From the Register Guard:
Published: Saturday, July 7, 2007
Lane County government is so short on money, not even the CEO's job is safe.
The job of county administrator - the chief executive over the 1,500-employee organization - might be expendable if the government must shrink due to funding cutbacks, Commissioner Bill Fleenor said this week.
Board Chairman Faye Stewart is 180 degrees opposite Fleenor: It's because the financial picture is so grim that the county needs another skilled leader at the helm, he said.
"To say we don't need an administrator is a mistake," Stewart said. "We need to find somebody that's got some really good ideas, because this organization is going to need to make some changes."
In fact, Stewart said the job is so big that it warrants help - he wants to create an assistant county administrator position. The board will meet Wednesday on both positions and whether to look locally, nationally or globally for candidates.
And this in from Thursday:
The commissioners agreed to not only replace the leaving administrator, Bill Van Vactor, and to increase the salary of that position by $15-29 thousand, but to also create a new position of assistant that pays $95-130 thousand.
With the county budget hemorrhaging money, the threat of laying off over 200 workers, closing parks, and eliminating DA and Jail personnel, Mr. Stewart wants to open another vein. It seems what we really need is at least 1 less commissioner.
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