Democrats object to raises for county attorney, staff
NORWICH – Five Chenango County supervisors, all but one a registered Democrat, contested the salary and benefit packages that will be awarded to county employees and themselves next year.
The average 3 and 4 percent raises for officers and department employees (depending on part-time or full-time) passed nonetheless by a vote of 16 to 5, with two supervisors absent from the board’s September meeting Monday. Those opposed were: James J. McNeil, D-City of Norwich; Rick E. Chase, D-Bainbridge; Peter C. Flanagan, D-Preston; James B. Bays, D-Smyrna; and Jerry L. Kreiner, R-Plymouth.
McNeil led the charge against the compensation package for an assistant attorney in the county attorney’s office. The part-time position would increase by 4 percent in addition to a special adjustment of $2,000 that, according to the personnel department, is intended to bring the county attorney’s office salaries in line with assistant counsel working in the public defender’s office. The position paid $26,000 in January and would pay $29,120 in 2009.
Though the new position was created in 2006 – and made for a total of three assistants for County Attorney Rich Breslin. McNeil said he couldn’t vote for the increase without knowing how many cases the attorney had assisted. He made a motion to eliminate the position from the compensation package to be voted on. Flanagan seconded it.
“This has been troubling me for some time, beginning last year. An additional job was created. I’m wondering if there is any way to explain his duties. Do we still really need it (the position)? Are there statistics on the numbers of court cases?” said McNeil.
Board Chairman Richard B. Decker, R-North Norwich, said the position was established in 2006 to answer “the burden” of cases in family court and for the Chenango County Code Enforcement Department. He said assistant attorneys work a varying number of days and hours and he believed his departmental directors “are paid well” and ask for staff and resources when necessary.
“We trust them to do what’s best for the county. In all my experience up here on the board, that’s normally exactly what happens,” he said.
Breslin said he did not count the number of hours his part-time employees worked, and to keep track would cost taxpayers more money. “As you know, we have petitioned for a second family court judge for years. We are all handling family court cases,” he said.
Supervisors have formally requested a second judge to assist Family Court and Surrogate Judge W. Howard Sullivan for the past six years. The repeated requests have been turned down despite Sullivan’s documented caseload that exceeds that of judges in neighboring counties.
McNeil’s motion was further supported by Flanagan, who said he had voted against creating the position last year.
Town of New Berlin Supervisor Ross Iannello, who is not affiliated politically, said McNeil “raised a valid question.”
“We should know what number of cases. It’s Rich’s (Breslin) job to keep that kind of record,’’ he said. “We should know what we are paying for.”
“The government should be run like a business,” Plymouth’s Kreiner said. “I don’t think it would be a huge job to keep numbers of cases or hours. I don’t think we have the correct data going forward to make this kind of decision.”
Though he voted for the compensation schedule, Richard Schlag, D-German, said he, too, would prefer more information. “In German, we asked our highway department to keep track of what workers were doing daily. The same thing applies here. It’s not out of the realm of possibilities to have record keeping here.”
City of Norwich Supervisor Linda E. Natoli asked where the county would draw the line. She cited a number of county jobs on the compensation schedule that departmental supervisors would find difficult monitoring, such as how many hours a part-time emergency management technician worked or a part-time employee in the board of elections office.
While Democratic Supervisor Dennis Brown said department directors should be trusted, he suggested that McNeil refer the matter of calculating part-time hours to the Finance Committee for discussion.
“Because of the county attorney’s track record, I have reason to believe that he needs this person,” Brown said.
“We did the same thing last year (referring to matter to committee) and nothing changed,” McNeil said.
Iannello said, “We could be creating a monster. Why not have the department’s supervisor (Breslin) come up with data? I don’t think we have to get all of us into the nitty gritty of what each person’s done. That should be his job.”
McNeil withdrew his motion and instead made a motion to refer the matter to Finance.
Before a vote on the compensation resolution, Flanagan addressed the board, citing his repeated questions over a 14-year tenure to the county’s treasurer, asking why benefit packages aren’t attached to every position listed on departmental budgets. He made a referral to Finance to include them.
“I’m not going to vote for my own raise. Our benefits at the county level are good, if not better than the private sector. It’s always been a pet peeve of mine to look at the cost of benefits. They are an integral part of determining budgets in each department every year and will show us the real cost. Some higher salaries might mean lower benefits,” he said.
Both Brown and Finance Committee Chairman Lawrence Wilcox said the information could be made available easily because each employee is coded. They questioned, however, whether all of the figures, such as health insurance numbers, could be published.
Chenango County pays $7.5 million in benefits to employees, according to Wilcox. Some part-time employees, including supervisors, also receive benefits.
Town of Smyrna Supervisor James B. Bays made a final attempt to rein in spending on the compensation package with a motion to exempt the county attorney’s approximately $500 increase next year. He also said he would not be supporting Breslin’s appointment to another two-year term next year.
“You might all be pleased with the county attorney’s performance, but I for one, quite frankly, feel differently,” he said. Bays said he brought a least two issues concerning the natural gas industry before Breslin that were not addressed as he thought they should have been.
“He was unable to respond, was less than forthright and took a position that was counter to the best interests of the county,” he said.
Bays’ motion was not supported by a second and failed on the floor.
Following the meeting, Bays clarified that the natural gas issues in question had to do with right-of-way permits for seismic testing and a lack of county-level direction for towns to emulate. “He did not grasp the gravity of the natural gas challenge, did not advance counsel in a timely manner and farmed out personnel responsibilities,” he said.
A preliminary total of all salaries, minus a handful of unfilled positions, totals nearly $5 million.
Next year’s compensation package for 23 supervisors at $11,308 each is $260,084. Chairman Decker will receive $38,708.
The two psychiatrists in the Mental Hygiene Services Department will earn the highest compensation in 2009, at $140,868 and $138,794, respectively. District Attorney Joseph A. McBride will earn $119,800; County Attorney Richard Breslin, $100,425; Mental Health Director Mary Ann Spryn, $89,188 and Public Works Director Randy Gibbon, $81,504.
The average 3 and 4 percent raises for officers and department employees (depending on part-time or full-time) passed nonetheless by a vote of 16 to 5, with two supervisors absent from the board’s September meeting Monday. Those opposed were: James J. McNeil, D-City of Norwich; Rick E. Chase, D-Bainbridge; Peter C. Flanagan, D-Preston; James B. Bays, D-Smyrna; and Jerry L. Kreiner, R-Plymouth.
McNeil led the charge against the compensation package for an assistant attorney in the county attorney’s office. The part-time position would increase by 4 percent in addition to a special adjustment of $2,000 that, according to the personnel department, is intended to bring the county attorney’s office salaries in line with assistant counsel working in the public defender’s office. The position paid $26,000 in January and would pay $29,120 in 2009.
Though the new position was created in 2006 – and made for a total of three assistants for County Attorney Rich Breslin. McNeil said he couldn’t vote for the increase without knowing how many cases the attorney had assisted. He made a motion to eliminate the position from the compensation package to be voted on. Flanagan seconded it.
“This has been troubling me for some time, beginning last year. An additional job was created. I’m wondering if there is any way to explain his duties. Do we still really need it (the position)? Are there statistics on the numbers of court cases?” said McNeil.
Board Chairman Richard B. Decker, R-North Norwich, said the position was established in 2006 to answer “the burden” of cases in family court and for the Chenango County Code Enforcement Department. He said assistant attorneys work a varying number of days and hours and he believed his departmental directors “are paid well” and ask for staff and resources when necessary.
“We trust them to do what’s best for the county. In all my experience up here on the board, that’s normally exactly what happens,” he said.
Breslin said he did not count the number of hours his part-time employees worked, and to keep track would cost taxpayers more money. “As you know, we have petitioned for a second family court judge for years. We are all handling family court cases,” he said.
Supervisors have formally requested a second judge to assist Family Court and Surrogate Judge W. Howard Sullivan for the past six years. The repeated requests have been turned down despite Sullivan’s documented caseload that exceeds that of judges in neighboring counties.
McNeil’s motion was further supported by Flanagan, who said he had voted against creating the position last year.
Town of New Berlin Supervisor Ross Iannello, who is not affiliated politically, said McNeil “raised a valid question.”
“We should know what number of cases. It’s Rich’s (Breslin) job to keep that kind of record,’’ he said. “We should know what we are paying for.”
“The government should be run like a business,” Plymouth’s Kreiner said. “I don’t think it would be a huge job to keep numbers of cases or hours. I don’t think we have the correct data going forward to make this kind of decision.”
Though he voted for the compensation schedule, Richard Schlag, D-German, said he, too, would prefer more information. “In German, we asked our highway department to keep track of what workers were doing daily. The same thing applies here. It’s not out of the realm of possibilities to have record keeping here.”
City of Norwich Supervisor Linda E. Natoli asked where the county would draw the line. She cited a number of county jobs on the compensation schedule that departmental supervisors would find difficult monitoring, such as how many hours a part-time emergency management technician worked or a part-time employee in the board of elections office.
While Democratic Supervisor Dennis Brown said department directors should be trusted, he suggested that McNeil refer the matter of calculating part-time hours to the Finance Committee for discussion.
“Because of the county attorney’s track record, I have reason to believe that he needs this person,” Brown said.
“We did the same thing last year (referring to matter to committee) and nothing changed,” McNeil said.
Iannello said, “We could be creating a monster. Why not have the department’s supervisor (Breslin) come up with data? I don’t think we have to get all of us into the nitty gritty of what each person’s done. That should be his job.”
McNeil withdrew his motion and instead made a motion to refer the matter to Finance.
Before a vote on the compensation resolution, Flanagan addressed the board, citing his repeated questions over a 14-year tenure to the county’s treasurer, asking why benefit packages aren’t attached to every position listed on departmental budgets. He made a referral to Finance to include them.
“I’m not going to vote for my own raise. Our benefits at the county level are good, if not better than the private sector. It’s always been a pet peeve of mine to look at the cost of benefits. They are an integral part of determining budgets in each department every year and will show us the real cost. Some higher salaries might mean lower benefits,” he said.
Both Brown and Finance Committee Chairman Lawrence Wilcox said the information could be made available easily because each employee is coded. They questioned, however, whether all of the figures, such as health insurance numbers, could be published.
Chenango County pays $7.5 million in benefits to employees, according to Wilcox. Some part-time employees, including supervisors, also receive benefits.
Town of Smyrna Supervisor James B. Bays made a final attempt to rein in spending on the compensation package with a motion to exempt the county attorney’s approximately $500 increase next year. He also said he would not be supporting Breslin’s appointment to another two-year term next year.
“You might all be pleased with the county attorney’s performance, but I for one, quite frankly, feel differently,” he said. Bays said he brought a least two issues concerning the natural gas industry before Breslin that were not addressed as he thought they should have been.
“He was unable to respond, was less than forthright and took a position that was counter to the best interests of the county,” he said.
Bays’ motion was not supported by a second and failed on the floor.
Following the meeting, Bays clarified that the natural gas issues in question had to do with right-of-way permits for seismic testing and a lack of county-level direction for towns to emulate. “He did not grasp the gravity of the natural gas challenge, did not advance counsel in a timely manner and farmed out personnel responsibilities,” he said.
A preliminary total of all salaries, minus a handful of unfilled positions, totals nearly $5 million.
Next year’s compensation package for 23 supervisors at $11,308 each is $260,084. Chairman Decker will receive $38,708.
The two psychiatrists in the Mental Hygiene Services Department will earn the highest compensation in 2009, at $140,868 and $138,794, respectively. District Attorney Joseph A. McBride will earn $119,800; County Attorney Richard Breslin, $100,425; Mental Health Director Mary Ann Spryn, $89,188 and Public Works Director Randy Gibbon, $81,504.
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