Members of the Tompkins County Community Services Board spent the bulk of a meeting discussing a draft job description and recruitment plan for a combined public-health and behavioral-health executive — described in the draft as the commissioner of whole health — and debated whether the current draft places too much weight on public-health credentials.

The county administrator (name not specified), who presented the draft, described the current language as deliberately skewed toward meeting state public-health minimum requirements. The county administrator said, “that’s the reason why it appears from the skewed over the public health side” and called the document a draft to be revised with board input.

The discussion mattered to members because the role will lead integrated public health, mental-health, substance-use, and developmental-disability programs that serve Tompkins County residents. Board members said the job description should both satisfy legal credential requirements and attract leaders who can drive the county’s longer-term vision for integrated “whole person” services.

Board members raised several specific concerns. Larry Roberts, chair of the mental health subcommittee, urged that mental health, substance use and developmental disabilities be explicit responsibilities of the role, saying, “we want somebody who has familiarity or training or whatever we wanna put it in both, substance use disorder and, and developmental disabilities because, that's that's mental health.” Several members said the draft reads as a technical civil-service document and could deter qualified candidates.

The county administrator and Human Resources staff explained civil-service screening: HR will first screen applications for minimum qualifications; candidates who meet that screen will be passed to the hiring committee. The administrator said the county typically narrows to a manageable interview pool and that HR will prepare marketing material that both summarizes the role and highlights the county’s supports. “We have to put design this in such a way that is attractive and get people through the door,” the county administrator said.

Members pressed whether the county could consider candidates who do not yet meet public-health credentials but could obtain them after hire. The county administrator noted the state allows time-limited extensions in some cases: “the state provides if somebody is…doesn't have an [credential], they still provides, the person ability to apply…within 2 years.” Board members asked that any allowance be explicit in the recruitment materials and that the county avoid unintentionally excluding candidates with strong leadership and behavioral-health experience.

The board agreed to continue refining the draft. The county administrator said a revised job description and the marketing package will be shared with both the Community Services Board and the Board of Health before posting. Board members proposed forming a small subcommittee to review the draft and return suggested edits; members volunteered to participate and were asked to email the chair to confirm.

No formal hiring decision was made at the meeting. The county administrator said the position had not yet been posted and that once the job description and advertising materials are finalized, HR would post the vacancy for at least a month and then convene the search committee to conduct interviews and recommend finalists.

Board members emphasized marketing the position as a “destination job” to attract a broad pool and to ensure the written materials reflect the county’s integrated vision rather than read solely as a technical civil-service specification.