Tags
The Henry Herald online propaganda newspaper noted today that the Commissioners are bravely consider cutting their own salaries:
”Auletta has presented a number of possible measures the commission could undertake to pay for government services in the coming year. Those include reductions in pay for commissioners, personnel cuts, and a millage-rate increase for property owners.
Commissioners receive annual salaries of $43,939.36. The proposed budget calls for those salaries to drop to $35,000. The base salary of $57,785,81, for the commission chairman, currently Elizabeth “B.J.” Mathis, would be reduced by five percent, according to the budget proposal.”
First, let me note that the Henry Herald is was a subscriber to this blog so they should be aware that this issues was discussed here back in February of this year. Twice.
After the BOC published on its website the qualifying fees for the upcoming election in which they posted all of the salaries of the Commissioners, it was discovered that the Board of Commissioners abused a loophole in the law when they voted to “freeze” their own salaries prior to former Henry County Sheriff Donald Chafin’s retirement. I noted this:
“Back in April of 2006, in a PR stunt to try to make it look like they were making some sort of big sacrifice, the BOC voted to freeze their own salaries. The reason I call this a PR stunt was because, at the time, Donald Chaffin was still the Sheriff of Henry County and had been since 1982. Because he had so much time on the job, Sheriff Chaffin’s salary was quite substantial. But the thorn in their collective side was that since their own salaries were based on the Sheriff salary, they knew that if Sheriff Chaffin retired then their pay would be cut virtually in half.”
The Henry Code states that Commissioners salaries are to be calculated based on a percentage of the Sheriff’s salary:
Henry County Code of Ordinances Sec. 2-2-23. – Compensation and allowances.
“The chairman of the board shall receive an annual salary in an amount equal to forty (40) percent of the annual salary provided by general law for the sheriff of Henry County. The vice-chairman of the board shall receive an annual salary in an amount equal to thirty-five (35) percent of the annual salary now or hereafter provided by general law for the sheriff of Henry County. The other members of the board shall receive an annual salary equal to thirty (30) percent of the annual salary now or hereafter provided by general law for the sheriff of Henry County. “
So, it seems The Herald wants you to believe the BOC is acting benevolently by sacrificing their own pay for the sake of the budget. The truth is, they’ve been overpaying themselves since the day BJ Mathis took office.
There are so many things you can say about the Daily (now 3 days a week) Herald. First of all, the paid circulation is about 3,000 in a county of 200,000-plus. I know this because I have been a customer of theirs over the past five years, publishing special advertising sections to run as inserts. I don’t know how many people actually read their news online, but in comparison to the overall population I cannot imagine that they are very relevant in any way. Their staff, with some exceptions, is made up of young, underpaid (probably overworked) reporters who will eventually move to a larger paper or leave the industry altogether. On this point, I speak from my own 15 years of newspaper experience. They have never been sufficiently staffed to cover the county thoroughly; that is likely for economic reasons. I cannot say whether the management has an agenda except to stay in business, which is becoming more difficult by the month. I wouldn’t be surprised if their parent company shut down the Daily Herald and the Clayton News-Daily eventually for cost reasons alone. So, Joanie, your points are on target, but you can take heart in the likelihood that very few people are reading the paper anyway.
That’s good to know, Monroe. I wonder if it might actually improve their circulation if they would make a better effort to report on some of these things. Reporter Jason Smith was at the the meeting on Monday but there was not one word printed (pixeled?) about the fact that a complaint has been sent to the District Attorney requesting an investigation of a sitting Commissioner and and board chairman.
The fact of the matter is that, at a minimum, Echols violated ethics rules by profiting from a county purchase and that IS an ethics violation. But, even though every member of the BOC stipulated to that fact, not even one of them was willing to address it Monday and make him answer to the the people of Henry County. Thy are all guilty now of covering for Echols. That most certainly is news and if the Herald reporter was there and spoke to Commissioner Stamey for 10 minutes after the meeting, why then did her not report on it? That, my friend, is called an agenda.
This small cut in commissioners and chairmans salaries are a slap in the face to those who have lost their jobs to their folly.
Buying the bank is still a waste of money to me. Even though we bought it at a good price i still dont understand why a road is still being thought of in the works. We do not need to spend any money at all especially on more roads that are to be built that needs maintaining. We cant even maintain the roads that we do have now. A good buy is still not a good buy when you cant afford what you already own..plain and simple. When does common sense need to be considered?
Did I understand incorrectly, or miss something? Did the Commissioner’s agree to just pass the budget with the publuc safety compression increase, no furloughs and no mil increase knowing they will have to go back in August and make major adjustments?
In August when (I hope anyway) some of them know they no longer have jobs in Jan? If I understood that correctly, that is just wrong. Why have they not needed that in the past. Its an election year for some, it seems like they are protecting their jobs before DOING their jobs.