COMMISSIONERS SHOULD LEAD BY EXAMPLE
The commissioners have decided to lower the Assistant District Attorneys salary from the former amount paid to the Assistant DA, well that’s great as now the District Attorney has filed a lawsuit to change the salary back. Do the commissioners in Gilmer ever think before they do? Now whatever the outcome, thousands will be spent in resolving this situation. And guess what, we the taxpayers will all pay for this stupidity. For the DA, don’t you really have something better to do like drug cases, etc., instead of spending your time on this? I personally don’t agree with what the commissioners have done. But, everyone is making great headlines in the newspapers and on t.v. in getting their names out, but many people think this is all pretty stupid. Why don’t the commissioners lower their salaries and lead by example, as we are clearly not getting anything of value from their work? They are costing the taxpayers money and our area is in a recession with the rest of the Country. The County Judge, Dean Fowler, is getting paid much more than the Assistant District Attorney and his position does not require that a law degree, so I find it interesting that a person working in a position requiring a law degree, an Assistant District Attorney, would get paid much less than the "County Judge." The County Judge in Gilmer could be "Bubba" if he would run and become elected. Why doesn’t Gilmer equate the job responsibilities, educational requirements, etc. with pay? Come on Commissioners, start thinking instead of constantly being the laughing stock in the press and to the DA please try to focus on more important matters. People can all accept what the position pays or resign from the position and go somewhere else to work. That is what everyone else in a non-elected position would do. Resolve issues, save the taxpayers money, and keep your names out of the headlines, as when you are in the headlines it is usually not good.
Upshur County Bad to the Bone
on the Gilmer Mirror Blog.
You can contact me at
calvin_monasco@yahoo.com
Don't you find it interesting that all 4 commissioners earn $40,000 a year to meet twice a month for a meeting. Lets give them the benefit of the doubt and say they work 8 hours a MONTH in the course of their bi-weekly meetings. Simple mathematices tells us that comes to $416 PER HOUR, roughly. Now, lets just deduce that becuase of her need to be adequately prepared for court she takes work home and she works 50 hours a WEEK. Simple mathematics once again shows that she earns, compared to the commissioners, $30 PER HOUR, roughly. All of the commissioners have some other business venture that earns them at least that much a year, and probably more. Doesn't our ADA who works 50-60 or more hours a WEEK, desire a fair wage. Let me break this down for you. The ADA works, on average 25 times as many hours as the commissioners, yet the commissioners get paid about 13 times the salary when you compare dollars paid for hours worked. Do you see your hard earned money, that you pay in taxes, going down the drain???!! I DO!
Doesn't the Sheriff and his Deputies deserve to have someone prosecuting the criminals they arrest who earns a salary not quite twice what the commissioners get paid for her 25 fold hours a month? This is a slap in the face for the taxpayers of Upshur County. This is what the bureaucratic politicians think of the tax money you are mandated to pay yearly. They don't care about the voters, the law enforcement, or the legal counsels that work hard and risk their lives daily to arrest, detain and prosecute the criminals of this county. It all boils down to padding their pockets and furthering their own political agendas.
I appreciate the law enforcement and the DA's office for the hard work they do everyday. They should be some of our top-funded agencies and offices. I doubt seriously if anyone, other than the commissioners themselves, would really notice if the commissioners offices were not filled and the court never resumed again. I like Mr. Billy Byrd, what he stands for and how he conducts the business of his office, fair and impartial. I have not personally met Mrs. Brownlee, but if she can stick it out under this group of adversarial, male chauvenist, politically motivated "good ole' boys" then she is a bulldog, and I like bulldogs!