There has been some discussion about the vote to extend County Manager Mike Jarmans salary and give him a 4 year contract. I have never had any problem explaining my vote and so I am going to explain the justification and reasoning for my vote. Why because I am your Commissioner and you deserve to know why. There were several reasons I voted against this raise and extension. None were because Mike Jarman wasnt doing a great job and none were because I dont have the utmost respect for him as an individual. I voted against the the contract because; 1-We were given the contract in closed session toward the end of the Commissioners meeting and told it needed to be decided that day up or down. I voted to turn it down. I didnt think something of this significance should have been so hastily decided without an opportunity to review 8 page document in more than 30 minutes. I understood the ground rules though and voted accordingly. 2-I have a problem giving a 4 year contract to a County Manager who is already in the position and has been for sometime. In the brief time I studied the contract I was uneasy with the Countys ability to get out of it if necessary. 3-Even though I think Mike is worth the money, I had a hard time giving that large of a raise 15% during these hard economic times. The Commissioners only a year ago raised Property Taxes to meet ends (I voted against) and in the last 2-3 years had just given the County employees two raises. 4-I also had a concern that we give 1 and 2% raises to all our other County employees and a then give our Manager a separate 15% raise. I would have a difficult time with that when we have EMS Personnel, and Deputies putting their lives in jeopardy every day only getting 1 and 2 % versus 15%. I wish we had the money to give all County employees a 15% raise but we dont and we have to be fiscally responsible. 5-If times are so tight that we have to cut out the small annual stipend to the Fire Departments and are asking our Department Managers to trim staff and cutting to the bone then this is just not he appropriate time to take this action. 6-During these difficult economic times when we have retirees who are on fixed incomes and are having to make difficult decisions every day whether to cut back on medicine, groceries, or their utility bills to make ends meet because we do have such a high property tax, I just felt it unfair. Let me close by saying I have always tried to open and transparent and have never run from any vote that I have taken and so I wanted you to understand the how and why I voted the way I did because I do anticipate if you havent heard already it should be in the paper soon and you the public need to be informed on how our decisions are made. Mike Jarman is a fine County Manager who does a great job during extremely difficult times. Were we in better economic times where our citizens and County Employees werent being asked to make such personal sacrifices then I might have at least considered the option differently.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 22:38:38 +0000