Posted: 6/21/05
County board will advertise for sheriff candidates
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
Houston County commissioners are looking for a person to fill the position of sheriff after Mike Lee leaves this fall.
Lee announced on June 7 that he is resigning effective October 31. His four-year term expires on December 31, 2006, so the new sheriff will serve about a year.
Commissioners voted to advertise for a replacement despite a recommendation by Lee that they appoint chief deputy Ken Frank to fill the vacancy until a new sheriff is elected in November of 2006
ìKen has been an excellent chief deputy and has always been very capable of taking charge of my office in my absence,î Lee wrote in a letter to the board.
Commissioner Kevin Kelleher said he had received calls from people interested in the position. He felt the person who is appointed will have a significant leg-up in the election.
ìYou can say that about anybody you appoint,î Lee responded.
Kelleher replied he would like to cast a net and see who is there, including the chief deputy.
Lee felt that that could cause some turmoil in the department. ìIím just looking at [it] so it keeps running smoothly,î he said.
Lee urged the board to make a decision soon, because if a new person is chosen, Lee said he would have to close out all the books and do other jobs. ìI need time to do that,î he said.
Commissioner Ann Thompson said she hoped the board would make decision within a month.
ìIíd say we advertise for it,î commissioner Dave Corcoran said.
ìGive everyone a level playing field,î Kelleher added. The vote was 4-0. Commissioner Tom Bjerke was absent from the meeting.
Some commissioners said they wanted to follow the precedent set when county attorney Jim Fabian resigned in December 1999 to take the job of Third District Court judge. In that instance, the board advertised for a replacement instead of hiring the assistant attorney, Doug Anderson. They appointed Rick Jackson in February of 2002; he was then elected to a four-year term in November of 2002.
County engineer discussed
In another resignation-related item, Corcoran said he would like to see an interim county engineer hired to perform day-to-day engineer duties. Current engineer Allen Henke is resigning at the end of this month.
Corcoran thought two current highway department workers, Shawn Peterson and Doug Twite, could split the duties. Peterson has expertise with bridge jobs, and Peterson is very familiar with road projects, Corcoran said.
Personnel director Tim Comstock agreed that the skills of Peterson and Twite complement each other.
Corcoran, Kelleher, and Comstock will meet with the two men on June 21 and discuss compensation and duties.
Personnel items
In other personnel items, the board voted to hire Charlie Vix and Pam Wynn as part-time home health aides at 32 hours per week each.
Vix will start at step 4, which is $10.78 per hour. Wynn will start at step 2, which is $9.78 per hour.
Public health director Linda Grupa had said at an earlier meeting that the county might have to turn down requests for home care service due to a staff shortage. Dana Todd, home care coordinator, told the board last week that they had not had to turn anyone away.
Todd said that her staff worked extra hours and juggled schedules to accommodate the case load, but with vacation and sick leaves, they needed two more part-time people.
The board also approved a contract change with the Local 49ers that created a new job classification of ìsign specialist.î The rates of pay for this went from $15.97 to $16.45 per hour, a three percent increase. Technicians Pat Burns and Matt Papenfuss hourly wages will increase by this amount also because they do sign-related jobs, and are at or beyond step III, which is when the pay increase kicks in.
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