LETTER: BOC’s employment decisions make no sense

We are also looking at paying taxes for the third time in two years. I will be honest in saying that with all that is going on the actions taken by our government anger me. We are facing the toughest economic times this country has seen since the Great Depression and what is our government doing to help? Nothing! As a matter of fact, they are making the situation worse.

The board of commissioners has been working hard to cut the budget in order to ease the burden on our citizens. Even though they cut 50 percent of employees’ paid holiday time, I feel more could have been done. I see our neighboring governments being a lot more drastic than we are. They are looking at furloughs and more extreme cutbacks. They recognize that more tough times are ahead, maybe worse than what we are seeing now. But not us, we keep spending and allowing massive amounts of overtime to be accrued.

I guess the straw that broke the camel’s back as far as I’m concerned is our latest employment decisions. The BOC voted to implement a hiring freeze due to our financial situation. Louise Watson from the tax office requested help in her office and was denied due to the freeze. The tax office is a critical part of our government that must be in good working order for us to operate. But, I understood that everybody has to cut back. Then, in the Nov. 30 meeting, Chairman Anthony Dove recommended that two employees be hired. One at the landfill so we can have two people in the scale house and the other at the recreation department. These are nonessential operations unlike the tax office and a horrible waste of money in this crucial time. This is the down season for the recreation department until baseball starts in the spring.

Do the math! That’s two full-time salaries and we are also paying for two full-time benefits packages as well. C’mon guys, what in the world are you thinking! Chairman Dove and commissioners Stanley Thomas and Bruce Scogin have succeeded in proving that they have no regard for the suffering of the people. Not only did Dove recommend these hirings, but he cast the deciding vote to follow through with them.

Gentleman, I assure you that your ill-advised and absent minded vote will not be forgotten. I will not speculate as to why some department heads were turned down for additional employees and some were approved. Whether it was favoritism or just ignorance it was wrong!

Finally, I would like to thank commissioners Mike Youngblood and John Pethel for showing some manner of good business sense. And for the people that are losing their jobs, their homes and are being choked by taxes, let this burn deep into your mind and remember it when you cast your next ballot.

Sincerely,

Robert Spivey