She also interacts with 15 other elected officials and seven independent boards.
Rather than advertise the open position the commissioners hand-picked Boyko. Commissioner Don Dixon told the Journal-News when she was hired that he had been trying to hire her for various positions for years and she is an “A” player. He said that “she’s lived up to all the expectations I had.”
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“She’s one of the top in her field, so we were fortunate to get her and hopefully she’s as happy with us as we are with her,” Dixon said. “We’ve got a great relationship with all of our officeholders and directors and I haven’t heard a bad comment from any of them, they all like working with her. She’s very detailed, she’s the first one there and the last to leave every day. So I think it’s only going to get better.”
Boyko was the West Chester Twp. administrator from 2005 until June 2017, when she took the job as assistant county administrator in Hamilton County.
County Auditor Roger Reynolds said there has been tension between his office and the commissioners’ office in the past, but those issues ended when Boyko started and “I’m thrilled that she’s on board with the county.”
“She said when she came in that was going to be on of her priorities, to make the working relationships better and she has certainly succeeded,” Reynolds said.
Boyko told the Journal-News the “scope and complexities” of the position are exactly what she was looking for when she took the job.
“I can’t be stagnant, I have to be challenged, I want to grow, I want to learn both personally and professionally,” Boyko said. “This position over the last year has afforded me the opportunities to do exactly that.”
Commissioner T.C. Rogers said it took him five weeks to convince Boyko to take the job, and he credits her for positive outcomes the county has realized this year, like saving about $700,000 on the county’s new voting equipment and halving the anticipated health insurance increase.
“I think that she had a special place in her heart for Butler County and also the fact that she already had these strong relationships with many local government officials, made her job easier and she was able to hit the ground running,” Rogers said. “And she’s been running ever since.”
The Board of Elections recommended a $8.2 million voting machine system to the commissioners in March 2019. The commissioners balked at the high price and asked Boyko to get involved. After she and the Board of Elections went back to their vendor, Dominion, the price dropped almost $700,000.
Board of Elections Board Member Todd Hall agreed Boyko was instrumental in securing a new system at the best price. He said she is “very detailed and thorough” and a great support source for the BOE.
“Hands down the commissioners did a fabulous job when they hired her,” Hall said. “And we are lucky to have her in my opinion.”
The various elected officials and department heads were told to plan for a 14, or possibly 16, percent jump in health insurance costs for this year. Boyko told the Journal-News last year because they went back and really drilled into the claims experience the hike dropped to eight percent.
Part of Boyko’s job is to communicate regularly with Prosecutor Mike Gmoser. He said she is doing a “magnificent” job and keeps him informed on all aspects of county business that might have legal repercussions.
“That is critical to the operation of a county on a daily basis, so we’re not running around stamping out field fires or worrying about the sky falling in,” Gmoser said. “Because we’re bracing things up before that happens, because she is doing such a magnificent job.”
There have been some personnel changes since Boyko took charge, namely former Finance Director Tawana Keels, who resigned last month, and former Care Facility Administrator Jennifer Strickland, who departed in May.
Part of Boyko’s five-year contract gives her the ability to hire more staff, within budget constraints. There is also a clause that gives her “autonomy.”
“It was very important to me that if I was to consider the position that the commissioners allow the experience and education and the professional acumen in public administration, that they allow me to bring those skills to the organization and that they allow me to lead and manage the staff — in a way obviously that’s consistent with their policy, their direction, consistent with the budgetary allocation — but to allow me to build an organization that could achieve the direction they would like the county to pursue,” she said after she was hired.
She hired Chamika Poole to run the county nursing home in September and is poised to name a replacement for Keels. She is also hiring a new asset, procurement and project director and eventually a new assistant county administrator.
When asked about Boyko’s first year on the job, Commissioner Cindy Carpenter said she “has faced some challenges” and finds it “particularly bothersome” she was not allowed to interview finance director candidates.
“I get it that you want a personality you can work with, autonomy to hire somebody,” Carpenter said. “But I still think the foundation ought to be the financial philosophies that this board of commissioners stand for.”
CONTINUING COVERAGE
The Journal-News is committed to following the actions of Butler County’s government that affect every resident of the county and informing taxpayers about how those funds are spent. For news tips, email ButlerCountyNews@coxohio.com or email 513-863-8200, ext. 6.
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