Greene County Commissioners will vote Monday morning on whether to delay the potential merger of the children services agency with the jobs and family services department.

The special meeting, which begins at 9 a.m., was scheduled during work session about the merger last week.

If a motion to delay merger passes, the commissioners will send a letter to the state jobs and family services department stating the agencies will not be combined at this time.

County commissioners sent a letter dated Aug. 14 to Michael Colbert, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, stating they planned to combine the two agencies on Nov. 19.

During the work session on Thursday, two of the three commissioners, Rick Perales and Alan Anderson, said they wanted to hold off on combining the agencies.

“I think there’s more information we need to get,” Anderson said.

Perales said there still unanswered questions about the benefits and drawbacks.

“We need to keep moving forward on the answers we need to get,” he said.

The third commissioner, Marilyn Reid, did not want to delay the merger and said she would not sign a letter to the state.

Beth Rubin, director of the Greene County Jobs and Family Services, told commissioners delaying the decision to combine the agencies could harm the children services levy and the agency’s accreditation.

“We have everything we need to move forward or stop this,” Rubin told commissioners. “In my opinion, one way or another, this needs to be done.”

Elizabeth Ellis, the civil division chief of the Greene County Prosecutor’s Office, told commissioners the decision on whether to merge is a question of whether they want more control over the agency or if they want to trust a board.

“At the end of the day it’s a management decision,” Ellis said.

Elaine Hughes, a former member of the children services board and a member of the Friends of Children Services organization, urged commissioners to delay the decision.

“You’re not ready to merge,” Hughes said. “There’s no way you’re ready to merge.”