Jacob Dyer, left, director of fiscal and administrative services, Sam Chiriaco, chief of budget, and TaTanya Bowman, assistant chief of budget, discuss the general fund during an April Charles commissioners’ meeting.
Jacob Dyer, left, director of fiscal and administrative services, Sam Chiriaco, chief of budget, and TaTanya Bowman, assistant chief of budget, discuss the general fund during an April Charles commissioners’ meeting.
The Charles commissioners reached consensus to add one full-time and another part-time position as part of the commissioners’ budget request on Tuesday.
County staff needed consensus from the commissioners for additions and deletions to the spending plan before next week’s meeting when they plan to adopt the budget, Jacob Dyer, director of fiscal and administrative services, said. A majority of the new budget requests are taken from the county’s fund balance.
The proposed budget is now $644,187,500 after the requests to the general fund and capital improvement fund were added, Dyer said.
“It’s a lengthy process,” Deborah Hall, acting county administrator, said. “We are asking for a week’s notice so we know how to set all of those motions into play.”
Commissioner President Reuben B. Collins II (D) requested to fund a new full-time position for an executive commissioner specialist to support the commissioners’ office.
“Because the county is shifted to district-oriented responsibilities, it will require more staffing for the individual representing the district,” he said.
Commissioner Thomasina “Sina” Coates (D) also requested a permanent part-time position to assist with the phones and help with citizen response and administrative duties.
While Commissioner Amanda Stewart (D) agreed with the new positions, she wanted the county to assess current duties and realign responsibilities.
“This is not how business works,” she said. “You shouldn’t bring forth a position with no information. … You need to look at how the office is [run].”
The commissioners’ office has been working on a reorganization process, Crystal Hunt, chief of staff, said. The full-time position would support District 4.
“With this addition of staff, we’ll be able to better realign the duties in the office so there is more equity,” she said. “These roles will be able to … help us not overburden staff.”
Commissioner Gilbert “BJ” Bowling (D) asked about an evaluation of the job status and assignments in the commissioners’ office.
“I’m not opposed to giving help to the people back there, but we need to take a look over and see how duties are assigned,” he said.
Stewart said she would have liked Hunt to have asked her about concerns on how the office is run and how it can be strengthened, she said.
Coates said she went to Hunt to discuss the matter, but Hunt agreed to discuss it with all commissioners in the future.
“It’s our office,” Stewart said. “We should have been able to provide our insight.”
Both positions would start sometime next year, Dyer said.
