Walls' deal to cover 4 months pay

The Knox County Commission on Monday agreed not to fire long-time county internal auditor Richard Walls, and instead agreed to wait until next week to talk about whether to offer him a severance package that would cover four months of salary.

The retirement proposal, if approved, would take effect Sept. 3 and also include single insurance coverage for 18 months.

In addition, Walls could receive a payout of all unused vacation leave he accrued during his career, as well as any unused sick leave he has left at the rate of $100 per day.

Walls, a county employee for almost 13 years, makes $92,700 annually. His severance pay would amount to almost $31,000.

If he and the board do sign the proposal, then Walls also could not pursue legal action against the county due to his termination.

The board during Monday's work session forwarded the proposal on without recommendation to next week's voting meeting; however, officials said they expect to approve the contract next week.

"He has agreed to retirement and my feeling is that we should let him be, let him go into retirement," said Commissioner Mike Hammond. "But we need to have a separate discussion about the future of the department and what direction to take it."

Click right smack here for the complete bad a$$ story.

Dwight, Myretta no longer "acting"

Knox County Public Works and Engineering Director Dwight Van de Vate and county Director of Library Services Myretta Black can finally drop “interim” from their titles.

Brief history lesson: When county Mayor Tim Burchett took office last September there was a big ol' mess about severance packages, and who knew what and when, and whatever. In the end, Bruce Wuethrich (public works and engineering), Larry Frank (top dog librarian) and Susanne Dupes (communications director) quit.

The mayor then put Black in charge of the library system as acting director, and Van de Vate (former county Mayor Mike Ragsdale's chief administrative officer or something like that) over public works.

Somehow Michael “Spin Doc” Grider got Dupes' old job, but it has a different title and pay and he has to carry the chief of staff Dean “the Emperor” Rice's bags wherever he goes. (Rice also requires him to walk three steps behind him wherever they go. Kidding. Not really.)

Anyhoo, I think they mayor this afternoon finally got sick of me asking him when he'd make permanent appointments. He then said he'd call Black and Van de Vate today and let them know they could drop the “interim” label from their business cards.

Course the mayor is so cheap, I mean frugal, that he'll probably just tell them to grab a pen and cross out the title rather than order new cards.

And no, they don't get a pay raise.

Larry Frank and his one-week job

Do you remember Larry Frank? The county's former wild-haired library director (some called him "Yoni") who has some even wilder ideas?

The same guy, left, former county Mayor Mike Ragsdale let quit before Tim Burchett came in and was (possibly) about to axe him? Then there was that whole severance package snafu.

Well, he got a job. Then he quit. After ONE WEEK!

Here's the story right smack here.

The story doesn't mention whether Frank will repay the $15,000 moving stipend the Grand Haven system gave him.

Burchett: Severances still a no-go

A little over a month ago, the Knox County Commission officially backed the mayor’s plan to eliminate severance packages for employees, agreeing to insert the policy into the county’s code.

That, however, changed tonight.

On the second reading of the ordinance (they need to approve these things twice), the commission balked.

Last time it was 10-1, with only Commissioner Amy Broyles dissenting. Tonight, though, it was shot down in a 6-4 vote, with commissioners Ed Shouse, Dave Wright, Tony Norman, Sam McKenzie and Chairman Mike Hammond jumping ship.

(Commissioner Mike Brown wasn’t on the dais during the vote.)

So, what happened? Apparently, some commissioners felt that the move would tie the hands of the next mayor. Or that’s what they said.

As Hammond put it: “I just think the mayor – whoever he is – needs to decide what their policies are going to be.”

Well, that’s cool, but the commission's decision really doesn’t change a thing for right now. County Mayor Tim Burchett doesn’t need their support. He never did. He was being polite.

The policy has been set. For at least the next four years.

Because if the mayor says that he’s going to ban severance packages for employees who fall under the executive office’s purview (about 900 of them), then it happens.

And that’s just what he said tonight after the vote.

“We really just wanted buy-in from the commission, but it’s OK,” he said. “It’s not a beach to die on. It’s old news. We’re not going to be paying (severance packages) out, anyway.”

On a side note, Burchett might not have gained full commissioner support tonight, but support is coming from other places throughout the Deathstar.

In recent weeks, for example, county Trustee John Duncan III said he banned severance packages from his office. Sheriff Jimmy “JJ” Jones, County Clerk Foster Arnett and Criminal Court Clerk Joy McCroskey also sent letters to the administration, saying they support the mayor’s request.

Officials with the Public Building Authority, which has long handed out the packages, also sent a note to the mayor, but didn’t take a side. In the letter, officials said they were hiring a new lawyer and wanted to wait before making a decision.

Knox County Register of Deeds Sherry Witt told commissioners awhile back that she is not on board.

Amy Broyles: Sever the plan, Dean

Amy Broyles, left, often votes against the Knox County Commission grain on some hot-button items. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s just an observation.

(I get paid by the cliche by the way.)

But, she’s certainly passionate. Take tonight, for example. Just the briefest mention of “severances for county employees,” and she made a long meeting even longer.

“This is not something that’s being abused and this is not something that’s being offered to every employee going out the door,” she said, taking a stand against county Mayor Tim Burchett’s plan to eliminate severance packages entirely for employees who work under the executive branch.

She said previous payouts were “never given routinely” and should be “used judiciously as a good tool to use in our human resources tool box.”

(I’m not sure why someone would use a severance package as a recruiting tool, but I digress.)

She said that since 2005, some 41 county workers received severances packages for a combined $200,000 in payouts. She also said the proposal to cut them (which the commission already has approved on a first reading) would affect only 8 percent of its employees – only those directly under the mayor’s purview.

“This is something that looks good in the paper,” she added. “We’re not saving the taxpayers any money. This is a morale-killer. This is a huge mistake.”

However, the commissioner wasn’t done.

Broyles continued, saying (and she was very clear that any overheard conversations occurred during public meetings and not during illegal backroom ones) that other commissioners agreed with her, but wouldn’t publicly side with her because “they wanted to support the new mayor.”

Still on a roll, Broyles also took the time to publicly announce that she’s heard (also in open meetings) other commissioners say they want to raise their own salaries “since we’re now doing the job of two commissioners.” (This all goes back to voters changing the board from the unwieldy 19 members down to a more manageable and less-time-spent-showboating-on-the-dais 11 members.)

And, Broyles said she’s heard that commissioners also don’t want to do away with their travel allowances. (This all goes back to the awesome story I wrote on auto allowances.)

“This is something I’ve really gotten myself worked up about and I apologize,” Broyles said.

(Hey, don’t apologize to me. Entertainment at the expense of others is always fun to watch.)

Now, for some reason that I no longer recall – perhaps because at this point I was surfing the Internet – the county administration’s chief of staff, Dean Rice (pictured below), went to the podium to address the commission. Or to answer questions. Or to just hang out. Like I said, I don’t remember.

Rice explained – again – that under the mayor’s proposal, no employee, whether they’re laid off, fired or resign, will get a deal.

But, he said if the county needs to reduce its work force, then the administration might offer early, across-the-board voluntary retirement incentives.

They would apply to those who are at least 55 years old and worked for the county for at least five years.

Rice told Broyles that “I appreciate your thoughts and understand where you’re coming from,” but that the mayor can control only policies that apply to the executive branch. That means Burchett can’t force the sheriff, the fee offices and everyone else people think he has control over but really doesn’t to follow his lead.

Rice continued, saying the county already has a great recruiting tool: “generous retirement packages.”

(No, by the way, that is not the same as a severance package. Heh.)

Broyles looked sharply at Rice. Then said: “Yes, he is setting a policy, Dean, and it’s a bad one.”

With nothing left to do, the administration’s chief of staff stepped back, adding: “Well, I appreciate that.”

It's not the end, though.

After the meeting, the two began a semi-heated exchange (that Broyles appeared to initiate) outside the City County Building’s “small assembly room” that lasted from the time I took the elevator up to the sixth floor to copy some public records and then back down to the main level (and actually about five minutes longer).

I caught bits and pieces of it, but nothing I’ll attempt to put into context. Still, it was not good-natured (although I didn't hear any good cuss words). But, it did end with a friendly handshake and a nice “goodbye” between the two.

I figure Broyles and Rice do like each other, but politically, they’re not always going to see eye-to-eye.

And like I said, Broyles doesn’t always take the popular route.

And I get paid by the cliche.