Lyon commission to correct public health officer action

The Lyon County Commission has continued its item to review and set the qualifications, duties and salary of the public health officer for the Nov. 17 meeting after its original motion exceeded the scope of the agenda.

The language for a motion made during the board’s item on Nov. 3 was to extend a contract with Dr. Robin Titus as its public health officer for two years, approving her requested pay increase to $200 per month and to move $4,800 from the county’s contingency fund into the general fund to accommodate her request.

But this exceeded the item, which stated it was for possible action to review and set the qualifications, duties and salary of the position and to discuss and provide direction to staff on whether to advertise for the job. The item originally was requested by board chair Vida Keller.

The position is one that Titus, representing District 38 in the Nevada Assembly, has held for more than 35 years. But while Lyon continuously renewed its contract for its health officer position without advertising for it, the Nevada Revised Statutes requires county governments to do so every two years.

Keller brought forth the item at the Lyon County Commission’s Oct. 20 meeting, where members discussed the requirements for the position, its duties, the statutory obligations for advertising, Titus’ history as health officer since the mid-1980s and the incremental pay increases for the role since she has been in service. An agreement between Titus and the county was reached Oct. 6, 1988, and minutes denote subsequent approvals in the early 2000s and the years following.

Titus was unavailable to appear at the meeting but submitted a letter to the commission.

Interim County Manager Andrew Haskin read her comments into the record. He also provided other examples of public health officer contracts from neighboring counties or jurisdictions, including Humboldt, Storey, Washoe, Carson City, Douglas and Churchill for the board to consider their language.

In her letter, Titus apologized for her absence but explained she has held the position since 1985 and took a year off after her son was born in 1989 but has continued to serve as public health officer since then.

She explained the initial salary was $100 per month and went up to $200 in the 1990s, stating the job initially required two to four hours of her time.

“Fielding calls from citizens with concerns about dead animals, human waste, water quality, approval of moving bodies from gravesites to other locations and reviewing infectious disease reports from the brothels,” she said in her letter. “These are just a few of the calls I have received, others are not printable.”

On Nov. 3, after Haskin had further examined county code 3.11.06, which contains dated language pertaining to the officer as an executive officer of the county board of health, Haskin said the board of county commissioners is responsible for setting the health officer’s compensation. He also noted since it is in the code, it would require an ordinance to change any language.

Commissioner Dave Hockaday recommended making “cleanup” revisions in the future for the verbiage since it was male-dominant in its pronouns, and he said the board should consider weighing a commensurate salary package given the hours Titus spends in the position.

“I’m not trying to be woke here, but we do need to change this language,” he said. “I was not happy with the language.”

Titus said the job changed considerably with the pandemic. She described spending a minimum of five to six hours serving the county. This includes making monthly calls to the state health officer and separate calls to fellow county health officers and making daily reports, updates and travel, all for which she never has asked for additional money or reimbursement.

She appeared at the Nov. 3 meeting, thanked the board for putting the issue at the forefront and suggested it align itself with the Quad Counties in their health officers’ roles to serve the area communities.

“It’s a moving target, and I agree with moving forward and with what will happen, I would prefer a salary package as opposed to hourly,” she said, adding her hours depend on monthly board of health meetings. “I don’t want to break the bank, but $250 for some months, I think that’s reasonable.”

The board on Nov. 3 approved the motion, but Haskin told the Appeal afterward that the item would have to return at the next board meeting for correction.