Hiring freeze locked in by Kane County Board

Despite fears by some members that it sends a message that police are more important than public health, the Kane County Board locked in a hiring freeze Tuesday.

The freeze was proposed by County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay last week as a means to address a general lack of income as the county plans its 2009 budget.

As expected, McConnaughay modified her proposal to exempt police, emergency staff and certain state's attorney positions she said the county "simply can't go without."

The change eased some concerns about the freeze negating the county's ability to provide some services it is required to by law if some sworn staff quit or retired and could not be replaced. However, the exemption also sparked a discussion about the value of police vs. health department staff.

The health department announced last week it will lay off 25 employees shortly after Thanksgiving to address a budget deficit caused, in part, by the loss of state and federal grant money. Kane County Board Member Paul Greviskes, from Aurora, said health department staff are at least as valuable as police.

"Our priorities are in absolutely the wrong place," Greviskes said. "These cuts really fall the hardest on those who can afford it the least. Why not put our money where it matters?"

Greviskes said the county has already dropped enough cash into law enforcement by building a new jail, which he deemed a "$60 million monument to what I consider society's failure." He suggested the county should pave fewer roads or put fewer people in jail to free up enough money to preserve the health department staff.

Board Member John Fahy echoed those concerns and added the fear of having a health department that doesn't have the staff to handle a regional health emergency. In such an event, like a massive flu outbreak, other counties won't come to the rescue because they'll have their own problems, he said.

McConnaughay defended the police exception saying it wasn't time to discuss individual department budgets yet. However, she said the health department staff layoffs shouldn't create any noticeable drop-off in service.

McConnaughay said Health Department Executive Director Paul Kuehnert has been examining his staff for some time to ensure all programs were running efficiently.

"The reality is that there were some that were not," McConnaughay said. "They were over-staffed in some programs. That's why we had budgets that highly exceeded the state grant money."

The county board approved the hiring freeze with Greviskes and Bonnie Kunkel as the lone "no" votes. Kunkel, from Aurora, pitched another amendment that also would've prevented departments from filling vacancies by contracting out services without board approval. The board rejected that idea.