a) Board minutes for meeting held on February 12, 2008.

b) Recommendation that the Board renew the Business Liability Insurance Policy with Hartford Casualty Insurance Company in the amount of $6,428.  The policy covers Accounts Receivable, Brands and Labels, Business Income (off premises services), Claim Expenses, Computers and Media, Debris Removal, Employee Dishonesty/ERISA, Fine Arts, Forgery (including credit cards, currency and money orders), Outdoor Property, Outdoor Signs, Personal Effects, Personal Property of Others, Property at Other Premises, Property Off-Premises, Temperature Change, Unauthorized Business Card Use, and Valuable Papers and Records.

c) Recommendation that the Board approve a contract between the Personnel Board and ACS Application Management Services, Inc. (BlueStar Solutions) in the amount of $28,800 per month for the period April 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009.  The Personnel Board of Jefferson County utilizes an Application Services Provider (ASP) to provide the hardware and software support for its Lawson system. These services have been provided by ACS Application Management Services, Inc. (BlueStar Solutions) since 2004. In September 2007, this hosting contract was re-bid through the Jefferson County Department of Purchasing. Upon approval of the Three-Member Board at its September 11, 2007 meeting, the existing contract with ACS was extended to allow sufficient time to receive and analyze the bid responses.  After reviewing bids from Velocity Consulting, Lawson, and ACS Application Management Services, Inc., it is recommended that the Three-Member Board approve a contract renewal with ACS, Application Management Services, Inc.  ACS has provided the Personnel Board with satisfactory services since 2004 and was the low cost bidder. This contract can be renewed for an additional one-year period without re-bid. 

d) Recommendation that the Board approve a contract between the Personnel Board and HRDQ, Inc. in the amount of $700.00.  The Training and Career Development Department of the Personnel Board of Jefferson County  is in need of purchasing two diversity classes from HRDQ.  One is an eight hour class titled Diversity Awareness Training.  The second is titled Cultural Competency.  The agreement allows the Board to use these products (facilitator scripts, participant workbooks and class PowerPoints) for three years from date of issue.  The agreement also allows the Board to customize the content with the PBJC logo.  This agreement with HRDQ will allow the Board to offer two Diversity Training classes to Merit System employees at a huge savings of design and development time.

e) Recommendation that the Board approve a contract between the Personnel Board and AON, Consulting Inc. The purpose of this contract is to secure the professional services of Aon Consulting Inc., for the continued administration of the Protective Services Profile™ (PSP), a written examination for screening of police office candidates, during 2007-2009.  This test battery includes three (3) sections which measure a broad range of abilities and personal characteristics which have been demonstrated to predict effective law enforcement performance. The cost for use of the PSP and scoring services is $22.00 per candidate tested. Aon Consulting will pay the costs of shipping the testing materials to the Board.  The Board will be responsible for costs of returning testing materials to Aon Consulting, and costs of shipment of the completed answer sheets to Aon’s Center for processing and scoring.

f) Recommendation that the Board approve a contract between Jefferson County Commission (General Services) and NorthStar Emergency Medical Services in the amount of $112,200.00. NorthStar Emergency Medical Services is to provide 24/7 fire/medical dispatch services to fifteen (15) Jefferson County fire districts.  Other jurisdictions receive 911 calls in their police department and transfer any fire/medical calls to their fire department. Jefferson County, because it does not have fire departments as part of the Merit System, does not have the infrastructure, physical facilities or equipment to provide fire/medical dispatch services.  Dispatchers with an Emergency Medical Dispatcher (EMD) certification are required since they provide medical pre-arrival instructions to callers.  The Public Safety Dispatchers that currently staff the Jefferson County 911 center in the Sheriff’s Department do not posses this certification.  This dispatch service was previously provided by Hank’s Acquisition Corporation d/b/a American Medical Response (AMR).  However, AMR has been sold to LifeGuard who informed Jefferson County they will no longer provide the service after February 29, 2008.  To duplicate this service would necessitate the County to hire approximately 4.5 to 5 FTE's plus benefits to provide the required level of coverage.  It is recommended the Board approve this contract so that uninterrupted fire/medical services may continue to Jefferson County residents.

g) Recommendation that the Board approve with condition a contract between the Jefferson County Commission (District Attorney-Birmingham) and Mavi Figueres in the amount of $40,000.00 ($28.85 per hour). Mavi Figueres provides language interpretive services to the Bessemer and Birmingham District Attorney Offices on an as needed basis.  The interpretation services include Spanish/English translation and are conducted in the court rooms and county jail for witnesses and others.  Based on the annual utilization information provided by Jefferson County, Ms. Figueres worked an average of 39 hours/week and was paid $57,815 during the last contract period.  The nature of the duties outlined in this contract are not such that would justify employing Non-Merit System employees. Jefferson County shall be allowed no longer than 60 days from March 11, 2008 to classify the new position and hire from an existing register. An active register for the Public Health Language Worker classification exists and was released on September 7, 2007.

h) Recommendation that the Board approve a contract renewal between the Jefferson County Commission (Family Court) and Jefferson-Blount-St. Clair Mental Health in the amount of $30,622.00.  Jefferson-Blount-St. Clair Mental Health/Mental Retardation Authority (JBS) provides case management services to Jefferson County Family Court for emotionally/behaviorally disturbed children and their families referred by Family Court. Services under this contract will be provided to children who are transitioning from the Alabama Youth Correction Center back into their communities. JBS is a political subdivision of the State of Alabama established under Act 310 of Alabama Legislature to provide state-wide mental health services to Alabama residents. Jefferson County does not have a mental health services infrastructure to support the needs of the Family Court. Establishing the necessary infrastructure would be unduly duplicative of services provided by the State of Alabama through JBS. The original contract was approved by The Board on January 23, 2007.  The contract period ends on September 30, 2008 or when $30,622.00 is billed and paid.

i) Recommendation that the Board approve a contract amendment between the Jefferson County Health Department (Community Services) and Leslie Patton and Associates.  Leslie Patton and Associates provides technical assistance in the areas of QA, internal program auditing and evaluation and resource development for the Health Department's Healthy Start program.  The original contract was approved by The Board at the July 10, 2007 meeting.  An amendment to increase the cost of the contract is recommended due to the Contractor needing to spend an additional 110 hours on project activities that were not included as part of the original contract.  Assistance was required due to the unexpected absence of the Administrative Assistant during November and December of 2007.  The additional projects include the submission of a new grant for the Healthy Start program, preparation for the annual Healthy Start Conference, assistance with the Office of Performance Review site visit from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HRSA).  This approval would extend the original contract amount of $24,500.00 by an additional $7,700.00.

j) Recommendation that the Board approve with condition ten (10) nursing contracts (listed below).  Cooper Green Hospital (CGH) and Jefferson Rehabilitation and Health Center (JRHC) have requested to contract with temporary staffing agencies for the positions of RN, LPN, CNA, Sitters and Charge Nurses as needed to ensure the quality and continuity of patient care.  The use of temporary personnel agencies remains necessary due to the continued shortage of applicants in the marketplace for certain healthcare professions, the extremely competitive market and the need for patient care organizations to be able to immediately adjust staffing to fluctuating census demands.  Ten contracts are necessary because temporary agencies also have difficulty employing sufficient workers, particularly for nights and weekends.  The original contracts were approved at the December 12, 2006 > Board Meeting.  The Personnel Board (PBJC) continues to actively recruit and refer healthcare applicants and met with representatives from CGH, JRHC and Jefferson County Human Resources (JCHR) to discuss the past contract year utilization and encourage efficiencies in the hiring process.  As of December 31, 2007, there was a combined total of 262 individuals on the RN and LPN registers which is an increase of 88% compared to December 31, 2006 (139 individuals).  Marketing efforts continue to focus on the recruiting of nursing personnel through television advertising, standing billboards, advertising in trade journals, announcements in the Birmingham News and on monster.com as well as through other various media.

The PBJC monitors the use of these Contractors to assure that the contract is not being used where there are qualified applicants available for hire in the Classified Service.  Based on the 2007 annual utilization reports provided by JCHR, utilization appears to be for a limited number of short term temporary assignments.  There are a couple of items the PBJC is following up on and will continue dialogue with CGH and JRHC.  JCHR will provide monthly utilization reports to the PBJC to review and assure the contracts are not being used to circumvent civil service employment.  This contract may not be used to substitute for emergency, temporary or provisional appointments which may be practically accomplished pursuant to Merit System Rules and Regulations.  The Contractor may be used to provide emergency staffing due to unexpected shortages, census fluctuations and fill vacancies until such a time applicants can be hired from certification lists. 

• Contractual agreement between Cooper Green Mercy Hospital/Jefferson Rehabilitation Health Center and ATC Healthcare Services per December 1, 2006 contract fee schedule.
• Contractual agreement between Cooper Green Mercy Hospital/Jefferson Rehabilitation Health Center and Aspen Health Care, Inc per contract fee schedule.
• Contractual agreement between Cooper Green Mercy Hospital/Jefferson Rehabilitation Health Center and Augmentation, Inc. per December 1, 2006 contract fee schedule.
• Contractual agreement between Cooper Green Mercy Hospital/Jefferson Rehabilitation Health Center and Global Diagnostic Service per December 1, 2006 contract fee schedule.
• Contractual agreement between Cooper Green Mercy Hospital/Jefferson Rehabilitation Health Center and Maxim Healthcare Services, Inc. per December 1, 2006 contract fee schedule.
• Contractual agreement between Cooper Green Mercy Hospital/Jefferson Rehabilitation Health Center and Crdentia Corporation per contract fee schedule.
• Contractual agreement between Cooper Green Mercy Hospital/Jefferson Rehabilitation Health Center and Medical Staffing Network per December 1, 2006 contract fee schedule.
• Contractual agreement between Cooper Green Mercy Hospital/Jefferson Rehabilitation Health Center and Nursefinders of Alabama, Inc. per December 1, 2006 contract fee schedule.
• Contractual agreement between Cooper Green Mercy Hospital/Jefferson Rehabilitation Health Center and Secure Optimal Staffing per December 1, 2006  contract fee schedule.
• Contractual agreement between Cooper Green Mercy Hospital/Jefferson Rehabilitation Health Center and The Rose Group d/b/a Suwannee Medical Personnel per December 1, 2006 contract fee schedule.

k)Birmingham Police Department vs. Theress Smith (DA-2005-1491)

l)Jefferson County Board & Transportation Department v. Farris Odell Bowen, Jr. (DA-2007- 1664)

IV.  INFORMATION  DISCUSSION ITEMS    

a)  House Bill 492

b) Requests to Appoint to the Executive Exempt Service

c) Disqualification of applicants due to criminal history record information

d) “SMART” Budgeting – Administrative Order 08-1

e) Public Hearing for 2008 Annual Survey – Friday, May 23, 2008 at 9:00 am

f) Advance Step Requests

g) February Board Bi-weekly Expenditure Reports