Lawrence County raises show government is out of touch

In any company in the Shenango or Mahoning Valleys, a 4.1 percent pay raise would be considered generous, but in Lawrence County, that increase has been judged to be inadequate for some nonunion and management employees.
In January, the salary board handed out about $114,000 in salary increases, including some for new positions, over and above the cost-of-living adjustment. Most of those raises had not been budgeted and will be paid through the county's contigency fund.
The board, which includes commissioners Daniel Vogler, chairman, Ed Fosnaught and Steve Craig, followed that quite unprivate sector-like action by approving rasises last week for additional employees. The money will come out of each department's budget.
And lest anyone think that Lawrence County government is flush with money and, therefore, can afford to be generous with taxpayers' dollars, consider this: A 5 percent tax hike has gone into effect this year, adding to the 24 percent tax hike in 2004.
As Donna Stickle of Hickory Township, who frequently attends meetings of the county commissioner, commented in January: "I just don't understand. We don't have any money and we are giving out these big raises. We just can't afford it."
Lucrative benefit package
We share Stickle's dismay at what has transpired, especially given the economic uncertainties confronting this region, and the fact that there isn't any danger of an wholesale exodus of public employees if they don't receive pay raises. Jobs aren't plentiful in the private sector and government positions are at a premium not only because of the comparatively high salaries paid, but because of the lucrative benefit packages. And, the public employees' retirement program guarantees that those on the government payroll aren't going to abandon such positions for the uncertainties of private sector employment.
What also surprises us about the raises is the fact that the commissioners who voted for them are the very ones who have shown such a commitment to doing what's in the interest of the taxpayers with regard to Gary Felasco, the elected county treasurer accused of taking more than $400,00 from tax payments made to his office.
Vogler, Fosnaught and Craig have gone after Felasco with an intensity that does the county proud. They have filed a lawsuit to have him removed from the housing authority board of directors.
In addition, their investigation of Affordable Housing of Lawrence County, a nonprofit entity that is an offshoot of the housing authority, and their move to have Donald "Ducky" Conti removed from the housing authority are evidence of their commitment to responsible government. Conti pleaded guilty to gambling charges last month.
That is why their decision to grant the kind of pay raises rarely seen in the private sector is so puzzling and, yes, irresponsible. What could they have been thinking?