Deputy Supervisor

Independence Township has a new deputy supervisor. The Supervisor Dave Wagner first said he had an administrative assistant but he has sworn the employee in as his deputy supervisor. Adding personnel to township government at this time, seems inappropriate.

The clerk is allowed to have a deputy clerk and the treasurer is allowed to have a deputy treasurer and that was one of the reasons given by the supervisor to hire a deputy. Another reason was that the supervisor has had health problems and vacation time and has not been at work. Elected officials do not have to follow a work calendar, they could work part time if they choose. There is no statute that says elected officials have to work 40 hours a week. But you expect a person running for office to be prepared to fill the duties of the office without hiring someone to work for them.

The board voted to limit the hours and wages to $15,000 which seems like an agreement to the hiring of this new person.

The new deputy supervisor has budget experience which seems to be a weakness of the Independence Township personnel. It appears that if the elected officials had the skill set to be a supervisor, he should be able to create a budget. Families create budgets, businesses create budget, and governmental entities need to be able to create a budget. Maybe the supervisor doesn't have the skill set for the supervisor's position. What do you think?