15 minute read
Jackson considers pay raises for first responders
Jackson considers more salary for law enforcement, first responders
BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER
After multiple work sessions and a public hearing, Jackson County commissioners may designate an additional $444,000 in the 2021-22 budget for law enforcement and emergency response salaries.
Proposed changes to the initial recommended budget presented May 18 include $296,000 for pay increases in the sheriff’s department and jail as well as $148,000 to support the county’s two volunteer rescue squads. Commissioners are also considering $15,000 for the Jackson County Farmers Market. A $13,001 line item to buy a commercial mower for Southwestern Community College would be taken out after SCC decided the equipment was not needed.
The pay increases for law enforcement are in response to a request that Chief Deputy Matt Wike presented May 24. As of June 1, Wike said, there would be 10 vacancies in a department of 82 employees. In a two-year span, the department had lost 25 employees, mostly to higher-paying jobs.
“When we start having those numbers of vacancies, that’s when we start worrying that we’re not going to be able to provide these services the way it needs to be provided for this county,” he said. “We can’t just afford to continue to kick it down the road.”
Currently, sheriff’s employees are paid according to a different pay scale than the one used for other county employees. The plan Wike presented would place sheriff department and detention employees on the county pay plan, targeting the largest pay raises to the positions that most need an adjustment.
The plan would increase salaries for detention officers and sergeants by 6.81% and those of detectives and deputies by 12.16%. Lieutenant, captain, major and chief deputy positions would all see a 1.73% increase. The sheriff would not get a pay raise. Wike had presented a plan totaling $345,000 in salaries and benefits.
Wike told commissioners that funding the raises in the 2021-22 budget would be critically necessary to “stop the bleeding,” but that they should be prepared to spend more in the future.
“I do expect that if y’all do plan to go ahead in the final budget with the countywide salary study, you might see that there is still a gap, even if we were to do this plan,” he said. “But I think it will address the immediate needs that we see in the Sheriff’s Office to start turning the tide on our salaries.”
Adams’ proposed budget sets aside $1 million to implement the results of a planned salary study, and he suggested that commissioners fund sheriff’s and jail pay raises from that line item, should they choose to do so.
“I don’t think we have the option to decide whether we want to do it,” said Chairman Brian McMahan. “I think we have to do it.”
The rest of the board members seemed to agree with that assessment.
The sheriff’s office is also hoping to purchase an integrated officer camera system in the foreseeable future, but it has not yet made a formal funding request for that money and hopes to find outside monies that will not rely on the county’s taxpayer dollars.
Of the $148,000 recommended to go to the rescue squads, $35,000 would provide a $12 pay per call to volunteer members who show up for emergencies. The remaining funds would support one full-time position at each of the county’s two rescue squads, putting the county’s support of those squads in line with the support it provides the five volunteer fire departments that are not supported by a fire tax.
“There is a need to make sure that the rescue squads are made whole as well and that they’re at the same level and operations that we’re giving to the fire side,” McMahan said during a June 1 work session.
According to discussion during the June 1 session, rescue squad funding would come from a line item currently reserved to fulfill the county’s promise to help the GlenvilleCashiers Rescue Squad pay for a new building in Cashiers. The county has reserved that funding for three years, but ongoing litigation within the rescue squad has pushed back the construction timeline, so the money has not been spent. Once the rescue squad comes back with a formal funding request for construction, commissioners will have to find the money to honor their previous commitment. However, said Adams, the year-to-year debt payment could be less than previously calculated due to lower interest rates and more accumulated funds available to make a larger down payment.
During the June 1 budget hearing, eight people gave public comment, all representing local nonprofits and thanking commissioners for their financial support.
A final budget will be presented for adoption during commissioners’ next regular meeting, at 1 p.m. Tuesday, June 15. There will be a time for public comment at the beginning of the meeting, either in person at the Jackson County Justice & Administration Building or via Zoom. Call 828.631.2213 by noon June 15 to give comment by phone or video.
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BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER
After five years heading the agency, Jennifer Abshire will retire as director of the Jackson County Department of Social Services on July 1. Following a closed session discussion June 1, county commissioners unanimously approved the social services board’s decision to hire Graham County DSS Director Cris Weatherford to take her place.
Abshire will retire after a 29-year career with Jackson County DSS, something she termed a “wonderful and rewarding experience” in her Feb. 10 resignation letter.
“There are not many places you can work where you have the opportunity to positively affect the lives of others while feeling valued for the work you do,” she said. “This has been an amazing place to work and grow.”
The Jackson County Board of Social Services chose Weatherford from “a highly qualified pool of candidates,” according to a press release. He has served as Graham County’s DSS director for nearly two years, and his professional background also includes two years as development director with Mainspring Conservation Trust, eight years as director of the Cherokee Boys Club and 16 months as supervisor for Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Family Safety. In 2005, Weatherford was a child welfare social worker with Jackson County DSS. “Weatherford has a proven track record in making a variety of human services programs successful in his career,” said Abshire. “I feel confident that he will continue to meet the needs of your community in a professional and compassionate way.”
Weatherford holds a bachelor’s degree in social work and a master’s in public administration, both from Western Carolina University. He and his wife Charla live in Jackson County and have raised three boys.
“Cris Weatherford has a personal connection with Jackson County and brings a variety of leadership experiences,” said Social Services Board Chair Dana Tucker. “He is committed to the mission, purpose and people of Jackson County Department of Social Services and to the families, children and adults that the department serves.”
Departments of social services are facing some significant challenges, particularly in
Medicaid transformation and child welfare transformation. In addition to the pandemic, a substance abuse pandemic is still ongoing and has been claiming victims for years. As director, Weatherford seek to make Jackson County a place of helping and healing amid these challenges.
“I truly love collaborating and being a part of something bigger,” he said. “It takes a lot of teamwork and collaboration to successfully address these challenges.”
Weatherford will lead a staff of 70 fulltime employees and direct an annual budget of $8.4 million. Commissioners approved his hire at a salary of $92,299, well above the advertised minimum of $67,235. As of July 2020, Abshire’s salary was $112,512, up from $87,000 when she was initially hired to the position in 2016. Weatherford will start his new job July 1.
Cris Weatherford. Donated photo
Waynesville fires town attorney
Following public complaints, the Waynesville Board of Aldermen voted to terminate the contract of its town attorney, Bill Cannon.
Some of Cannon’s personal tweets on Twitter expressed controversial opinions on political topics as well as current and former elected officials like Donald Trump, Mark Meadows and Rep. Madison Cawthorn.
Cannon had served in the role since early 2017 and was paid $275 per hour. A closed session for personnel was held at the conclusion of the June 3 special called meeting of the board, but was recessed, rather than adjourned. The closed session reconvened at 10 a.m. on June 7 and resulted in a 4-1 vote to terminate. Alderman Chuck Dickson was the only holdout. Planning Board Attorney Ronald Sneed, who practices in Black Mountain and Swannanoa, and is currently the Black Mountain town attorney, will serve in an interim capacity at least through the board’s June 8 regular meeting.
The Town of Waynesville Board of Aldermen is accepting applications to fill the following vacancies on various community boards and commissions. Applications should be submitted no later than June 16 for consideration. Applications are kept on file for one year. Unless indicated, applicants must be a resident of Waynesville to qualify. • ABC Board – one vacancy • Cemetery Committee – two vacancies • Historic Preservation Commission – three vacancies • Planning Board – two vacancies; one vacancy for ETJ representative ** One vacancy to represent Haywood County Planning Board** Must live in ETJ ** • Public Art Commission – three vacancies • Recreation Advisory Board – three vacancies • Waynesville Housing Authority – two vacancies (serving a five-year term) • Zoning Board of Adjustment – two vacancies; one vacancy for ETJ representative
The terms for these boards are three years will begin on July 1, 2021, and run through June 30, 2024.
The Waynesville Housing Authority terms are for five years beginning July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2026.
Applications are available online at www.waynesvillenc.gov/current-vacancies or can be obtained at the Municipal Building, 16 South Main Street, Waynesville. For more information, 828.452.2491 or eward@waynesvillenc.gov.
After 14 years at the helm of the Downtown Waynesville Association, Buffy Phillips is calling it quits.
“It is with a mixture of emotions that I tender my resignation effectively [sic] August 6,” Phillips wrote in a letter to DWA board members dated May 27. “For the board member partners, property and business owners with whom we have achieved much progress toward revitalization in Downtown Waynesville.”
Early in her tenure, Phillips presided over a renaissance on Waynesville’s Main Street commercial district but had come under fire in recent years for what critics describe as a lack of performance and professionalism. Phillips hinted at her impending resignation during a March meeting but refused to confirm it at the time and since then has refused to return phone calls and emails from The Smoky Mountain News. The DWA’s contract to manage the town’s Municipal Service District expires at the end of this month, and it’s not yet clear if the DWA will emerge from the competitive RFP process with a new contract. Phillips’ resignation makes clear that if the DWA is indeed awarded a new contract, Phillips will not be part of the picture. A public records request made of the DWA by SMN near the end of March still has not been fulfilled.
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Women's Retreat About Much More Than Yoga
· BY JESSI STONE ·
Some of us were there to get out of the house. Some of us were there to escape our grief. Some of us were there to strengthen our aging bodies. Some of us were there to get away from our husbands. Some of us were there to let go of stress and control. Some of us were called by a higher power to be there.
All of us were meant to be there.
That’s how I felt walking away from a recent women’s health & wellness yoga retreat at Lake Junaluska along with the 13 other women I met during the journey. As we closed the retreat with a sharing circle, the women all said they expected to do a lot of yoga, but what they didn’t expect was to find such a deep connection with complete strangers in such a short amount of time.
They didn’t expect to find themselves so emotional reflecting on the retreat and they didn’t expect to find complete understanding and camaraderie in a group of women from all walks of life — different states, ages, backgrounds, ethnicity and experience. We had to pass around a box of tissues as we moved around the room to each speaker.
Jay MacDonald, owner of Waynesville Yoga Center and retreat facilitator, just smiled as she listened to our closing thoughts. She wasn’t surprised at all — it’s exactly what she hoped to accomplish when she planned the women’s yoga retreat. It’s exactly what she envisioned when she opened the yoga center in Waynesville a few years ago.
As Jay pointed out to us, it’s not often a group of women can come together like that with no judgment or preconceived notions about one another, but when it does happen, it’s pretty magical.
Personally, I signed up so I could take a Monday and Tuesday off from work and destress with two days worth of meditation and yoga practice. I felt like it might help me up my personal yoga practice at home and help me cure this overwhelming feeling of burnout and stuckness lately.
I got everything I signed up for and more. We had great workshops about hormones, stress relief, inflammation and nutrition. We flowed, we meditated, we savasanaed, we learned about different
styles of yoga and we did a lot of forward folds and upward dogs.
I was there dealing with my own burdens and grief, but as I heard more from the other ladies during the discussions, lunch break and small group work, I found I wasn’t alone. I wasn’t the only one who’d lost a loved one — or many — in the last year. I wasn’t the only one grieving for someone with a terminal illness. I wasn’t the only one overwhelmed and exhausted from this pandemic. I wasn’t the only one struggling to take care of myself mentally, physically and emotionally.
There was something reassuring about hearing their stories and being present for that kind of vulnerability — something that isn’t my strong suit. I guess there’s no reason why that would make me feel any better, but for some reason I think it lessened the burden we were all carrying.
Jay had us number a piece of paper 1 through 14 with our name on the top of it and pass it around the circle until it came back around to us. Everyone was to write kind words about each person on their piece of paper. As the paper made its way back to each person, we each read all the kinds words from strangers in silence. The tears that followed told me something I know all too well — accepting kind words from others makes us uncomfortable because it’s something we’re not used to hearing.
We don’t tell ourselves enough about how amazing we are, so it can be a mind-boggling moment reading an entire page full of compliments from other women who’ve only spent a couple of days with you. I’m keeping that piece of notebook paper forever — hell, I may even frame it — so I can look back when I’m having a bad day and remember who I am and how others see me. In a moment where I was feeling weak, sad and tired, these women saw me as joyful, fun, hilarious and insightful.
I went home walking a little taller with my shoulders more relaxed instead of up under my ears. I left a lot of resentment, anger and disappointments on the mat. I felt more at peace with where I am at in my life and with hope for my future, convinced I’m on the right path since it had put me in front of these amazingly strong women and teachers.
I’m working hard to maintain that feeling of peace and calm as I return to normal life. That’s the purpose of yoga — to be able to take what you’ve learned on the mat and integrate it into your everyday life.
The 13 other women in my group are already looking forward to returning to the lake next May for the second annual retreat. But if you don’t want to wait until then, Waynesville Yoga Center has two more retreats coming up this year — An Out of the Box Adventure Retreat in July and an Aging Gracefully retreat in September.
Graphic Designer Jessica Murray (from left), SMN News Editor Jessi Stone, Staff Writer Hannah McLeod, Digital Media Specialist Susanna Shetley and Amanda Singletary (not pictured)
Rumble is a weekly e-newsletter created by women, for women and about women. It is published by The Smoky Mountain News and delivered to your inbox each Thursday. The goal is to offer readers a beautifully curated email that will inspire and motivate women to live their best lives. By hearing the challenges and successes of other women, we hope you will find an opportunity to live, love, learn and grow in your own unique way.
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