By CHARLES RICHARDS
eParisExtra!
County Court-at-Law Judge Bill Harris said Tuesday he strongly disagrees with the decision Monday by the Lamar County Commissioners Court to give elected officials a raise and will refuse to accept the increase.
County Court-at-Law Judge Bill Harris
“I am in Washington, D.C., and just learned of the commissioners‘ court,” Harris said in an e-mail message Tuesday night.
Had he known the matter was coming before the court, Harris said, “I would have appeared in person and opposed the increase, just as I did last year.”
“Rank-and-file non-elected employees are not only being stripped of some benefits, but are also not receiving a similar pay increase,” Harris said.
“I stand opposed to any salary increase for myself or any other elected official. I will refuse to accept any pay increase this year,” Harris said.
The pay for elected county officials was raised by $100 a month on a 3-2 vote, with Precinct 1 commissioner Lawrence Malone, Precinct 2 commissioner Lonnie Layton and Precinct 3 commissioner Kevin Jenkins voting for, and Precinct 4 commissioner Keith Mitchell and county judge Chuck Superville voting against.
That vote came after Mitchell made a motion to keep the salary and allowances for elected officials unchanged from last year and got a second from Superville. They voted for it, but Malone, Layton and Jenkins voted against it.
Harris expressed frustration that for the second time in as many years, he was not contacted about raises for elected officials being considered by the court.
“Considering the continued hardships imposed on Lamar County by a soft economy and shrinking tax base, now is not the time for pay raises for elected officials,” Harris said.
“There remains opportunities to cut spending at the county. We also need to ‘stabilize’ benefits for the non-elected ‘regular’ employees, many of whom tolerate the relatively low salaries paid by Lamar County in return for retirement and health care,” he added.
Then and only then, he said, should county officials consider pay increases for themselves.
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Charles Richards Charles Richards moved to Paris in 2004 after retiring from a 40-year career in journalism – the last 26 years as a news writer and sports writer with The Associated Press in Dallas and Washington, D.C. In mid-2004, The Paris News coaxed him out of retirement, and he began covering the police, court and regional beat for The Paris News. Then in early 2005, he was switched to coverage of a sharply divided Paris City Council. He was appointed by the City Council in 2006 to the 12-member City Charter Review Commission, which extensively rewrote the outmoded document. His writing awards include two first-place awards in statewide competition for feature writing. The most recent was his 2005 story on a Paris doctor’s startling use of leeches in a successful attempt to re-attach a man’s severed ear. Over his career, Richards’ interview subjects include Alabama Gov. George Wallace, President Bill Clinton, President George W. Bush, David Koresh, Arnold Palmer, Muhammad Ali and numerous other political and sports figures. He is an alumnus of Texas Tech, where he was editor of the school newspaper. He lives in Paris with his wife, Barbara, who is retired after 30 years as a teacher and high school counselor.
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