In it, Turner explains what the money is spent on, and lays out most of the recent training events (though not all, as the $900 spent at the Montgomery Inn Boathouse is not on the list). The total listed over the last 12 months: $12,554.25.
Butler County commissioners continued cutting jobs Thursday, announcing nine layoffs in Job and Family Services and the elimination of 20 positions. Here’s the story.
As often happens in this business, the story was trimmed for length. Here are the paragraphs that didn’t make it in the paper:
Some of these programs are already underfunded, (Job and Family Services Deputy Director Jerome) Kearns said, and more cuts will eventually impact service delivery.
“The needs of our community are going to go higher, but the state is reducing our allocation,” said County Commissioner Gregory Jolivette.
This follows an announcement in September that 10.5 positions will be cut in Children Services, 5.5 through layoffs. And the county is still mulling whether to hire an outside agency to scour the county budget for more staff cuts.
And here’s where a lot of this began. If you look at the blog entries around this date, you will see the full context of the debate back then on how county employees are paid.
Do you think the layoffs are the right course of action?
Butler County commissioners were already varying shades of displeased with Butler County Emergency Management Director William Turner. And they are still waiting on a full report on what needs to be changed to prevent another string of mishaps as happened after Hurricane Ike hit.
So when they were asked Thursday to approve more than $1,000 in reimbursements for catered training workshops, they went off. Commissioner Gregory Jolivette:
“It seems like they say let’s go to lunch and while we’re at it, let’s have a meeting.”
Commissioner Donald Dixon:
“Based on the last performance that I saw, maybe we ought to do a little less eating and a little more training.”
Commission President Charles Furmon:
“That does sound exorbitant in my estimation.”
The reimbursements were for three training workshops. One was a $900 lunch at Montgomery Inn at the Boathouse, and two were at Washington Platform Saloon and Restaurant, totaling $344.25.
Turner said they try to keep the cost of food at these events at a minimum, but it is paid for with federal homeland security money.
Helen Plank just called to tell me how impressed she was by how Butler County Auditor Roger Reynolds’ office responded to her concerns about how her property was appraised in this year’s controversial tax reappraisal.
And help they did, Plank said. She owns several houses in Trenton and saw all of their taxable values reduced considerably, she said, and someone from the office spent a few days at her house pouring over the records.
Her home’s tax value originally shot from $61,000 to $116,230, she said, but the auditor’s office dropped it back to $62,500 — “there’s not a $50,000 home on my street, except for mine,” she said. Another house’s value dropped from about $52,000 to $51,000 with help from the auditor’s office, when that office originally had it at $70,000. Yet another home’s tax value dropped from $80,000 to $46,590, she said.
Butch Hubble, the Democrat challenging incumbent Republican County Commission President Charles Furmon in November, just stopped by and dropped off this statement:
When I left here 40 years ago to begin my military service, we had public transportation like local and greyhound bus service. We had passenger trains that stopped here. Our towns had industries such as automobile manufactory, paper mills and large safe companies.
Where did it all go and why?
In the past 6 months I have traveled nearly all over this county visiting townships, villages and city councils. I have been looking around and talking to people about our economy. The attitudes and comments are remarkably similar about what we need to do to boost our economy. It was well noted that a few areas are doing quite well as far as local development goes, but most of our towns are not.
I went to the ceremony Wednesday where they renamed the county’s juvenile justice center the Judge David J. Niehaus Juvenile Justice Center in honor of the late judge.
It was a tearful occasion, and it was clear that the judge was loved and respected by many.
They presented a PowerPoint presentation based on a speech Niehaus gave some years ago. I thought it was a moving speech, so I give it to you below (click on the upper right corner to enlarge):
Anyone interested in Butler County politics, which theoretically should be anyone on this blog, would likely agree that the Butler County auditor’s race is one of the big ones to watch this year.
It has it all: past scandals, heavy partisanship, public unrest and continuing allegations of wrongdoing.
“Patronage and hiring practices throughout Butler County government have been under scrutiny over the past year. Do you intend to follow past practices of fill job openings in a different manner?”
“Explain what you are doing to minimize the increase in property valuation — and thus taxes — that Butler County homeowners are seeing after the reappraisal.”
“What’s the biggest change you intend to bring to the auditor’s office?”
Take a look at the video them come back here and tell me: who do you think won the debate?
Josh Sweigart reports about Butler County, Ohio, politics, county government, countywide issues and Butler County people just like you for Cox Ohio Publishing (including the Hamilton JournalNews, Middletown Journal and several weekly papers in Butler County). He wants your suggestions and questions for more news stories. Leave a comment for him here or e-mail Josh at jsweigart@coxohio.com.
Josh Sweigart
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