Auditor Eunice Coker upset by hiring freeze

County Auditor Eunice Coker says customers in her office will face long lines if a decision made Monday by county commissioners stands. Commissioners rejected a routine order to fill a vacancy in her office.

The order would have allowed Coker to replace a recording clerk who is leaving at the end of the month.

Coker said the position is vital to meeting the needs of the public.

Commissioners see it as an opportunity for her office to become more efficient in light of the county’s projected $311,000 budget deficit this year.

“They are not listening to my needs,” Coker told the Gazette Tuesday. “Our state-mandated duties and reports have grown to the point that we have trouble covering it all right now.”

Commissioner Greg Partch said Coker to date has not tried hard enough to help counter the budget hole.

“We’re just as concerned as she is,” said Partch. “But in this budget climate, we have to look at everything. It cannot be business as usual.”

The commissioners gave Coker until their next meeting to find the money in her budget to fund the replacement.That meeting is scheduled for Aug 17.

Auditor staff members said workloads have increased to the point that they can not take lunch breaks and are suffering physically and mentally. They discussed the stress and lack of breaks with a Teamsters Union representative Tuesday afternoon.

Coker in June had been asked to cut more than $50,000 from her budget in the most recent budget amendment to offset the county’s deficit. Her final cut was close to $15,000.

Suggestions for cuts were made by the county’s budget committee which consists of Sharron Cunningham, assistant finance director, Kelli Campbell, human resource manager, and Bob Reynolds, facilities manager.

Coker said that committee did not realize what her office really needs to operate.

She pointed out the special committee had proposed cutbacks of $8,000 for hiring temporary election workers and $9,000 in postage expenses.

“We can’t cut those,” she said. “Elections has some very strict mandates that we have to provide. Just because this isn’t a presidential election doesn’t mean those costs go away.”

Partch Tuesday told the Gazette that the county’s current budget climate is going to force staff reductions.

He said Coker should take the opportunity to cross-train her employees to handle the different duties within the office.

He added it makes more sense to reduce staff through attrition than to hire someone only to fire them after next year’s budget is assembled.

“It’s far easier to let someone go and not replace them than it is to fire someone else who has a family at home to support,” said Partch.

But Coker said the importance of an employee’s role in keeping an office running needs to be considered, not just the cost.

Coker noted employees in her office are “already making up for the fact that we’re short-staffed.”

She said employees are cross-trained to a large extent, and many do not have time to learn the more intricate details of each position.

Coker noted other departments have been allowed to fill vacant positions. Recently, the county hired a new environmental health specialist and put out an advertisement to replace the director for the information technology department.

Partch pointed out the departments making those hires have already taken action to cut their budgets elsewhere.

“They have stepped up to the plate and made those tough decisions,” said Partch.

Coker and Partch discussed the situation in a closed-door meeting in his office Monday afternoon. Coker delivered letters from individual staff members in her office imploring the commissioners to fill the vacant position.