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3 employees speak against layoffs plan
Senior Reporter Three Crow Wing County employees stood before the board Thursday and appealed the plan to cut their jobs.
The board voted Tuesday to cut personnel as part of its 2009 preliminary budget and levy.
"Is this really the best solution that you could come up with to eliminate our positions with no fault of our own?" said Joan Gillette of the county's facilities or maintenance department. Gillette asked the board why the county is hiring in certain places and laying off in others or why she was losing her job at a time when the board planned to spend money remodeling its third floor meeting room.
"There's just a variety of different things," Gillette said. "It makes me wonder are you really aware or are you here just to collect a paycheck. Or are you really caring about Crow Wing County or caring about the employees?"
Kevin Stiner, another maintenance department employee, said the county is eliminating five good positions from the department while it has a cleaning contract with a metro company to pick up the work.
"I don't see how that can be in Crow Wing County's interest to give all the money to the Twin Cities," Stiner said.
Brian Miller, senior maintenance supervisor, has been with the county since June 1, 1979. Miller spoke of the experience he's gained from his years on the job.
"I have the experience. I have the knowledge and I know the buildings and that is what you will be losing," Miller said.
Treasurer Laureen Borden said she watched the maintenance staff assist with the heavy ballot boxes during the night of the primary election. With the maintenance staff cut so drastically, Borden questioned if the board had made provisions for the help that is needed by county departments.
Doug Gillette, Joan Gillette's husband, asked the board if they'd considered other options such as a 5 percent pay cut affecting all employees or a two-year wage freeze before they decided to cut positions.
Commissioner Paul Thiede said elimination of jobs that affect people is never easy. Thiede said this decision did not come thoughtlessly.
"It is painful to have to do it particularly when we have people who are good staff who come and try to defend their positions," Thiede said. With the future state budget concerns, Thiede said this may be the first round in job cuts. "While it is painful I think we have set the course and it's the right course."
"This is not a decision that we have made lightly," board Chairwoman Rachel Reabe Nystrom said. "We have looked at every other option that was available to us."
Nystrom said everything the county could do to avoid cutting jobs was done last year. Commissioner Dewey Tautges said this is probably the toughest decision the board has to make. "I feel strongly that we've got to do it," he said.
After the meeting, Administrator Tim Houle said the county is looking at a contract with Honeywell or Johnson Controls for some building system maintenance and most of the cleaning contract dollars do come back to the county to pay for local employees, which is a cost savings for the county.
Houle said ideas about instituting a pay freeze or wage reduction were raised at employee meetings where ideas about where money could be saved were discussed but the suggestions were not supported by all employees. Houle said the county's budget is a reflection of the tough economy that isn't unique to Crow Wing County.
"The hard part," he said, "is real people are affected."
RENEE RICHARDSON may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.
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