| Today's Feature Signed
Checks Under Protest.
Argument
Over Associate Commissioners' Raises.
County
Treasure Jeanie Wells, approached the
Commissioners Thursday during their regular
meeting to record her opinion concerning the
Associate Commissioner's pay checks.
"Tomorrow
is payday and I would like to have it in court
records that I am signing the associate
commissioners checks under protest,"
explained Wells. "It is against my better
judgement. I really don’t want to but I have
been advised by the County Counselor that I do
not have the authority not to.
"And
I am sure he is far more knowledgeable of the law
then I am. So I would like to have that in court
records, they will be signed but against my
better judgement."
As
reported in the December 23rd issue of the
Mornin' Mail, Wells questioned the legality of
the increase in pay given to the two Associate
Commissioners. This increase was included in the
new budget recently passed by County
Commissioners.
She
based her questions upon an opinion given by
County Counselor James Spradling during the
December budget work session. Spradling stated at
that time based on the facts in the Missouri
Constitution, office holders were not allowed to
vote themselves a raise for their current term.
A state
statute was passed allowing a one time raise for
Associate Commissioners when the term of office
was increased from two years to four years.
Spradling contends that such a statute does not
override the Missouri constitution. The Missouri
Attorney General declined to offer an opinion in
December concerning this issue.
In other
business, Jhan Hurn, executive director of Jasper
County Support Services informed the
Commissioners that upon review, the Jasper County
Sheltered Facilities Board and the Jasper County
Support Services Boards will begin to separate
during a two year transition period.
Currently
the two organizations share the same nine board
members. Reading from the proposed agreement,
Hurn said that new county board members will only
serve on the County Board, and will not be
elected to the Jasper County Support Services
Board.
There
are three vacancies now on the County Board.
Western Commissioner Anna Ruth Crampton said that
the Commissioners would work to have those
vacancies filled within the next few days.
Ron
Sampson, excessive director of the Joplin
Sheltered Workshops, said he is in favor of the
resolution. The Sheltered Workshops were one of
the county organizations which originally raised
concern about the joint boards.
"We
believe, that as staunch as we were about doing
something about this, with the way things were
set up currently, that this is a workable plan,
it is a sensible plan," said Sampson.
"We believe that we can live with this plan.
"It's
the smartest way to go. You don’t go on
April 1 and say, here's nine new board members.
It is a great compromise for all agencies."
Crampton
said she was appreciative of how the
organizations had worked together to bring about
a resolution to the situation.
Hurn
said he believes that the two groups should
transition into separate board members within the
next two years.
Commissioners
also heard from Diane Sharits of Main Street
Carthage and Carthage Historic Preservation
Committee and Gary Shaw, from the Jasper County
Courthouse Preservation Inc. about some
possibilities for renovations around the Court
House.
Shaw
said his committee would like to look into
placing two markers, at the north and south
entrances of the Court House, which would
identify the building and the year it was built.
Shaw
said that while local residents "know what
the building is and are proud of it," often
visitors to Carthage are unaware of what the
building is.
"People
are just awed by this building," agreed
Crampton. "To me it's obvious that it is a
Court House, but I guess it isn't to others, so I
think the markers are a good idea."
Shaw
also suggested placing a Gazebo on the Court
House lawn, which could serve as a focal point
for activities during the Maple Leaf Festival and
other activities.
Shaw
said he wanted to see how the Commissioners
received the ideas before completing detailed
proposals.
The
Commissioners instructed Shaw to proceed with a
design study on both projects, in order to see if
they are feasible and if grant money is available
to help with the financing.
Hensley
told Shaw that there might be some Jasper County
mined marble available for these projects.
In other
business, Commissioners were informed that
Nations Bank is still working on how to secure
their part of the bank from the remainder of the
building should Bank officials accept the
County's offer to purchase the facilities.
Crampton
told the Mornin' Mail that final approval of the
County's offer to purchase the Nations Bank
Building on the North West Corner of the Carthage
Square hinges on whether the bank part of the
building can be secure.
"The
are securing the bank from the second floor at
their expense," explained Crampton.
"They don't want to agree to (selling it)
until they see if it can be secured."
She said
that the proposed purchase will only go through
once Nations Bank officials reach an
understanding on how to secure the facilities.
Jasper
County Sheriff Bill Pierce approached the
Commissioners concerning a problem he has
discovered within the new County Budget.
He asked
if there could be guidelines set on what new
equipment could be purchased without the approval
of Commissioners.
"New
equipment has all been put under the jurisdiction
of the county commission," explained
Hensley. "And we are running into some
difficulty of people buying things without
securing permission." Hensley said the
reason behind this move was to tighten up
spending by the various offices.
"Is
there anyway we can come up with an amount on
this?" asked Pierce. "There will be
sometimes a pipe will bust at the jail on the
weekends, and our maintenance man asked - What if
I get called in on the weekend, and we don't have
the tools to stop this?"
Pierce
said normally, they would go to Wal-Mart or
Tapjac to purchase what was necessary to fix the
problem. However, under the new guidelines every
piece of new equipment, including $6 wrenches,
must be approved before purchased.
County
Auditor Shirley Norris suggested that the
Commissioners set a price limit for equipment
purchased without prior consent. She suggested a
$250 limit because equipment is not inventoried
unless it is worth more than $250.
Commissioners
said that they would take some time to consider
this request before taking further action.
Commentary
Martin "Bubs" Hohulin
State Representative, District 126
I don’t
normally agonize over many votes up here, most
votes can be figured out without a great deal of
worrying. This week was different. We took up the
issue of pay raises for judges. This is not as
simple as it sounds at first glance.
It used to be that the
Legislature decided what the pay would be for all
state elected officials, employees and judges
with a few exceptions.
Naturally, anytime the issue of
pay raises came up it was a sticky issue. A few
years ago there was a measure on the ballot that
would set up the Citizens Commission on
Compensation. This was to be a commission made up
of citizens from around the state to hold
hearings and decide what the pay should be for
elected officials and judges. I will tell you
that I was opposed to the idea from the
beginning. I figured that you elected me to make
the tough decisions and not pass them off to
someone else. I said at the time it would result
in a way for us to get a raise and not be
accountable for it.
The people of Missouri passed
the measure almost by a 3-1 margin and
theCommission was created. I do need to take this
opportunity to applaud you for your foresight, in
southwest Missouri the measure was defeated.
Anyway, it was made up of some
folks that were appointed and others that were
randomly selected from voter registration rolls.
To the Commission’s credit they went right
to work and started holding hearings around the
state. A funny thing happened during the process.
Hardly anyone showed up to testify other than
folks that stood to gain from a raise. The
Commission came back in 1996 with recommendations
for fairly hefty pay raises for most elected
officials and judges.
Now it starts to get sticky.
There is a clause in the setup of the Commission
that says the Legislature can veto the raises if
they vote to disprove them by the end of January.
The Legislature can’t make any changes or
accept part of them, it has to be a total
acceptance or rejection. Ironically, this had the
effect of doing what we were supposedly trying to
get away from. The pay issue was squarely back in
our lap. The raises were rejected and the
Commission went back to work. Again they held
meetings and no one showed up to testify. This
time they came back with a smaller raise for
judges and an increase in the daily expense
allowance for legislators.
In the meantime, there was a
lawsuit filed that said we had incorrectly
rejected the 1996 recommendations and that they
should be in effect. This lawsuit was found by a
judge to be correct and has been appealed. Now,
this week we took up the new recommendations and
I was squarely on the fence. On one hand the
voters approved the Commission and we should let
them work without interference. On the other hand
many people think judges are paid enough already.
Even on that issue there are two sides. I accept
the argument that they know what the job pays
when they run for it, but also, good judges are a
cornerstone of our system and it is no secret
that most good lawyers can make more in private
practice than by being a judge.
Add to that the fact that if we
reject this recommendation we revert back to the
higher 1996 recommendations, pending the outcome
of the appeal.
In the end I voted with the
large majority to reject the latest
recommendation although I can’t honestly say
for certain it was the right vote. Much will
depend on the outcome of the appeal. Bottom line
is that the Commission should be reworked to take
it completely out of the hands of the Legislature
or the Commission should be disbanded and the
decisions put back with the Legislature. To do
the latter would require another public vote. I
hope I did the right thing, only time will tell.
As usual, I can be reached at
House Post Office, State Capitol, Jefferson City,
MO 65101 or 1-800-878-7126 or
mhohulin@services.state.mo.us for your questions,
comments, or advice.
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