Union employees held to only the contracted increase; two non-union employees receive more
The Greene County supervisors are using their control of the budget to deal with personnel issues in two departments run by other elected officials.
The supervisors have received all budget proposals and requests and are now, with auditor Jane Heun, in the process of creating a budget. They plan to look at levy rates at their Feb. 15 meeting, and to hold the required public hearing on the budget Monday, March 12.
Sheriff Jack Williams in his proposed budget provided the deputies a 5 percent wage increase. The deputies will be in the second year of a two-year contract that includes a 2.5 percent increase. The supervisors trimmed the line item for wages to include the smaller increase agreed upon in the contract.
County attorney Nic Martino included a 17 percent increase – from $41,000 to $48,000 – for office assistant Jeri Angell. The increase was based on her increased workload, her job performance, and a desire to retain her as an employee. The supervisors adjusted that line item to $45,000, which is an 8.8 percent increase. They wanted to keep her salary close to what is paid employees in other county offices.
Martino also included a salary increase for assistant county attorney Thomas Laehn from $60,000 to $65,000, an increase of 8.3 percent.
After Martino’s budget presentation Laehn had his own conversation with board chair John Muir, asking the board to consider a heftier increase.
Muir justified an increase to $70,000 (16 percent), noting that Laehn’s initial contract allowed him to teach as an adjunct professor at Drake University two half-days per week. Laehn has since backed away from the teaching job. He told the supervisors in December that he realized his job in Greene County was too time consuming to allow him to teach.
Muir reminded the supervisors that Laehn has saved the county money by doing legal work Martino’s schedule would not have allowed him to do. The supervisors would have paid an outside attorney to do the work. Examples are reviewing 28E agreements and contracts, and dealing with public information requests. He promoted and facilitated the county attorney’s office’s switch to computerized case management, which will eventually save the county money in staff time.
Also, because of his pending retirement, Martino will take on no new cases starting in July. All district court cases initiated after July 1 will be handled by Laehn.
One of the supervisors’ goals in hiring an assistant county attorney was to assure an easy transition when Martino retires as county attorney when his current term ends Dec. 31. Laehn was hired with an understanding that he’d run for the position. That is still the supervisors’ desire.
Laehn intends to run in the November general election, but he’ll run as a Libertarian. The Republican central committee has said it is looking for a candidate for the position.
Muir said that assuming Laehn’s bid for attorney is successful, his salary as assistant will be paid only the six months from July 1 to Jan. 1, 2019. At that time he would be paid the county attorney’s salary of $92,600.
By consensus, the budget line items were penciled in as discussed. Nothing is confirmed in the budget until the supervisors approve it following the March 12 public hearing.
