On the agenda for tomorrow’s Coos County commissioner’s meeting is a discussion that could impact the twenty two road department employees laid off New Year’s Eve, 2008. At issue is the possible extension of the contractual call back time to rehire any of the former road crew subject to conditions negotiated by the Teamsters union. Allowed to expire, the county may hire anyone they want to fill those positions and even hire temporary and part time workers rather than the laid off workers.

Allowing the call back period to expire would allow the county greater hiring flexibility, however, extending the time frame may help repair the county’s bad image as an employer. Coos County has given itself a black eye by having the reputation of being an irresponsible and intractable employer. The unexpected road department layoffs were not the first incident of unprofessional handling of human resources.

Already, the new commissioner, Andy Jackson, liaison to the road department, is considering whether there is adequate staff to maintain county roads. A recent story in the Myrtle Point Herald (I have been told of) reveals that some roads have fallen into such disrepair that schools buses will no longer pick up students because of vehicle damage. The former commissioner, Kevin Stufflebean, has committed a lot of county funds on local improvement districts and other projects and it may take time to determine just how much money is available for rehiring badly needed road crew.

Extending the call-back deadline would restrict the county to first rehiring from the workers laid off with the advantage of gaining the years of experience and training already invested in these people. Extending the deadline would be a big step in acknowledging that public employees are a human resource and not just an expense. After investing taxpayer dollars training staff tossing that investment and the many years of experience out the window is a waste of taxpayer money.

Finally, there is the intangible benefit of helping correct a terrible wrong perpetrated by an incompetent commissioner who arrogantly believed he could double as a road master despite no experience, upon hard working public employees and the public.