Auditor Mark Hoelscher withdrew his request for a new full-time employee to track grants.
Hoelscher made the move at the end of Wayne County Council’s Aug. 16 workshop after council members delayed making a decision on his request. Council considered that and two other requests because they had received classification and wage information from their consultant, Waggoner, Irwin, Scheele & Associates of Muncie.
Council delayed their decision about Hoelscher’s grant clerk request because they anticipated discussing a part-time position. Hoelscher said there was a discussion about a part-time position, but he later decided it needed to be full time.
“I need full time,” he said. “I don’t want to be hypocritical and say I can get by with part time.”
Council member Cathy Williams, a former county treasurer, has been assisting Hoelscher as he tries to get a handle on grants the county has received. She said there’s close to 195 grants and state-mandated funds that need to be monitored.
“It’s just a lot of stuff for somebody to look at,” she said.
Council opted to reconsider the position during its September personnel committee meeting, but Hoelscher later said he was withdrawing the immediate request and would put the position in his 2024 budget.
Another decision about new positions was delayed until the personnel meeting. Council received information from its consultant that three legal assistant positions for Circuit Court, Superior Court 1 and Superior Court 2 would earn $21.31 per hour each.
Wayne County’s courts do not use the county’s Kronos timekeeping system, and Council President Beth Leisure said that court staff should use Kronos to better manage paid time off. Judge Gregory Horn said he would not agree to using Kronos as a condition for receiving the legal assistant positions, but said the judges had not talked among themselves about such a condition.
Williams moved to approve the positions, but her motion died without a second. Council members expressed hesitation about voting until judges provide a Kronos answer.
Council did approve one probation bookkeeper position being posted for hiring. The consultant returned its review of an open position, and increased its pay from $19.18 per hour to $21.31 per hour.
Probation had been waiting for the reclassification before attempting to hire.
A version of this article appeared in the August 23 2023 print edition of the Western Wayne News.