County Council and Sheriff vet differences
Sheriff Donnie Lampert spoke before the County Council on Monday. He is concerned about his department’s ability to fulfill the needs of the county with its current manpower issues.
Mark Brescher (D – District 1) addressed Lampert’s concerns right out of the box stating that the Letter to the Editor was of no concern to him, but he did recognize that many people came to him and stated they did not like the letter Lampert provided to the local news media.
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Addressing Lampert’s concerns about pay raises, Brescher explained that although the council tells the departments to submit the budget with a certain amount of money slotted for raises that didn’t mean they would get that maximum amount. “If we say you should budget for $1500 for a pay raise that means you could get anywhere from $0 to $1500 for the raise in your budget,” Brescher stated.
Lampert has issues with the fact that supervisors in the jail have not received proper pay raises for those positions and the Sheriff’s Department deputy’s pay is lower than the average pay in other police departments.
Lampert requested four new employees for the department in his budget; two new deputies and two new jailers. Brescher told him that in all of his years as Auditor and Council Member he has never seen a brand new department head to come in and ask for four new employees and get them. “We can work up to that.”
For more information on the sheriff’s side see this story.
Brescher commended Lampert for his directness and his attempts to take care of the issues he felt the department was facing.
“I respect you, I told a guy in your office that I have a lot of respect for the way you are fighting, but I hope that you have respect for us guys on this council. On what we are trying to do. We have never, never turned you down for the equipment you’ve needed.” Brescher said.
He then asked, “What the deal with the freakin’ hole in the daggone place out there. I thought we were under consensus to get it fixed.”
According to Lampert the hole has been there since the new jail was built. The problem was mired by the determination of whether the City of Jasper or the County is responsible (the pipe belongs to the city and the hole is on county property). The hole is now slated to be fixed next year.
Brescher ended by stating that the council is doing what they can to help the Sheriff’s Department. “I think it’s going to take a little more time than you want.”
In regards to the Sheriff’s request for pay raises for supervisory positions, the council discussed that fact that all of the individuals were basically still deputies. Greg Kendall (D – At Large) stated he didn’t understand why an individual that is still working the same hours and may have a little more responsibilities should deserve higher pay.
“If we give every department what they want then we will catch hell for spending the money; if we don’t then we get hell for slighting him, and we are actually doing our jobs to the best of our ability to keep the taxpayers bill lower.” Kendall said.
Martha Wehr (D – At Large) explained that the Sheriff had used Marshall County as a comparison for Dubois County’s needs. Marshall County has 22 deputies and the county jail has 18 full time jailers; Dubois County has 16 deputies and 16 jailers. “I called Marshall County to find out how many prisoners they had. Their capacity for their jail is 250 which is almost twice as big as ours and they had an average of 118 inmates. So based on that I feel we can make do with a few less deputies.”
Lampert’s letter to the editor alluded to a threat that was made toward him, Kendall vehemently denied that anyone on the council made any threats towards the sheriff.
“When counties in Indiana are laying people off and we aren’t, then we are doing a good job.” Kendall explained.
Ideas discussed to help with the manpower issue included part-time transport officers and even using inmates to fulfill some of the duties.
Mr Brescher, I dont know who you talked to about the letter to the editor that Sheriff Lampert wrote but all the over 100+ people we have talked to are all supportive of Lampert and commend him for bringing all of this to the publics attention. I am glad that someone is finally standing up for all of the people in Dubois County. Way to go Lampert for Sheriff, keep up the GREAT work.
I haven't been aware of the specific needs for Lampert's department – specific reasons for the extra positions – but neither did Councilman Brescher cite specific reasons for essentially opposing the request other than citing that in his experience a brand new department head has never come on board to make such a request and receive it. So what…? If the situation and need merits the positions, maybe they're justified. Don't allow the old school of thought in "that's the way it's always (or never) been done" to cloud an otherwise reasonable request if based on facts. At least councilwoman Wehr was on the right track in citing a comparison, although other sherriff department comparisons are needed (more than just one) to more accurately arrive at some valid numbers. Yes, the positions can be phased in, but Brescher's reasoning seems nothing more than confrontational, "old school" and absent of any facts or supportive info.
As for pay, what does "basically still deputies" mean? They either are or they aren't. If they ARE basically still deputies, but they are being assigned supervisory duties above and beyond their job descriptions and not being properly designated and compensated, the county could be in trouble. If they are NOT basically still deputies, what are they, and moreover, what are they being assigned and paid to reflect their true status? Again, the county could be in trouble.
Also, Councilman Kendall needs to understand that pay is generally based on responsibility – if even "a little more responsibilities" – particularly if on a regularly assigned basis. More of one usually – legally – begets more of the other. Again, this isn't yesteryear any longer.