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First publication date is Thursday, January 4, 2024. Update: Vernon Roth, his IT employee for the county, is helping with software work and budget updates)
Chaos began in the county courthouse after former county commissioner Tom Flower’s successful recall effort last August. A week after former Treasurer Brayden Wilson was hired as county manager, new county commissioner Lucas Epp and Commissioner Bill Canda eliminated the county manager’s position, effectively firing Wilson. Four months later, the remaining finance director, Lisa Bivins, resigned before Christmas, leaving only recent hires to manage the finance department.
In retrospect, Wilson’s firing appears to have been a hasty decision, made solely to appease supporters of Canda and Epp, who packed public meetings to denounce the county manager’s ideas. With Mr. Wilson gone, the county has only one person to fill the roles of finance director and human resources director, Lisa Bivins. These tasks include payroll, year-end budgeting, and revising financial books after an audit reveals that adjustments are needed. Although the committee members decided to separate the dual roles of human resources director and finance director, the position of human resources director remains unfilled.
In meeting after meeting, angry community members took over the BOCC meeting, yelling at Commissioner Kevin Day and claiming that Lisa Bivins was incompetent to perform her duties because she did not have an accounting degree. The crowd repeatedly subjected Ms. Bivins to hours of public ridicule, deliberately ignoring her experience in government finance, and forcing the Secretary to hire a new Treasury director and replace Ms. Bivins in the position she currently holds. He insisted that he not be given the opportunity to apply. Two months ago, Bivins hired Jin Huffman as assistant finance director to revise her audit results and prepare multiple budgets for 2024. In early December, BOCC created a new job description for finance directors to earn a master’s degree in accounting or a related field. He also holds a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) qualification. While both of these explanations are favorable and not required, it is clear that Commissioner Bill Canda wanted Bivins removed from her current position and to work as an assistant to the new director.
The problem is that the new finance director’s salary range is $65,000 to $90,000 (Bivins’ annual salary is $57,000), far too low for the stated requirements. Colorado finance directors with a master’s degree are paid between $100,000 and $150,000. It is unlikely that the county will be able to find someone with these qualifications in Custer County, and it is unlikely that they will be able to move to Custer County at such a salary to obtain the necessary qualifications. Meanwhile, she became single-handedly managing payroll, budgets, and human resources for a $10 million-a-year organization.
The lies spread by Canda and his supporters that both Wilson and Bivins were deemed unqualified forced them to seek work outside their communities. Fremont and Custer counties are experiencing a severe labor shortage, and Wilson and Bivin’s skills were quickly noticed. They were offered jobs in the finance department of the Upper Arkansas Council of Governments, and both accepted. Mr. Wilson is enrolled in Colorado State University’s Master of Business Administration program, which upon completion will meet the requirements set by the BOCC, but will only cost the county $90,000 annually.
If Mr. Wilson had remained county manager, the total cost of hiring one more assistant would have totaled $187,000 for the finance and human resources departments. Under BOCC’s current proposal, the total cost for a finance director, assistant finance director, BOCC administrator, and human resources director would be his $227,000, plus $200,000 annually for an outside advisor to step in until a director is hired. It takes. However, it is unlikely that you will be able to find a finance director who makes less than $100,000 per year and meets the current job requirements.
BOCC is advertising this position on multiple online job sites and will also conduct research in the local community.
– Jordan Hedberg
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