Earning their salaries

Rockingham Opinion
Published: March 20, 2008

The fallout over Reidsville City Manager Kelly Almond’s raise still reverberates throughout the community. We’re still getting letters to the editor regarding the issue, and people have addressed the City Council recently to voice their displeasure.

And, yes, we’ve had our say as well. We still don’t believe Almond should have accepted an increase to an already relatively large compensation package, but some of the criticism has been unfair and a little too personal.

But let’s be real. Almond has a difficult job in a town that is struggling economically and may not have yet hit rock bottom. We believe he has the best interests of Reidsville in mind, and he’s trying to balance the budget and enhance the city despite the limited resources. We all strive to make as much money as possible, after all. And remember, Almond didn’t vote to raise his salary - the City Council did.

That being said, another well-compensated public official is facing what are probably some of the most difficult decisions of his professional career. Rockingham County Manager Tom Robinson has proposed cutting 23 jobs in an effort to balance the coming fiscal budget. Cutting those jobs would save about $1.3 million, Robinson estimates. Because few people leave county jobs, eliminating the positions through attrition - retirements, resignations - would take too long for the county to see any real benefits. Services will certainly be affected, but we can’t escape today’s economic realities.

After state mandates and funding necessary areas, the county has about $20.7 million to spend. “Once you get past the dollars going to education, public safety and Medicaid, there’s not a lot there,“ Robinson said this week.

He’s right, but it’s his job to find it, and that’s a task most of us surely do not want, including the elected board members.

The county is in the midst of building a new judicial center, and a consolidated library in the western part of the county and a long overdue animal shelter are in the works. The courthouse and jail are funded, but where the money will come for the other facilities remains in question.

Sure, county and city managers make a lot more money than the average resident, but, especially now and for the foreseeable future, they are earning it.