OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Los Alamos County Personnel Board Meeting - June 23, 2026

County Council & Boards — Tuesday, June 23, 2026
BodyLos Alamos County, New Mexico
SessionCounty Council & Boards
DateTuesday, June 23, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 16:41

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Being recorded.

0:02

First order of business is roll calls.

0:03

I'll do all those roll calls on quick.

0:05

And we have uh member best online, Rakatco, Member Hoover, and Member Hampton in Chamber.

0:12

So everyone's in attendance.

0:15

There is no public attending, so there's no public comment for items on the agenda.

0:21

Does anyone have any uh changes to the minutes?

0:25

All right, the minutes are approved unanimously.

0:29

Which takes us to our first order business election of officers.

0:37

So is there anyone who any nominations or self-nominations for chair?

0:47

I'm willing.

0:50

If nobody else wants to.

0:51

I feel like I'm kind of new for it, but I'm willing.

0:54

And and that would be fine because I'm currently chair on two others, so it's awkward when we go to like uh boards and commissions luncheons.

1:01

Yeah, yeah.

1:05

All right.

1:05

Um are there any other self-nominations or nominations?

1:13

All right.

1:14

Um in favor of uh best being uh made chair.

1:24

Yeah.

1:26

Come on.

1:29

All right, it's unanimous.

1:32

And uh are there any uh nominations or self-nominations for vice chair?

1:40

I'll help you.

1:43

Jennifer doesn't want it.

1:45

We are I'm good either way, Sarah.

1:49

You got this.

1:51

Okay.

1:52

All right, all in favor of member Hoover being vice chair.

1:59

Unanimous.

2:00

And uh by the way, um, so uh vice chairs are allowed to go to the uh boards of commissioners' lunches too.

2:06

Oh boy, oh boy, lunch.

2:07

We get lunch for this.

2:08

Free lunch achieve.

2:09

We do serve a great lunch.

2:11

It's a great lunch, and you get to learn things you never need to know, so it's great.

2:15

Okay, it's a lot of fun.

2:17

All right, um, would you like to take over the meeting?

2:21

Sure.

2:21

All right.

2:22

Okay, so HR managers report, Mertna.

2:26

Okay.

2:29

So we have a lot going on in HR.

2:32

Um, so we'll start.

2:33

This is for the month of May.

2:35

So starting with administration.

2:38

Um as you're all aware, personnel board.

2:41

We still have one vacancy.

2:44

So we're working on still trying to get that vacancy recruited for.

2:49

Um I'll work with the PIO office to send out another announcement to see if we can get that vacancy filled.

2:54

People, is it to get party balance or anything like that on it at all?

2:59

Okay.

3:00

All right.

3:01

I don't believe so, right?

3:05

I think I think we still have to have party balance.

3:08

So okay.

3:10

I'll have to double.

3:11

We're trying to get that get that eliminated right now, but yeah, so it would be but it's it's simple.

3:15

You can't have um more than three of one party.

3:19

Okay, I think we're in good shape on that already.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Personnel Matters█████████████████████████████████████████████81%
Procedural███████████19%
Summary of Proceedings

Los Alamos County Personnel Board Meeting - June 23, 2026

The Personnel Board of Los Alamos County met on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, at 11:30 AM in Room 110 at 1000 Central Avenue. Chair David Hampton called the meeting to order. All five board members were present: Member Best (online), Member Katko, Member Hoover, and Member Hampton. No members of the public were in attendance. The meeting lasted 16 minutes, adjourning at 11:46 AM.

Consent Calendar

  • The Board unanimously approved the agenda and the minutes from the April 28, 2026 meeting (5-0). No discussion was held on either item.

Discussion Items

  • Election of Chair and Vice Chair: Following the call for nominations, Member Jennifer Best was nominated and unanimously elected as Chair for a term starting June 2026 and ending April 2027. Member Sarah Hoover was then unanimously elected as Vice Chair for the same term. Chair Hampton noted that Vice Chairs are also invited to attend Boards and Commissions luncheons.

  • HR Manager's Report: Bernadette Martinez presented the HR Manager’s Report for May 2026, covering administration, safety, compensation, training, recruitment, benefits, and labor relations. Highlights included:

    • Personnel Board has one vacant position; recruitment efforts are ongoing.
    • Safety training compliance reached 94%; two Heavy Equipment Academy trainings were conducted.
    • Preparations for annual pay increases (1% structure plus merit increases) are underway. New single-rate salary tables for casual/temporary employees have been implemented, placing them at Step 1 of their parent position to improve recruitment and retention.
    • Two new trainings (Manager Need to Know and Anti-Harassment) will be available in June.
    • Recruitment statistics: 13 jobs posted in May (70 YTD), 192 applications received (993 YTD), 19 new hires (64 YTD), 6 promotions (63 YTD), vacancy rate 5.98% (excluding temps/casuals).
    • Benefits is soliciting RFPs for dental, vision, long-term disability, and benefits consultant contracts, all expiring at the end of 2026.
    • Seven exit interviews and five retirement planning meetings were conducted in May.
    • Employee recognition coins were awarded to six staff members.
    • Retirements: Gilbert Padilla (Police, 3 years), John Fesser (DPU Water Production, 27 years), Mary Tapia (HR Manager, 7 years).
    • Negotiations with the Plumbers and Pipefitters (UAPP) union are complete; a five-year contract has been ratified, approved by BPU on June 3 and Council on June 9.

  • Chair's Report and Council Liaison: No updates were provided. Chair Hampton noted future Boards and Commissions luncheons on September 10 and November 12, 2026.

  • Preview of Upcoming Agenda Items: Ms. Martinez indicated that Personnel Rule updates would be brought to the Board starting in July and that a compensation market study will be prepared in the coming year.

Key Outcomes

  • Election Results: Jennifer Best was elected Chair, and Sarah Hoover was elected Vice Chair, both unanimously. Terms run from June 23, 2026 to April 2027.
  • Approval of Minutes: The minutes from April 28, 2026 were approved unanimously.
  • No Other Votes: No other motions or votes were taken.
  • Next Meeting: Scheduled for July 28, 2026.

Meeting Transcript

Being recorded. First order of business is roll calls. I'll do all those roll calls on quick. And we have uh member best online, Rakatco, Member Hoover, and Member Hampton in Chamber. So everyone's in attendance. There is no public attending, so there's no public comment for items on the agenda. Does anyone have any uh changes to the minutes? All right, the minutes are approved unanimously. Which takes us to our first order business election of officers. So is there anyone who any nominations or self-nominations for chair? I'm willing. If nobody else wants to. I feel like I'm kind of new for it, but I'm willing. And and that would be fine because I'm currently chair on two others, so it's awkward when we go to like uh boards and commissions luncheons. Yeah, yeah. All right. Um are there any other self-nominations or nominations? All right. Um in favor of uh best being uh made chair. Yeah. Come on. All right, it's unanimous. And uh are there any uh nominations or self-nominations for vice chair? I'll help you. Jennifer doesn't want it. We are I'm good either way, Sarah. You got this. Okay. All right, all in favor of member Hoover being vice chair. Unanimous. And uh by the way, um, so uh vice chairs are allowed to go to the uh boards of commissioners' lunches too. Oh boy, oh boy, lunch. We get lunch for this. Free lunch achieve. We do serve a great lunch. It's a great lunch, and you get to learn things you never need to know, so it's great. Okay, it's a lot of fun. All right, um, would you like to take over the meeting? Sure. All right. Okay, so HR managers report, Mertna. Okay. So we have a lot going on in HR. Um, so we'll start. This is for the month of May. So starting with administration. Um as you're all aware, personnel board. We still have one vacancy. So we're working on still trying to get that vacancy recruited for. Um I'll work with the PIO office to send out another announcement to see if we can get that vacancy filled.

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