Yates approves two new officers

YATES COUNTY--The Yates County Legislature voted to create and fill two corrections officer positions during their regular meeting Monday, Sept. 14. This comes one month after a similar attempt to add two officers failed to gain approval due to concerns over the long-term costs. The measure passed in a nine to four vote, with Legislator Douglas Paddock not in attendance.
The officer positions were requested due to high overtime costs within the sheriff's department, but Legislator Elden Morrison said he believes there are better options at the moment. He said the county should focus more on hiring part-timers to alleviate the strain on the current staff. Legislator Jim Smith added while the legislature is concerned with the large amount of overtime hours, he wants to see if the increased rate of pay to part-time officers will have any impact.
Legislator Leland Sackett said the county has had poor response to advertisement of part-time positions, even with the increased rate of pay that has been advertised for the past three weeks. However, Legislator Gary Montgomery said the county should not give up on the part-time options so soon.
"We owe it to the public to give this a little more time to work," Montgomery said.
Legislator Bonnie Percy said adding these two positions would be cheaper than continuing to pay the high overtime costs, adding the legislature needs to help alleviate the strain being put on the current staff. She noted some of the part-time employees are working full-time hours.
Morrison motioned to table the resolution, but it was defeated with four votes in favor and nine against. The following motion to approve the creation and filling of the corrections officer positions was then approved.
In other business:
• The date of the October legislative meeting was changed to Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 1 p.m. in the legislative chambers. This is because of the Columbus Day holiday.
• The legislature voted to renew an additional 1 percent rate of sales and compensating use taxes in the county. Legislator Mark Morris said this is not a new tax, but a measure the county must renew every year to maintain the current level of tax.
• The Yates County Legislature held a special meeting Wednesday, Sept. 7, where they approved a resolution in support of reopening the Greenidge power plant in Dresden. The legislature also voted in favor of ratifying a labor agreement with Council 82. While the vote was unanimous, Morris cited concerns with the fact total compensation -- including pay, benefits and pension -- has grown by more than two times the rate of inflation in the past 10 years, adding the county needs to be more aggressive in their negotiations. Morris said he voted in favor of this particular agreement since the county was able to get some concessions, which included a few years of 0 percent wage increase.