The Genesee County Legislature on Wednesday unanimously reappointed Eileen Kirkpatrick to a second five-year term as Commissioner of Social Services. Her salary was established at $84,487 per year.
As commissioner, Kirkpatrick manages the most expensive department of county government that includes the supervision of welfare and Medicaid benefits.
Legislature Chair Mary Pat Hancock created an ad-hoc committee to study the length of terms for county legislators as well as the total number of legislative districts. Hancock instructed each legislator to name one representative from each legislative district to serve on the panel. She said the committee would also investigate whether or not the legislator’s terms should be staggered, as to avoid all positions coming up for re-election in the same year.
Hancock left open the possibility that two or three additional members would be named to the study committee in order to insure “a cross section representation” of the county. She said she would expect the committee to issue recommendations by October or November of this year. No recommendation could take effect until after the general election this year.
There are currently nine members on the county legislature, each serving a two-year term. All the terms expire in the same year.
Prior to the start of the meeting, County Election Commissioners Richard Seibert and Dawn Cassidy announced that their office had received an American Flag flown on board a C-17A aircraft on missions over Iraq and Afghanistan. The flag was sent on the recommendation of Sgt. Paul R. Dillion of LeRoy who wanted to recognize the Department of Elections for insuring the receipt of his absentee ballots while he is on duty with the Air Force in Iraq.
