The $16,000 Question

After a very brief respite, the County Commission and their associated committees are back to work. For those of us that were hoping that a month without dealing with County business or Commission counterparts would make for a kinder, gentler, more productive Commission-well, after last Monday’s three hour debate, we now know better. Truth be told, what did we expect? When we last saw this County Commission, they were still arguing about cuts made in a budget that is already at the end of its third month of operation. The County is likely going to have yet another legal suit filed against them, this time from one of their own in the form of Environmental Director Tom Carter, whose salary was chopped around $16,000 in a line item cut during the budget process. At the onset, the cut was touted as necessary to balance the budget. But in the last Commission meeting before the break, it was revealed that there was a significant roll back of funds that was not anticipated, so the financial picture was not nearly as bleak as originally anticipated. There was also discussion about raising fees in the Environmental Office to off set the restoration of Carter’s salary but, ultimately, that didn’t fly. It appeared that while some of the Commission was willing to restore Carter’s salary, they could not buy into raising fees to do so. And others remained steadfast in their conviction that cutting the Director’s salary was in line with the duties that were being performed in the office, citing work that was fielded outside the County.

For some Commissioners, it is apparent that they believe that there are issues in the department and that this approach should have been more palatable than laying it all out for public consumption. While others are as adamant that the Commission funds the position, not the person, and that the Director’s position was worth the previous salary. Basically, it has all boiled down to a verbal sparring match among Commissioners and County employees, with neither side coming out looking very good. And while all the chatter has done little to find a solution that everyone can live with, what it has served to do is make for some strange dividing lines on the County Commission.

And now the time has come to, again, chose a leader for the County Commission. Make no mistake, $16,000 is the price tag of this election, no matter what side or contender is in question. What is unfortunate for Jefferson County is that regardless of who holds the gavel at the end of Monday evening, it will have been a costly evening for Jefferson County and recovery, if it happens at all, will be a slow, painful process. In the end, Carter’s salary will most likely be a question for the courts. Pro or against the action of the County Commission, neither will matter in the end as the decision will be pushed down the road, metaphorically and physically, until most of us can’t even remember what it was they were fighting about.