FAYETTEVILLE -- Some Washington County justices of the peace said they want to continue discussing a new pay plan for employees before the Quorum Court makes a decision on the 2023 budget.
Lisa Ecke, justice of the peace for District 6 and chairman of the Personnel Committee, said Friday she will have the pay plan on the agenda for a committee meeting set for 5:30 p.m. Monday at the County Courthouse.
"I want us to talk about our salary ranges and our job assessment program," Ecke said Friday. "We're going to look at both plans that have been discussed. We're going to look at the grade changes and salary adjustments of both plans, the county judge's plan and the assessor's plan."
The justices of the peace voted 12-3 to include what was called a "hybrid" plan in the 2023 budget at a special meeting Thursday. Justices of the peace Sam Duncan, Eva Madison and Willie Leming voted against moving the pay plan forward.
Several justices of the peace expressed dissatisfaction with the decision, and Ecke said she thinks the plan violates county policies and procedures.
Ecke also said the pay plan has become a personal issue to some, with County Judge Joseph Wood and Assessor Russell Hill having a heated exchange Thursday night over how the decision was made to exclude Hill's proposal from consideration at Thursday's meeting.
Ecke also said she's concerned there are errors in the data included in the pay plan, and she wants a "clean" copy of the plan to be discussed Monday.
"We need to get the right information to make the right decision, absent personalities. We need to remain professional," she said.
Leming, justice of the peace for District 13 and a member of the Personnel Committee, agreed more discussion is needed. Leming said he wants the justices of the peace to have all of the information about the pay plans and to consider whether changes being proposed violate county policies.
"Right now, none of us have any details; it's just a joke," he said of the proposal endorsed Thursday. "They're just trying to shove it down our throats."
Leming said the proposal would do away with the county's Job Evaluation and Salary Administration Program and give all the control to the human resources director.
Lance Johnson, justice of the peace for District 1, said he's not interested in continued discussion of the pay plan. Johnson said the budget process is flawed and frustrating, but it can't be prolonged indefinitely.
"This is my fourth year on the Quorum Court, and, once again, we're passing a budget at the 11th hour, and the county will spend the next six months trying to figure out what's in it," Johnson said.
Robert Dennis, justice of the peace for District 10, said he doesn't think the discussion is needed, but he's willing to listen. Dennis said he voted for the hybrid plan at Thursday's meeting despite some questions because he wants to do something to give raises to employees.
"If we put it off, then it won't get done," he said. "If we don't get it done now, we'll put it off until spring, then we'll put it off until next fall. I want the employees to get decent raises. There's maybe six or seven who are getting more than others, but we've got people on the low end of the pay scale who qualify for food stamps. No, it's not perfect, but at least we did something last night."
Evelyn Rios Stafford, justice of the peace for District 12, said she wants to hear more and said having more discussion at the committee level would be beneficial. Stafford said she would prefer to have the plan brought forward by Hill and other elected officials be considered.
"I said last night that I thought the plan C, the Russell Hill plan or the elected officials plan, whatever we're calling it, was cleaner and didn't circumvent our procedures," Stafford said.
"I thought it was more equitable in that it didn't give giant raises to a few people at the top of the pay scale. I'd definitely be interested in giving that another look, and I'd be happy to have that conversation be reopened at the Quorum Court."