A pandemic-inspired policy has allowed two top Hennepin County officials to work from home. However, home just happens to be in California.
Listen to your favorite News/Talk station now on Audacy.
Hennepin County Library Director Chad Helton was a year into his job when he moved to the Los Angeles area, where he now plans to work "most of the time," the Star Tribune reported.
Since January, Michael Rossman, who serves as the county's human resources chief and worked for Hennepin County for 30 years, has been living in Palm Springs, California. Working from home has been a success for him, presenting no problems, he told the Tribune.
Related
Many have questioned the two's decision to work remotely out of state and some county employees, many of whom must go to their workplaces to serve the public. Specifically, library workers think Helton should be in the metro area, where the 41 Hennepin branches he supervises are located.
"How can he run a county library system from halfway across the country?" Cassandra Hendricks, an associate librarian at the Hopkins branch, asked the Tribune. "It feels as though the administration is so removed."
County Administrator David Hough supports Helton and Rossman's decision to live out of state. The interim policy was developed by the county's top administrators last year. It allows employees to work out of the state during the pandemic as long as a supervisor approves it.
Currently, there are 74 Hennepin County employees working out of state, the county reported. However, 45 of those are employees who live in Wisconsin, some of whom likely live in the western part of the state near the Twin Cities.
Related
Helton and Rossman both make more than $180,000 a year are the highest level county officials currently working out of the state. At the same time, Helton oversees 41 libraries with 562 employees, and Rossman supervises 120 full-time equivalent workers.
Hough called the two men "exceptional leaders" and hard workers who have performed well from their distant homes. He said that both would "come here when needed," the Tribune reported. Then, when they need to get back to the state, they do so at their own expense, they said.
The county board was not required to approve the out-of-state police, but Board Chairwoman Marion Greene said she had no objections to the two working in California.
"We are in this time of transition during the pandemic, and I see this as a new normal — of embracing remote work in Hennepin County," Greene said.
Related
Allowing employees to work out of state gives the county the "opportunity to get talent and retain talent. ... As long as our employees are doing their job, remote work is going to be how we deliver our services," Commissioner Kevin Anderson, the Tribune reported.
The policy was just extended to end on Dec. 31 last week and could be extended beyond that, the Tribune reported.