Immigration addressed in Clarke policy

June 24, 2008
By Laura Oleniacz
The Winchester Star

Berryville — Clarke County officials have agreed to draft an immigration clause that would be included in the county’s procurement policy.

At its meeting Monday, the Joint Administrative Services Board agreed to adopt and include a clause in the county’s purchasing policy to ensure that vendors contracted by the Clarke County government and school system do not employ illegal immigrants.

"We as the government have to take some steps to ensure that the people working for us are legal," said Thomas J. Judge, director of the Joint Administrative Services Department.

The clause will be included in a general rewrite of the procurement policy, and is aimed at bringing the policy in line with federal and state laws.

"Depending on the size of the contract, the federal government requires certain language if the contract in excess of ‘X’ dollars," County Administrator David Ash said. "All of our procurements have general conditions that cover a multitude of issues."

The county’s procurement policy is about 13 years old and includes a number of inconsistencies, said Judge, who has been asked to develop the language for the clause.

There are other localities that have similar clauses, Ash said, including Chesapeake, Spotsylvania, and Loudoun County.

Clarke County would not be in an enforcement role if a contracted vendor were found to have illegal immigrants in their employ, Ash said.

"If the county were to discover that they were in fact employing illegal [immigrants], that would be a breach of the contract provisions and could allow the county to terminate the contract," Ash said.

In other business, the board continued to hammer out the specifics of a joint maintenance services department that would serve the county government and school system.

Under the terms of a draft agreement between the county School Board and Board of Supervisors that describes the proposed joint maintenance department, the county government’s maintenance director, Bobby Levi, would supervise all maintenance activities other than transportation, vehicle maintenance, and custodial duties.

In Monday’s meeting, members of the Joint Administrative Services Board redefined the parameters of the joint maintenance department’s role in working on capital improvement projects.

The board agreed that the maintenance director would direct capital improvement projects except in the construction of a new school or extensive renovation of an existing building.

The board also discussed language changes to clarify inside and outside responsibilities for custodial or maintenance personnel, Ash said.

In addition, language specifications were requested to clarify the maintenance director’s responsibilities for directing and gathering custodial supplies, and assisting in the budget process by giving project estimates.

The board agreed to e-mail the language specifications made to the draft agreement to the School Board and supervisors, and to send the proposal to the Board of Supervisors for approval if no additional changes were requested.

Attending the meeting in the Clarke County Circuit Courthouse were Ash, Robina Rich Bouffault, Sharon Keeler, John R. Staelin, and John Taylor.

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