Supervisors approve funding for expanded county sta
3-2 vote earmarks $135,000 for help running a bigger, more complex government
In a split vote the Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors approved funding for County Administrator Garrey Curry to hire two additional employees in his o ce to help assist with a county government that Curry says has become more complex.
These two new positions are to replace Lauren May, the director of human relations and special projects, as she aims to retire by the summer. The body approved the allocation of $135,000 for Curry to hire two individuals to eventually replace May in a 3-2 vote on March 14.
Wake eld Supervisor and Chair Debbie Donehey, Hampton Supervisor Keir Whitson and Stonewall-Hawthorne Supervisor Van Carney voted to approve the funding, while Piedmont Supervisor Christine Smith and Jackson Supervisor Ron Frazier voted against the measure.
“I looked at about 15 localities and I found out that [Curry’s] budget request for this department as a whole falls squarely within the line of what other counties in the Commonwealth pay for front o ce sta ,” Whitson said.
The job description for an assistant county administrator states that they would assist in a broad range of general administrative and management functions in county government and provide supervision of county sta in the case of Curry’s absence. The human resource generalist would prepare and maintain payroll and other related records for all county employees and “perform duties in proactively enhancing an e ective human resources program.” Curry’s o ce has already begun advertising for the new positions.
Curry said in an interview that county government has become more complex in having to track various pandemic-related grants and stimulus money that have come to the county from the state and federal government. He also said the county government has grown in size over the years.
“I can't speak to how well the i's are dotted and T's were crossed in the past, and there may or may not have been a lot of attention placed on that, but we think it's important and we work very hard to make sure that that is done now,” Curry said.
Smith said she voted against Curry’s proposal to hire two more employees because she would rather vote to approve contract work on an as-needed basis for projects that Curry needs help with. Frazier said he voted against the proposal due to “personnel issues in county government,” but would not specify what they were.
“I think that in a county that's our size where we have very few sources of revenue, you always have to be concerned about creating a recurring expenditure like that,” Smith said.
Curry sent the Board a memorandum in the beginning of March outlining the need for two additional employees. At the March 7 Board of Supervisors meeting, the supervisors requested that Curry create more clear job descriptions for the positions before they hold a vote.
“The community and government expectations have changed over time bringing with them the need for more precise budgeting, accounting, zoning administration, web presence, facilities planning, bene ts administration, etc; all of which take more and more time to accomplish accurately and precisely,” Curry wrote in his memo.