By Holly Gaskill
Amidst 2023 budget conversations, the Wells County Council split on a new position — public information officer.
The position request came from the county’s Board of Commissioners. In a formal letter with their budget proposal, they cited a need for expertise in communicating information and organizing community outreach.
The council voted 4-3 to add the position, with members Steve Huggins, Todd Mahnensmith, Seth Whicker, and Scott Elzey in favor and Jim Oswalt, Chuck King, and Vicki Andrews opposed.
Commissioner President Mike Vanover discussed the position with the council members during their Thursday meeting. He also recommended making all commissioners’ compensations the same, where he had previously received more as president.
“We’ve had a real increase in the last year in the last year for requests for information and more than what we’ve done traditionally,” Vanover said. “Now, if some of that is their fault, I understand, but being public servants, what I feel we need to do in some of these cases is have an avenue where the public can be more in touch with their representatives and their county government.”
King responded that communication duties were previously assigned to the commissionerd’ president, which is why the position was compensated at a higher rate.
Commissioner Blake Gerber echoed a similar sentiment during Tuesday’s budget meeting.
“I did the job for seven years,” Gerber said. “It’s not needed in my opinion … (Vanover) mentioned it to me and I thought ‘Well, I didn’t need it, but, you know, if you want to request it.”
Andrews added that she had heard more feedback about the inaccessibility of the commissioners, not that communication wasn’t available. Although she recognized that perspective could be slanted, Andrews said it “muddied the waters” on whether or not the PIO position was necessary.
On the other hand, Whicker said he thought more outreach was needed, especially in community engagement. He proposed the council consider the position an experiment, not a permanent fixture.
Huggins agreed, adding that the workload of the commissioners does not always allow them to organize what might be helpful for the community.
Additionally, Vanover described the addition of the position as a part-time trial, under 20 hours per week. The commissioners’ proposed budget projected 10 hours per week at a salary of $13,750, a $55,000 full-time equivalent.
Oswalt said he didn’t like how it seemed like a position that would eventually be full-time, costing the county more.
“If we can grow that into something more, if it brings value, if we see it bring fruit, then that might be something we may ask at another time to increase, but right now, I think the responsible thing to do is to look into part-time,” Vanover said.
Though the council accepted the position into the budget with their vote, it will not be formally approved until the budget is finalized, goes through a public hearing, and is adopted.
The council’s next meeting will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 16. The public hearing will be at 7 p.m. Sept. 6 and the budget will be up for adoption at 7 p.m. Oct. 4.
holly@news-banner.com
