Greg Riat attends first County Commission meeting as commissioner
Monday’s Pottawatomie County Commission meeting was the first for Greg Riat as a commissioner.
During the meeting, Commissioner Dee McKee thanked Riat for his decision to join the commission alongside her and Commissioner Pat Weixelman.
Commissioner Riat was elected by Pottawatomie County Republican Party precinct leaders in November to be the newest member of the commission.
This came after former Commissioner Travis Altenhofen resigned due to added responsibilities at his job at Manko Window Systems.
Riat previously served over 30 years in law enforcement, including several as Pottawatomie County’s sheriff.
County-employee pay during bad-weather office closures
The Pottawatomie County Commission is looking to create a policy stating how certain employees should be paid when county offices close early for bad weather.
When non-essential county personnel were released early last Friday due to bad weather, they were paid for the remainder of the day, while essential personnel who still had to work were paid at their regular rate.
Commissioner Greg Riat says that he would like a policy to be established so county employees will know how they will be paid in these kinds of circumstances going forward.
It is uncertain whether the county will adopt a policy based on what it has done in the past or on what other counties have in place as policy.
In the meantime, the commission plans to explore different options in the coming weeks.
Based on the decision the commission makes, it is possible that the way certain employees were paid last Friday will change.
Reorganization for 2020
The Pottawatomie County Commission made a number of moves to reorganize for 2020.
The first move was to designate a member as the chairperson of the commission.
Although Commissioner Pat Weixelman was a candidate, he declined as he didn’t want to be chair shortly before potentially running for re-election.
Instead, Commissioner Dee McKee will serve as chair for 2020.
A couple other steps the commission took to reorganize were designating the Wamego Times as the official county newspaper and reviewing the various committees each commissioner will serve on.
The commission will not meet next week as county offices will be closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so their next meeting will be on Jan. 27th at 8:30 a.m..
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