Mary Souza’s Newsletter
I sat with Dan Green the other day and had a good conversation about the County, public employees and much more. Dan (pictured here) is one of the new Kootenai County Commissioners , along with Jai Nelson, whom, during our discussion, he complimented for her focus and work ethic. These two, as well as new County Clerk Cliff Hayes, offer us in the public a much needed sense of hope.
The County will not raise taxes this year. They eliminated at least 12 underutilized positions. They combed through the budget and sliced out $800,000, but were saddened to discovered the state-mandated indigent care had been estimated at only half its real cost by the previous administration, so the new budget savings were obliterated this legal obligation officially called County Assistance. But they’re trying.
The Commissioners rearranged the medical insurance, saving the county $420,000 in what would have been new premium increases. To do this they required employees to pay more for their spouses but less for their children, because that’s what the statistics revealed as most cost effective. And they’re offering a health savings plan with incentives for improving lifestyle choices, which could save the county even more. The bottom line is that, for the first time in many years, the County’s medical insurance costs will not increase.
The Commissioners are not rubber stamping the “way things have always been done”, they are thinking, questioning and evaluating.
County employee salaries have been a big issue. Refuse raises? Give raises? They moved against any blanket answer and broke out sectors of the county’s 700 employees. Law enforcement will get some previously scheduled increases. Other department managers will get some money to give incentive raises to their most deserving workers, but not everyone.
While many of us citizens may not like any raises for public employees in this tight economy, and I am one of those citizens, at least the Commissioners are willing to shake things up, pursue alternative actions and give raises for actual performance.
County Clerk Cliff Hayes is involved both with the $70 million dollar budgeting process as well as the election system review now underway. (Cliff actually heads up 5 departments and the Commissioners oversee 18 departments.) I am relieved to know that someone is taking a close look at the legality of our voting system, because without confidence in the value of our vote, we will never regain trust in our government.
The honesty and integrity of these new elected officials at the County shows the power of the voting booth. On the flip side, our city of CdA is playing mind games. Elections are coming up this Nov. 8th, so let’s take a quick look at some recent revelations:
1. If you missed the editorial in last Sunday’s Press, you should read the editor’s shock and amazement that the city bamboozled both the media and the public back in 2009 by announcing there would be no raises for city employees and then again in 2010 when they touted only a 1% raise rather than the typical 3%.
It turns out that the city DID give raises, much bigger raises, they just parsed their words to create a misleading image. Here’s what City Administrator Wendy Gabriel and her assistant Jon Ingalls wrote in 2009 on the city’s own web page, under the endearing title of “City Employees Give Back…” Wendy is quoted as saying, “… I cannot express adequately in words the gratitude and pride I feel about the employees’ decisions and the relief I have that this City will not be contributing to the economic crisis…”
They “gave back”? Is not getting a raise giving back? I don’t think they gave anything out of their wallets or even took a reduction in pay…that would be giving back! But remember, the CdA City Employees are a Union, the county is not.
The essence of this story is that the City was clearly misrepresenting the truth:
The City didn’t give full Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA), but they certainly did give raises in the form of “merit” pay. Merit pay at the City of CdA is an automatic 5% increase for anyone performing at “standard levels or above”. An employee gets this 5% raise, and I use that word deliberately, after working 1,2, 3,4,5,7 and 9 years.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but it looks like a city employee would get a total 25% pay increase in only 5 years! Just show up and do the “standard” for your job. And this calculation is without their annual 3% COLA, which would bring their overall raise to 40% in a typical 5 year period. But of course they didn’t get their full COLA in ’09 & ’10, so subtract that out and they’re at 35%. Are you making 35% more than you did 5 years ago?
In 2009 the City paid out $283,000 in “merit” pay raises. In 2010, they paid $280,000.
My info on merit pay comes directly from the City’s HR Director, Pam McDonald.
2. Much more briefly, let me remind you, if you didn’t notice, that NIC’s Board of Trustees voted last week to give Pres. Priscilla Bell a 3% pay increase plus a big boost in her retirement package. Dr. Bell had previously announced she is leaving the college at the end of this school year, but they gave her the raises anyway.
Back in 2010, there was a dust-up between NIC and the Press over the newspaper’s reporting of Dr. Bell’s raise and the full 3% tax increase voted that year by the board. Here’s an excerpt of Editor Mike Patrick’s opinion piece last year, when John Martin, PR guy for NIC was accusing the newspaper of “distorting facts and resorting to…”tabloid tactics.” Perhaps because Priscilla was upset, John was upset that we listed the entirety of the president’s compensation package, clearly indicating that it represents the total cost of her employment to taxpayers. Somehow he inferred that by doing so, we were suggesting Bell takes home all of that $240,000 and gets lots of goodies that other NIC employees do not. John – and Priscilla – it is what it is. Not only is every number on that list accurate and a matter of public record, but we reprinted it online exactly as the numbers were submitted to us, in writing, from NIC’s finance office. We added nothing to it. We took nothing away from it.”
Oh, and last week the NIC board also voted to take the full 3% tax increase again. You and I are paying for all Priscilla’s goodies. The County will not be raising our taxes and even the City of CdA is not taking a tax increase this year. Elections have consequences. The next NIC Board of Trustee election is in November of 2012.
Have a happy Labor Day weekend! –Mary
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Mary, I concur with most all of your thoughts in your post. It was well said. I do find exception with your praise of the new county commissioners, Green and Nelson on the subject of the process of the writing of the zoning ordinances of Kootenai County, which I might add , you did not mention.
They have abrogated their authority and delegated their responsibility when they hired an out of state and out of county hired gunslinger to write the county zoning ordinances, Kendig-Keast. Green, Nelson and Tondee were hired as full time commissioners to do a job. They should roll up their sleeves and do one. There are many experienced, rational stakeholders, property owners and taxpayers in both Kootenai County and or in Idaho,(along with other county codes)who could convert the comp plan into zoning ordinances for much less than $350,000 plus open ended billings.
They have chosen to show their lack of confidence in the citizens and taxpayers of Kootenai County, the civil division of the county legal department and acknowledge the total ineptitude of the county planning and zoning department to fulfill the obligations of their employment. If the employees can’t read the code and understand the codes correctly the problems will continue to exist. Maybe they should clean off the desks in those two departments. At this juncture they aren’t helping to solve the problems and moving the county into the future.
I would have expected more of these newly elected officials to have taken a more active role in most important item of their tenure, the future direction of property rights in Kootenai County. It is land use and its impact upon Kootenai that will determine the economic prosperity of our community from jobs to taxes and its corresponding financing.
Comment by Ancientemplar — August 31, 2011 @ 9:19 pm
Ancient, I appreciate your thoughts and you know we usually see eye-to-eye, but maybe not on this one. Unless I had had 6 years on CdA’s Planning & Zoning, I might have agreed with you…in fact I’m certain I would have. But during my time on P&Z we rewrote the city’s comp plan and several ordinances. We were lay volunteers who had no background in long term land use documents. It took 3 years to finish the Comp Plan, much of which I would change right now if I could because my eyes were not open to a lot of things back then. The ordinances were another issue. They are legal documents, the comp plan is not, and they must be written in a certain way to avoid conflicts and law suits. I cannot condone the high price tag you quoted, but professionals are the only folks who should be creating ordinances, which are laws. If you or I don’t like the ordinances, we should stand up and say so, and I bet we will. And the commissioners should be closely supervising the whole process so it goes the way they think best for the county and the citizens.
I didn’t write about it because the process hasn’t even started yet. I’ve got to tell you, quite honestly, that my sense is these commissioners are more honest and have more integrity than any public officials we have seen for a long time. I think we could tell them if we’re upset/concerned/mad about certain ordinances and they would actually listen and respond. Just my impression. Hope it’s true. Remains to be seen.
Comment by mary — August 31, 2011 @ 9:34 pm
Hi Mary-
I noted your comments on raises. It’s actually worse than you think. An increase of 5% every year does not equate a 25% increase over 5 years…. it’s actually MORE than that! An employee would get the 5% increases over each of the prior year’s salary. In five years, it is not a 25% increase, it is a 28% increase. And, by the 15th year, it would be more than a 100% increase!
Let’s say someone starts with a salary of $50,000/yr…..
Year 1 they get $50,000 + 5% = $52,500
Year 2 they get $52,500 + 5% = $55,125
Year 3 they get $55,125 + 5% = $57,881
Year 4 they get $57,881 + 5% = $60,775
Year 5 they get $60,775 + 5% = $63,814
Year 6 . . . . . = $67,005
Year 7 . . . . . = $70,355
Year 8 . . . . . = $73,823
Year 9 . . . . . = $77,514
Year 10 . . . . = $81,390
Year 11 . . . . = $85,460
Year 12 . . . . = $89,733
Year 13 . . . . = $94,220
Year 14 . . . . = $98,931
Year 15 . . . . = $103,878
Comment by Pip — August 31, 2011 @ 10:45 pm
Excellent post – right on Ancientemplar! When the BOCC’s office houses more attorney’s then commissioners then where do the boots meet the road? The group of full time attorney’s can’t understand a comp plan, that was supposed to be completed years ago, or write a zoning ordinance and earn their pay. A true sad state of affairs for the State of Kootenai.
A few months prior to Mr. Green and Ms. Nelson taking office I provided them with records of numerous unlawful longstanding activities that not only continue today but also in many areas have become much worse. Ms. Nelson never responded while Mr. Green did take the time to come to my office and meet with me.
Mr. Hayes directed my attention to what he was going to address and has since rubberstamped that very activity and addressed none of it, in particular a account he said was not legal. Bringing in a bank fraud auditor and the State Controller gave the impression all is well when in fact they were not given the information about the more serious ongoing county financial violations that only continue. Mr. Hayes will no longer respond about anything at all.
If credibility truly exists anyone of these officials could easily seek an outside legal opinion. That would be good money spent considering the enormous conflicts that surrounds the civil division who does not provide professional legal opinions or ever direct a official to stop violating the law. For free they could go to the Attorney General, instead they are now part of the good old boys team and will talk a great story face to face. If anything these officials have earned their distrust!
Mary, thank you for taking the time and meeting with Mr. Green. I’m sure budget wise they are finding many serious problems left by the former BOCC however in terms of other problems that are left is dozens of monthly statute violations that continues involving public money that they collectively continue to ignore and in some cases they have formally condoned.
Comment by Appalled — September 1, 2011 @ 7:20 am
Pip, you are absolutely right that I forgot to factor the raises into the base, so the steps would be larger. Please take note, though, that the 5% merit raises skip years 6 and 8, and stop after year 9. The COLAs (Cost of Living Adjustments) keep going every year at 3%, and that wasn’t factored into your totals either.
The COLAs are interesting because they are supposedly created, in the union contract, to offset inflation. But we haven’t had any inflation for many years, in fact I recall economists warning about the risk of “deflation” a few years ago. So why would the city agree to a contract that included flat rate COLAs that are not tied to actual economic indices? That’s a prescription for disaster. The city could have put a lid and a floor on the COLAs, per economic indicators.
Could part of the problem be that the people who negotiate the city side of the union contracts are from the city and will themselves benefit from any perks or increases therein?
The city should pay out the money to hire a professional negotiating team to represent the needs of the taxpayers!
Comment by mary — September 1, 2011 @ 11:06 am
Mary and Pip, Your percentage of raises are also impacted by the cost of living raises which range from 1% to 3% per year. Very seldom the City will grant no raises. In addition the police and fire fighters are favored with different contracts and benefits.
Comment by LTR — September 2, 2011 @ 1:32 pm