SUNDAY OCTOBER 2 2016

LEDGER-ENQUIRER.COM News 5A

FROM PAGE 4A L-E. I questioned that, than the boards alleged Holmes: the MCSD payroll. Please
which is my job as a board hostility. Frank Myers is refusing to govern yourself according-

SCHOOL member, and stated that I

A couple of people told
me thanks for doing a great
job, he said, and a couple
of other people asked me
why I was micromanaging
the superintendent. I
thought then, and I still do,
I was just doing what I was
supposed to do. The board
isnt supposed to manage
the school system, but it is
supposed to oversee the
administration.
Whiteside, who estimat-
ed he has attended half a
dozen meetings while
Myers and Thomas have
been on the board, said he
has chatted with Myers
about his behavior.
Its very possible you
can overshadow the signif-
icance of the issue with the
had no animosity towards
Mr. Lyles. Mr. Myers has
temper of the debate, known John Lyles for over
Whiteside said. 20 years, and he specifical-
But he would rather risk ly addressed Mr. Lyles in a
offending someone, White- very complimentary and
side said, than risk not fully supportive way.
representing his constitu- Frank and I chose to
ents. abstain from voting be-
I wouldnt allow an cause neither of us trust
accusation of a lack of the process when it comes
courtesy to interfere with to hiring key personnel in
my desire to have board the school district adminis-
members who are proac- tration. Perhaps it was the
tive, Whiteside said. questioning of Mr. Lyles bers will take this incident
salary by (board vice chair-
JOHN THOMAS woman and District 1 rep-
Thomas said the hos- resentative) Pat Hugley
tile charge is laughable. Green which offended Mr.
I had noted a large Lyles?
discrepancy between Mr. Thomas insists the reac-
Lyles resume and what I tion to Lyles resignation
was told by Dr. Lewis at should be more about the
the work session, Thomas administrations improper
wrote in an email to the vetting of his candidacy
This story has given the
public a front row seat for a
close look at the problems
which can arise when a
board rubber-stamps the
superintendents recom-
mendations for key posi-
tions within the adminis-
tration, Thomas wrote.
The debacle currently
at hand perfectly illustrates
why Frank and I require
more information on appli-
cants. Frank and I hope the
other seven board mem-
screen grab of both texts to
as a wake-up call and begin
to do the job the public
elected and pays us to do.
this email to Rice: I will not
Mark Rice: 706-576-6272,
@markricele
EDITORS NOTE acknowledges and rectifies
A note from Executive
Editor Dimon Kendrick-
speak to reporter Mark Rice,
citing Rices wifes job with
the Muscogee County School
District as a conflict of
interest.
After the Sept. 20 meet-
ing, Rice was leaving Myers
a voicemail asking him to
forward the emails about
the disputed open records
request, when Myers sent
Rice this text: Go f--- your-
self. Then he sent another:
And you can print that.
That night, Myers posted a
his Facebook page, but later
removed the image.
On Sept. 22, Myers sent
earning $21,878.40, accord-
be participating in providing
input to any school board
stories until the Ledger
the obvious conflict of in-
terest of your wife being on
ly.
On Sept. 29, after Rice left
Myers a voicemail inviting
him to respond to critics in
his story, Myers sent this
email: Did you not read my
recent email to you? You are
not to further contact me as
long as your bills are being
paid by David Lewis. Got
it?
Rices wife has been em-
ployed by schools in the
Muscogee County School
District in various support
roles for the past nine years.
She is currently an elemen-
tary school secretary at Britt
David Magnet Academy
ing to the earnings published
in October 2015 on the
Ledger-Enquirers MCSD
salary database.

FROM PAGE 1A and why you had to do it said. has been suspended and At the other end of the
that way, Tomlinson Asked if councilors it will be handled through spectrum, IT Director

SALARIES said. Because it affected

fact that this is a problem
that was making us all
fairly nervous and it
wasnt good for morale.
Nancy Boren, director
of elections and regis-
tration, and Betty Mid-
dleton, tax assessor, were
among the most under-
paid, as is reflected by
their raises. Borens salary
saw the largest temporary
hike, from $72,600 to
$88,464 (an increase of
$15,857 or 22 percent).
Middletons salary
jumped 13 percent, from
$82,148 to $92,093, a
hike of almost $10,800.
But raising those salaries
caused more problems,
because then those work-
ers salaries were out of
kilter with those above
them, which caused what
Tomlinson called a dom-
ino effect.
So what seems to be
just a simple fix of mov-
ing just a few people be-
so many positions, they
feel this needs to be done
gins to put people at the in the budget process, and
same rank as people who I completely agree with
have much larger depart- them.
ments, much more ten- At Large Councilor Judy
ure, which really does Thomas, when asked
subject you to criticism, about Councils reaction
accurate or inaccurate, to the list of raises, de-
that you have an arbitrary clined to comment.
pay schedule, Tomlinson That was in executive
said. session, so I dont feel
That led to the pay comfortable talking about
increases for about 16 top it, Thomas said.
executives, which appar- The citys other at large
ently caused more prob- councilor, Skip Hender-
lems than Tomlinson and son, was also reluctant to
Columbus Council were discuss matters taken up
willing to tolerate. So in executive session, but
during an executive ses- did say Tomlinsons de-
sion Tuesday evening, the scription of the situation
decision was made to was a fair assessment
rescind the raises and put of the situation.
them off until budget I just think it was a
discussions next year for situation where council
the fiscal 2018 budget. decided that, like the
What happened was mayor said, we should
that when we presented it wait and follow the (bud-
to council, they had no get) process, particularly
idea how many positions in light of some of the
this would affect when budgetary challenges
you begin pulling levers were facing, Henderson
were surprised by the
scope of the pay hike
package presented to
them, Henderson said, I
think the results speak to
whether or not council
was a little surprised. many moving parts.
City Attorney Clifton
Fay said discussing per-
sonnel and compensation
are valid reasons for
Council to go into exec-
utive session. But Fay said
he wasnt in the session
because he was one of the
people affected.
You can discuss com-
pensation for people in
executive session, as a
personnel matter, Fay
said. It was a personnel
matter and the people
affected left the room. salary jumped from
Tomlinson said she
would revisit the situation
and propose as much of a
pay increase for as many
city employees as the
citys projected revenue
will allow next year in the
Fiscal 2018 budget pro-
cess.
The effort to fix this $92,943.
the full budget process
after the first of the year,
Tomlinson said. There
are several reasons I think
thats a good idea. One,
its very broad and has
Boren, from $107,220 to
I will propose either a
comprehensive plan or
incremental advance-
ments of a comprehensive
plan. I dont know yet. I
dont even have an as-
sumption of what kind of
money well have to work
with, if any at all.
Some of the other high-
est increases that were
granted and rescinded
were in the executive
management suite. City
manager Isaiah Hugleys
to $92,943
$141,423 to $156,105. City
Attorney Clifton Fay and
Deputy City Managers
Pam Hodge and Lisa
Goodwins salaries went
from $113,242 to
$121,949. Internal Audi-
tor John Redmonds sala-
ry went from $78,189 to
Forrest Toelle got the
smallest increase, a 2.5
percent hike from
$90,676 to $92,942.
Other raises were:
A Police Chief Ricky
$112,414
A Fire Chief Jeff Meyer,
from $103266 to
$108,210
A Prison Warden
Dwight Hamrick, from
$86,904 to $96,064
A Engineering Director
Donna Newman, from
$97,648 to $102,591
A Public Works Director
Pat Biegler, from $90,676
to $95,266
A HR Director Reather
Hollowell, from $88,464
A Planning Director
Rick Jones, from $88,464
to $92,943
A Tax Assessor Betty
Middleton, from $82,148
to $92,942
Mike Owen: 706-571-8570,
@mikeowenle

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