Crawford County Commission Undecided On New Support Role

Crawford County commissioners on Tuesday opted to table a support position.

In the preceding weeks, commissioners had discussed either hiring an administrative assistant or an administrator.

The position would work directly under the commission and be responsible for communication with residents and other elected officials.

District 2 Commissioner Jared Boast said the county will eventually have no other choice but to hire someone, but he wants to wait a few months.

District 1 Commissioner Rob Cummings agreed.

Presiding Commissioner Steve Black has been eager to define the role, what would it pay, how many hours per week it would require and begin the hiring process, but the other two commissioners aren’t there yet.

Boast did say the commission needs to continue discussing the role and list as a “new business” item on the agenda.

One of the issues that has brought an assistant to the forefront was County Clerk John Martin’s decision to withdraw from taking minutes at each meeting.

Cindy Redburn has volunteered the last two meetings.

Boast reported Tuesday that DeeDee Hamilton, who works in Martin’s office, has been approved to take minutes.

She will be serving in that role at least in the short-term and Boast said it won’t cost the county any additional money.

“We need strategic planning to see what the position would be and we need to make decisions on what to do permanently,” Boast said. 

He said a recent sales tax report shows the county far off for April, which could be an anomaly. However, it makes him “apprehensive” about hiring someone without a clear idea of what revenue looks like.

“It needs to be budgeted from our budget and we need to nail down what we want,” Boast said.

Black said that finding a person “would improve communication” and all business with the commission would run through this person.

He asked if the commission wanted to advertise the position in the paper and see if there are any responses.

“I’m not against it,” Boast said, but added that he would like to wait until mid-to-late summer. 

Black said that he can’t imagine the commission budget not being able to handle one more salary.

“There are more counties than I realized doing this,” he said.