At today's county commissioner's briefing the Prosecutor quite bluntly told two of the commissioners that his office was not going to do their job. Commissioner Sheldon split just before Mr Burleson came in for his briefing. So the two remaining were left to receive the direct undiluted message.
Since the county's Human Resources Director, TJ Martin was fired the commissioners' staff has been turning to the Prosecutor's office for answers to their questions. Monty Cobb (an attorney in the Prosecutor's office) said that each day he's fielding up to six questions which in the past were handled by Mr Martin.
Mr Burleson went on to say that Commissioner Sheldon asked him how much he needed to continue working the issues for the Board. He said he really regretted that Tim wasn't in attendance because the answer to that question was, "There isn't enough money for my office to continue doing your job and it's not in the best interest of the citizens." Then he went on to say the next time the commissioners or their staff have a problem, "Deal with it! Just don't call me." He was also very clear that when there was a clear legal question, his staff would be there to help them but not to fill in for people they fired or released in 2009.
Now here's the problem for John Q Public, you and me. We've got only one of eleven bargaining units with a signed contract. Of particular concern is the fact that the Deputies Guild has had no signed contract in four years. The Board of County Commissioners has been counting on someone else doing their work to include the negotiation of these union contracts. Now that's backfiring on them. (See my previous blog "Staff Driven" for more on how little real attention our BOCC pays to county business.)
The HR/B&F newly combined position has been advertised but they can't find an applicant who has both of these specialized skills. Today Commissioner Gallagher admitted that this newly combined position is really two people: an HR type and a Budget type. (Much as I wanted to say "I told you so" I didn't.) Commissioner Ring Erickson noted that she voted against this position from the start.
Stay tuned for more on this. I think we've only begun this "thoughtful conversation".
Monday, January 25, 2010
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As a county employee, I don't think that there needs to be a "budget"guru. There are enough highly paid finance managers on the County payroll...and that's their JOB!!
ReplyDeleteAs far as HR goes, unless the Commissioners make work for the HR person, it's not a full time job. Why couldn't the County contract/share with another county who has the expertise?