by Leah Justice
The Polk County Board of Commissioner majority was asked to resign, asked to pay $178,000 out of their own pockets and told from a veteran it was a “slap in the face” to pay off now former county manager Ryan Whitson.
Commissioners met Monday, March 17 and during citizen comments heard from a several residents on non-agenda items with the majority speaking on the county majority’s recent decision to accept Whitson’s resignation and pay him $178,590.
Whitson was to return as the county manager on March 10 after on being on active duty with the U.S. Army Reserves since December 2012.
John Marino said he was an Iraqi war veteran and he is very upset by the way the majority of the board of commissioners treated the veteran county manager.
“I think it was disrespectful to all veterans,” Marino said. “I think it’s a slap in the face. And you know what, people remember this. This type of behavior doesn’t go unnoticed by the average citizen.”
Marino continued by saying he is a Republican.
“I just want y’all to know this,” Marino said. “I’m of the same party you are and I feel this way and there’s many of my friends that feel the same way.”
Marino also said the perception coming from this board is not good for the county and not good for the people as a whole.
“But no one is to blame but the four people right here,” Marino said of commissioners Ted Owens, Michael Gage, Keith Holbert and Tom Pack.
He said he would like the county to bring Whitson back, saying Whitson did a good job and “there was no reason to force him out and he was serving his country at the time. I want you to think about that. Do the right thing.”
During commissioner comments, Pack said he and commissioner Owens worked hard to get Whitson hired in Polk County initially.
“Just so everyone knows, when Ryan Whitson was hired, myself and commissioner Owens actually worked hard to get him brought into this county,” Pack said. “As things move along there is change that comes about, things you learn about people and there’s issues you can’t discuss because we’re the employer.”
Commissioner Ray Gasperson, who voted against Whitson’s payout, asked other board members several questions during commissioner comments .
“I clearly showed my disagreement with this action by stating my opinion to everyone,” Gasperson said. “I said, ‘I will never vote to pay Whitson the proposed settlement money and that any commissioner who does should at the same time announce that they never plan to run for elective office in Polk County again.’ I concluded by talking about my concern that if Whitson did not return to his job as county manager, it would be a major negative blow to personnel morale.”
Gasperson ended his comments by asking, “why was the scheme to create a new job for (interim county manager Marche) Pittman quickly abandoned and a large payout of money quickly approved for Whitson?”
Other citizen comments regarding Whitson’s payout came from Gary Poague, who called the county’s decision regarding Whitson a debacle and asked the four commissioners to resign.
He said our county manager was called up for active duty, so the majority appoints an interim manager, “who just happens to be the only member of your party who did not win a position in the last election cycle.”
Poague said time draws near for Whitson’s return, so someone proposes a new assistant county manager position with Poague questioning if the county really needs an assistant county manager.
Poague said even if the county needs and assistant, is giving the assistant nearly the same salary and benefits of the county manager a wise choice?
“Our county manager had already expressed his intent on returning from active duty and resuming his role as county manager on March 10,” Poague said. “Your solution to this was, let’s have another closed door meeting and discuss our options. And let’s try to do it without commissioner Gasperson in the room. Now, let’s offer our current county manager a severance package of $178,590. And open the door for our interim manager to assume the county manager position.
“So, we taxpayers are on the hook for $178,590. Just so the majority can have what they perceive to be better control of the county manager position. On top of that we still have to pay almost another $100,000 for a new county manager. That’s almost $300,000 for a county manager position.”
Poague asked how commissioners can justify the enormous expense.
“The citizens of Polk County deserve better,” Poague said. “We deserve an honest, transparent government that will conserve our resources, protect the rights of all our citizens, no matter what their affiliation, and manage our tax dollars wisely. For this reason I am asking the four commissioners involved in this recent county commissioner debacle to resign.”
Judy Heinrich said she thinks the people of Polk County deserve to have the most qualified people in any government position. When Whitson took his leave for military active duty, she said it was known it would be for a minimum of one year and up to three years.
“Considering that amount of time it would have seemed important to find the best qualified person available to fill that position,” said Heinrich. “But even though the jobs of interim recreation director, interim ag economic development director and Polk County Librarian were important enough to post and compare candidates, you didn’t think that was a needed step for the highest position in county management.
“Instead you hired a person who was not already experienced but who had to go to school at taxpayer expense to learn how to do the job. He received his salary while at school and, although it hasn’t been talked about, I imagine we paid the bill for his travel, hotel, food, etc. Coupled with the fact that he was already being paid more than the actual county manager with seven years experience, plus given a car, that made him a very expensive hire.”
Heinrich pointed out that she was not criticizing Pittman, but the four commissioners and their decision-making.
She continued by saying then it was time for Whitson to come back and instead, the majority chooses to offer him a severance package so he won’t come back.
“You paid a qualified and experienced manager to go away,” said Heinrich. “A manager who in fact worked for two of you previously, and under a Republican majority on the board. If Mr. Whitson was doing something for which he should have lost his job, why didn’t that happen then? He hasn’t been here for a year and a half…what could he have done recently to cause him to lose his job?”
On the payout, Heinrich questioned if that was for the benefit of taxpayers. She said it looks more like the majority either simply didn’t like Whitson, or they felt he would be more likely to hold his own in any decisions involving budget or management.
“So the decision to pay him $178,000 of taxpayer money didn’t benefit ‘the people’ at all,” Heinrich said, “it just benefited the four of you.”
She said now some people are calling for the commissioners to resign and regardless of the merits of that suggestion, she said she’s got a pretty good idea that’s not going to happen.
“So I’d like to suggest something different,” she said. “Since you were the only ones who wanted Ryan Whitson to leave, you were the only ones who benefited from that $178,000 decision, not ‘we the people,’ I suggest that you four should bear the cost of your decision. Split four ways that would cost each of you $44,500. That’s seems like a lot of money for you, doesn’t it? But it’s really no more than the total you stuck the taxpayers with…and you are the only ones who benefited from your governing decision.”
Dennis Hill also questioned the county’s decision to pay Whitson, who he said many believe was a very competent manager. He urged the county moving forward to appoint a committee of citizens to work with the county to decide who to hire in as a new county manager.
Chair Owens ended the meeting by saying he agreed with Poague about one thing.
“I’m thankful to the Lord that we live in a country that we can get up and speak, we can criticize elected officials and we can have a voting day where we can go to the polls without fear of being killed or shot or not allowed to go,” Owens said. “So I’m just thankful we live in the country that we do. I thank you for you attendance.”