KINGSTON – The Ulster County Government’s Operations and Efficiency committee met for the first time on Tuesday to review the county’s current personnel policy. County Legislature Chairman Frederick Wadnola created the committee just a week ago to consider how to handle the issue of nepotism among county employees.

The county policy has been in effect since April 15, 1982.

Legislator Brian Shapiro felt the policy review should be before a board of ethics that is selected by the legislature first in order to ensure that any policy that was enacted would not conflict with New York State law. Shapiro felt that it made no sense to “reinvent the wheel” if the current policy already met the state’s guidelines.

Committee Chairwoman Terry Bernardo felt that the first meeting went well and that the committee got away from the jargon that “average taxpayers couldn’t understand.” 

Bernardo said anybody “could have sat in on this meeting and followed along with what we were talking about.”

When asked about the personnel policy Bernardo said, “Before you get to personnel policy you have to decide who the personnel are that it’s going to apply to.” 

The committee will meet again next week to discuss the policy further.