2 to 1 vote: County creates new tech position

With another split vote, county commissioners Monday approved the creation of a new technology position in the aftermath of firing the county finance director.

The controversial system administrator position will take on New World, the county’s software program which was never installed, a factor which led to the firing of county finance director Beverly Divine June 1.

Commissioners Greg Partch and Pat O’Neill voted for creating the new position, and Michael Largent voted no during a brief county board meeting Monday.

The creation of the job means laying off Maria Thompson, a full-time technical specialist in the information technology department where the new system administrator will be assigned.

Sixty to 75 percent of the system administrator salary will come from funds now budgeted for Thompson’s absorbed position, said Chris Nelson, director of the IT department.

The new system administrator job is expected to pay between $3,400 to $3,800 a month, according to Partch.

Two days after Divine was fired, assistant director Sharron Cunningham resigned.

With the finance department cut in half, commissioners last week hired an accounting consultant company Anderson-Peretti and Co. to analyze the remodeling of the finance department. From that analysis, they hoped to come up with solutions to the best way to run New World.

In the meantime, Partch and O’Neill also voted Partch in as the interim finance director.

Largent said he voted no on hiring a systems administrator because he felt creating the job was far too early given they have not heard back from Anderson-Peretti and Co yet.

“I just thought it was premature,” he said.

He added in a year of very tight budgeting, where commissioners came close to layoffs in the sheriff’s department last December, it made little sense to be creating new full-time positions.

“We don’t have a good idea where we’re at with the budget because we lost our budget director,” he said.

Largent was vehemently opposed to the firing of Divine, partly because he felt she was a quality employee and partly because he felt shut out and not trusted for much of the pre-planning that went into the decision.

“Historically, it hasn’t been a collective discussion,” he said.

Largent has stated in previous Gazette interviews that with peoples’ finances and jobs at stake, there needs to be better communication and trust among commissioners.

Partch stressed the new position was important because he wanted to kick-start the New World software. He was tired of pouring money down the drain for it, he said.

The software was purchased by the county in 2005 for $331,600. It was never used. Under Divine’s leadership since 2005, the county has spent $191,000 to update the software.

“This position is showing our commitment to getting this software on line by January,” Partch said. “We’re going to get that up and we’re going to get it running.”

Partch added the position calls for someone with experience in government finance, in addition to a college degree.

“Neither Bev nor Sharron had a degree or any formal training,” he said.

Partch said he did not yet know how they will address the vacancies in the finance department. He said he wanted to see the results from Anderson-Peretti’s analysis before deciding to absorb or fill those positions.

In the meantime, Esther Wilson, one of the staff members in the department, has filed for county auditor to challenge incumbent Eunice Coker.

Coker is pushing for the finance department to be put under her department. She claims substitute House Bill 1583 passed last year requires county finance departments to be under the control of the county auditors. Coker said she researched code counties around the state, most of whom already have their finance departments under the auditor.

“In the meantime, Mr. Partch pulls his rabbit out of the hat and fires Bev,” she said.

When asked about the new law, Partch said he read it to mean there were no changes. Prosecutor Denis Tracy is currently reviewing the law for a determination, Coker said.

She also felt it was a major conflict of interest for Partch to be able to vote himself in as interim finance director. Some of the decisions he can make as director will later end up on his desk as commissioner for approval.

“No commissioner should be head of finance,” Coker said, adding she was also researching provisions in state law which apply to that restriction.