During the recent budget crisis at the federal, state and local level, one way Wright County has been able to meet potential budget deficits has been to impose a de facto hiring freeze. The sheriff’s department, for example, has been understaffed by five positions that haven’t been refilled when vacancies arise. But at the Tuesday, May 18, meeting of the Wright County Board, commissioners voted to offer a current employee being promoted less money than some of the workers she supervises – over the objection of Sheriff Gary Miller. At question was the starting pay for a lead clerk supervisor. The person chosen has worked 16 years in the sheriff’s department and, given that experience, Miller believed she should start at Step 7 on the pay scale ($26.12 an hour). Step 1 on that same pay scale is $21 an hour, which is what the board planned to implement. "There were a couple of problems from my perspective," Miller said. "First, this is a non-union position, so there wasn’t anyone fighting on her behalf on this matter. Second, I’ve never seen an instance in which a supervisor is paid less than the people he or she supervises, which is the case here. "While I run my department as an elected official, one thing I don’t do is set salaries. That is part of the county board’s responsibilities." The issue became whether starting the employee at Step 7 would go against the county’s policy concerning new hires at new positions. Miller said he couldn’t find any reference to such a decision in the county’s personnel policy, saying that, if anything, it’s past practice, not policy, that was being cited. He said it is ridiculous to start the employee at Step 1, that the matter is a fairness question, and he asked if there is a gender-bias given the fact that the lead clerk position is a female-dominated position. "I understand that the county board is trying to save money wherever possible and department heads have all done their part to reduce their own budgets," Miller said. "But this is a fairness issue. How can you have someone supervising employees when a couple of them make more at the current position that the lead clerk supervisor will make? It doesn’t make sense to me." At the personnel committee meeting of Wednesday, May 12, the committee recommended staying with the Step 1 classification on the pay scale, which was forwarded to the board for its May 18 meeting. Miller intended to be at the meeting to plead his case in front of the full board, but due to a change in the agenda, he was too late. The committee minutes are typically heard at the end of board meetings, but, when agenda items (which are time-specific) come up before their scheduled time, the board will go to the consent agenda until the time comes that the regular agenda items are scheduled to be discussed. Due to a mistake, the first item on the agenda was scheduled to be acknowledgement of the retirement of Captain Gary Torfin, which doesn’t happen until June. As a result, the minutes were read and a vote was taken several minutes earlier than expected and Miller was not in the board room. Commissioner Rose Thelen said she would like to see the matter sent to the personnel committee of the whole so all five commissioners could be heard from instead of the two that sit on the committee. "I would like to honor the sheriff’s request to bring it back to the personnel committee of the whole, possibly with a county labor attorney present," Thelen said. "I don’t know all the issues involved, but it seems he has a strong sense of urgency about this position and everyone validated his argument. I think we owe him the courtesy of having this looked at again." The other commissioners disagreed. "I can’t see any benefit to sending this back to the personnel committee," commissioner Jack Russek said. "They made their choice and both members (of the committee on the county board) moved the recommendation. I’ll stick with the recommendation." The board approved offering the position at Step 1 on the pay scale, giving the employee the option to accept or reject the offer. The vote was 4-1, with Thelen opposed. In other items on the agenda, the board: – Referred discussion of temporary storage of election materials to the building committee. Because of the hand-counted ballots in the Al Franken-Norm Coleman U.S. Senate election, auditor-treasurer Bob Hiivala said all of the ballots and associated materials need to be preserved for 22 months. They are being housed in his office and he is looking for another place to keep them until the time is up and they can be legally eliminated. – Opened bids for the replacement of a pole barn that collapsed under the weight of spring snow at the county fairgrounds. Seven bids were received and three of them came in under projections. The bids were laid over a week for review and the bid will be awarded at the Tuesday, May 25, board meeting. – Referred discussion of the county’s jail medical services to the ways and means committee. The board has asked the sheriff’s department and jail staff to explore possible alternatives to the existing medical services contract. – Approved the county’s April revenue-expenditure guidelines. – Set a transportation committee of the whole meeting for 1 p.m. Friday, June 4. – Approved a premises permit and lease for lawful gambling activity for Up the Creek Bar and Grill in Silver Creek Township. The proceeds of the pulltab operation will benefit the Monticello Youth Hockey Program.
