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Home > Blogs > Butler County News and Issues > Archives > 2009 > September > 09
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
The mayor’s wife is ‘not impressed’
Someone just brought it to my attention that Vickie Ryan, wife of Hamilton Mayor Don Ryan, has her own blog. And her most recent post is about the Butler County commissioners considering following the lead of Commissioner Charles Furmon and cutting their own pay.
An excerpt:
And wouldn’t you know it, the very day I could make it all about me and my fascination with this date, one of our County Commissioners gets the press because he’s “on board” with another Commissioner who has already taken a pay cut. The “on board” Commissioner may have thought about this before. He probably waited to see what the other commissioners would do, if anyone would take notice. People sure did take notice and now he’s all for it. I am not impressed.
What would impress me is this: if every past County Commissioner (the “on board” Commissioner included) whose private job was involved in land development (realty, building, development) would give back their salaries for every year in their terms decisions were made that profited their own private businesses. Their “salary” for those terms (which they deserve) would be the business profit they gained from those decisions. How many aces of land were changed from farming to residential and business? How many subdivisions were built and roads widened? How many homes were sold and resold? It was double dipping of a different sort but this would right the wrong (ethical if not legal.) This is just my opinion, of course, one of those 09/09/09 things that just didn’t occur to me or anyone else until it was staring us in the face.
According to the dictionary a “nine days’ wonder” is “anything that arouses great excitement and interest, but only for a short time.” 09/09/09 is one of those things. Being on board for a personal pay cut may or may not be one of those things (if I had made a million from the county I might give part of it back. I’d think about it for sure.) Let’s just hope that the new scrutiny of who is in office and what they are doing in office isn’t a nine days’ wonder.
Your thoughts?
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County treasurer cut her own pay, too
Considering all the discussion of whether Butler County commissioners should cut their own pay as one already has, it’s worth noting that Treasurer Nancy Nix did this in February.
Here is a letter she sent to commissioners Feb. 25:
Honorable Commissioners:
In light of the current economic conditions and its effects on the general populace, and in light of the County’s budget concerns and the many difficult, yet necessary decisions being made to fill the gap in the County’s general fund budget, I have made a personal decision to request a 5% reduction in my annual salary. I realize the actual dollar amount this represents will not have a noticeable impact on the General Fund budget; however, it is my attempt to personally do my part in support of this difficult economic time.
While my office has not yet reached the point of reducing services or lay offs, during our transition to a 40 hour work week, my management team was not afforded an increase in salary commensurate with increased hours. I feel their willing acceptance of this reduction in effective pay represents their support, and it is my desire to join them.
By copy of this memo, I am asking the Finance Division/Payroll Department of Butler County Auditor Roger Reynolds’ office to accept my request, and effective immediately, until further notice, reduce my bi-weekly rate of pay by 5%, as noted on our bi-weekly worksheets for pay ending February 27, 2009.
What do you think?
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Furmon cuts own pay, others considering same
Butler County commissioners have wielded pay freezes, pay cuts, furloughs, layoffs and more to slash their personnel costs and address a multi-million dollar budget shortfall.
But what about their own salaries? What are they sacrificing?
Commissioner Charles Furmon already cut his own pay, paying 10 percent of each paycheck back to the county for several weeks now. He did this with no press release or fanfare.
“I just felt that it was fair,” he said, referring to sacrifices made by staff during these “unprecedented times.”
County commission pay is set by state law based on the population of each county. By statute, Butler County’s three commissioners each make $76,976 this year. They received no pay raise from last year and are not scheduled to get one next year.
Commissioner Gregory Jolivette said he is considering donating an unspecified amount of his income to support his effort with local chambers of commerce to get more people to shop in Butler County.
“That way my cut could help spur more economic revenue for the county,” he said.
Commission President Donald Dixon said he would take a pay cut — 20 percent for all he cares — in a heartbeat.
“Sign me up,” he said. “We’re well compensated for what we do, in fact probably over-compensated.”
He said commissioners discussed the idea about a year ago, but it didn’t go anywhere.
“I don’t know what the consensus is today, but I’m on board for that,” he said.
There is no consensus required, according to Cheryl Subler, managing director of policy for the County Commission Association of Ohio. She said they can lower their salary on an individual basis or give some back to the county, citing a 2003 Ohio Attorney General’s opinion.
But two commissioners couldn’t force a third to take a pay cut, she said.
“This is a decision made on an individual basis,” she said.
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