A request to establish a better paying position in the Carbon County Court Administration staff caused quite a discussion regarding the overall status of Carbon County’s wage studies and fair pay scales for all of the county employees.

On Thursday, President Judge Roger Nanovic made a motion to establish the position of one administrative assistant at $13.84 per hour, effective May 12.

Before making the motion, Nanovic provided a detailed explanation about the increase for the position, which was replacing the department clerk III position at $11.95 per hour, was desperately needed by the courts.

Nanovic said that the position has been vacant for quite some time, adding that since 2013, there have been five people in that position, all of which have left within a two-year period of time due to the required workload and lack of pay.

The last person in that position had been paid $13.06 per hour, but left because she found a job making approximately $20,000 more a year.

“We posted it twice,” he said. “We have had very few applicants for the position. Of those, only one or two appear to be suitable but they elected not to take it because they could get higher wages elsewhere.”

Nanovic noted that the position, which also oversees jury selection processes, takes about one to two years to fully train in both court administration and jury selection responsibilities.

“This means we’re not even getting in a full training for that position before it is being vacated. It’s a critical position. It’s not a clerical position.”

Right now, Greg Armstrong, county court administrator, is overseeing the workload that this position should be handling, but Nanovic said that is not ideal because Armstrong has other responsibilities in the courts and isn’t trained in that software, nor should he be required to do that.

“He’s making his best efforts to make the system functional, but he’s the highest paid administrative personnel in the county and by default, he’s required to devote untold hours to this position that should be filled by someone who is trained for the position. It is diverting him and prohibiting him from doing what he should be doing as the district court administrator,” Nanovic said.

Because of this longtime vacant position, it has created “an increased burden and unacceptable burden on the two other administrative assistants in that position.”

Nanovic then said that he felt asking for the position to change to a $13.84 per hour grade and step was not unreasonable and made the motion.

“We’re not asking for new staff,” he said. “We’re asking to have a position compensated for the duties and responsibilities, the skills needed to fill that positions. We want to get qualified applicants. … We’re looking at being able to retain a person. … It’s not an extravagant amount. You have to be cognizant of what the economy is today, what the inflation rate is. People need a livable wage.”

The salary board then split the vote, passing Nanovic’s request 3-2, with Commissioners Chris Lukasevich and Rocky Ahner casting no votes, while Nanovic, Controller Mark Sverchek and Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein casting yes votes.

Nothstein said the county is in a difficult position because many positions in the county could be changed but a salary study that is underway has not been completed yet and isn’t expected until the end of the year or early next year.

He said that it is a fine balance because to raise the money for salaries, it would mean turning to the taxpayers.

Ahner said he voted no, not because of the request, but because he felt picking and choosing positions one at a time instead of as a whole group wasn’t the solution.

“It’s not against the person or this position,” he said. “It’s that we have an entire county and I think it’s a crime when we hire somebody for $11.16. I just think that if we’re giving something to somebody like this, then it should be all the way across the board.”

Following the discussion, the salary board also, in a 4-1 vote, approved abolishing the position of a department clerk III at $11.95 per hour. Lukasevich voted no, not because of the action, but because he voted against the first motion, which replaced this position.

Other actions

In other salary board actions, the salary board voted 3-2 to establish a temporary part-time clerical specialist at $13.84 per hour, effective May 12 through Dec. 31.

Register of wills Jean Papay, who made the motion for this position for her office, said that the reason for the need for the temporary position was due to her two other employees going out on family medical leave for extended periods of time, leaving her office severely understaffed.

Papay, Lukasevich and Nothstein voted in favor of the position.

The salary board also approved changing the rate of one full-time assistant public defender from $58,526.25 per year to $63,338.50 per year, effective June 3.