Auditor gets green light to fill vacancy

County commissioners Monday signed an order allowing Auditor Eunice Coker to fill a soon-to-be vacant position in the county recording department. The commission two weeks ago sidelined the same order, denying Coker the authority to fill the position.

“I’m in a happy place right now,” Coker told the Gazette Monday.

Commissioner Greg Partch told the Gazette two weeks ago that Coker’s request was denied because of budget constraints. He said Tuesday that Coker has worked with the finance department to find funding for the salary.

“Eunice has been working with our finance department to try and solve this gap,” said Partch.

Commissioners asked Coker in June to cut more than $50,000 from her department’s budget to help offset the county’s deficit. Her final cut was closer to $15,000.

Coker said she will use the records employee to free up the time of others in her office to work for the elections department and preserve historic records.

Some of the salary of those employees can be paid outside of Coker’s budget, which is included in the county’s general operating fund.

Commissioner Michael Largent told the Gazette Monday that commissioners are not in the position to question the personnel requirements of elected officials.

He said Coker, like all elected officials in the courthouse, is in charge of her office’s budget and should have the authority to make personnel decisions on her own.

Commissioner Pat O’Neill said he did not even realize he had signed the order allowing her to fill the position.

“She asked me this morning if we signed the order,” O’Neill said Monday. “I told her I guess I did. All I was doing was signing (papers) this morning.”

Following commissioners’ Aug. 3 decision, Coker said she lobbied title companies to contact commissioners to stress the impacts they would feel from reduced staff.

She then had individual meetings with commissioners to discuss the hiring. Staffers in the office also wrote letters imploring the commissioners to allow the hire.