After Monday’s public meeting the Hill County Commissioners voted to cut the Hill County Superintendent of Schools position to half-time to “save” the taxpayers money. Even though all the people testifying at the hearing objected to the cut, the commissioners stated that they had received many calls at home with people that favored the cut to half-time. Many calls at home? Bull Crap! This sounds like another Bob Kaul type bunch of self-serving BS. Again we reiterate that the commissioners have wasted more than enough money on unmanaged expenditures run amuck such as the Court House basement remodel when managing Commissioner Mike Anderson let the project run $200,000 over budget, which incidentally is 6 times the amount they hope to save by this cut to the Hill County Superintendents position. Over the years there have also been several efforts to eliminate the County Superintendent position by the administration of the Havre School System. It seems that Shirley Isbell, current County Superintendent, has had the audacity to continually stick up for the small schools in the county when the Havre District continually tries to jockey for ways to absorb the little schools funding. Without the County Superintendent to oversee this tax-funded bully the rural classrooms will be on the horizon of their demise.
In addition, I can recall numerous times over the years when the County Superintendent has called the big Havre School bully to task for mismanaged accounting procedures, funky bus route snafus, and various slight of hand practices that in fact cost the taxpayers’ money. Case in point is School Board Chairman Shad Huston’s statement that he is in support of the cutting of the position. The County may save a few bucks by this decision but I assure you that the taxpayers will not. All tax money comes out of the same pocket and I for one want the County Superintendent keeping an objective eye on the purse strings. America is founded on a system of checks and balances and this is yet another attempt to breach that system.
What is the County Superintendent and what does the County Superintendent do? The website for the School Administrators of Montana explains it in detail on their site. http://www.sammt.org/8891018155624557/site/default.asp
Good news for Havre Schools........bad news for schools like Cottonwood
ReplyDeleteLet's make the commisioners job half time. You can't tell me they need to be paid for full time work. A City Councilperson makes $200 a month.
ReplyDeleteI am with you there. If the commissioners were $200 a month like the City and we eliiminated the Mayor position we could afford to hire a city-county manager and not have to have all the inept management we have now.
ReplyDeleteMaybe if the county didn't offer free health insurance to all the employees they could come up with the remaining money!!
ReplyDeleteI am told they are making this cut so they can hire additional help in the treasurers office. Why do they need more help when they have plenty of time to knit,read,eat etc at work?
ReplyDeleteThe treasurer should just crack the whip and get the ones already there to do what they are paid to do, not hire more of them to lay about.
Have you been to the treasurers office lately? Not very professional. It looks like the lunch counter at the high school. Food, chips, sodas, etc all over the place. And not the little dainty sizes either but the Super-Size Porkers Chow Down Specials. Last time I was up there one of them even had the Sam's Club size of potato chips laying next to thier computer while doing my license plate and chawing on pork rinds
No darn wonder they don't get anything done except the expanding of thier hippo hips
And you and me are paying for all this fine service............oink
I have been around the "mess" that the 3 stooges ( the county commissioners) have been causing for YEARS!! They show up for work sometime before 10 (on a long day for them) and often leave before 5. How can anyone do their job in that little amount of time!! And their irresposible fiscal dabacle also includes the courthouse step which have to be rebuilt for the t hird time because Commissioner Wendeland dicided to wear a hard hat and tell the construction company how to do their job!! Has anyone asked the "3 Stooges" what kind of fiscal postion that Hill County is in? I agree with cutting their positions to half time so they can do less damage to the Hill County Tax Payers!! BTW all the calls they supposedly took at home to cut the Supt position must have been because that is the only place they could be contacted!! Do they have any proof of those calls? or is this a lie to cover their hieny's!!
ReplyDeleteOne other aspect of this cut that I forgot to write about is the amount of prosecutors in the County Attorney office...there is more high price labor now then there was in the 80's when Havre and Hill county was booming!! How much could the 3 stooges save if they cut just 1 attorney position? and why in the world does the county need a human resource office which is also located in the County Attorney office? How is any taxpayer in Hill County supposed to believe any of the 3 clowns that call themselves commissioners?!!
ReplyDeleteTeacher, we have been making some calls about getting further information about the county budget. Getting info from them is not as easy as it would appear but stay tuned
ReplyDeleteConcerned Parent: How can the three amigos state they are saving tax payers money when the County Superintendent of Schools was able to document that every $100 of taxpayers money collected, only one cent goes to the superintendent's office? The amount of money Shirly brings in through government grants, asbestos evaluations, and conducting hearings offsets the pennies that are paid out for her office. How is this a savings? Is there any other county office that brings in funding that offsets their expenses? Who will be there to protect children attending Havre Public Schools?
ReplyDeleteThere are several things I would like to know. Namely, the hearing was posted on Dec. 24, Christmas Eve. In between the time the hearing was posted and the day the hearing was held, there were two holidays. How many people are really paying attention to the workings of government at this time. It seems to me that these bozos knew that secrecy was needed to work around the system. They did not want any opposition to their move, so they snuck around behind everyone's back. This seems to be the major strategy for officials in this country today. Let's not let anyone know what we are doing, so no one can tell us not to. As for the statements they said were made to them about wanting the position eliminated. I think we all need to see exactly who made those statements. It is no secret that Havre Public Schools have wanted the Superintendent out. They have made that inference many times in the past. The main reason is because the superintendent has stuck up for the smaller schools in this county. Without Shirley Isbell, we would have one school district in this county.
ReplyDeleteMy second question is this. How can three people who have had no college education proceed to try to run the finances in this county. We have all seen the fiasco the county building has become thanks to their efforts. I think we have had enough of these idiots, and need to vote them out on their prospective ears ASAP.
Thanks corrector for trying to get us a simplified chart of where the revenues come from and where the money goes to.
ReplyDeleteTransparency should be the goal of home town government.
Something about Bullies
ReplyDeleteGood leaders, management, administration, CEO’s, and etc…
Demonstrate and show compassion
Demonstrate and show empathy
Follow policies and laws
Don’t breach contracts
Don’t deliberately harm or bring harm to others
Don’t destroy other’s work opportunities
Don’t abuse power
Trespass and take from others
Make the workplace a positive and productive place to be for its employees and staff.
Differences between a leader/manager and a bully:
Managers tend to their tasks.
Managers strive to achieve their goals.
Managers make resources available to its employees.
Managers don’t target individuals.
Managers strive to provide their best services.
Managers minimize costs.
Managers maximize income available.
Bullies strive for self-gratification.
Bullies work hard for survival.
Bullies waste money.
Bullies use others
Bullies have no concern about the company and taxpayers dollars unless it directly relates to them.
Good leaders, management, administration, CEO’s, and etc…
ReplyDeleteDemonstrate and show compassion
Demonstrate and show empathy
Follow policies and laws
Don’t breach contracts
Don’t deliberately harm or bring harm to others
Don’t destroy other’s work opportunities
Don’t abuse power
Trespass and take from others
Make the workplace a positive and productive place to be for its employees and staff.
Differences between a leader/manager and a bully:
Managers tend to their tasks.
Managers strive to achieve their goals.
Managers make resources available to its employees.
Managers don’t target individuals.
Managers strive to provide their best services.
Managers minimize costs.
Managers maximize income available.
Bullies strive for self-gratification.
Bullies work hard for survival.
Bullies waste money.
Bullies use others
Bullies have no concern about the company and taxpayers dollars unless it directly relates to them.
I wish that more people knew of this blog. It is great to hear that Hill County residents know of the corruption in our offices. If we only knew the complete picture. We think Congress is bad. Remember this, honest politicians, for the most part, are the ones we haven't caught yet.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Anonymous in making the commissioners jobs half time. They only do half of a job anyways. I think it is sad that the County Superintendent's job has been cut to part-time. What a kick in the face to a woman who has given her heart and soul to basically the kids in this county as well as in other counties for so many years. To me it sounds like the "3 Stooges" as Teacher calls them, have an axe to grind with this woman. I would like to know why the Havre Public Schools was in favor of cutting her time too. Doesn't she help them too? I really don't think they looked very hard to find ways to cut expenses. They have a part-time position right in their own office that could have been eliminated. Did someone say that even the treasurer's office had a part-time position that could have been eliminated. Then there is the basement mess which cost us all a pretty penny. Why should the County Superintendent have to basically lose her job because of their stupidity? I really think that the county needs to be investigated/audited. I would really like to know where all their (our) money goes. I think they are taking lessons from the Obama regime....Spend! Spend! Spend! Oh yes, why do we need 3 county attorney's? We have 3 commissioners, don't we...one for each of them.
ReplyDeleteINFORMATION UPDATE
ReplyDeleteWe have had some response to this post stating that they didn’t realize the County Superintendent made of $100,000 per year. Apparently this was the impression given by the commissioners when they stated the county would save $50,000 per annum by cutting this position to half time. The current position paid just a hair over $40,000 and the new half-time office is being advertised as paying $20,352 per year.
Hope this clarifies the figures.
kind of a tiny savings to the taxpayers by cutting the Supt position...compare how much the Supt spends in Hill Co every year that won't be spent if she leaves...this cut will amount to only pennies!! I guess the 3 stooges are really on to something now!!
ReplyDeleteIt was a good move. There are so many position levels below the commisioner's position they will not miss a beat. "They" should eliminate the entire position.
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting if "they" will share what "they" will do with the cost savings.
Hey East End...care to share why you feel cutting the county Supt position was good....do you have a clue what this woman does for the county let alone all the children/students? Maybe you should check it out and see if you still think its a good cut!!
ReplyDelete"Hey East End...do you have a clue what this woman does for the county let alone all the children/students?"
ReplyDeleteI really don't have a clue what this position does or what it contributes to the success of our school principals and teachers, let alone what it does for better educating our children/students.
But I do know:
1. Most children/students/parents don't have a clue what this position does for their children/students.
2. Children/students/parent do know what their principal and teachers do for their children/students.
3. Children/students are most motivated and influenced by their principal and teachers.
4. Principals and teachers are under-utilized and under-paid in developing and achieving the education objectives of the county.
5. The superintendent's position is not aligned with most principles positions.
6. The responsibilities and money paid the position of superintendent could be reallocated to principals and teachers and have a much better return on the investiment in providing direct education services to our children/students.
7. It's simply about results and not activities.
First of all I just wonder where you get your information...
ReplyDeleteChildren and students are most influenced by their PARENTS!!
I do agree that teachers are not paid as much as they should be but...can you tell me what the principals duties are? the education objectives are set up by the state...and if you would check out what the Co Supt position entails you would not make some of the rediculous comments that you have made...the county money supposedly saved by this cut can in no way be allocated to the schools!! It won't even make a small dent in the fiscal irresponsibility of the county commissioners!! All I ask is FIND OUT what you're talking about BEFORE giving your opinion!! Some of your comments I agree with but it is evident that you are terrible misinformed! As you may know...opinions...everybody has one (you know the rest)
http://www.infowars.com/
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