Salary study prompts dispute between two Fayette officials
Although Wednesday’s Fayette County salary board meeting wasn’t convened due to a lack of voting members, sparks flew between Commissioner Ronald M. Nehls and Register of Wills Donald Redman over a nonunion employee salary study. At issue: a salary study for nonunion employees that recommends redlining, or freezing, the salaries of 12 of the 88 affected employees. The study was performed by Felice Associates of Greensburg, the county’s management consultant, at the direction of the county commissioners.
During a lengthy but unofficial roundtable discussion of the salary study, Redman argued that the lone redlined employee in his office, chief clerk Janet Seese, should get a 3 percent salary increase instead of the 3 percent “bonus” suggested by the Felice plan.
Redman, a former United Mine Workers official, contended that how the money is slotted could make a big difference in the retirement pay of redlined employees like Seese, as retirement pay is predicated on salary and not bonuses. He also said that the plan unjustly punishes longtime employees such as his chief clerk, who has 38 years of tenure as a county employee.
“That’s been my beef from the first meeting we had,” said Redman, joined at the aborted meeting by fellow row officers Prothonotary Lance Winterhalter, Clerk of Courts Janice Snyder, Recorder of Deeds Dave Malosky and District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon.
Redman also noted that he wants to see a copy of the revised salary study, so he can make his own determination if “we got shanked” in terms of the percentage raises recommended by Felice for workers in different offices. He said he’d feel that way if, for example, nonunion workers in his office get 3 percent while workers elsewhere get 10 percent.
George DeCaro, a Felice employee, said his firm made internal and external comparisons, including a very methodical approach to slotting jobs according to their level of responsibility, in compiling the salary study.
“A job reaches a maximum (wage) … it’s only worth so much money. We have to cap out a job (on the scale),” said DeCaro, explaining the purpose behind the redlining.
The normally mild-mannered Nehls started out his rebuttal of Redman’s charges in typical calm demeanor, noting that while county worker wages still lag behind those paid in other counties and in the private sector, significant strides were made in recent years.
“Nobody can deny that things have gotten better regarding wages,” said Nehls, who admitted the one “real scratchy point” remains the redlining of the salaries of a small group of nonunion employees.
As the debate continued to escalate, Nehls noted that he was a driving force behind the concept of making sure that all the nonunion employees got some type of extra money, which wasn’t originally going to be the case. Without mentioning her by name, Nehls said that giving Seese a $1,000 “bonus” seemed a much better deal than giving her nothing at all.
Nehls also said he doubts that any employee would complain about getting such a “bonus,” given a choice between the two extreme options. He added that he seriously doubts whether slotting the money as salary would make a big dent in any employee’s retirement check.
“This thing may go on for another four years if you’re going to argue points like that,” Nehls told Redman.
When Redman brought up the specter of the unevenness in which raises had been doled out in a prior political era, Nehls countered with, “I can’t be responsible for what happened in the past. It’s June 19, 2002.”
When Redman pointed out that it’s not fair to redline the affected dozen employees, Nehls’ retort was, “Sometimes life isn’t fair.” He emphatically added that, “It’s the best decision that we could come up with,” and reiterated his position that the commissioners hired experts to perform the salary study and he was prepared to follow their recommendations.
After the discussion broke up, Nehls and Redman continued a spirited and sometimes loud discussion of the main sticking point.
At one point Redman told Nehls, “I’m not buying your bag of bones.”
That comment seemed to infuriate an already-exasperated Nehls, who retorted, “I’m not trying to sell you a bag of bones. I’m telling you that a (proposal) has been made. You can accept it or reject it.”
Commissioner Sean M. Cavanagh said $81,000 was budgeted in 2002 to handle the nonunion employee raises. He added that he personally has no problem “going back to the drawing board” with DeCaro to iron out any remaining issues, as long as the solution fits within budgetary restraints.
Cavanagh agreed to distribute copies of the latest salary study to all interested row officers, so they could peruse the document and make suggestions in advance of formal approval by the salary board.
Commission Chairman Vincent A. Vicites and Controller Mark Roberts did not attend Wednesday’s scheduled meeting. Cavanagh said that while Vicites had to deal with a family medical issue, he did not know the reason for Roberts’ absence.
Without at least one of the missing participants at the table, the salary board did not have the majority needed to conduct official business.