AUBURN - After several debates, minor changes and at times heated discussion, the Cayuga County Government Operations Committee voted Tuesday afternoon to send a local law which would establish an appointed county manager position to the full Legislature.

The Legislature will vote to set the date and time for a public hearing on the office Tuesday, Aug. 23.

Committee members reviewed the proposed local law, which gives a county manager various administrative duties.

But that review was not without emotion.

Legislator Michael Lepak continually questioned why the vote could not go before the people as a public referendum.

"I'm going to argue with you all the way to put it on the ballot," he said.

County attorney Fred Westphal responded to Lepak's concerns.

"The law sets forth what can go to referendum and what can't," Westphal said. "You can't have a referendum and send it to the public just because you want to."

In the past, the government operations committee had looked to change the form of government, which would have required a public referendum, Westphal explained.

But establishing a county manager position would create a new office, which requires a local law and a two-thirds vote by the Legislature.

The committee read through the proposed law, which assigns the manager several duties, including taking on the role of budget officer and overseeing department heads.

Westphal said he had some concerns about the manager having control over the hiring of county department and agency employees.

"You have a county manager ... over and above and around the department heads," Westphal said.

"I don't think that's a good idea. Department heads should be able to hire their own employees."

After making some minor wording changes, legislators Peter Tortorici, Michele Sedor, Ann Petrus and Bill Catto voted yes on a motion to send the local law to the full Legislature.

Catto expressed some reservations, saying he also wanted to see a public referendum on the matter.

But Sedor, the legislator to put the motion on the floor, said that she was ready to go forward.

"I'm done with it," Sedor said, noting that the legislators have had a version of the county manager position in their hands since January.

"Let's get it out there. Let's move it up or down and move on."

If the county manager position passes, Westphal will have to create a resolution to set the chairman's new salary and duties.

Westphal also said that he would work with Lepak on an idea Lepak had to create a position allowing Legislature Chairman Herb Marshall to continue working with the county for a year.

In other news:

- Steve Johnson, director of the Information Technologies Department, recently installed a new Web filter for county employees.

The filter, which is paid for by the state, is to help protect the county and state networks from spyware and viruses, Johnson said.

The filter blocks pornography, dating, gaming, sports and job search sites, among others.

If employees need to access sites for work purposes, they can ask their department heads to call the IT department, Johnson said.

Legislators on the government operations committee voted to have Johnson block all newspaper sites on a two-week trial basis in an attempt to stop employees from looking at sites that are not work-related.

Johnson also plans to implement a spam blocker sometime next week.

- The county Web site received 31,603 unique visitors during July, more visits than any previously recorded month.

In June, the county received 29,645 visitors.

Staff writer Linda Ober can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or linda.ober@lee.net