DOTHAN: Understanding the City of Dothan Personnel Department.

In summary, the Dothan Personnel Director, while employed by the City of Dothan, is not “hired” by the City of Dothan. The Personnel Director is “hired” by the (5) five member Personnel Board, who are appointed by the Citizen’s Supervisory Committee.

The Citizen’s Supervisory Committee is comprised of members of Civic Organizations across the City of Dothan.

The Dothan City Manager, Dothan Mayor or any member of the City of Dothan Commission has no authority over the Dothan Personnel Board or Dothan Personnel Director. They have zero control over the budget, who they employ as legal counsel, or any aspect of the operation of the Dothan Personnel Department or Dothan Personnel Director.

For a Department Head to employ a person, the Dothan Personnel Director has to give approval. When the Dothan City Commission gives raises, it requires approval from the Dothan Personnel Board first.

Dothan businessman Tim Shirley is Chairman of the Dothan Personnel Board.

FROM CITY OF DOTHAN WEB SITE

Created by Act Number 273 (PDF), Alabama Legislature, dated August 7, 1947, the Personnel Department operates under the supervision of the Citizens Supervisory Committee, a five-member Personnel Board, and a personnel director for the administration of the City of Dothan Civil Service System established by the Act.

Functions

In the 50-plus years since its creation, the Personnel Department’s services have expanded to encompass a full spectrum of human resource functions. Today the Dothan Personnel Department administers the following centralized functions for a workforce of over 1,100 full- and part-time classified and unclassified employees:

Recruitment, Testing, and Certification

Wage and Salary / Pay and Classification

Job Evaluation and Analysis

Payroll and Benefits Administration

Employee Performance Evaluation

Employment Records Management

If you’re going to try frying your turkey for Thanksgiving this year, please use safety and don’t cause a fire. Fire departments do demonstrations of how quickly a fire can start from a turkey fryer. Watch the video above to see. Here are some safety tips:

– Make sure your turkey fryer is at least 10 feet from your home and not under roof eaves. 

– Turkey fryers can tip over easily, spilling hot cooking oil over a large area. Make sure your fryer is on a sturdy, level surface, and don’t move it once it is in use.

– An overfilled cooking pot will cause cooking oil to spill when the turkey is put in. Test the amount of oil you need by filling your fryer with water. Place the turkey in the pot to test volume displacement and make sure the water doesn’t get too close to the top. Measure the amount of water and use that as a guide for filling the pot with oil.

– A partially frozen turkey will cause cooking oil to splatter when you put it in the cooking pot. Make sure your turkey is fully thawed without frost on it before you fry it.

– Without thermostat controls, deep fryers can overheat oil to the point of starting a fire. If your turkey fryer doesn’t have a thermostat, use a kitchen thermometer that attaches to the side of the pot. This will help you monitor the temperature of the oil. 

The sides of the cooking pot, lid and pot handles can get dangerously hot. Always use protective oven mitts. Keep children and pets at least 3 feet away from the fryer. 

– Consider using an electric or air fryer.

– Never leave fryers unattended. 

– Never use fryers in garages. 

– Never use fryers on wooden decks or under patios. 

– Be cautious of the weather, and avoid operating a fryer in the rain. 

– Allot 2 feet between the burner and the tank.

– Keep a fire extinguisher nearby. 

HOUSTON COUNTY—The Houston County Commission authorized the second-longest agenda of 2024 on Thursday, and the body is now set to vote Monday on a budget amendment for the Houston County Sheriff’s Office for additional costs associated with pending animal cruelty cases.

Major Bill Rafferty appeared before the three-man Commission (Chairman Brandon Shoupe and D1’s Curtis Harvey were absent from the administrative meeting) to request $2,040 for additional fees. 

“When deputies make a case for animal cruelty, of course something’s got to be done with the animals,” Rafferty told RSN today. 

He said Houston County is in an agreement with Dothan’s animal shelter for county animal control to store animals there, as Houston County itself does not have a pound, despite law dictating counties are required to have a pound. 

The Sheriff’s Office is charged $8 a day per animal they need to board, bringing the cost to around $240 a month (for 30-day months). 

Rafferty said two animal cruelty cases are pending, leading to the additional cost. 

In the case of animal cruelty cases, owners can sign over the pet to the shelter to be adopted, or they can insist on keeping the pet to be returned to them if deemed innocent. 

In some cases, district attorneys can make a direct request for restitution. 

But for two pending cruelty cases, restitution was not requested.

Rafferty said he intended to speak with those working on the cases to learn more information.

The extra bill is the cost for keeping the two dogs in question boarded. 

The Houston County Commission approved the agenda, and they will vote on the item at their general meeting on Monday.