By VICKI URBANIK

The Porter County Council found itself deadlocked Monday on a proposal to establish a new county department to deal with employee equity issues.

County Council member Jim Burge, R-3rd, went to bat again for creating a county Human Relations department, proposing to set aside $120,000 for a full-time H.R. director, a part-time secretary and office supplies.

Burge said that the county, with a workforce of about 600, needs someone who will ensure that salary schedules are equitable, that job descriptions are up to date, and that employees have a neutral place to turn to with their employment-related concerns. He also said the H.R. department could conduct time studies to help determine if pleas for additional employees are justified.

With council member William Carmichael, R-at large, absent, the council deadlocked on the proposal, with Burge, Michael Bucko, D-4th, and Karen Conover, R-3rd, voting yes and Robert Poparad, D-1st, Rita Stevenson, D-2nd, and Dan Whitten, D-4th, voting no.

On a night when the council was told that it may be close to exceeding state spending restrictions, Burge proposed an alternative way to fund the new department: By assessing each county department $100 per each employee.

That would mean, as an example, that the clerk’s office, which has about 40 employees, would have to contribute $4,000, an amount that Burge said would not be a hardship for the departments.

The contributions from each department would cover about half the total costs, and the other half would come from the county’s casino revenue funds, under the proposal.

Whitten said he doesn’t necessarily disagree with the concept of a HR director, but said the council should first seek the input of elected officials, since the new department could change the way they hire and pay employees.

“I’m not shoving it down their throats. We need their input,” Whitten said.

Burge said that there is still time to meet with elected officials to work out the details in the remaining months of this year. He said the immediate issue at hand only concerns setting aside the funds as part of next year’s budget. “This is the time to set aside money,” he said.

Poparad predicted the issue will likely surface again.

Posted 8/19/2008