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Commissioners start year with a bang
- By Bob Robinson - Jan. 4, 2011
Something old, something new…
It’s not a bride preparing for her wedding day; it’s the first day out
in 2011 for the new Darke County Commissioners.
Something new? Recently elected Darke County Commissioner Mike Stegall
takes his seat, replacing retired 5-term Commissioner Terry Haworth.
Something new? Commissioner and 2011 President Diane Delaplane started
the meeting with Prayer/Moment of Silence and a Pledge of Allegiance to
the Flag.
Something old? Another conflict with Darke County Common Pleas Judge
Jon Hein.
What started as a brief meeting on Monday with only two items on the
agenda, turned into a discussion of a recent request by Hein to expand
his and Darke County Prosecutor Kelly Ormsby’s 2011 Budgets because of
the Commissioners’ decision last February to fund two drug enforcement
officers for Darke County Sheriff Toby Spencer.
In a prepared statement by Rhoades, Hein reportedly told the
commissioners that allowing the increase in the Sheriff’s budget while
asking other department heads to flat-line their budgets was “unfair.”
As a result, Hein asked for an additional $57,000 to hire a new
Probation Officer and give his staff a 2 percent raise.
Commissioners countered that several local police departments had
approached them, advising them that the drug problem in the county was
“out of control.” They determined that $80,000 from unused Worker’s
Compensation funds could be used to “help support the hiring of the
much needed officers.”
They also said there is no money available for across-the-line budget
increases for the other departments.
Rhoades said that Hein led them to believe his request was supported by
the department heads but noted that later phone discussions didn’t
support that.
“There were only a few that agreed with him,” Rhoades said. He
declined, however, to say which ones.
Commissioners said one of their primary responsibilities was the safety
of the residents of the county, noting that they believed they made the
right decision and “would do it again.”
They said they understood the possible increased workload that the
Prosecutor’s Office and Common Pleas could face in 2011, adding that if
and when that happened they would address it.
They also noted the challenges faced by the Sheriff’s Department.
Rhoades said that with the new year, Sheriff’s Deputies had to deal
with five domestic calls inside of an hour, two of them involving
firearms.
“With three deputies on the road, two more had to be called in. It’s
impossible to anticipate the overtime that the Sheriff will have to pay
in 2011,” he said. He added however, that Spencer told them he would
deal with whatever they decided, even if it meant losing the funding
that paid for the new deputies.
Speaking for the commissioners, including Stegall who was just taking
his seat for the first time on Monday, Rhoades said they would do what
had to be done, and requested that the public provide its opinion on
the situation.
This is not the first time county commissioners have crossed swords
with Hein. In 2003, Hein issued a court order requiring commissioners
to agree to pay raises for Public Defenders serving in his court.
The two items on Monday’s agenda were reauthorization of an IV-D
Contract for $15,478.63 between the Darke County Child Enforcement
Agency and the Darke County Juvenile Court, and a Public Notice fixing
the date – Jan. 19 – for sealed bids on a utility truck and two
tractors from the County Engineer.
Bob Robinson is the
retired editor of The Daily Advocate, Greenville, Ohio. If you wish to
receive a daily notification of his comments, opinions and reports,
send your email address to: opinionsbybob@gmail.com. Feel free to
express your views.
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