A few reasons why you'd fire a good employee

     During the past week, the county has engaged in the process of letting a few good employees go, their contracts terminated with severance pay.
     The natural questions is, why would commissioners on their way out the door fire people?  Why not let the new commissioners assess the abilities of the employees, and decide whether to keep them or cut them loose? Is this a case of paying off political pals at taxpayer expense?
     I had to consider the substance and the appearance of the situation before I was able to take action. I am satisfied that the best interests of both the public and the employees were served with the termination of their contracts. Why?
     For starters, you can look up the county government web site and check out the video for Dec. 1 meeting. Close to the end, we discuss the merits of such an action, and bottom line is, it was why the contracts were offered in the first place, and it was time to wrap it up. It was the legal, ethical and honorable thing to do.
     I was reminded by human resources personnel several weeks ago that the contracts existed and that it was time to consider a course of action. Meanwhile, several of the commissioners-elect had sent some not-so-subtle threats that they would be lopping off heads and cleaning house. Hardly the classy and dignified way to send off people whose only sin was to have been appointed to their positions by outgoing commissioners.
     Dismissing someone is never a good time. Not even when it is done for the right reasons. So what are legitimate reasons for firing someone? One is that the job has been accomplished and the employee is no longer needed. Two, the employee is not the right person for the job they are incompetent, insubordinate, unreliable, that sort of thing. Three, the cost of paying someone to do the job is no longer affordable. Four, the job disappears -- the reason for it has passed, the time has run out.
     Contracts are written to protect the interests of all parties concerned. When the four county employees were hired, the commissioners were looking for people to accomplish work that we thought represented both the wishes and the best interests of the citizens. We looked for skill sets and abilities that would move the stated agenda forward -- better transparency and public information, the development of a master plan that would sustain the quality of life and manage growth in ways that would be fiscally and environmentally responsible, and competent operations of public works such as roads, trash and recycling efforts -- general county operations.
     As I said in my comments at the Dec. 1 meeting, many county employees could do better professionally working for counties who pay more than Carroll, or in private industry. They served the interests of the people at some sacrifice to themselves, and to their job security. For that, they are entitled to negotiate a reasonable contract, including the terms of separation.
     I appreciate their service, not to me, or this board of commissioners, but to the public this board has represented for the past eight years. I'm proud of their work in behalf of the people of Carroll County, and I wish them well as they move on.
    It's my opinion that the taxpayers got a great deal.