It's unlikely that Blaine County Sheriff Walt Femling will see a salary increase for additional work providing police services to Ketchum, though it's possible six of his officers will get a bump in pay.
At a Blaine County Commission meeting at the Old County Courthouse in Hailey on Tuesday, the commission members deliberated on Femling's request that a management fee of $54,855 be allocated to seven officers, including himself, as well as to a county clerk for additional payroll duties.
The fee is included in a $1.56 million contract with Ketchum to provide law enforcement from July 1 through the end of the 2010 fiscal year.
During a meeting late last month, Femling argued that the new duties in Ketchum had increased the burden on his supervisors, adding to their responsibilities and making their jobs more complex, thus warranting an increase in their salaries. However, the commissioners expressed concern over the timing of the request, noting that the salary increases hadn't been specified before the deal was struck.
"There's never been full disclosure to me or the public until now as to what the management fee would be for," Commissioner Angenie McCleary said. "We're considering the proposal at a later date than I would have liked to hear it."
County Administrator Derek Voss said there could also be a conflict of interest in that Femling was a major participant in contract negotiations. Though he said the board should consider increases for the other officers and clerk, Voss recommended against increasing Femling's salary to avoid any public perception that the sheriff or the county could stand to gain from the contract.
"If we were here six months ago, I would be saying this was good work. I wasn't here, so in this vacuum the sheriff took on the responsibility to craft the language and put the contract into place," Voss said. "However, I don't think it would be ethically responsible to give the sheriff a pay increase because none of us are to personally benefit from these agreements. This puts us in an awkward situation because even though I don't believe there was any intent to do so, the sheriff was the architect."
A visibly perturbed Femling bristled at any notion that he undertook the contract for personal gain.
"Well, I can tell you I'm pretty damned upset to hear this personal attack to my integrity—that somehow I was the architect and have a conflict of interest," Femling said. "The direction all along was to make sure that this wouldn't cost the county any money—it was always that Ketchum was to pay its own way. This is a contract between Ketchum and the county, not Ketchum and me."
Voss said that according to Idaho code, the intent doesn't matter—simply that an elected official can't stand to gain from such a deal.
However, Voss said that the increased duties could justify an increase for the officers, but an increase in the sheriff's salary should be postponed until the next fiscal year's budget.
"I think the contract requires some additional skill sets—the complexities and responsibilities start to climb, so there is some justification," he said.
Commission Chairman Larry Schoen said he was leaning towards an option presented by Voss in which the officers under Femling would receive pay increases of between $1,500 and $4,000 from the management fee.
All the commissioners agreed they needed more time to consider the option, and the meeting was continued to next Tuesday.
"This is one of the more difficult issues I've had to face," Schoen said. "I love that the contract is going well, but we shouldn't be saying four months in that we should be giving them a raise. It's not appropriate."
Jon Duval: jduval@mtexpress.com
