It was a tense week politically in Barrow County over the last seven days. The county's top administrator resigned on Monday, then the City of Winder announced the layoff of 30 employees due to the impact of the economy on city revenues, then the county's second-ranked administrator resigned on Thursday. By Friday, county leaders were scrambling to contain the fallout from the week's extraordinary events.
Friday morning, Barrow Board of Commissioners Chairman Danny Yearwood called a press conference for that afternoon to defend the two departing administrators who had come under fire for how they implemented a 2005 pay plan for county staff. At the press conference, Yearwood invited his predecessor, Doug Garrison, to address reporters, but Garrison waited until after the event to be interviewed.
Both men defended administrators Keith Lee and Michael Fischer as having only done what the BOC allowed and said that when some controversial raises were given, times were good and the county wasn't facing a financial crisis like it is today.
“If they made a choice to implement it like they did, it was voted on by the board,” Yearwood said of Lee and Fischer's decisions.
Garrison said that he knew what was in the Archer study and understood its financial impact. Garrison said he personally handled raises for only two employees – Lee and the county clerk. He said he raised both of their salaries to the midpoints on their salary scales.
In office for just over a month, Yearwood said he’s not sure how he would have handled the Archer study if he had been on the board in 2005 when the county’s economic conditions were better.
“We were making revenue on everything we touched,” Yearwood said.
He said the study could be interpreted two ways.
“I’ve been studying it all day," he said. "It’s plain. It states salaries are to be raised to minimum (point on each position’s scale). And they are to be raised to midpoint as soon as possible with economic feasibility,” Yearwood said.
“It was something they decided to do, and it worked until our economy (began the downturn),” he added. “I’m not finding fault in what they did. I read the Archer study from front to back and it says if you are economically feasible to do it, you can move it.”
Now, however, the times are very different as the economy has begun to slide.
ISSUE BEGAN LAST MONTH
The political storm that ensnared Lee and Fischer began in January, when one-year county employees expecting their midpoint raises this fiscal year learned that instead of getting large raises, their starting pay would be cut in an across-the-board reduction of salaries.
On Jan. 20, District 3 Commissioner Steve Worley requested a letter from the author of the 2005 pay study, Earnest Archer of The Archer Group in Rock Hill, S.C. The letter received by the county government that day states that Archer did recommend that all county salaries immediately be elevated to the “minimum” point on each pay scale and that other salaries move toward their “midpoints” as it became economically feasible.
However, the letter states that Archer did not recommend “midpoint” raises within a year of the study or after one year of employment for new hires. That letter calls “aggressive” organizations that move all salaries toward their midpoints within five years.
As a result of Barrow County's aggressive implementation of the Archer pay study and a subsequent Archer staffing study, the county’s annual expenditures for salaries have significantly increased since 2005.
Despite the controversy over Archer's letter, Yearwood said Friday he did not fire either Lee or Fischer and he is sorry to lose them both.
“We’re losing people we cannot just go out in the marketplace and replace. You can’t do it,” he said.
Lee, who has worked for the county since 1997, gave notice of his resignation Monday at 8 a.m., and Fischer, who began working for the county in early 2005, gave his notice to Lee at 8 a.m. Thursday.
The chairman said he wanted to calm untrue rumors of county employees who might have heard that 50 employees were going to be laid off. He said his use of that number during January meetings with employees was just as an example to make a point.
On the other hand, Yearwood said, the county has to live within its budget. He said in the current economic climate, the county could not sustain the level of expenditures for salaries in place before the downturn.
“We’re all scared to death we will not be able to meet our budget,” he said. “I don’t know if we’re overreacting or not. We’ll know in June. That will tell the tale. All we are doing now is projections.”
Yearwood said that the 2010 fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 is expected to be even tougher due to reductions in state funds and the county’s tax base, as well as to an additional debt-service obligation.
WORLEY CRITICAL OF ARCHER IMPLEMENTATION
In a telephone interview after the press conference, Worley said he knew nothing about the event. However, he stood by his initial assessment of the county’s implementation of the Archer study.
“It wasn’t implemented right. It was too aggressive, even though when it was implemented, the finances were good,” Worley said.
He said the previous commissioners are responsible for approving the 2005 study.
“Whether they knew it or not, they basically approved that study and implemented it the way the staff felt it needed to be implemented,” Worley said.
“We are going to do another study and make sure the study is right, and if corrections need to be made, we are going to make corrections. If not, we’ll go on,” he added.
“The main thing is, it’s been brought out. The board of commissioners has got to clean it up, fix it and repair it. I’m not thinking to the negative. I’m thinking to the positive.”
