Philosopher Camus wrote “Always go too far, because that’s where you will find the truth.”
Restructuring and
Expenditure Reduction
(Ways to cut)
1. Hire a County Manager. This is to provide follow-through on Commission initiatives and actions and provide leadership in the day-to-day operations of the county.
(I agree the commission needs follow through on their actions, I do not think a new employee is needed. Any interested commissioner can follow through. Way too many items are tabled and never brought up again. Any item put on the agenda is worthy of a decision.)
2. Work on consolidating services with the City of Ely. Suggestions are Fire/EMS/Office of Emergency Management, Justice Court and Municipal Court, Financial Services, Road Departments and Attorney Services.
(Some of these are feasible, but there is some doubt as to how and if there is any will by the City of Ely.)
3. Eliminate the EDC department and reassign primary duties to other offices.
(Some of the duties have been reassigned others offices. The EDC office remains open and time cards are being turned in. There is no department head, but some commissioners intend to hire one and keep the department open. This department is not needed on the county payroll, private groups can provide everything needed at little or no cost to the county.)
4. Concurrent with elimination of the EDC department, add a half time grant writing position to the Treasurer’s Office and reassign duties for economic development to the Treasurer.
(This does make sense.)
5. Assign duties for business license to the Recorder’s Office increasing duties as opposed to decreasing staff.
(Yes this is part of the way to handle the planed revenue enhancements. This may be a done deal. With one commissioner against a new business license.)
6. Assign all administrative duties of the County Commission to the Clerk’s Office.
(This is where it belongs and the duties have been reassigned.)
7. During negotiations with the general employees union, work to add three new steps below the lowest steps to start new employees at a lower rate.
(Good move, now what do we do about department heads?)
8. Impose a hiring delay that recoups all costs of termination prior to allowing a new hire to occur with a minimum of ninety day delay.
(Termination could be someone leaving or someone being let go. The ninety days should be used to see if the potion is needed and if it can be handled by another employee.)
9. Reduce the BCT contract and hire a full-time Technology Department engineer. Eliminate the stipend to the IT supervisor. Place the department under County Manager.
(BCT contract is $110,000. Cost for a full time engineer – Unknown.
County Manger may cost $130,000. Your call!)
10. Hire a County Manager who will be responsible for County oversight, supervision of appointed department heads, natural resources, human resources and information technology .
(Only if appointed department heads salary is cut to pay for a County Manger.)
11. Reduce the human resources director position to a department manager position.
(This requires the hiring of a County Manager. We need to cut payroll not hire more people to oversee the people already being paid. For some reason I do not think anyone’s wages will be cut to cause any savings.)
12. District Attorney’s Office, consider – 1. Outsourcing the public guardian position and the eliminating one administrator duties, 2. Eliminate one administrative assistant and one legal executive assistant and hire a new deputy district attorney.
(The hiring of a new deputy attorney has been approved. All other suggestions have not been addressed.)
13. Reduce ten hours per week of staff time from the library. The library is not a mandated or essential service of the County.
(This will save very little, and cost in services to the community .)
14. Eliminate the airport manager and reassign duties to various departments.
(The airport manager makes about $35,000. a year. If we ever want to have the airport in good shape again, there needs to be someone who’s only object is the airport.)
15. Combine the department head for the senior center and social services.
(Combining departments is a necessity, I am not sure this one saves any money.)
16. Reduce hours for support staff in the agricultural extension office.
(Don’t know the savings.)
17. Change the golf course and building and planing enterprise funds to special funds.
(Why? Does this put more money in the hands of the commission? If memory serves, the state set up the enterprise fund with money from the golf course, in the amount of $300,000. Please correct me if I am wrong.)
This goes on for 33 items. Included is reducing the commissioners to 3 (bad idea). Make it mandatory all new employees be hired at entry level pay (this should have been in practice). I have had discussions with some commissioners on the salary of department heads. I feel they are to high. A commissioner compared them with what the US Government pays for the same job. I do not like the comparison.
The repeated message is hire a county manager.
One of the largest expenses the county has is payroll and this is were the cuts need to start. The commissioners know the employees better than they know the citizens of the county, so this will be very hard for them to do.
The citizens of White Pine County can not afford more taxes or fees. The only thing that will save us is cuts, very serious cuts.
“Situational ethics” what does this mean to you?
Geri Wop