The Tompkins County Community Services Board voted to approve a slate of officers and a set of bylaws, and heard outgoing Commissioner Frank Grama announce his planned departure and introduce the interim fiscal lead who will support the transition.

The board approved the nominating committee’s slate naming Jan (last name not specified) as chair and Sheila (last name not specified) as vice chair. A motion to accept the slate was made and seconded; the chair called the question and the board voted in favor. The minutes reflect the vote as “All in favor.”

The board also voted to adopt revised bylaws. The nominating chair thanked Kathy for drafting the bylaws and the board approved them by voice vote; the meeting record notes the board’s unanimous approval.

Commissioner Frank Grama said this would be his last meeting and introduced Jeremy Porter, the department’s fiscal administrator, who will serve in an interim administrative capacity during the transition. Frank Grama said the transition has been “going really well” and thanked staff for supporting the handoff. Jeremy Porter described his 12 years with the department and said his focus is maintaining operations and supporting staff during the interim period: “my only goal over the next until someone's appointed is make sure that nothing stops…we're going to keep moving everything forward.”

Frank Grama confirmed his last in-office day as Friday, February 7. The board discussed next steps for recruiting a permanent commissioner during the earlier job-description discussion and confirmed that the legislature makes the final appointment when a candidate is recommended.

The meeting moved later into an executive session to discuss a candidate recommendation to the legislature; the board recorded a motion and second to enter executive session, but did not publicize decisions from that closed session on the record.