Countryboy JJ
Skyler the Weird
Rick Barton
Wiley Coyote
BooneCountyGirl
Taxpayers Foot Bill For MeckCo Manager Tattoos
Harry Jones has logged more than a decade of history as manager of Mecklenburg County, complete with a wide-ranging mix of achievements and blunders, public acclaim and high-profile controversies that are all but certain to leave a lasting mark on local government.
Last fall, though, Jones left a mark of a different sort; or more specifically, 3,000 of them. That’s how many decal tattoos of the county manager were handed out during Mecklenburg County’s 2012 Employee Fest at Freedom Park, designed to recognize and reward the work of county employees.
“It’s not the worse thing I’ve seen people do, but I’m not sure it was one of the smartest, either,” Commissioner Bill James said of the tattoos and their widespread distribution to county employees. “It’s more humorous than anything else.”
James was more critical of the $60,204 bill racked up for the Employee Fest, with taxpayers picking up all but $3,750 covered by event sponsors.
“You know,” James said, “government can’t do anything on the cheap anymore.”
The tab for half-day event, which featured an array of live music, games, prizes, a barbecue lunch and awards for employee achievement, included nearly $25,000 for food, $17,00 for giveaway prizes, $4,000 for American Coach transportation buses and, last but not least, $350 for Harry Jones decal tattoos, which were the brainchild of an Employee Fest planning committee comprised of members drawn from various county departments, according to county spokesperson Rick Christenbury.
“It was a committee that made the decision (to commission and distribute the tattoos),” Christenbury said. “Mr. Jones was not part of that committee and had no part in the decision.”
The tattoos were simply a caricature of their boss, he said, and were designed to extend congratulations to county employees and express appreciation for their work.
How many kudos Jones is receiving in return, however, remains up for debate. In the wake of myriad controversies that have made for awkward headlines and often pitted Jones at odds with his bosses on the county board, commissioners have more than once recently discussed Jones’ future with Mecklenburg County, according to sources familiar with the talks.
Some commissioners have floated a proposal to offer Jones three more years at the helm, while others have argued for replacing him with an interim candidate from outside the county loop and launching a national search for a replacement that would exclude any internal candidates.
Which begs the obvious question: What will have a longer shelf life in Mecklenburg County’s immediate future, Harry Jones’ tenure as manager or one of his decal tattoos?
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A little fun every now and then to show appreciation for one’s employees is nothing to get your panties in a wad over. According to an October 2012 database their were 4,227 regular and temp county employees. At $60k, that’s about $14.24 per employee for the festival. Two things I would say – one, if the county had asked its employees to pay only $7 each (which is cheap for music and food) they could have covered almost half the cost. Secondly, in terms of wasting money, I would look more closely at why the county needs over 4,000 employees to begin with. But yeah, those tattoos are a hoot!
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Friend of mine that works for the County picked up a couple of those things and wore them on his ass.
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The tattoos were created by employees as a gesture of support for Harry as he battled cancer. Suck it.
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suck what? the county employees sucked/stole $60,000 from the tax payers to support Harry- sorry the man had/has cancer, but stealing $60,000 from us as a tribute to Harry aint gonna cure it.
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It appears Mr. T. Bell like Mr. Chik fil A and Slaw before him would have us all do without a Tacosalad a month to pay for employee extravagance.
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3000 tattoos / $350 = 9 cents per tattoo. Oh, the extravagance!
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Tacko, it’s not the amount it’s the waste. When your organization has a negative balance sheet and $1.385 billion (yes, with a b) in debt and is operating in a recessionary environment, every $350 is an extravagance. Especially when it’s NOT your money.
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Find me a professional, private enterprise that puts on a meaningful recognition for 4k, plus, employees, for under $15 per head. I’m no apologist for public sector bloat and largesse, but we’re talking about a barbecue at Freedom Park for County employees. Not a public sector union asking for a 20% reduction in hours in exchange for a fully funded pension. And, to Rick Barton: the tattoos cost “us” $350. Let’s divide that by the number of County tax payers or property taxes remitted. Let me your share and I’ll write you a check to reimburse you for your share of the tattoos. If you want the County to be able to hire decent people to do a good job, you can’t treat them like indentured servants. If you want them to be completely self-funding, allow them to compete with private businesses in all sorts of markets. I can’t believe the Charlotte Observer links to this site.
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You make a decent argument, but are we not allowed to express differing opinions? Or would you rather remain insulated by the coziness of a media outlet that feeds your head with a steady narrative that merely reinforces your world view? If you don’t like what you read here, don’t click over, but final your statement of disgust is a thin line away from supporting censorship. Tsk, tsk, tsk.
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I suppose it’s okay for the Federal Government to do the same thing?
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Oh, wait, they have.
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FBI agents running wild, Homeland Security running wild, the Navy, etc. All on the taxpayers dime.
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The County is not in the business of making money, therefore there should be no funds to have such an event. Where is the line item for $60,000 for an employee day in the budget? Under miscellaneous expenses?
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With the constant whining from CMS about not having any money, $60,000 could go a long way to pay for something – like maybe a teacher?
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And regarding your comment about why the Observer allows this site to be linked? THANK GOD they do because that liberal rag of a so called newspaper is worthless. At least here you can express your view(s) here without Dave Enna banning you for daring to call out Fannie Flono for the racist diatribes she spews on a weekly basis.
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Find me an organization in these hard times that hasn’t cut back on any employee recognition save for a nice email or a pat on the back. Shoot find me one that isn’t cutting out all the employee perks it can. Oh right state, federal, and local government organizations. They don’t have to answer to customers, stockholders, nor the market (they can just raise taxes when revenues plunge due to bad business decisions) and though the office holders at the top change from time to time, the non elected management doesn’t.
BTW Technically the employees need to report the meal and tattoo and other goodies as income to the feds and the state.
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God forbid the county do anything for employees who spend their days dealing with the most pitiful people in the community…homeless, unemployed, mental health patients, inmates in the jail, etc. How extravagant to provide them lunch and a tattoo.,,the shame!
Has anyone ever pointed out Mark Pellin’s mother is also on the county payroll as a consultant? I guess if she invites him over to dinner and pays for it, he is gauging the taxpayers too.
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I just learned this was held on a workday: Thursday, October 4 (10 a.m. – 3 p.m.). This potentially changes everything about this.
A little math shows the REAL COST was more likely somewhere between $250k to $1 million dollars or more…
There are +/- 4,227 county employees. If 50% of those employees attended for two hours each, and assuming a $50/hour labor burden, that over $211 thousand dollars the county paid in labor if hourly employees received pay for their time. That’s 3-1/2 times the stated cost of $60,000, totaling $271k.
If ALL 4,227 employees attended and stayed for ALL four hours, the cost in lost production jumps to $845,400 not including the $60k operational cost, sp now we’re at $905k. If 50% of those folks then slipped off and went home instead of back to work for the remainder of the day, then the cost jumps another $211,000, putting the total cost to over ONE MILLION DOLLARS.
Of course, we’ll never know the real cost…
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That being said, and in light of opaque reporting, we MUST assume the worst case cost scenario until govco presents otherwise. This is no way to govern a town, county, state, or nation…
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