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Letter to the Editor

In Support Of Sullivan County Employees

Counterpoint

George E. Conklin III - District 5, Legislator
Posted 8/3/21

To the editor:

On July 20 the front page of the Sullivan County Democrat, was an article on the subject of Premium Pay for Sullivan County Employees. On July 2 a draft resolution for Management …

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Letter to the Editor

In Support Of Sullivan County Employees

Counterpoint

Posted

To the editor:

On July 20 the front page of the Sullivan County Democrat, was an article on the subject of Premium Pay for Sullivan County Employees. On July 2 a draft resolution for Management and Budget Committee was available to the entire Legislature. In the article one of my colleagues stated that he found out about this at the last minute.

The subject of the resolution was to designate use of the Corona Virus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, to DPW Road Fund and Sullivan Community College infrastructure. The resolution was voted through unanimously on July 8 at Management and Budget Committee with little or no discussion.

On July 12 at 1:33 p.m. the agenda packet for the regular meeting was available. No discussion was made about it until July 15, two weeks after the original draft resolution was made available to the legislature.

While there is a rush to support some county workers, we are slapping some of them in the face when we state we received something at the last minute. This is disingenuous and undermines the fine staff in the Manager’s Office and the Clerk of the Legislature as they do a fantastic job and are very professional.

As for who gets Premium Pay a discussion and a vote passed in favor of this for some county staff. The people who voted in favor of this stipend should determine who gets this money and how much because it is an impossible task.

I want the public to realize there are 1,100 county employees. During the time of the pandemic many people gave up percentages of their salaries, many department heads ran their offices with little or no staffing, and good employees who were laid off lived with the uncertainty of their employment. There were many departments that still continued to deal with the public, such as the Veterans, DMV, Treasurers Office, Clerks Office, Sheriffs Department, Social Services and other departments, which I am sure I have left some out which proves my point. How do you determine who gets money and how much?

Anyway you slice it you are going to leave someone out or treat someone unfairly. We were all in this together. Some people worked harder than others for sure, and I as well as my colleagues appreciate all the county staff and thank them all for their hard work.

As always thank you to the Sullivan County Democrat for their fair and balanced reporting.

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