There were no comments pro or con on creating the County Administrator position in Marion County government at Wednesday night’s Personnel Committee meeting. Almost all the county officeholders were in attendance, but County Clerk Steve Fox told the committee they had nothing else to add from what they presented in favor of the position at the last full county board meeting. Members of the committee also added no comments.
After the meeting, Marion County Board Chair Debbie Smith says it was her intention to take more public comments before the full county board meeting on Tuesday night before offering each county board member time to give their thoughts on the position before taking a vote to either approve or deny creation of the position.
The personnel committee Wednesday night did approve moving two union contracts to the full board for approval.
The first is a four-year contract with the Fraternal Order of Police that is retroactive to December 1st, 2017. The raises of one percent for the first two years and two percent for the second two years of the contract were determined by binding arbitration. With the retroactive contract expiring on November 30th of this year, Smith called on negotiations to start quickly to try and work out a new contract.
The Law Enforcement Chair of the County Board Steve Whritenour pushed the county board to approve an immediate $5 an hour raise for all deputies, correctional officers, and dispatchers at Tuesday night’s law enforcement committee meeting.
The second contract receiving committee approval Wednesday night was for operators at the highway department. It is retroactive to December first, 2020 and includes a $1.57 wage increase each of the first two years and $2.86 in the final year. Highway Department Engineer Mike McCormick says in the final year of the contract, the highway workers will be making $21 an hour which is competitive with those working similar jobs in private industry and should allow them to keep their crew in place. The three employees of the department not covered by the contract will receive a three-percent wage increase each of the three years.
The personnel committee will recommend County Board Secretary Sheri Barter receive a $500 a month stipend to serve as the county’s Freedom of Information Officer.
The Marion County Board meets in full session at seven next Tuesday night in the basement of the Law Enforcement Center.
