You should know by now that our former county administrator, Terry Harris, retired in January, partly for health and burnout reasons. But he was rehired in February as a part time employee.His successor, Jeff Greene had been groomed by Harris to replace him. The El Paso County Board of County Commissioners hired Greene over my objection that he lacked sufficient experience, was an insider and was picked for this $125,000 job without any open hiring and interview process. What was one of Greeneís first acts? To secretly offer Harris $68 per hour to review the fees for the development services department, and for later projects throughout the year. That was about the hourly rate Harris had made as county administrator, yet he was only doing some research.I did not know of the hiring. Greene admitted he told other commissioners but did not tell me. His excuse was that I had once said we set policy, not petty administrative details. This policy and public relations blunder was hardly petty. His was a very lame excuse.The first I heard of it was on a Wednesday, when the Gazetteís county reporter asked for my reaction. I was angry at this stealth tactic and raised the issue at Thursdayís board meeting. Commissioner Williams agreed that he wanted to learn why board approval was not required for this expensive decision. Hereís the background on that.Last fall, the board publicly proclaimed it wanted to trim payroll through attrition because of its alleged budget ìcrisis.î Departing staff of board appointees, like the county attorney, would be replaced only with board approval. Other new hires would be approved by the county administrator. Wayne Williams and I stated our understanding that we should be notified, by e-mail or otherwise, in such circumstances as here. Greene was not hiring a janitor or secretary, but a high-profile recently retired career bureaucrat with health problems, who had maneuvered Greene into this overpaid position. Another of Greeneís early bad decisions was to create new job titles for two deputy county administrators, paid $116,000 each.Existing board policy says that contracts for $25,000 or more must get board approval. I think the amount should be $10,000. Regardless, it is a Swiss cheese policy that devious employees have evaded repeatedly. How did Greene circumvent it this time? He said Harris was not a consultant, but a ìpart time employeeî who was consulting. I called this sweetheart deal a case of double dipping, getting two checks from the same government. Greene told me Harris cringed at that term. Iím glad. He should. Then he should return the money.I told Greene at a board meeting, called after I had denounced his behavior and the story had made page one of the Gazette, that his action had the appearance of a payback to his mentor. Harris had 48 years, off and on, with the county, and Mr. Greene, age 38, had only five. As a matter of policy and appearance, it was tone deaf of Greene to hand this large sum of money to Harris with no public discussion. The board should decide such issues in broad daylight. If there was nothing wrong, why was this kept secret? As a result of this spotlight on a shadowy backroom deal, the cost shrunk. The original estimate of $41,000 for the fee-setting and other projects during 2007 became $16,000 for the former and suspension of the latter (for now). Harris admitted to the Gazette reporter that one later project was to prepare for a ballot issue to raise taxes or increase debtóand prepare at taxpayer expense. When this expose was printed, Harris backed off and agreed to conspire for free to raise our taxes.Why was Mr. Harris chosen to organize this stealth campaign to take your money? Because he was so good at sticking it to you! He plotted the $70 million tax increase for a new unelected layer of government (RTA). He connived to put our families into debt, without voter approval, for over $155 million in future payments for the courthouse and jail boondoggles. His reward for the latter? Getting his name placed in gold letters (how fitting) on both courthouse entrances, while he was still working. (He did not get a plaque on one of the new jail cells or commodes, down which your money is being flushed.)I also raised the issue of why we had to hire anyone to reset the fees developers pay. Staff knows the amount of time it spends on services. Itís not rocket science to revise fee amounts for intervening inflation and streamlined procedures. What kind of budget ìcrisisî is that?As I have said before, we donít need a county administrator or two deputies. Commissioners need to do their job of supervising county government. Add those three salaries, plus 25 percent for fringe benefits, and we pay almost $450,000 so commissioners can waste public time with ceremonial resolutions and photo opportunities, instead of doing their job.Commissioners met only 254 hours in board meetings last year. That is under 6 Ω weeks of 40 hours each. Most people work 50 weeks for their salary. Despite county efforts to block my philanthropy, I donate everything I am paid to an IRS-approved, tax-deductible charity I founded to educate citizens on their legal rights (www.ActColorado.org). My re-elected colleagues earn over $87,000, 97 percent of the governorís salary, for this part-time job. In dozens of daily devices, you get ripped off ñ over and over again. Let them know when youíve had enough. Make your citizen comments to the board any Monday or Thursday at 9 a.m. sharp. I could use the company!*************Contact me at (719) 520-6412; e-mail: DouglasBruce@elpasoco.com; write me at 27 E. Vermijo Ave. in Colorado Springs ñ 80903. Back issues of my monthly reports are at www.DouglasBruce.com. Free reports and notices of quarterly town hall meetings can be e-mailed to you regularly.
