Katie Crumley, Public Information Officer with Hall County, the agreement was voted on at tonight’s Board of Commissioners meeting. “The Hall County Board of Commissioners and Hall County Board of Elections have worked together to craft a solution we feel is in the best interest of Hall County as a whole,” says Crumley.
In March of this year, the elections board filed a lawsuit claiming county officials violated the state constitution when they amended the election board’s legislation in 2018 to make the elections director report to the county administrator instead of the elections board.
In essence, the elections board was asking the court to decide who should supervise the elections director. Lori Wurtz, who has served in that position since the spring of 2018, was the center of the conflict when she received a poor evaluation from the county. The Board of Elections said that review was unfair, and that they should have a say in her evaluation, as well as her position.
The agreement reached in tonight’s settlement states that both parties will have responsibilities as it relates to the director. Both Hall County and the Hall County Board of Elections will jointly supervise the position, and both will contribute to the annual job evaluation and any other job performance-related issues. Neither party will be able to hire, or fire, the employee in that position without mutually agreeing upon the decision.
The human resources aspect of the position, including salary, benefits, and compensation, will be done by the Hall County administrator.
As for the evaluation that was conducted in February for Wurtz, that report will be turned over to the elections board for further handling and oversight.
In that original evaluation, Wurtz was given a “does not meet expectations” rating. Dr. Tom Smiley, chairman of the elections board, said that the evaluation was unjust given the challenges during the election year brought on by the coronavirus. He also said it was unfair to say the elections process went smoothly on a public platform, but then reprimand the elections director for issues that weren’t entirely within her control. As a result, the board submitted a 10-point rebuttal to the review. Now the elections board will have a chance to create and oversee the plan to make any positive changes moving forward.
