Web posted
Thursday, February 14, 2008
County affirms pay raise
By JOSHUA AMES
Courier Staff Writer
Concerns over the 10.3 percent base salary raise for Cowley County administrator Leroy Alsup were voiced at Tuesday night's county commission meeting by a Winfield resident, Leo Karlin.
Karlin, strongly opposed to the salary raise, said he did not see the purpose in giving Alsup the raise.
"It's just not ethical to offer raises of that magnitude to anyone," said Karlin. "I have not talked to anyone that agrees with this, and I didn't agree with hiring a county administrator in the first place."
The raise took Alsup's annual salary from $81,598.40 to $90,001.60, which is more in the ballpark of what Winfield City Manager Warren Porter makes annually, according to County Counselor Bill Taylor.
Taylor said the raise is acceptable through Alsup's contract. Since the jobs at the city and county are similar, Alsup deserves to be paid an adequate salary for the work he does, according to Taylor. In addition, Taylor said, going back on the raise could cause legal problems with Alsup's contract.
"Leroy does have a written employment contract with the county, and all commissioners did was adjust the dollar amount of his salary," said Taylor.
County commissioner Dick Bonfy said the raise came after Alsup's exceptional job performance with the new jail and other projects. Bonfy said he was acting in the best interests of the county by paying Alsup accordingly for his services.
"We're elected by the people to do the right thing," said Bonfy. "In my opinion, I agree with the raise, and if we're not in the position to make the best decisions, then the people need to find somebody else."
County commissioner Carmelita Clarkson made a motion to repeal Alsup's raise. The motion was denied because of lack of a second.
Karlin then said he will put together a petition to further contest the raise. Taylor thought Karlin meant to petition for a forced commission vote on the matter. Taylor said a petition can't simply force the commission to vote on repealing a raise, to which Karlin stood confused.
"I never said anything about a vote," said Karlin. "I was talking about a petition."
In other business commissioners:
* Passed a resolution granting the Secretary of the Kansas Department of Transportation authority to award a contract to LaFarge North America, Inc. in the sum of $450,390, and committing $103,000 of county funds required as matching funds for the U.S. 160/Cowley 3 intersection realignment project.
* Renewed the contract on a farm lease with Cowley County resident Charles Pilkington.
|
