By Mike Pettinella
For Video News Service
When you wear as many hats as Tim Hens does, it’s only fitting that he has a title that aptly reflects his importance to Genesee County.
This afternoon, in an overdue move, county legislators took the first step toward changing the 26-year employee’s job title from highway superintendent to county commissioner of Public Works.
Lawmakers, during a Committee of the Whole meeting at the Old Courthouse, voted unanimously to initiate the process of creating a Local Law that would give Hens the new title.
County Manager Matt Landers explained the reasoning behind the potential change:
“This wouldn’t come with a cost or additional responsibilities but is basically a better labeling of the current responsibilities of the highway superintendent, who is more of a commissioner of Public Works, along with the title of the department – which really isn’t a highway department but more of a DPW-type of department,” he said.
Landers also noted that the highway department would be “dissolved” to become the Department of Public Works and that both deputy highway superintendents – Paul Osborn (parks & facilities) and Craig Smith (highway) — would have their titles changed from deputy highway superintendents to deputy county commissioners of Public Works.
Legislature Chair Rochelle Stein kicked off what turned into a 13-minute discussion by asking a question that many in local government and the media had been wondering for quite some time.
“Why can’t we have a different name on that department?” she said, “and today we’re sitting here and saying it’s possible.”
At that point, Hens (photo) spoke up, sharing that while he understood that the title of highway superintendent wasn’t accurate – in light of the fact that he oversees the county airport, parks, facilities, highways, fleet and water operations – he didn’t see the need to press the issue.
“I never really cared about the title; I just did the job,” he said. “Sometime, the job asked me to do water, sometimes it was airport … I knew the name change was possible, but I also knew it was a fairly complex thing because the way state highway law mandates non-chartered counties to have highway superintendents.”
Hens said that over the past three years, Wayne and Orleans counties “went to the same thing” – changing titles.
While he said he didn’t see his title an issue, he acknowledged recent talk that has questioned why a highway superintendent is issuing water advisories.
“People were like, why is the highway superintendent telling us what to do with our water? I saw that a lot on social media and saw it a lot in the press,” he said. “Same thing with the air show. Why is the highway superintendent managing an air show?”
Hens, who said he has less than two years until retirement, added that the title changes now would “be beneficial to my successor to be, kind of start out in the right place rather than having to deal with it down the road.”
In related action, legislators agreed to change the title of the county’s Office of Emergency Management Services to Office of Emergency Management. For this to happen, the board needs to adopt a resolution and pass it at a full legislature meeting.
Landers and Emergency Management Services Coordinator Tim Yaeger also are seeking to change the latter’s title from Emergency Management Services coordinator to Emergency Management coordinator or Emergency Management director.
Lawmakers agreed to hold off on this while Anita Cleveland, county human resources director, seeks guidance pertaining to “exempt” positions from New York State officials.
Landers said he supports the idea brought forth by Yaeger “because I, myself, have seen where EMS is an acronym that is used to describe emergency management which also is confused with Mercy medical and ambulance service.”
“Tim, being in the department, has lived that and seen that and would like to basically drop the Services – the S – off the department name. So, it would be Office of Emergency Management.”
Legislators moved this proposal to Wednesday’s Ways & Means Committee meeting where, upon approval, it would go to the full legislature meeting on June 26