Carroll County Commissioners plan to announce their choice for chief of staff at a news conference this morning.
They are expected to give Robert A. "Max" Bair, their executive assistant, the new title.
The commissioners, who took office three weeks ago, have moved quickly to make organizational changes. The chief of staff is a key part of their plan.
The person in the job will have the authority to work with department heads to implement policies set by the commissioners, Commissioner W. Benjamin Brown said.
The chief of staff will work to ensure "that all roads don't lead to the commissioners every day," he said.
Mr. Brown would not say yesterday who had been chosen, but said the job would go to someone on staff and that the commissioners would not be creating a job in naming a chief of staff. Mr. Bair also would not comment yesterday.
During his campaign, Mr. Brown said he would like to have a
chief of staff whose main duty would be to regulate the flow of information to the commissioners.
The previous board of commissioners received stacks of information that often wasn't summarized or easy to understand, he said. As a result, they were not well organized and were slow to make decisions, he said.
In an interview last week, Mr. Brown said he and Commissioner Richard T. Yates wanted to make changes so the commissioners would not have to sit in meetings with staff members all day. "You never step back and get the big picture," said Mr. Brown, the former Westminster mayor.
Commissioner Donald I. Dell is the only incumbent on the board. He had a "hands-on" approach to the job in his first term and said during the campaign that he expected to continue with that style.
Mr. Brown said the commissioners should delegate some of the day-to-day decisions.
"The commissioners will focus more on policy and legislation," he said.
In addition to being the commissioners' executive assistant, Mr. Bair also is director of the Department of Administrative Services.
The department encompasses public information and public access and cable television, among other areas. Micki Smith is deputy director of the department and reports to Mr. Bair.
Mr. Bair also oversees the Office of Environmental Services, which is headed by James E. Slater Jr. He has worked for county government since 1970 and is paid $70,317 annually.
The commissi