KINGSTON � Ulster County Executive Michael Hein called a press conference last week to introduce the county's new automated time and attendance system, which he believes will help to usher in a new era of accountability.

"We have been functioning in a 1975-based manual system that differed from department to department," he said.

When fully implemented, the new biometric system will provide "secure real-time attendance data for every county employee." The county executive said the data would be used to track and adjust employee schedules, expedite the payroll process, and ensure that employees are properly compensated for time actually worked.

Following the initial pilot program, already being tested at the Ulster County Department of Social Services, the small biometric finger scanners will be installed at the Department of Public Works and the Golden Hill Health Care Facility. After all test phases have been successfully completed, the new technology will be implemented throughout all county departments Hein said implementation of the biometric system falls under his campaign promise to bring business principles of accountability to county governance.

For the county executive, the new standardized system is "what accountability looks like in government," and he expects it to result in significant productivity gains and savings.

In addition, the county executive issued a series of press releases last week concerning the status of various matters his office has been working on, including settlement of a long-standing lawsuit with the Ulster County Staff Association (UCSA), a New York State United Teachers Union (NYSUT) affiliate.

Lawsuit settled
The suit charged that approximately 45 county employees, represented by UCSA, had been working without a contract for the past five years.

The UCSA had filed an improper practice lawsuit against the county, which, according to Hein, could have cost the taxpayers upwards of $300,000 and may have forced the long-term continuation of the controversial health reimbursement program known as the "flex plan."

Under terms established by the flex plan, managers used to be able to submit annual vouchers for payments or reimbursement, up to a certain amount, for the co-pay dollars spent on their healthcare. The flex plan benefit was eliminated in the new contract.

"These were difficult negotiations," said Brenda Bartholomew, Ulster County Personnel Director. "This is the first time in Ulster County's history that a settlement did not include compounded retroactive pay."

The contract requires new employees to contribute 15 percent to their health care costs. In addition, there will be a zero percent salary increase in 2010, which coincides with the salary freeze for all non-union managers, initiated in January by the county executive.

Per the county charter, the new contract is subject to approval by the county legislature.

Honest competition status
Following an audit by the NYS comptroller that reported on Ulster County's sound procurement procedures awarding contracts funded by the federal stimulus program, County Executive Mike Hein issued a press release praising the efforts of the county's purchasing department, department of finance, attorney's office, and department of public works on working cooperatively in order to ensure that the state's competitive bidding laws were followed.

Staff from numerous departments worked as a team, Hein said, resulting in the Comptroller's designation of "honest competition." The county executive attributes several projects to inter-departmental effort, which include funds to begin construction of a new bridge and purchase new county buses. In addition, he said the efforts resulted in the county's eligibility for an additional $8.3 million of stimulus funding that will be used for re-paving large sections of Route 28, slated to begin this spring.

The NYS Comptroller's report found that the local governments of Ulster County, the City of Kingston, and the Village of Ellenville, "followed sound procurement procedures when awarding contracts funded by ARRA funds." Specifically, it states that the municipalities "adhered to bidding laws and appropriately awarded their ARRA highway projects to the lowest responsible bidders."

The report also found that the agencies had taken "reasonable measures to ensure that only responsible vendors were awarded contracts." A copy of the report is available on the NYS Comptroller's website at: http://www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/.

Applying for Google Ultra-High-Speed Broadband
The county exec also released details of his attempts to bring an "ultra-high-speed" fiber network to Ulster County. To that end, Hein, in concert with multiple local community leaders, submitted an application to Google's "Fiber for Communities" program.

Google is offering to build out a one gigabit per second fiber network for one or more communities across the country.

"High-speed conductivity is essential infrastructure for business activity," said Hein.

The Google program sought communities of at least 50,000 as applicants. Ulster County's application was matched by applications from community groups including Kingston Digital Corridor, Tech City, The Solar Energy Consortium, and What's the Big Idea.com.

"This application by Ulster County represents a unified effort to bring a needed service to our local economy," said Fred Wadnola, Chairman of the Ulster County Legislature.

Ulster County is also pursuing funding for wireless broadband funding in areas of the county un-served by any service.