County merger could be complete in six months
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
HAMILTON — The decision to merge four of Butler County's departments into one organization will no doubt lead employees to the chopping block, commissioners have said.
And where those cuts will be made is beginning to come into focus.
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Commissioner Don Dixon said Tuesday, May 13, he'd like to start by cutting employees from the county's department of job and family services, a decision essentially made in March during failed buyout proceedings.
"We were told then (in March) that they have at least 20 employees they don't need," Dixon said. "So we know we're going to start with the 20 we don't need. And there should be more than that."
Butler County Job and Family Services Assistant Director Jerome Kearns said this week he still stands by that number.
But he emphasized that in order to reach it, officials would have to work through existing union contracts and issues with seniority and bumping rights.
The idea is to bring together the county's job and family services, child support enforcement agency, Workforce Development and children services into one mega-organization to improve efficiency, share resources and cut out redundant positions, commissioners have said.
Most of the work is already done with the exception of the county's child support enforcement agency. The other three merged in the wake of the Marcus Fiesel saga in early 2007, Kearns said.
On Monday, May 12, Commissioners directed Interim Administrator Tim Williams to begin looking for companies to provide them with a plan for reorganization. Dixon said he expects the entire process to take six months.
Dixon said he would be willing to work with unions representing hourly workers to come up with the best and most efficient use of the county's workforce, but he doesn't want to take the collaboration too far.
"It's going to be completely different," he said. "But we're not going to have the same people a part of the process right now be a part of the reorganization process. We're going to take a whole new look."
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2112 or dgreber@coxohio.com.
